my super powers
I’m passionate about Oldies and Classic Hits radio. I love the music. I love the magic that went into presenting it when it was new, and the magical stationality that can be crafted around the music today.
I love TEAM. My motto: None of us is as smart as all of us. Collaborating with a tight-knit team to build and develop great media products is the best feeling in the world. There is no “Lone Ranger.” Just ask the Lone Ranger. He had Tonto. Ted Lasso was right: team work makes the dream work.
I’m disciplined. Planning and thoughtful deliberation and execution are the foundations for great, creative radio.
I play well with others. All the stationality and magic in the world doesn’t happen if we’re not making money. Selling impressions that include radio doesn’t get easier with each passing year. The idea is that everything we do increases brand value for our station and for our clients AND creates benefit for our listeners and for our clients’ customers. When an idea does all of that, it’s a green light. When we can create brand value for the station, for a client, and the consumer benefit feels iffy, we work it out. When an idea doesn’t rise to those benchmarks, we go back to the drawing board.
ALPHA MEDIA CHICAGO | STAR 105.5
2016 - 2019
When I was asked to jump in to the Program Director/Brand Manager role at this Alpha Hot AC in Chicago’s Northwest Suburbs, the station was a straight ahead tight current/tight recurrent Hot AC. Our listeners – and our many local clients – complained that we played the same songs over and over, ad nauseam. They were right. Our research tools were cut from the budget, but I new from the basic Nielsen data and from earlier opportunities to dive more deeply into panels, that radio usage was aging upwards. Plus, we were doing a lot of local, and unlike 23-year-old agency buyers, the local decision makers – also listeners – were at the top end of or beyond the demo. I used MediaBase to track some gold-leaning Hot AC stations (there were a few of them around the country), and I also tracked more traditional AC stations and even some Classic Hits stations to determine what Gold was testing well. I built 3 gold categories, we added an all-day-long Throwback Thursday and a 5-hourThrowback Saturday Night Party. It all combined to surmount the “same song over and over again” complaint - both really and even more in general perception. Our numbers went up. Our local clients celebrated and bought more spots.
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ALL THE REST…
…You’re going to notice gaps going forward. I’ve lived what I consider to be a fantastic life. Growing up near New York City, I had two dreams beginning in childhood: to be on the radio and to be a clergyperson.
Listening to MusicRadio 77 WABC, later 99X WXLO, WNEW-FM, and WPLJ-FM utterly captured my imagination. So did the priest in the Episcopal Church I grew up in. Not everyone can say they lived out their dreams, never mind two dreams. I can say that. As you notice gaps in my radio career, that’s a sign that I was focused for a period of time on my church vocation.
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CBS RADIO | US-99 CHICAGO
2010 - 2014
I was Buddy Scott’s go-to fill-in jock. Even though my church work kept me unavailable for a regular weekend shift, Buddy called me first when he needed someone for weekday fill-in, including mornings. He said, “The best one gets the call.” I still consider it a great honor to have heard that from Buddy Scott. I’ve learned a ton from hin over the years.
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iHEART RADIO MILWAUKEE | 97.3 The Brew…FM106.1 WMIL…The Mighty 92 WOKY…BIG 95.7 WRIT
2006 - 2012
I was the midday jock on Classic Rock-formatted 97.3 The Brew and did fill-in, weekend, and voice track work on all the others. Because I love oldies and classic hits, the opportunity to work on the reincarnated Mighty 92 WOKY was pure joy. We camped it up: turned on the reverb, walked up the songs, talked around the jingles, and presented it like it was 1975 all over again. I include audio from The Mighty 92 on this page simply because it was a blast.
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SOUTHERN BROADCAST MEDIA | WTOB Greensboro - winston-salem, nc
2014 - 2016
I did mornings on this full-fledged Oldies station that was once the home of future legends like Scott Shannon, Rick Dees, Jackson Armstrong, and many others.
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cook inlet media | us-99 chicago
1989 - 1991
10 p.m - 2 a.m. Disc Jockey
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beasley broadcast group | waur-fm/wmro-am/wysy-fm aurora (chicago)
1984 - 1989
Program Director/Operations Manager for all stations. I initially hired on when the stations were still owned by Stevens Broadcasting and stayed on following the acquisition by Beasely and the flip of WAUR-FM to 70s oldies WYSY-FM. Prior to the flip, WAUR-FM was Gold Rock 108. Our playlist was essentially the playlist of MeTV-FM. Every time I listen to MeTV-FM I marvel at the similarities. WAUR was also a launching pad for many radio pros who moved downtown, including Dean Richards, Johnnie Putman, and Rick O’Dell. There seems to be some mystical through line from those early 80s WAUR Gold Rock 108 days and the magic I hear on MeTV-FM.