10 Questions with ... Tony Tarbox

NAME:Tony Tarbox TITLE:MD/Windbag STATION:KCCQ MARKET:Des Moines COMPANY:Clear Channel BORN:March 3, 1977 RAISED:Ames, IA

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Started as an intern at WGVX-WGVY-WGVZ (Drive 105)/Minneapolis and was bumped up to part-time on-air. Then worked part-time at KCCQ for a couple years. Moved to KEZO (Z92)/Omaha to work as web coordinator and part-time for nine months. Returned to KCCQ for mornings; moved to afternoon drive and the MD spot one year later.

LAST NON-INDUSTRY JOB:

1:1 in home care with autistic child

FIRST RECORD EVER PURCHASED:

Motorhead 1916; Cool World Soundtrack; The Cult - Electric (three-way tie)

FIRST CONCERT:

Metallica and The Cult in 1989 at James H Hilton Coliseum on the ...And Justice For All Tour

FAVORITE BAND OF ALL-TIME:

The Stone Roses

1. How did you become interested in radio?

I was going to school for and working in the social services field and had been for many years. I became fairly jaded with the whole process and wanted to have a job/new career path that afforded me a lot more fun than I was currently having. I love music, I love people...you tell me a career that better marries those two things better than radio and I will give you a dollar.

2. What was your favorite station to listen to when you were a kid and what did you like best about that station?

Man, I LOVED 107.5 KKDM (when it was Alternative) back when I was in high school. It turned me on to so many rad artists that turned out to be lifelong favorites of mine; The Smiths, James, Blur, Oasis, etc. etc. etc. In my formative years I was a big fan of KCCQ when it was a top 40 station and aired Doctor Demento. I used to stay up with my buddies late on Sunday nights conversing via GI JOE walkie talkies (we lived in VERY close proximity) eagerly awaiting that week's Funny Five.

3. What brought you back for your second stint at KCCQ?

Fulltime AM Drive. This is a killer station that I have a long history with both as a listener and as a jock. I love the fact that I can share music with kids that I am excited about. Plus, the opportunity to tell an endless stream of dick and fart jokes was the straw that broke Glenn Campbell's back

4. What part of your job do you like best? Least?

Best: Porn=Show Prep

Worst: Butt Rock

5. How are your music meetings structured?

Loosely at best. I'm the guy you hate to live next door to because I like my music and I like it loud. There is just something so special about blaring a new Man Man record at an obscene level at 4am after a Guinness binge then following it up with either Wesley Willis or The Scissor Sisters. Our music meetings at Channel Q involve EVERYONE from our new hot intern Whitney to Emo Tessa, our new receptionist to our brothers, sisters, drinking buddies, and favorite bums. My favorite is Darnell the Bag in Omaha -- he's this dude that adorns himself with black trash bags year round. The dude is great. I like to think that our music meetings are round the clock. I can call Ryan Wild (Our PD) day or night if I hear something that trips my trigger. We are pretty much on the same page as far as music is concerned so it's fairly easy to come up with a playlist that is both challenging and familiar to our audience.

6. How would you describe your "After School Special?"

Have you ever been to the bar and had some totally hot debutante approach you with that special look in her eyes that just screams, "I want to walk funny for three days straight and you are going to be the means to that end?" It's kinda like that. But the girl has a Mangina...Kudos.

7. What's one thing that would surprise many people to learn about you?

I was licensed to provide Foster Care in the state of Iowa for three years and actually had somewhere between 20-30 young adults under my supervision/care.

8. Who is your favorite air personality not on your staff and why do you like them?

It's a tie between Art Bell and Todd-n-Tyler. Coast To Coast AM is the best radio show on the air hands down. That cat can work phones like no one else. Todd-n-Tyler are probably the most genuine on-air duo I have ever heard. That goes a long way with me. There are so many people in this industry that have to try hard to seem so clever with lame ass names like "Fingerbang Charlie" and "Jimmy Poonchugger". Listeners aren't retarded, they see right through the lame stunts and stupid nicknames. The unstructured way they have their show is also part of it, which helps create that personal connection that they have with their listeners. I love how it's like sitting around the table at a busy bar talking about whatever comes to mind and ogling the top heavy cocktail waitresses. Plus their news guy Craig Evans is one hot slab of meat.

9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without _________?

I was walking home from the bar one summer night and saw this drunk Iowa State student back out of her diagonal parking space right into a running police squad car. I ran over to my apartment a block away and grabbed a lawn chair and a fresca; set up camp and watched this drunk twenty-something try to cry and plead her way out of an un-winnable situation. It was my defining moment so I remember that every day... That and Redbook Magazine.

10. What career path would you be following had it not been for this industry?

Something in the social services field. Therapy, Direct Care something like that. It's such fulfilling work I do sometimes miss it a great deal.

What are your hobbies?

Pinball. It's really an unhealthy addiction more than a hobby. I read A LOT. I have a cat who once was the proud owner of the largest pair of feline testicles my veterinarian had ever seen named Newton Crosby PhD (after Steve Guttenberg's Character in Short Circuit).