-
10 Questions with ... Laurie DeYoung
October 12, 2020
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
On September 29th, iHeartMedia Country WPOC/Baltimore morning personality Laurie DeYoung celebrated a remarkable 35th anniversary as host of the station’s “The Laurie DeYoung Show.” The event was marked on-air with call-ins from former members of her show, as well as a presentation to DeYoung of a 40-minute congratulatory video featuring co-workers past and present, along with several country artists offering her anniversary wishes.
DeYoung began her career at WMUZ/Detroit in 1975 when she was just 19, and went on to work at seven other stations, including WKLQ/Grand Rapids, MI and KBST/San Diego, before arriving at WPOC in 1985. She is a 2010 inductee into the Country Radio Hall of Fame, a 1994 inductee into the Maryland/D.C./Delaware Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame, and was named the Country Music Association’s (CMA) Large Market Personality of 1994 and Major Market Personality in 2014.
1. We have 35 years worth of ground to cover, but let’s start with the last six months. What has it been like for you continuing your show through a pandemic? Where have you been broadcasting from, and what have the challenges been?
Some of our folks -- a lot of them -- have been [working from] home, but I didn’t want to lose the phones. I know that there are ways to make everything happen, but when you’re doing a morning show like we have with three people total including me, we all would have been broadcasting from separate locations trying to do that. And with delays and all that, it just seems kind of [tough]. One of my strengths is being able to talk to our listeners.
When this first happened, right as things were starting to close in the state of Maryland, I said to my husband, “These are the kinds of moments I’m born for.” I’m your person. I want to be here. I want to talk to our listeners because it was such a scary time. I didn’t want to be home and have technical problems, or not be able to have the phone to be able to make those connections with listeners. So I was really excited when I discovered that they were going to let us still come in.
Right now it’s been me and [morning team member] Francesca [Presti] both here. We have a unique setup for the last several years with separate studios. So there’s [Jeff] St. Pierre, there’s Francesca and there’s me on the show, and we’re all in separate studios. My studio is kind of in the middle, and we’re separated by glass. And then each [of their] studios are on the other sides of me. So you have visual, you can still see the person for reactions and different things, but we can all still work while we’re in our separate studios. So, this was perfect because we could still go to work, but not be close together. Then St. Pierre decided he wanted to broadcast from home. The two of us women are [still] here, and the offices have literally been closed [since] the very end of March. So there’s no other staff here … For me, that helps my mental health to try to keep a routine [by coming in every day].
2. So you and Francesca have just been rattling around in the offices like it’s a ghost town every morning for all these months?
I was joking to a friend of mine the other day who’s a therapist. I said, “People are having such a hard time because they can’t be with people to talk to them.” I said, “I go in every day and talk to people I don’t see.”
For the last 45 years I’ve been talking to people that I can’t see. It just kind of dawned on me because [my therapist friend] was talking about how loneliness has been the big thing for most people, and certainly if you live alone. But … I don’t think in my job it was as big of an adjustment as it would be in some other kinds of jobs.
It’s been interesting. I’ve become very close to Francesca. We’ve had so much time just together. So that’s been really kind of a new dynamic because she’s the newest person on my show. She’ll have been here, I think, about three years by December. So that’s been fun getting to know her on a deeper level.
3. Other than being able to utilize the phones on your show, in what other ways have you tried to stay connected to your community during this crazy time? And what are some of the challenges that have been associated with that when you can’t get out and about to events?
The thing we miss the most is just going to concerts where you get to see a lot of the people who listen to the show. That’s where we actually do get to kind of reach out and touch and all of that. So, here’s an example of something we’re doing [instead]. Every year we do our big “Sunday in the Country” show, which is our big signature show that is really a tradition for people in this area. They plan their vacations around not missing “Sunday in the Country,” but obviously we can’t do that. So we’re giving away some backyard barbecues. What you get besides everything that goes with the backyard barbecue, like a cooler, and food and games and all that, we’re having artists drop in on a Zoom. [We’re also doing] some happy hours with listeners by Zoom … So, there are ways to still reach out and touch people. It’s obviously very different than what we’re used to, but we’re doing the best we can when it comes to all of that.
4. You’ve been the marquee name on your own show for a long time. How surprising is it to you that, in 2020, it’s still fairly remarkable to see a female broadcaster top-lining a morning show?
Yeah, that is surprising to me. I thought we’d see more of that … When I started in radio, it was such a strange thing. I can remember when we would do live broadcasts in Nashville. I can’t tell you how many artists, when they sat down to talk to us, said, “Oh my gosh, it’s a woman,” because everyone who was interviewing them, all the disc jockeys that were there, were all men. There are still a lot of shows that incorporate men and women, but you’re right. I still don’t think there’s a lot of women whose names are on the show solely. I’m always surprised that there is not more of that.
