After failing to get a job at KLMO, I wondered if I had what it took to get some sort of job in the Denver radio market. After moving to the area in July of 1988, I made the rounds of all the radio stations, dropping off my resume and airchecks. I actually was not expecting to get a job there after I had failed so miserably in a small market like Clovis, NM.
After I had gotten the job with Phone Survey, Inc., I got a phone call from the Program Director of KSYY-FM. He said he had listened to my aircheck and was rather impressed with my production abilities. He said he had a part-time position available and asked me to come in for an interview. He explained that the station ran satellite programing most of the time and I would basically be a baby-sitter, but he needed people with real radio experience for the job. I wanted any radio job in Denver, so I knew I couldn't just wait for one of the other stations where I REALLY wanted to work, like Y108 or KBPI, to come along and make me an offer.
KSYY-FM was the sister station of KHOW-AM. KSYY basically played "soft favorites." It was Adult Contemporary with an emphasis in music going back about 25 years. Some modern A/C music would get played, but since the format featured "no-repeat workdays," none of the songs got played more than once per day.
Both stations were in the same three-story building. KHOW-AM's studio and staff were on the first floor. KSYY's was on the third. The second floor mostly comprised the sales and business offices. It was much larger than what I was used to with KZZO-FM in Clovis. I really felt like this was big-time radio. I arrived in the lobby and someone took me up to the third floor to meet the Program Director.
The Program Director was about 40 years old and did the morning drive show. He had previously worked at a couple of radio stations in Chicago and at KIMN in Denver (which was one of the stations that I had sent a resume to, but went out of business before I got there). He had quite a bit of experience. He said that the music on the station mostly appealed to women in their late 30's to early 40's. He said they were the kind of women who still "creamed in their pants" when they heard Neil Diamond sing.
He knew I had been working at Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre because I had to give him the name of my current employer so he could contact them as a reference. They told him good things about me. He said he had heard that one of the more recent acts made some crack on stage about bringing a sandwich in. I told him I had been in the audience at that time because I was on my break and told him exactly what the performer said. He thought it was funny. He went on to say that the idea for Fiddler's Green was that people would be able to come out, spread a blanket on the lawn portion and have a picnic there, but the confiscation of outside food was not anticipated.
He then took me on a tour of the station. We didn't just walk around the KSYY floor, we also went down to KHOW-AM on the first floor. He said that it wasn't uncommon for KHOW to ask KSYY staff to work air shifts there. He said he couldn't promise me that would happen, but it was certainly something I could anticipate. During the tour, I got to meet their newsradio team. I remember this one really attractive woman who was probably about three years older than me, but I never saw her again.
After the tour, the Program Director said he would contact me if he wanted to put me on the schedule. Sure enough, he called me and wanted me to start that first weekend after the Fiddler's season had ended. He had me come in during the week and train. I was taken rather aback by the guy who trained me. He looked like a slightly younger version of Dr. D, but had a voice exactly like Snid. It turned out he had been a full-time radio DJ in St. Louis, but somehow wound up in Denver. From what other people told me, he was really good, but the people in charge wouldn't let him do a live show on the station. Interesting enough, everyone else who worked at the station was in their 20's. It was like we all had to go there to pay our dues, but not really get to do anything live unless KHOW requested our help on their station.
I started out working the six to midnight shift on Saturday and Sundays. My first night there was uneventful. Everything happened like it was supposed to. One of the things I was supposed to do was record the weather announcements to be played between midnight and six. I got those done in fairly short order. During my announcements, I got to introduce the next song. It was the closest I got to being a real DJ in Denver.
The woman who worked the weekend overnight shift showed up. The first thing she said when she saw me was "Who are you?" I guess she was used to seeing a new face working six to midnight pretty frequently.
After that first shift, I drove around for the next hour and a half so I could hear myself doing the weather on the air. I was amazed that I had made it to a big city radio station like that. I wondered how many people out there were actually listening. Probably not a lot.
I knew I could leave my horrible radio experience from Clovis far behind me. I had made it. However, you know something was destined to come along and ruin everything for me and it came very unexpectedly.
I'll get to that tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment