10 Questions with ... Joe Wade Formicola

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

During his 1987-1995 run in mornings at WWWW (W4)/Detroit, Formicola was honored with the 1988 CMA Personality Of The Year award. In 1995, he joined crosstown Country WYCD/Detroit. He was a nationally syndicated personality with Westwood One from 2010-2015. Early career stops included serving as PD of KENR/Houston in 1979 before moving on to the OM/PD chair at WKIX/Raleigh, NC.

1. Let's begin by asking what induction into the Country Radio Hall Of Fame means to you. What do you think it says about your radio career?

In record business, they use to say these guys have a lot of hits, but now they have a catalog. And I think really, for me, its 47 years of a catalog of a lot of different hits, so to speak. Starting out being a PD - you know, I was a young guy - and winning a Billboard Award in 1976. I remember I was talking to a guy at the station, and I said, "Man, I'll never win one of those." And he said, "Well, how do you know?" I said, "I'm not good enough." He said - this is the best line, and I've always used it since - he said, "Why don't you let them decide?" And by golly, I won. I never had the guts to think that would happen. Now, I always tell people never take yourself out of anything; let them decide. It's been a catalog of an interesting career. I'm not going to lie, there is a lot of hills, and there's a lot of valleys. I've been fired six times, and I can't tell you one good reason why I was. One time I was Employee of the Month, and they fired me! Another time I was number two in Morning Drive in a big city. I don't understand it. I don't know what it was all about. I tell people that I always loved the business better than some of the people I worked with in the business. I never gave up on the business, and the business never gave up on me. Eddie Weiss, who is one of my dear friends and one of my bosses in Raleigh, is a big supporter of mine. He's coming to the dinner, and I'm so honored. He said to me, "Joe, it just takes one guy to believe in you." And, sometimes it took a while for that one person to believe in me when I was out for two or three years. I just kept going. I thank God, because I thought about getting out of the business, but what I am going to do? So, I stayed with it. I think the abilities that God gave me - and my will to keep going - kept me alive in this business, and it means a lot to me. It's something that somebody said, "Hey, you had a really good career. Why don't we honor you with this? You had a great catalog." And it really does mean a lot to me, personally. I have a grandson. He's a little baby, but maybe one day down the line, he'll have a family and say, "Hey, let's go to Nashville. I want to show you my grandfather."

2. Tell us about your first radio job. Certainly, you remember that gig and have some stories to share from that first experience, correct?

The very first radio job, I lived in metro Detroit - just outside of Detroit. I got a job on Sundays in Sandusky. It was about a two-and-a-half-hour drive in the middle of nowhere on Sunday morning. And, I just went up there played a few records for free. I had to figure out what to do, and that lasted about three to four weeks. And I told the guy - I'll never forget, his name was Ed Stimpson - I said, "Hey, Ed I just got a job up in Port Huron doing weekends." And, he looked at me and said, "I've been trying to get in there for three years." I said, "Well they hired me." So, I went to Port Huron and did weekends at WPHM-A/Port Huron, and I did that for a while. They let me go, and then they hired me back. And, I stayed there for a couple of years; it was so much fun. You know, back in those days you didn't want to leave the radio station. When you were off the air, you would come back at night and hang around! We didn't know what to do. We just loved it so much. We just lived there. If you weren't on Sundays, you still went in on Sundays. "I'll cut a few spots." You know, lets bump some records. We laughed - boy, did we laugh. We laughed, and we learned, and we loved every minute of it. This wasn't a job! Understand? "You work in insurance? What is that? Why? We've got to go to the radio station and hang around." It was a blast. It was just so much fun.

3. What station or personality did you listen to most growing up? And how did either - or both - influence your pursuit of a radio career?

When I was a kid - I grew up in Detroit, as I said - I was a little guy with a transistor radio, and I used to listen WXYZ-A/Detroit and all of those kinds of things. In tenth grade, my buddy from down the street - his brother was captain of the Michigan golf team, and he was a lot older than him - and we went to the Motor City Golf Tournament. He brought me with them, my buddy and his older brother. And those guys are watching golf, and I see this trailer. It was Dave Prince, and it was from some radio station. I stared at it and looked at him for three hours. The guy is in there spinning records; he's having a cup of coffee, waving to me, and people are coming in, and he's interviewing them. He comes out with a cigarette and says, "How's it going, kid?" "Oh, great," I said, "That's a job?" That guy has got a job that is the coolest job I've ever seen. I stared at the guy for three hours. I didn't watch any golf, I watched him! All these golfers would come in, and he would interview them. He came out, talked to another guy. It was unbelievable! And then later, I went to the Detroit Auto Show, which is a big thing. I saw J.P. McCarthy there. I said, "Excuse me. How do you get into this?" He looked at me and said, "Kid, just keep turning on that mic. Just keep turning on that mic." See, Detroit - what's so great about it - we weren't New York or LA. The stars are the radio or television people - those are the big stars. I didn't know them, but I saw them. Nobody lives next door to a big radio person! You didn't know them. You listened to them, and they were the key. So, I kind of grew up with some - Dick Purtan was there when I was kid, and Lee Allen - some great talents! That's the thing about Chicago, and Detroit, and Philly. The stars were the local media. New York had big stars, and L.A. had movie stars. But, Detroit and Chicago and all of those kind of places, we had the media stars, and they were good ones.

4. Mentors - everybody has a few of them. Who was it for you that helped you, challenged you, and made you believe you could actually make this a career?

Well, I've got to say Eddie Weiss. He was the GM when I was in Houston was a PD. I was a young guy. I went to Houston from Flint. I didn't know anything about Country, but I went and did that. And, I was a relatively good success. The station wasn't sure what they were doing, but anyway... I got hired in Raleigh, and I remember Dave Plem said, "I have 3 jobs. I got Tucson, St. Louis, and Raleigh." I said, "St. Louis? Come on, I was in Houston." He said, "Yeah, but you might want to go to Raleigh. These guys really want you." So, I went to Raleigh, and they gave me as much as I made in Houston. They gave me a car! And, the deal was the station was Top 40, and we were going to take it to Country - which we did - and then we ended up being the Country station in North Carolina. Won a Billboard Award there, too. But Eddie Weiss was a big fan of mine, and he always used to tell me, "You don't belong here." And I said, "What are you talking about?" He said, "You don't belong here. You belong in a big city." So - I'll never forget this - E. Karl called me. Do you remember a guy named E. Karl? So, he calls me and says, "Joe, my name is E. Karl. We're opening up a Country station in Atlanta. You're at the top of the list, and we want you to do mornings." I said, "Wow. I've got to talk to my wife." Turns out, I didn't take it. And, I didn't take it for a couple of reasons. First of all, our daughter was just born. My wife's in North Carolina. I was making pretty good money in Raleigh. I said, "I really appreciate it, but I think I am going to stay here." And, then of course, Eddie said to me that I had made a mistake. But he said, "Okay, I'm going to the next name on the list." This is a true story. I said, "Can I just find out what the name is?" And he said to me, "Yeah is Rhubarb." Rhubarb Jones. I know he passed away. He always knew that story, because I told him "You know, I turned it down." He goes, "I know. And, when they called me, I said, 'Call the Wynn Dixie! We're getting the boxes, and we're going to Atlanta!'" That was a true story about that. But anyway, when I decided to go to Detroit, I was out of work, actually. Change of ownership, and see, that's what happens when you get a change of ownership. I was doing great in Raleigh, but I was out of a job. Barry Martin called me for seven months. I was from Detroit. He said, "Look. You wanna come here and do mornings?" And I said, "Eh, I dunno. I've got to figure something out." Anyway, he kept calling me. I was out of money, and my wife said, "We're broke. You better do something." So, I flew into Detroit. It was Thanksgiving week, and we talked, and we talked. I flew back after I told him, "Well, this is what I'm gonna need." He called on Thanksgiving and said, "You got it. When can you start?" So, I went. But this is what Eddie Weiss told me. He said, "The only difference between you and Rick Dees and these guys, Joe, is they have help. When you go to Detroit, you're probably going to get help." And, he was right. Because I got Kenny, this young Producer kid, and he was amazing. I said to him, "What do you do?" He said, "I can get you spots. I do this, I do that." I said, "Well, do you do anything else? Because, I can write stuff, but I don't do much of the other." He said, "Oh yeah. I play the guitar, I play piano, I can sing. I can do the Production room." I said, "You're kidding! Here, go try this." Handed him something, and he came back 20 minutes later with the best thing I have ever heard. I had a co-host, and a couple of news people, and a couple of guys, and I said, "Alright. I've got a team here. Alright guys, gather around, because this is what we're gonna do." That year, when the first book came out, I got called in. They said, "It's the worst book we've ever had." I said, "I'm sorry." See, I had a deal, and I told my wife I'd go in there, and I'd start making phone calls. I'd be Joe Wade. Not a jerk, but it'd be a different kind of show! The old man looked up and said, "We're sticking with you, because we think you are the right guy." Okay, guess what. We go from 11 to number one that year, and I won a CMA Award. Unbelievable. Phil looked at me and said, "You're the right thing. This is the right thing." And Bill Clark, the other guy, always said, "We had to have someone we could hang our hat on. And, you were the right guy. You were a native Detroiter, you knew everything, and we went with you." And, they stuck with me. They signed me a new contract, and life goes on.