5. You are, obviously, beloved in Baltimore, and now have second and probably third generations of listeners in the same family connecting with your show. What’s the secret sauce for creating those kinds of bonds with the audience and keeping them coming back even when they have so many other audio options?
I don’t know that I have any secret sauce. I think I owe a lot of it to the people of Baltimore. This community, they are very loyal. It’s the city where more people will buy their parents’ homes, will stay here if they were born here. This is a town where if people grow to love you, you will [continue to] be loved. It lasts. I’m not saying you could never do anything to upset the apple cart, but they embraced me, and I felt that, because I have done radio in other markets. I remember when I worked in San Diego many years ago, it was hard to get people to care about radio, let alone you … You were just part of the noise. But in Baltimore, I’ve seen it with our TV folks who have been anchors [here] for many years. One of the guys that used to be on my show years ago, Marty Bass, he’s still doing weather on one of the local TV stations here, and he’s been there for over 40 years. That’s Baltimore. It’s something about this town. It’s how the people are wired here. They’re very loyal. If they love you, they will love you forever.
6. In addition to your relationship with your listeners, you have a great bond with Country artists, who love coming on your show. How do you make artists — especially baby acts — feel comfortable, and what are your tips for getting a great interview out of them?
First of all, if you’re going to be interviewing them about a new album, make sure you’ve heard it. I’m always shocked that people do interviews without doing that. I remember once somebody was doing an interview with me and their first question was, “Now, what radio station do you work for?” And I thought, “Really?” Once an artist understands that you care enough to invest some time into what they’ve been working at, that goes miles. Then learn about an artist.
If you’re talking to Lauren Alaina, she can talk to wallpaper. She she’s just an effervescent person. It doesn’t take anything to bring out answers and interesting stories. But if you’re talking to some other people, Alan Jackson is a good example, he’s a quiet guy, but he loves to talk about old cars. He loves to talk about fishing and boating. So find out what it is that kind of lights that person’s fire.
I was doing an interview a little while ago with Riley Green. I’ve never met Riley, but I could tell by some of his music that his grandparents, [and] where he came from, were all very important to him. He’s kind of a quiet guy too, but we got talking a little bit about his grandparents, and their influence, and how they used to have these musical nights where he’d sit around with all these older folks and hear them play music, and how this had such a huge influence. I thought, “Let me throw out a name,” and I said, “I bet you know some David Allan Coe.” And Riley says, “Oh my gosh, I ended my show every night with ‘You Never Even Called Me By My Name.’” I’m like, “That’s my favorite [Coe] song,” and we made this connection, and all of a sudden there wasn’t a gap. It was like we were just talking about music, and he just came to life between talking about his grandfathers, both of them, who he was very close to, and just talking about that rich heritage, and then the fact that he honors that in his shows by playing a song that his [family] loved. It was just such a sweet moment.
Do your homework, because you can get information just about anywhere now. You want to be sure it’s accurate information, but it’s not hard to find out that Russell Dickerson’s new child was named Remington. When I heard that I thought, “Oh, that must be a family name.” But no, it’s kind of a faith-based reference to being planted by the water. It’s like a biblical thing. Their faith is very important to them. I love that. Find out things like that.
7. Any Country artists you’ve known for a long time that you’re particularly fond of talking to?
I’ve always loved Keith Urban. I knew him before he got his teeth fixed. I always tell him that. Keith, consistently over the years, has always been lovely. Every time I’ve interviewed him, he brings a lot of great energy. He laughs easily, all the things that make for a really good interview.
It’s artists who have humility, and I think in the Country world there is more of that. I worked in rock radio for years where it was much cooler to have kind of an attitude, a chip on your shoulder. Martina McBride is another one [I love interviewing]. Going back in time, I could talk to Mary Chapin Carpenter forever, but there are plenty of the newer artists who I find enchanting as well.
8. Any funny “interview gone wrong” stories from your career, or just some funny or memorable ones?
Dolly Parton! I was so thrilled to get to talk to her. I had just had one of my kids, I can’t remember which one, but I’m always fascinated when you’re pregnant by how many people in public will touch your stomach. I think that’s the weirdest thing. Like, “Why do you think, because my stomach is sticking out, you can put your hands on it?” So I was telling this to Dolly and I said, “I know you don’t have kids, but you still have part of your body that sticks out, and I’m wondering, does anybody ever just come up and touch you?” I think she was shocked a little bit. And then she goes, “Well, kids will do that.” Kids will give her a squeeze. I just thought that was a funny thing … I mean, to them it probably looks like blow up raft or something.
