Loop Photo Album 1986-1993

For the majority of my Loop years (1986-1993), I was the producer of the Steve Dahl & Garry Meier Show, but I also hosted my own weekend show on the Loop-FM, and I was the co-host of a show called "Ebony & Ivory" on the Loop-AM. Here are a few pictures and mementos from that era...




The Steve & Garry Logo--Late '80s









On stage with Steve at a sold out Chicago Theatre concert--1989. Yes, show biz is very glamorous.












Some of my Loop favorites: (From Left) John "Swany" Swanson, Jim Wiser, Anne-Marie Kennedy, and Dina Sanchez. Swany and Wiser worked for Brandmeier at the time. Swany is now producer of Eric & Kathy's show at WTMX and Wiser is producer of Spike O'Dell's show on WGN. (Swany also later co-authored "The Radio Producer's Handbook" with me). Anne-Marie and Dina were part of the best promotion department of all time. Anne Marie is now working in a similar position in Boston and Dina does charity work and is raising twin girls.







This is an invitation to the party at Garry Meier's restaurant from the late 80's, "Sabrina". A few very memorable Loop Christmas parties took place there, and so did one of my first dates with my future wife Bridget.

















This is Ebony & Ivory. Stan Lawrence (now the co-host of Stan & Terry middays on WCKG) and some white guy who now runs a blog. Our show was on the air on AM 1000 in 1991-1992. In the background behind us is former Loop salesman Bob Kruchten.






On Stage at the Chicago Theatre with Garry Meier (as Cliff). I was one of the Cliff Dancers, and we did a dance number choreographed by future Tony Award winning stage director Robert Falls (I'm not kidding). The Cliff dancers are:(clockwise starting from kneeling left) Mike Bramel, Me, The Bald Handbook co-author Dave Stern (obscured behind Cliff), cabin boy Jim, Shemp, and Mike Davis (back to audience).




Bridget Kaempfer (when she was still Bridget Hyde), Me, Engineer Mike Rugen, and Wendy Snyder. Mike passed away a few years ago--and we all miss him very much. Wendy is now part of the Steve Dahl Show on WCKG.

Applying for Commissioner of Baseball

In 1997, after Commissioner Faye Vincent had been forced to resign as the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, and Bud Selig had taken over on an interim basis, Selig announced that baseball was looking for a full-time commissioner.

My good buddy Dave Stern thought it would be funny to send in a letter applying for the job. This is the letter he sent:

To Whom it May Concern:

It has come to my attention that you and your colleagues are currently in search of a new commissioner of baseball. You have stated the ideal candidate should be an expert in marketing, television, and labor and have the strong presence to preside over all ceremonial functions. Allow me to address each of your concerns point by point.

*As you see from my enclosed resume, I was the marketing manager of a Kinkos in Champaign.

*My experience is television is vast. Among my (viewing) credits, M*A*S*H, The Donna Reed Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show. I particularly enjoyed the episode where Danny Thomas played Kolak from the planet Twilow.

*My experience in labor is equally extensive. I have rented (and even watched it once) Norma Rae several times. I also worked in a rubber stamp factory in high school, which involved a great deal of manual labor.

*As far as a strong presence during ceremonial events, my excellent performance opening the Ark at my niece's Bat Mitzvah and breaking the glass at my wedding are among my all-time highlights. Videos available upon request.

Finally, I feel my greatest asset is my name. Imagine if both the NBA and MLB had commissioners named "David Stern"! That's the kind of free publicity you couldn't buy.

Sincerely,

David Stern

P.S. My baseball knowledge is also superb. My 120-42 record in Sega Genesis speaks for itself.

The funniest part of this story, is that he actually got a few responses. First from Bud Selig himself.

Dear Mr. Stern:

Thank you for your recent letter.

I appreciate your interest in the Commissioner's job and I will certainly share your letter with members of the Commissioner Serach Committee which has just been convened.

Thank you for taking time to write to me and for your interest in Major League Baseball.

Sincerely,


Allan H. Selig, Chairman
Major League Executive Council


He also got a letter from the office of Peter O'Malley, the President of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Dear Mr. Stern:

Peter O'Malley is currently out of town, but I know he will appreciate your thoughtful letter which arrived this morning. We are grateful to you for taking the time to write and we believe that baseball will soon identify a full-time, outside, independent commissioner and restore the public's confidence in the game.

Best Wishes.

Tasha Duncan
Administrative Assistant to Peter O'Malley



We followed Dave's quest on the John Landecker show, and thought it was quite humorous, but to me, the funniest response came a month later from Heidrick and Struggles, Executive Search Consultants. Obviously Dave's name had been passed along to them by Peter O'Malley and Bud Selig.

Dear Mr. Stern:

Thank you very much for your interest in the postiion of Commissioner of Major League Baseball.

At this stage, many candidates are under consideration for this poition. We will share your credentials with the appropriate individuals and will contact you should we need further information.

Again, thank you for your interest.

Sincerely,

Theodore Jadick
Managing Partner

Needless to say, Dave didn't get the job.

It is a little easier to see, however, why Bud Selig took himself.

The Intern Commandments

About this time of year college students are starting to get internships lined up for the summer. I've probably had close to a hundred interns during my radio career and maybe a handful of them (5 or 6) took the job seriously. Of those, all of them eventually got jobs in the highly competive radio business. The rest did not.

This excerpt from my book (co-written with John Swanson) "The Radio Producer's Handbook" is my best explanation for what to do if you manage to get an internship. It sounds like I'm joking here. I'm not at all.

