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10 Questions with ... Michael R. LaCrosse
June 26, 2023
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Born and raised in the Chicago area, I was fortunate to start my career there. Started as a board op and then got hired as promotions director for WNUA/Chicago (Smooth Jazz) and worked my way to become APD/MD. After 4 years there, became PD for WLS-FM/Chicago (Classic Hits). When Citadel was bought by Cumulus, I lost my job at WLS-FM and a month later was hired by iHeart for the OM position in Spokane. I was there for 18 months and was hired to be the PD of KOST/LA. After 4 years there, became the PD for KKCW (AC) and KLTH (Classic Hits) in Portland and then became the VPP for the Portland cluster. In 2020, became the PD of KBEB/Sacramento (Soft AC) and then became SVPP for the cluster in 2022. I also serve as the PD for iHeart's Smooth Jazz station and am part of the Critical Mass Media's music research team.
1. How would you describe your first radio gig?
My first job in radio was at a small station, WJJG-A in suburban Chicago. The station was in a converted apartment of a complex that was owned by the station owner. I was still a student at the time and I got hired because they had an AKAI audio editor that I knew how to use.
2. What led you to a career in radio?
Before I got into radio, I was a commodities trader at the Chicago Board Of Trade. Most of my family were traders – my Dad, my brother, uncles, cousins. I loved the pace and the excitement and the data analysis that was required in a matter of seconds. I just wasn't very good at it and needed to find another career. Listening to radio had been my escape for whatever stressors I was dealing with. It was filled with people who made me laugh or made me think and played music that could change my mood. I figured if it could do that for me, maybe I could be a part of it and make others feel the same way.
I was never interested in being on the air. I knew early on that there would be more opportunity behind the scenes. I put all my energy in to finding something where my love of music and desire to understand the science behind how stations ran could come together.
3. You programmed KOST/Los Angeles for the company for a while. What was that experience like for you?
It was a great experience and one I'll always be grateful for. I was fortunate enough to even be considered for that position, given that I was in Spokane at the time as the Ops Manager for the iHeart cluster there. Tony Coles was my SVPP and he called and said 'There might be an opening in Los Angeles. I threw your name out there, so if you get a call from L.A., answer it.' I never expected I'd hear anything about it again because I thought there was no chance someone in market 90-something would land in Los Angeles. But Andrew Jeffries called me and asked me to come down to meet the team. They either were really desperate or liked what they heard, even overlooking me telling them 'You know, you can't spell La Crosse without L.A.' For the record, I stand by that Dad joke.
Once I got there, I was able to collaborate with the best of the best. I mean, it's L.A. I would have been foolish not to take advantage of the access I had to world class PDs like John Ivey, Mike Kaplan, Doc Winter, Robin Bertolucci, Don Martin, and John Peake. To be considered a peer of theirs was definitely a career highlight.
4. You're the SVP/Programming for iHeart/Sacramento. That's 7 more stations including the AC 'The Breeze.' How do you keep all the plates in the air?
I couldn't do it without a great team. Every market I've been in has been filled with people that are passionate about radio, passionate about what they do, and provide tremendous support. Sacramento is no different and I couldn't and wouldn't be able to do it without our market president Sara McClure and marketing director John Nelson.
I know how many hats every one of us that's lucky enough to work in radio wears, so I try my hardest to recognize the challenges everyone faces in finding enough time to get everything done and develop a culture where we all we're willing to help each other out whenever and however we can.
5. You're the VP/Programming for iHeart/Portland. That's another 8 stations, including heritage Top 40 KKRZ and AC K103, which you are the day-to-day PD for. How does the Stacey & Mike morning show set the table for the rest of the station's broadcast day?
Again, I couldn't wand wouldn't be able to do what we're trying to accomplish in Portland with our cluster without a fantastic team. From my SVPP Rich Moore to our market president Marshal Burgess to our marketing director Susan Reynolds, we work as a unit with a focus on delivering a great product on all of our brands.
We're very fortunate at K103 to have Stacey & Mike start the listeners' day. They've both been in the market for a long time and when we had the opportunity to put that team together a few years ago, we couldn't pass it up.
Their experience in the Portland market gives our listeners the knowledge that Stacey & Mike are doing the same things they are whether it's going downtown for dinner, dealing with construction on 217, or waiting in the drop off line at school. Giving the K103 audience the info they want, feel good stories, music they know and love, and an oasis from the challenges of the getting the day started is what Stacey & Mike deliver to Portland every day.
