What Makes An Irreplaceable PD?

Robert W. Walker, Bill Tanner At Y100/Miami

All of us receive lots of emails. Since the passing of BILL TANNER (NET NEWS 1/28) I have received many about the positive impact of TANNER's life and career on so many people. I received one this weekend from CUMULUS EVP/Content-Audience BRIAN PHILIPS, responding to an email from the legendary ROBERT W. WALKER,  who worked with TANNER ... and he shares that impact with an open heart. Please take time to read both notes. They will truly make you feel good. Thanks -- JOEL DENVER, Pres./Publisher, ALL ACCESS

PHILIPS wrote, "Many of you have checked in this week about the death of one of my programming mentors, my CHR Northstar, the legendary BILL TANNER. I am grateful. It’s cliché, but reflecting on BILL’s career clarified for me 'What A PD Does,' and how he/she can affect the vibe of a radio station, winning the crown again and again for decades.

"I discovered the sorcery of TANNER and his legendary crew when I was 9, on my morning school bus. From that moment on, I like to think, my choices in life were sealed and secure, my course was set, my parents be were out of luck! The worlds of 'HITS' beckoned. TANNER and crew brought the whole shiny package -- the magic, the 'cool friend' conversational attitude, the fun in the sun—no station has ever more purely defined a market than WHYI—'Number One from the PAML BEACHES to KEY WEST'

"In teen Top 40 world, BILL cultivated a welcoming, approachable sound. It was inclusive for all kids in formative years, when many kids feel alienated and insecure. What’s that worth? Probably even more in 2021 than in 1980. For atmosphere, check the pic. It’s ROBERT W. WALKER and TANNER singing together in an impromptu break at Y100. The parrot perched on TANNER’s face was a gift from our friend HARRY WAYNE CASEY, of KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND, a little hit-making outfit which Y100 discovered.
 
"I’m not asking you to read this post because it was written by my programming brother and superstar air talent, ROBERT W. WALKER. Or because it has personal meaning for me. I asked ROB if I could re-post because it represented, I thought, a crystal-clear call-back to what the best programmers have always done. TANNER was the definitive Program Director, a Master’s Class teacher. What can we learn from him today, as remembered through ROBERT WALKER’s keen perceptions? TANNER was a boss, a friend, a booster, a sociologist, a scientist, a writer and a meticulous stickler for the details which separate the winners from the also-rans. Live it through your station. Past the literal overwhelming job descriptions we all have, I hope this piece shakes you up and inspires you to be more. This is why we are here. 
 
"Here is the unretouched tribute ROB WALKER wrote for 'T' … I hope you find it as moving as hundreds of others on social media did, if not more so. Because, although we are living in a different age, the attributes that defined BILL TANNER as a programmer and an air talent make him an ageless role model. Exemplary, caring, ruthlessly competitive, a research maven, a market disrupter, eager to teach. And it was all so much fun, never 'work.' Please feel free to share with your staffs."
 
Below posted by ROBERT W. WALKER, on JANUARY 28th
 
“There is a spot I hike up to near my house nearly every day to reflect and reset for a few minutes. Today it is different. It is bleak. There is a biting chill in the air and the famously blue L.A. sky is a deep and sad gray. Right on cue.
 
"My friend, mentor, esteemed colleague, confidant, co-conspirator and radio programming genius BILL TANNER passed away overnight at his home in BIRMINGHAM. There is far too much water under far too wide a bridge to even scratch the surface of describing what a heavy passing this is, not just for me, but for a couple of generations of listeners and certainly enough accomplished media professionals to have filled the old MIAMI MARINE STADIUM.
 
"One of those pros fretted to me today that people would see the raft of social media tributes and think, 'Oh yeah, BILL TANNER, he was right up there with…(various legends of radio).' This pro felt that TANNER wasn’t 'right up there with anybody' — he was in his own category. He’s right.
 