5. Thirteen years combined on the two Detroit Country outlets, and you grew up there, too. How impactful is it to spend that many years in one market and in one format? And particularly in the market you grew up in?

It was unbelievable. First of all, it was my hometown. I knew everything; I knew how to pronounce the name of the streets. I grew up there. I talked about going to St. Joan of Arch. I talked about this and that, and I talked about high school. I knew all of that. The first thing I did when I would go on is mention I went to St. Joan of Arc. So, I was immediately accepted. I was a blue-collar guy. Let me tell you something about Detroit. Detroit likes Detroit. Most people don't like Detroit. They don't like working there, and they don't want to come there. I used to say the only people who want to come to Detroit want to play for the Red Wings. We love Detroiters. When I was on the air doing mornings in Detroit - except for Dick Purtan who had been there 20 years - we were all native Detroiters. J.P., me, Tommy Ryan, JJ were all born and raised Detroit guys and gals. We were about Detroit. My parents, and my aunts and uncles, and all those relatives see those billboards with my name on them all over town - that was a thrill. This was my hometown. There was a time in Detroit, when I was doing Country, I could have said, "Hey, I need a thousand guys in pickup trucks to meet me at Tiger Stadium on Saturday," and I would have gotten five thousand. I didn't talk over them, and I didn't talk under them. I talked to them; I was one of them. I was a blue-collar guy from the suburbs. My dad wasn't poor, but he wasn't rich. He was a World War II guy. These guys could trust me, because I was one of them. I told the truth. I never went to Disney World. Barry would say, "Let's go to Disney," and I would say, "No, I'm not going there. Because, my listeners can't afford to go. Why should I go and brag about what I great time I'm having? I'm not doing it." Barry said okay, "I'll send Sergeant Dave." I wanted them to think I wasn't one of them. If we are going to Disney, we're all going to figure out how to get ourselves there! I love that town. I got a letter from a girl, she wrote me a letter that said: "I just want you to know that you went to college with me." I thought "Really?" as I'm reading the letter. She said in there, "I tuned you in when I started my freshman year, and I listened to your every day. And now, four years later, I'm graduating. And, I just realized that every day, I listened to you. You went to school with me. Thank you." You know getting those kids of letters. Insurance guys don't get those kinds of letters.

6. At has been one for many years, but in your opinion, what made The Motor City such a strong market for the Country format?

Well, it is because of the people that are there. After World War II, people came here from Kentucky and the South. These people came here because there were jobs here. So, they came up to work in the factories. These are generations of people. They used to have a group call The Kentuckians that owned about 15 acres of land, and every summer they had group and they all had their sticks and what county in Kentucky they were from. I went over there and spoke to that group, and I couldn't get out of there. I was mobbed! It was unbelievable. The people are blue collar - second generation, third generation, and fourth generation - and they are blue collar people, and it's a Rock n' Roll town. But, it's also a Country town. A guy that used to listen to us all the time was [Bob] Seger! We got notes from him; he loved it. It' just a big blue-collar area, and these are just normal, average Joes. They didn't wear a lot of cowboy hats and boots, but they do some of them. But, it's a big blue-collar city with real people, and they drive pickup trucks, and they go to work. There's a lot of generations from the South that came after World War II. There we no jobs in the South - in Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina. So, the Southerners showed up there, and they are still there. There used to be these little lakes about two hours from Detroit, and you would these things they built themselves in the summers when they would go up there. The families would go up there, and they would stay and work in the factories. This is the way Detroit was built. They make good money in the factories, don't get me wrong. But, it was a huge blue-collar town. I would just talk to them. I was the same as them. There is an area, Downriver, where most of the Country folks are from in Macomb County. Oakland County is a little more exclusive, and Wayne County is a little more Detroit. It's a huge Country market. It took Country too long to really grow there, because I think everybody was thinking it was a Rock n' Roll town and all that. But it was WEXL-A, a little AM that was there. And, as soon as WWWW hit the market, man we went through the roof. We rode the wave for many, many years.

