Dave Shakes remembers Bwana Johnny
Thanks to Bwana Johnny....
One of the greatest Top 40 Jocks ever passed away yesterday. It was my privilege to
learn from Bwana when I was the PD and he was the Morning Star at KSND-FM
Eugene
in 86-87. A few of the things Bwana taught me:
Smile, laugh, giggle. It's 5:30am,
45 degrees and Pacific Northwest raw outside.
But we get to play radio. This
isn't working for a living, really now.
A Pith Helmet and a Hawaiian shirt
can make you look like a celebrity. Even if
they don't know who you are at first, the crowd will ask and they will pay attention.
A willingness to play the clown can
really pay off for a radio dj.
Get in the parade. Any parade. Be
there. You call this a job?
Don't play ballads in the morning
unless the thing is the #1 song in the country this week.
What are you trying to do, put us
back to sleep?
Crack the mic, forget your
troubles, and have some fun.
And now a story that radio-guys will appreciate. It was Thanksgiving 1986 and
I the workaholic PD realized only the day before that I had made no plans and
had no prospects for a holiday dinner. On a hunch that he too might be looking
at dining alone, I sought out Bwana.
"Are you having some turkey tomorrow?" I inquired.
"Sure, sure, c'mon over and join me".
"What can I bring?" I asked.
"Bring over some bird, we'll cook it up"
"Oh" I said not understanding, "I thought you said you had some turkey already"
Bwana almost exasperated with the rookie: "Shakes, I've got the Wild Turkey,
you bring some bird and we'll have a
meal!"
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