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10 Questions with ... Moby in the Morning
September 10, 2007
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TITLE:President/CEOSTATION:several (Check my web site)COMPANY:Moby EnterprisesBORN:yes, long ago and far awayRAISED:by wolves (Kidding) Crossville, TN
Please outline your radio career so far:
69-71 WCSV Crossville, TN
72-73 WAEW Crossville, TN
73-73 WKRM Columbia, TN
73-74 WAMB Nashville, TN (Big Bands a real highlight)
74-79 WKDA-FM/WKDF Nashville, TN
79-81 WKQB (Rock 106) Nashville, TN
81-81 WQXM (98 Rock) Tamps/St. Pete, FL
81-86 KSRR (97 Rock) Houston, TX
86-88 KEGL Dallas, TX
88-91 KLOL Houston, TX
91-02 WKHX Atlanta
02 (6 months in hell) Z93 Atlanta
02 (World's highest paid traffic reporter) Z93 Atlanta
03-present Moby Network (launched July 04)1) First, the obvious question, why Moby and who gave you that name?
Well, I was a bald, heavily tattooed techno-pop DJ in NYC. No, that story's been told by Herman Melville's nephew. I was a 12-year-old boy living near a state park near my boyhood home in Tennessee. I was too young to get a real job. Yes they had child labor laws even way back then.
I would go to "the old swimming hole" every day, and the lifeguards, a group of college boys who were much more interested in flirting with the tourist's daughters than in "raking the beach" would let me in swimming free if I did all their dirty work.
They stuck the nickname "Moby" on me. I loved it. After all they were the cool college lifeguards. When my schoolmates would come to the park, I was hanging out with those wildly mature guys. So, they heard the nickname and it was permanently affixed.
By time for the senior portrait in my High School annual, by the photo it says "Moby". My dear, sweet mother preferred being called "Mama Moby". So, the name way predates radio in my life.
2) What was growing up in Crossville, TN like and is it true you aspired to be a high school band director as a kid?
Growing up in a small town like Crossville was great and not so great all at the same time. The Palace Theatre had only one screen. When a new movie came out that we heard about, it was off to Knoxville, Nashville or Chattanooga. Any new movie was a road trip with my buddies. It was a small town. The news of what you did frequently beat you home. "Son, you didn't drive to Knoxville tonight did you?"
A band director? Yeah, that was what I thought I'd like to be while I was in High School. My band director was Robert Stepp, and what a great influence he was on me during those years. I wanted to be like him. I went to Belmont College (Belmont University now) for the sole reason they had a very persuasive recruiting department. Looking back, it probably wasn't the right place for a kid to go with the aspirations I had. For one thing, there was no marching band.
But there was the infancy of their now world famous music business department.
Was I in the wrong school, or was I just there 10 years too early? Doesn't much matter now, does it? I'd begun dabbling in radio at age 15, and made the decision to commit myself to it.
3) How did you end up working in radio when you were young and what was your first hourly wage?
A gentleman named Mac Johnson owned WCSV in Crossville, and he used a boy from the High School to do part time on the air, empty the trash, and wash his car.
The kid he had thought it would be a good idea to have a party at Mack's station after "sign-off", but Mack didn't agree. So, after he fired him, he called my dad, and said something like, "Jim, you got a boy over at the High School don't you?"
"Yeah. What did he do?"
"Reckon he'd like to come work for me at the radio station?"
"Son, come in here!! You want to work on the radio for Mack Johnson?"
It was gospel music on Sunday mornings for $1.60 per hour. But I was, by God, on the radio. It was October of 1969. I love to say, "Yeah, I was on the air in the 60s." Well, I was. I seldom elaborate.
4) You quit school while at Belmont to take a radio job, we bet mom was thrilled. What were you studying and what job did you leave for?
As I've said, I was majoring in Music Education at Belmont in Nashville. That lasted only a year and a half when I decided I was going to be in radio. I'd taken a job at WAEW in Crossville for Warren Dean. $100 per week, working 9:00-Noon, 1:00-4:00, and 6:00-11:00.