I remember one time we were doing a live broadcast [from Nashville] and I was talking to Neal McCoy and he just went off on me about the fact that we weren’t playing his current single. The truth was I had nothing to do with picking the songs that we played, but it was an awkward moment trying to still be gracious while this person is kind of bashing you.
9. Back to the pandemic for a moment, how difficult has it been to watch the devastating impact it has had on an industry you love with the many rounds of layoffs that have been happening? Do you think radio will weather this storm?
It’s heartbreaking. I’m not a doomsday kind of person. I always think things will bounce back. History has shown that they generally do. Now, I think the world’s going to look much different after what we’ve all gone through. I think there will be fewer companies that make everybody come into work. Some people have actually thrived working from home as opposed to being [in an office]. Other people have really felt like, “I can’t wait to get back in there.” So it will be interesting to see just what the world looks like three or four years down the road. But I think there’s still going to be Country shows and there’s still going to be promotions. Pretty much our whole promotions department had to be furloughed except for our director because we can’t do events. [But] I think those events are going to come back. People are still going to want to go to shows.
I think all of this is happening slower than everyone was hoping. Don’t you remember when this first started? You thought, “Well, this will probably be a couple of weeks.” And now we’re like, “Will this be all of 2021?” All the artists bumped their concerts to spring or summer of 2021. I’m sure they’re wondering.
If Kenny Chesney has to miss a year and a half [of touring], he can survive, but there are artists whose careers are just starting or people whose crews they can’t really afford to pay when they’re off the road. So, our heart breaks for all of that. That is tough. But I do think it will come back. Do I think it might look different? Do I think there will be a few [less] people in the business? Probably, but I think it will thrive and survive as it always seems to do whenever there’s a change.
This is a major change, but I can remember when MTV first came on, I was at a rock station and they were like, “This is the end of radio.” Or when there [started to be] a lot of ways you could get information and music and content, and everybody was like, “Wow, what will happen to radio?” [But] I think we’re going to be okay.
10. What do the next 35 years look like for you, and for how many of them do you hope to keep broadcasting?
If there’s one question I get asked more than any other, it’s that. Do you remember Helen Thomas who used to work [as a White House correspondent for United Press International]? I was interviewing her and she was, like, 80 and I asked her that question. She was very offended. I thought at the time, “That’s not an unusual question. There aren’t many people I know who work into their eighties.” But I understand that what she meant by it was [that her age is] the thing people see when they see her, and I think that was hard for her. So I remember that interview and I’ll always remember her response. [But] I think it’s a very natural question when anybody’s been here as long as I have.
I don’t know when I’ll leave radio, but I know I re-signed a contract. So right now, it’s until the end of 2022. So as far as WPOC, I’ll be here at least that long. I always say [I’ll stay] until it’s not fun anymore for me or for them. Face it, we’re products as well as people here, and ratings dictate how long you make it. We’ll see if everybody’s still happy when the time comes, if we’ll keep going forward. I don’t know.
Bonus Questions
How did it feel to be inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame a decade ago, and now to be celebrating your 35th anniversary?
Abraham Lincoln, I think, was the person who said, “Good or bad, if somebody is talking about you, you haven’t been forgotten.” I think that’s really true. And in a day and age when I think people can just discard people pretty quickly … if somebody wants to wave a flag about something, that’s great.
Your listeners feel like they know you, but what are some of the strangest things they’ve said when they actually meet you for the first time?
People will tell me I looked like I gained weight, lost weight, or they liked my other hair color better. I met a lady once and she said, “Your boobs don’t look that big on the radio.” What do you say to that?
Everybody’s getting into the podcast game these days. Ever been tempted to do something beyond iHeart’s regular podcast of your morning show? If so, what kind of podcast would you love to do?
I don’t know. I have mixed feelings about it. I know a lot of people love podcasts and are devoted to it, and there may come a time when we’re all [told], “You guys have got to come up with a podcast.”
I could see doing something with interviews, because my favorite thing, besides music, is connecting with people, just great conversations. I love nothing more than sitting around a dinner table at my house with friends and talking about things that matter to us. So, I could see doing something like that. But always in the back of my mind, I think, “There’s so much of that already out there. A lot of people are doing interviews shows with people on a national level.” I’m a good, hard worker, but I want to make sure that what I put my time into that there’s going to be a good outcome as far as just, will this be something that enough people listen to? But I guess until you do it, you don’t know, right?
-
-