6. If you had the opportunity to insert yourself onto the weekend schedule on any one of the company's stations and do a shift, which one would you choose and why?
I wouldn't do that to any station because I've been told ratings and revenue are important. That said, if our Yacht Rock or Smooth Jazz stations on the iHeartRadio app are ever looking for someone, I'd love the opportunity to talk about the holy trinity of Yacht Rock - Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, and Christopher Cross - or how to identify Kenny G or David Sanborn by the tone of their sax, I'm all in.
7. What's your all-time favorite backstage memory?
I don't think anything could top the time where I was lucky enough to be part of a group that had lunch with Sir Elton John during his residency in Las Vegas. Hearing him talk about his career and what he thought about music today and working with artists like Ed Sheeran…even now I can't believe I that happened. Every now and then I'll call Paul Kelley at KESZ and say 'Remember when we had lunch with Elton and then hung out with him after show? I'm not crazy. That happened right?' Paul usually laughs and says 'Yes, because you were the only one with a tie on, they assumed you were part of hotel security and you probably shouldn't have been in the picture.'
8. If you could take a spin in the custom 'All Access Back To The Future Delorean,' which legendary station from the past would you like to work at for a week?
Even thought I did get to work there when we relaunched it was WLS-FM, working at WLS when it was THE station in Chicago would have been something. Being from Chicago originally, there's just something about WLS that has stood the test of time.
9. What was your favorite station(s) to listen to when you were a kid? Jock(s)?
When I was about 12 or 13, WNUA (Smooth Jazz) in Chicago went on the air for the first time. I was hooked from the minute it debuted with "Chicago Song." I fully recognize that it's not typical for a 12 year old to actively choose to listen to Smooth Jazz. I took a lot of teasing from friends about it, especially during high school. People would get in my car and ask me what I was listening to…and why. But I loved the music and still do. It was the ONLY station I ever really wanted to work for. And the fact that I worked my way up to be the music director for WNUA after starting as a part-time commercial dubber is something I am very proud of.
10. Who were your mentors? Who would you say has influenced your career the most?
If my career in radio ended today, it's crazy how many legends I've had the extreme good fortune to work with. I'm talking Radio Hall of Famers like Scott Shannon, John Landecker, Dick Biondi, Art Laboe, Larry Lujack.
But the two people who have probably influenced my career the most were Carl Anderson and Rick O'Dell.
Carl first hired me at WNUA. Then he recommended me to Scott and hired me again at WLS-FM. And initially, he told me that job was for APD because he knew if he told me it was for PD, I wouldn't have gone for it because I was told about 6 months prior to getting hired that I wasn't ready to be a PD and my confidence was shaken. Then Carl hired me again in Spokane. If he doesn't take a chance on me at WNUA, none of the rest of this probably happens.
And Rick O'Dell, who was the longtime midday talent and eventual PD at WNUA, became a friend well before I even worked in radio. This should tell you how long ago this was, but when I was maybe 15 and I wrote a letter to Rick asking about a particular song on WNUA's playlist. I couldn't find it at my local record store and asked if he had any suggestions on how to track it down. We would exchange letters every now and then on other songs. I was able to meet him at a WNUA concert maybe 5-6 years later and introduced myself. The first thing he said to me was the name of the song I had written about years earlier. 'Michael! Nelson Rangell, "What A Heart Feels."' I mean, the thousands of people he's met in the course of all those concerts and events and he remembered an obscure song I wrote to him about? I thought if that's what radio people are like, I had to be a part of it and do what he did for me for someone. I still talk to Rick every week and I'm still honored that I get to call him a friend.
Bonus Questions
Please leave us with some parting thoughts…
Radio has changed and continues to change every day. For better or worse, it may not be what it was when I got into it or when you got into it. But we're still a part of people's lives every single day. The music we play, the things we talk about, the events and contests we run. Radio makes a difference. I'm proud to be a part of it. I'm humbled that I've been able to have a long career because people around me believed in me.
I would encourage everyone to champion those people around them that they see something in. Give them the kind of confidence and support that someone gave you that propelled you into this industry. Your legacy isn't about what position you held or what stations you worked for. It's about who you helped along the way.
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