"TANNER was not a typical broadcasting executive. He did not frequent the various radio and record conventions of the '70s and '80s very often. He was not a wine-and-diner. He functioned extremely well in what evolved into a laborious corporate system, but he was not a suit. He lived, breathed, ate, dreamed and pondered radio. The most immersed-in-his-passion person I have ever known.
 
"He was a stern and unwavering—fierce guardian of his radio stations. He wanted them clean, uncluttered, friendly, deeply embedded in the DNA of the community, and above all, clever. There were always cartoonish facets to TANNER stations because they are just interesting. He took great delight in 'things that make you go ‘huh?'
 
"He was a fierce guardian of his troops. I’ve never talked about this publicly before, but TANNER once told a General Manager who was nickel-and-diming me on a contract renewal, 'Give him a damn raise. Take it out of my salary. I’m serious!!!' (I got the raise; TANNER’s salary was untouched.)
 
"A not uncommon practice for many programmers then, pre-internet and SOUNDCLOUD, was to run around the country recording other stations, taking notes, 'stealing ideas' and flying back home to implement them on their stations. That was not TANNER’s style. He created stations that other programmers would steal FROM. Or try anyway. The secret sauce was hard to duplicate.
 
"Anyway, TANNER had a vastly creative mind that he tapped to paint hour-after-hour of alternately hilarious, touching, surreal, comforting and/or distinctively crazed radio. He named it 'predictable unpredictability,' the idea being that if a listener never quite knew what was going to happen next, they wouldn’t be able to turn it off. FOMO indeed.
 
"The thing is, TANNER not only had the gift of doing this as a performer, he was the best teacher of it I have ever seen. An ever-inspiring teacher of how NOT to be an 'announcer,' how to be a communicator. It is a mystical art for sure. There is neither a formula or a rule book. It’s art. Can't bottle it. But you can refine it. Find mere molecules of creativity in people and tease them into solid rocks of astoundingness. TANNER was the maestro at this.
 
"Radio talent are an odd lot. Wildly creative and brilliant people are often even more wildly insecure. It takes a deft touch and an understanding of an individual’s prodigy’s psyche to explain to them how to improve their craft while not bursting their bubble and having them wind up a dispirited bag of disgruntlement. TANNER was a master. He handled both high-strung egotists and promising-but-insecure newbies with finesse — and produced from them some of radio’s all-time best. He was a genius director who made it clear that he expected adherence to high standards, but also given to explaining his thinking, inviting collaboration, inspiring philosophical buy-in from everyone in the room, and jumping for joy when talented people exceeded what they themselves thought they could achieve. This last technique was particularly useful at the end of a critique where TANNER would make it clear that you were phoning it in on a particular day. You wanted to please the guy without fail. Every word of every break, the nuances mattered. When you heard yourself clearly not living up to his standards, it could be crushing. When he raved about you, it was a glorious day indeed. He was an all-time great coach.
 
"And he was just as fun to be around. High intellect, fabulous storyteller, and funny. Beware his wrath, of course, but 99.9% of the thousands of hours I spent with him personally and professionally, I just loved him. He talked me through a lot of personal stuff as a friend. He allowed me in his orbit as a collaborator. He showed me a million ways to be a better broadcaster.
 
"I’m not the only one in the pity boat over his passing, but this afternoon, up at my spot so uncharacteristically blustery and gray, I let the heaviness of his passing come down on me personally. The finality. Can’t ever seek his counsel or make him laugh. Even when you know it is coming, you’re still never quite ready when it arrives.
 
"All the other posts I have read about TANNER have cut through to me better than my own. Please read them and know they might more perfectly reflect my appreciation for BILL as the people who actually wrote them. JIM REIHLE, T’s epochs-long 'newsman' (but so much more), really lasered in when he wrote, 'It is wonderful to see all the tributes, all of us together saying what no one could.'
 
"So BILL, my gratitude and appreciation are intact and acutely present today. As you used to so whimsically say to call-in listeners on your morning show: 'Good niiiight…'"

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