The Unwritten Intern Commandments: Dealing with the Host

We both began our major market radio careers as interns. We didn’t know these rules when we walked through the door. However, we didn’t break them. There are a couple of reasons for this. First of all, it’s really not that hard to follow these rules. There is nothing unseemly about them. Secondly, we naturally treated the hosts with respect because we naturally respected them, and we treated the hosts as stars because we really thought of them stars. If you do the same thing, you won’t have any problems.

The unwritten Intern Commandments are as follows:
*Thou shalt not “sass” a host, even jokingly, even if the host is jokingly “sassing” you.
*Thou shalt not speak to a celebrity guest, unless spoken to.
*Thou shalt never repeat a story you hear the host or celebrity tell “off the air.”
*Thou shalt not make any references at any times to the host’s physical imperfections.
*Thou shalt not bug the host to pay for something just because he “makes a lot of money.”
*Thou shalt never bug the host to put you on the air.
*Thou shalt not bring your friends in to see the show.
*Thou shalt not eat the free food before the host gets a crack at it.

We’ve seen some very smart interns fall victim to the unwritten intern commandments. We’ve seen interns accidentally break them even after having been warned repeatedly. It happens most often after an intern begins to feel a little comfortable. He starts joking with the host, who initially appears to be enjoying it. The intern forgets that he is not the host’s peer, and begins joking with him like he would joke with his buddies. The host doesn’t take kindly to being ribbed by someone who hasn’t “paid his dues.” That’s usually when the hammer falls.

Here is a tip to make sure you never accidentally break the unwritten intern commandments. Imagine the host as Tony Soprano or any Joe Pesci character. You are allowed to get comfortable with him, but anything you say or do can still get you whacked without warning if you don’t show the proper respect. It really isn’t that hard to do.

The Unwritten Intern Commandments: Dealing with Everyone Else

Now that we’ve gotten the etiquette of treating a star out of the way, let’s address the etiquette in dealing with everyone else at the radio station. If you have any common sense at all you’ll follow these rules naturally. Nevertheless, it doesn’t hurt to spell them out. These are rules any intern in any business should follow. Let’s not forget that radio is a business too. And if you don’t treat this internship the same way you would treat a job, no one will ever consider hiring you for a real job.

The other unwritten Intern Commandments are as follows…

*Thou shalt not complain about gofer tasks.
*Thou shalt not complain about (lack of) pay.
*Thou shalt not show up late or completely blow off work.
*Thou shalt not complain about the hours.
*Thou shalt not ignore basic human hygiene.
*Thou shalt not work on a personal project without permission.

Every paid employee at the radio station will expect you to live by those rules. You have to always keep in mind why you are doing this. Yes, you’d rather be doing something more rewarding than getting someone coffee at 4:30am for zero dollars, but think of the big picture. You can’t complain about the pay, or the hours, or the gofer tasks because you knew what you were getting into when you took the internship.

If you didn’t, let us spell it out. You are at the bottom of the totem poll. The bottom. There’s no one underneath you. Just do what you’re asked to do and do it with a smile. Even if you get frustrated occasionally, you’re going to have a great time more often than not. Radio is fun. It’s not like people will try to torture you or take advantage of you. Most people at most radio stations are very nice. And if you go in with a positive attitude, those people will notice. When the time comes, they will do whatever they can to help you get a paying job.

I know this sounds a little harsh, but that's my best and most honest advice. In a future post I'll share some true interns stories that you won't believe. How do I know this? My editor didn't believe them either and asked me to take them out of the book, which I did.

The Radio Producer's Handbook, by the way, is still available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon, and also through my publisher Allworth Press.

Pierzynski At The Bat

The day after the White Sox won the World Series in 2005, John Landecker was hosting the morning show on WLS Radio. He asked me to write a parody of "Casey at the Bat" for the show that morning. This is what I sent him. (It was posted on the WLS website for awhile.)

“Pierzynski at the Bat”








The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the White Sox nine that day,
The Angels led one game to none, game two was slipping away,
And then when AJ got strike two, and missed strike three the same,
A pall-like silence fell upon all the Sox fans at the game,

The Angels catcher tossed Pierzynski’s ball out to the mound,
But AJ turned and ran to first, with outrage all around,
The umpire calmly stood his ground, achieving instant fame,
And AJ somehow found a brand new way to win a game,

The White Sox never lost again, and shining stars were born,
Each time Joe Crede came to bat the other team would mourn,
And he and Juan Uribe were magicians with their gloves,
And Paul Konerko was the home run hero we all love,

When Ozzie came out to the mound, he motioned round and fat,
And Bobby Jenks showed the Astros why he wanted that,
And little Scott Podsednik hit the home run in Game 2,
And the White Sox starting pitching was like a dream come true,

In Game 3’s fourteenth inning the Astros fans were glum,
Beaten by a former Astro named Geoff Blum,
And Jermaine Dye had a shining moment in game four,
When he knocked in the winning run, the White Sox shut the door.

And though each game was close and tight, the White Sox never feared,
Ever since A.J.’s run to first, they knew this was their year,

And now the catcher catches the ball, and now he lets it go,
and now the air is shattered by the AJ we all owe,
Oh, somewhere in this country, some fans are screaming foul,
But White Sox fans say let them scream, let them cry and growl,

Cause White Sox fans are laughing, and White Sox fans can shout,
The south side is rejoicing,
Pierzynski has struck out.