7. But Detroit wasn't the only market where you left your mark. You were in Houston during the "Urban Cowboy" era if I recall. Is that correct?

Yeah. When I got the job, I was PD in Flint, but it wasn't at a Country station. The guys that owned the station in Houston owed two of them, and they owned one in Tampa. They called the guy there, and they said, "Who's the Program Director at WFDF?" And, they said, "Well, his name is Joe Wade." They said, "Well, he does a damn good job. Can we get a hold of him?" So, they called me, and they flew me to Houston. They talked to me, and I said, "I don't anything about Country." They said, "It's not about Country. It's about doing radio, just for Country music." And, so I said okay. They offered me good money, and it was a good jump from Flint to Houston at 28 years old. A PD at 28! It was the time right before Urban Cowboy, during Urban Cowboy, and just after Urban Cowboy. The interesting thing about Keener was, we had that stage at Gilley's. I'll give you a great Gilley's story. We had the stage there, so every Saturday night at 10:15p, we would broadcast live from Gilley's, me and Jeff Mack, who was single then. Jeff and I would drive - he was my Music Director. We would go there, and we'd go in this little booth, and we'd broadcast. "Live from Gilley's, here's Willie Nelson," or whoever is there. We did 45 minutes. We'd point to them, and they would start. If you have the "Urban Cowboy" soundtrack album, and you open it up - and you see the little stage right there - the little booth right there says Kenner on it. So, we were there during that. And then "Urban Cowboy" came about. Now, Sherwood Cryer really owned Gilley's. This is how smart Cryer was. If you were a Country DJ in Houston, Texas, there were three main stations - Keener, Kick, and K-News. Sherwood knew who all the jocks were. You could go to Gilley's any day of the week, and you could go back to where Sherwood's office was and go sign in. You put the time down, and you'd get three drink tickets. You got to stay at least two hours - he knew what time you'd signed in - and come back, sign out, and he'd give you a hundred bill. Guys were going five days a week! Five hundred dollars! Sherwood was smart. He knew those guys were talking about it. "I'm at Gilley's tonight. If you see me, I'll buy you a drink." Nobody does that anymore. Nobody. So, then "Urban Cowboy" comes out, and it's a fight between KIKK and us to get there. Joe Ladd was supposed to be in the movie, but he got cut, so that kind of helped. We ended up doing the premiere first - geez, I can't even remember where we did it. Anyway, we had the movie before KIKK, and then KIKK had it later that day or night. It was a huge time. Johnny Lee was the house band.

8. When you went back to Detroit, did you notice or feel any kind of difference between the Country fans in the two markets?

Houston was classy. The jeans were starched. They dressed immaculately. Jeans were starched - you had a crease in jeans - shirts were starched. Detroit was a little more lose, you know. Just working type people. Detroit people got off from the factory, and they showed up. Houston was a classy looking bunch of folks. When I was in Houston - RJ, I don't know if you know this or not - it was twice as big as Dallas. The city was twice as big as Dallas in 1979. Unbelievable. Houston was a very modern town, and it was a tough market, because there was no dominate station. If you go to the East, you had 'KYW in Philly, but there was no number one in Houston. Everybody was fighting for a position. It was very interesting.

9. A lot of people have expressed concern about where the next generation of new, great air personalities will come from. Where do you think the next great radio star will come from, with fewer and fewer "farm team" type opportunities in radio?