Mama was POed like you wouldn't believe, but the other nurses at the hospital would tell her they'd heard me on the air. So, she was OK for the time being. Years later, she was really happy with my decision when I bought her a car, and sent her on some trips.
5) You worked at WKDF during its heyday as a rocker. You must have had at least a 75-share. Seriously, what was that like and just how big were the numbers.
That was a long time ago, but I'll never forget those numbers. I was doing 7-midnight, and had a 50 share. Of course half that audience was probably fried, but they had their radios on. One of my current day radio heroes was there. Carl P. Mayfield was the afternoon guy. I was there when he first went to mornings. Isn't it ironic that he and I switched to country within one month of each other?
6) You were in Houston and then Dallas for many years in Rock, how did you make the switch to Country at WKHX/Atlanta and why?
I'm from Crossville, TN, and I've always sounded like it. I'll never forget the GM's quote at KLOS just before they hired Mark & Brian. The PD was all hot on hiring me. The GM gave a listen and said, "I'm gonna bring a Rock & Roll Jethro Bodine out here." My friends and co-workers had said for many years that I was meant to be on country radio. Even the agent I had at the time, Saul Foos, felt that way. There was an opportunity at WKHX that his good friend & GM Norm Schrutt felt I would fit nicely into. The hardest part of the decision was leaving Texas. I'd really grown to love Texas, and had done quite well there. But it was the chance to be in the format that I thought I would end up in someday. Of course, the money didn't suck. So, it was a well-financed venture into unfamiliar turf.
7) What was your perception of Country radio when you were competing against us? You get extra points for honesty.
If for "extra points" I should say something negative here about country radio before I made the switch, I'll have to leave those points in your pocket. KIKK, and KILT were presets on my radio in Houston. KPLX in Dallas was in my ears constantly. Terry Dorsey and I became friends before he moved over to KSCS. As a matter of fact, I think I played a role in his decision to make that move.
8) Did you like Country music before you made the switch?
Yes, I did. As a matter of fact, even in my bluest shock jock days, I'd let it be known in interviews that I really enjoyed country music.
There have been some R&R GM's & PD's that weren't too happy about that.
9) How did you get the idea for the syndicated show?
From '93-'98, ABC syndicated my show out of the WKHX studio each morning.
We were on 38 radio stations, although most in small markets.
When Victor Sansone told me they'd opted not to renew my contract in 2002 (amazing how that felt just like being fired), I vowed not to leave the Atlanta area.
I had this vision of doing independent syndication. My dear, dear wife asked me would I rather try & fail or spend the rest of my life and career wondering if I could have done it?
10) As a radio guy, are you torn, knowing that a young talent can be doing those morning shows locally?
Tell you what. I'll give you extra points if can convince me you're serious about this question. I'm much less intrusive on these baby broadcasters than the voice tracking big companies. I think I might feel more torn if the major players hired an all night guy, or even a 7-midnight "live & local" DJ. This all stopped being about talent & entertainment about the same time big business realized the amount of money they could make by owning all the stations, and having the same set of pipes on several of them. It all changed when the major operators were consolidated into 4 or 5 boardrooms with more bean counters than broadcasters. Am I torn? Hardly. I've got a 5 year old to raise, and a brand new grandbaby to spoil. I can tell you the name of dozens of members of my audience and the names of their kids. I've sung at the weddings of their children, and the funerals of their parents. Ask the name of even one listener around any of those conference tables. I call it the Moby in the morning radio family for a reason.
Bonus Questions
1. What would be a favorite Moby meal?
Well, I love sushi- no kidding. I really do. I don't care so much what the opening act is, as long as the headliner is chocolate.
2. What disc is currently in the player that you can't get enough of?
Things you've probably never heard of- YET. I love the big acts, but that's my work.
3. How early do you get up? What time do you hit the sack?
Up at 4:00a & in bed whenever I can get there, normally by around 10:00p. And I never nap.
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