National Radio Day

Today is our day.

I get asked why I work in Radio. It's a blank sheet. It's my empty canvas. I have no eye for art. Can't paint. Can't draw. But I can hear.

When I first got into the business, I was a DJ only. In fact, I was what they call a "time &

temp" jock. I would just say the time, the temperature, and what song was playing. No opinion on anything. No smart ass comments. No personality whatsoever. There is no job security in that. I knew if I wanted to truly work in radio for a living I would have to find a niche. The niche I found was commercial production.

Earlier, I said I could hear. What I meant by that was I could hear the finished product in my head before it was even written. Like a video director can see a scene in his head before he films it, I could "hear" the commercial before it was made.

Now some people can hear it, but they don't have the chops to create it. I worked my butt off learning the trade. I just couldn't imagine hearing something, and then being unable to create that. I would think it would be like a person with a stutter. The know what they want to say, but they can't get it out. Jesus, the thought of that frightens me now, just like it did then. I would go into work 5 hours early and just "play" in the production room.

Radio gives me the outlet I need for my creativity. I love it. I tried to get out of it a couple of times and "find a real job", but it just kept dragging me back in.

Today is National Radio Day. So celebrate the "magic" of radio and leave the iPod at home. I'm serious.