You know what, this is a great question. Let me tell you what I realized when I went syndicated. Here's the difference. And, I've told a lot of people this - I told Lisa McKay this. I said the different between me and local radio guys nowadays is, you see your guys as a distraction, and all you do is tell them to shut up and talk over the songs. Syndicated people, like me, are an attraction. Nobody hires Joe Wade because he does fifteen-in-a-row! There is big difference right now. Local radio is afraid that they're a distraction. "Alright, just talk over the song, don't say too much. You're talking too much." That's all bullshit. If you're an entertainer, you're an entertainer. They are going to have to come from the small markets where they are not under the pressure of PPMs and a lot of ratings. These guys have to learn how to be personalities! When I was in Port Huron, Michigan, I was a young guy - probably about 21 - and I thought I was a Rock jock. I wasn't; I wasn't playing Rock music, I was playing Frank Sinatra. The guy said to me, "Hey, you gotta talk. You gotta say something." I learned how to be a personality. Local radio people right now are seen as a distraction. Radio guys tell me this all the time. "Oh, I've gotta talk over the intros, I can't say anything." Syndicated people - unlike local radio networks - we're an attraction. No one sells Joe Wade or any other of these good talents by saying, "We gotta get Joe 15-in-a-row! He doesn't say crap!" Nobody does that. So, there is your big difference right now. A lot of local radio guys are seen as a distraction. They are going to have to come from small markets. Cheryl Coin owns a bunch a radio stations in Michigan. I used to work with her, and she was in sales a WWWW. She just bought about seven other radio stations, her and her husband, and she understands this. It's not a big ratings thing up there. They're going to learn to be personalities, and they are going to grow, and she's probably going to lose them eventually. But, she understands what's good now. That's what I could never understand about not hiring somebody like me when I was out of work. "Oh, you're not going to stay here long." But, don't you want me for a few years to help? Nobody sees this. You've got to be a visionary. I think they're coming for the little markets where they're allowed to perform.

10. Having worked in the format for years - and away from it for a while now - let's talk about where the format is going. What direction do you see it heading? Are the Pop, Hip-Hop, and Rock influences here to stay?

You hear that question all the time, RJ, because you and I go back. We were riding that wave, too. You were riding that wave in L.A. about the same time we were doing Detroit. When I was in Houston, you know, they complained that Alabama taking away from Mel Tillis. I was one of the first guys to play Alabama in Houston. I got a plaque from MJD Records before she sold to RCA. I got a plaque, and I asked Randy Owen, "Hey, what's this plaque?" He said, "Well, there's only ten of them, and you got one." I played "My Home Is In Alabama," and I heard, "What is this Alabama crap? Where is Mel Tillis? Where's Jeannie Seely? What are you people doing?" It'll go through it, and they'll figure it out. We'll just grow. There's some good Country stuff. There is some of this, some of that, and we'll survive. I mean, you've got to remember, too, Country music - in my opinion - is really the only adult new music format out there that is for adults. The other stuff is for younger people. That's why Classic Rock is so big. Country music is the adult new music format. They're playing our stuff. Everybody got upset when everybody starting playing Shania Twain and Faith Hill. I'm upset that we don't play Taylor Swift all the time. She was big for us, and we were big for her. And we can play her music once in a while; it's okay we don't have to load it up. We played enough Shania Twain didn't we? It was good stuff.

What has been your proudest moment in radio? Was it an off-air moment, or was it something that happened on-air?

There's so many. I'm happy to be alive! Do you realize that of my morning show at WYCD, I'm the only one alive? Bob Schumann, my news guy, died last year. Linda Lee died. That was my team. Linda's first show, big time, she was with me. We taught her radio. She was a young kid, and she was full of this, and I wouldn't say she wasn't very good, because she was pretty natural. But, we had to help her along. Linda was always very nice, sweet, and cared.

This moment is very proud for me, but I want to put the Hall Of Fame over to the side for a second. I want to say the CMA Award that I won while in my hometown of Detroit. Going to Nashville with my wife, and Dolly Parton mentioning my name. For my family in Detroit, that was a very huge moment. For me, my wife and kids, my mom and dad. And for Detroit. I was the first one ever in Detroit to win that, you know. Nobody in Detroit won a CMA Award. That was big for the city of Detroit. That was a big moment for WWWW. That was a big moment for me, too, but that team of mine - Kenny, Deena, those news ladies, all of the people. It was a big show, you know - three in the studio, and two in the news room - I shared that with everybody. That was big moment. We never realized how big we were in Detroit, because we didn't dwell on it. I remember asking Phil one time, "How are the ratings?" He said, "Ah, we're number one." He never even cared; nobody cared. We just kept going on. Okay, that's great. It was a family; that WWWW team was family. We were all very close. You don't get that anymore. You don't get that anywhere. A couple of people have died. The GM is dead, and Sharon Foster died. We lost four from that bunch. I talk to Barry Mardit every day. He's still one of my best friends. I'll never forget when he fired me. He called me in and said, "The new book came out. We're number three. Now this ain't my idea." I said, "Look, Barry. If you're firing me, you are going to get fired, too. You don't fire number one morning guy. This whole station is going to get fired." I was right. They fired me in February, and Barry was gone by May.