My dear friend and "radio mate" T.J. Kirby and his wife Rene had a function to go to this week which was taking place at the same time of his show. I had this bright idea: why don't I sit in for him? After all, I've been a sidekick guest on the show a few times. Surely I've learned something from it all this time, right? Well, T.J. agreed to give me a shot.
It was indeed quite the learning experience. I learned just how much work goes into trying to do a decent two-hour "personality radio" type show. T.J.'s basic format is a throwback to "radio like it used to be" when the DJ was an integral part of the show. The format is two songs and talk segments across the two hours and making it all entertaining. I spent about four days trying to assemble bits to use and finding songs I could "hear" on his show, and making sure I wouldn't run short of material.
My own style is pretty much laid back, like the FM progressive rock DJs of the 70s; basically I just like to share music, play longer sets and then tell you a little bit about what you heard. For me to be witty and charming on the air consistently and not be self-conscious about it is quite a stretch out of my comfort zone. Believe me, I have gained a new respect for folks like T.J. who make it all seem so effortless.
I did, however, come up with a couple of things we thought were cute and clever. I started with a bit where I walk into the studio at the start of the show expecting to find T.J., but he's not there. Instead there's a note from him reminding me that I am hosting, not guesting, "here's your music and material, it'll be easy, just remember everything I taught you". Then I kicked into the theme and my take on the opener. Another segment was one called "Cat Talk" which evolved from some joking between T.J. and me...it started with Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever" and gossip about the hilarous "cat betrayed his girlfriend" video out on You Tube, along with some cat facts.
I also had some great music which I don't get to play on my show, including some #1 songs on that date from the 60s to the 90s.
Alas, though, the technical glitches dogged me as usual. The players skipped on a couple of songs. Then, a strange weird thing during a comedy bit I played by Mark Lowry. In the middle, I started hearing the Emergency Broadcast System type tones. Oh no, I thought, what's going on? I immediately looked out the window--I hadn't heard of any storms on the way. Then a voice came on and said "I'm the rock" and then it stopped. What the hell was that? And why does this stuff always have to happen to me, anyway?? Then at the end, I thought for sure I put the mike switch on but it wasn't registering...so I checked it again and it came back. Unfortunately, I lost most of T.J.s poem I was reading. Grrrrr....
Prime time on-air personality? Probably not my destiny. Occasional sidekick to T.J.? We've done that and we have in fact gotten some feedback from listeners suggesting we ought to team up one day. Content producer? Now there's a good radio gig for me. Just so long as I don't have to engineer.
Anyhow as I said, I have gained a greater respect for what T.J. does and his talent. Someone needs to hire him. I'll be the producer.
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