-
10 Questions with ... Ricky Leigh Mensh
February 17, 2009
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
NAME:"Ricky Leigh" MenshTITLE:Host/Program DirectorSHOW:Recovery Radio LiveSTATIONS:WFTL/Fort Lauderdale-Miami-West Palm Beach, KLSX/Los Angeles, WSTP/Salisbury-Charlotte, KYNO/Fresno, KHBZ/HonoluluCOMPANY:Recovery Radio Live, LLCBORN:Washington, DCRAISED:Washington, DC and Bethesda, MDCONTACT:intheemix@aol.com, 561-745-8635/office, 917-822-3511/cell & text
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
1981--1993: DJ (Nite Clubs/Private Parties/etc.); DJ'd events for Asher Benrubi aka "The Smash" @ DC101/WWDC, Albie Dee & Dr. Dave Ferguson/WPGC, same for WKYS, WLTT, etc...
1987--1988: WPGC: Mix Show DJ, asst. to Albie Dee in music dept., music research, receptionist, promotions assistant
1988-1989: WARX on-air jock M-Sat. midnite-6a, board op on WARQ
1988-1989: Created "You're Invited" & "Greeting TapeCards." Manufactured music/comedy invitations and greeting cards on cassette
1989-1991: WQXA--on-air jock 7p-mid M-Sat., promotions director, created & produced remixes for station
1991-1993: KSFM--started on-air mid-6a M-Sat, then 7p-mid M-Sat, music coordinator, head mixer of 40 hr./week mix show w/9 mix show DJ's working for me. Street team & on-air M-F 6a-10a
1993: Hitmakers Magazine--Mix Show Editor. Created the "Mix Show Community," featuring 1st ever major music industry magazine coverage of now legendary DJ's Funkmaster Flex, Tha Baka Boyz, Sway & Tech ("The Wake-Up Show") and hundreds more who are now key industry figures
1994-2004: Hits Magazine--Mix Show Editor/11 yr's, promoted to VP of Hits, then to Sr. VP of Hits. Wrote weekly column "Inthamix" for 11 yrs. Started indie promo joint venture w/Hits in '94; became the most successful venture of it's kind in the industry. Clients included Russell Simmons & Lyor Cohen (Def Jam), Steve Rifkind (LOUD), Clive Davis (Arista/J Records), Puffy (Bad Boy), Jimmy Iovine (Interscope), Jermaine Dupri (So So Def) and EVERY other major & indie record companies and Rob Stone, who brought me to Clive!
1998: Co-Exec. Producer of soundtrack for the movie "Slam." Music Coordinator for the film, thanks to Happy Walters!!
2004-2007: Indie promo/consulting
2007-present: Created "Recovery Radio Live"
1. What prompted you to bring your recovery to a radio show -- what made you want to go on the radio with your story and to talk about recovery in the first place.
I was watching the tabloid TV show "TMZ," which I RARELY ever do, and they were covering Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan going to rehab. TMZ's coverage REALLY pissed me off! These girls admitted they're alcoholics/addicts and were being ripped apart due to the consequences of their actions. Alcoholism is a DISEASE and we who have it are NOT bad people that should be humiliated even more publicly so TMZ and all the others in the media who inappropriately report on the addicted can make money off of their demise. To the tens of millions of us in 12-Step recovery, it's like making fun of someone who has cancer.The same night, I saw Daniel Baldwin being interviewed by Larry King. He was bragging about how many AA meetings he was going to each week after 9 relapses and addiction treatment center stays, violating the 11th Tradition of AA, which calls for anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films. I called a couple of friends in our industry who have been sober a long time and who saw the same coverage as I did and were ticked off about it, too-- it was then that I decided to try to do my part to present "12-Step" recovery on the air in the proper way as a counter to all of the improper public misinformation about this disease of addiction and the path to recovery.
2. Speaking of your story, tell us a little about it -- when did you get to the point where you realized, once and for all, that you needed help? And what's the most difficult part about staying clean and sober for the last two decades?
My father was a violent guy who beat up my mother, my brother, and me constantly. She left him when I was six. She remarried someone who was more violent than my father when I was 13. He beat all of us too.On June 10, 1977, he put me on the streets of D.C. after stealing and selling the car I had bought and then forging my name on a check of mine and stealing the $10,000 I had saved from the age of 9 delivering newspapers, washing cars, mowing lawns, etc. I was 17 & had just graduated in the top 10% of my class at Walt Whitman, one of America's top high schools. I was a good kid who worked hard and was very angry with life and with God. He put me out on the streets with 50 cents and a suitcase. He burned everything else I had in the fireplace.
To that point, I had been drunk and smoked pot once in my life. I was a pretty good athlete and just didn't care for booze and drugs. I went to Ocean City, MD that night and moved into an apartment I had already paid for to live in for the summer before all of my money was stolen. The next morning, I was in the shower when the curtain was ripped open & a huge bong was shoved at me. I took a big hit and felt all of the pain in my heart and soul disappear.
I spent the next 13 years of my life, day in, day out, high. Alcohol, cocaine, pot, acid, quaaludes... It was the 70's and 80's. My attitude was that EVERYBODY I knew was partying and staying up for days. And being a club DJ then at major clubs around D.C. with free alcohol, the girls, the lifestyle... where's the problem here? Three DWIs, many times in jail, getting fired while on the air at WARX for being so wasted I couldn't open the mic and talk, not being allowed in my mother's house, being ripped by my best friend and radio mentor Asher Benrubi ("The Smash") for all of my BS behavior and being told by Dr. Sidney Shankman, who treated John Belushi before he died, that the only difference between me and Belushi was that he was dead and I wasn't YET led to my last bottom -- sitting in my car in a garage in Bethesda after a 5 day run, coked and drunk out of my mind. My skin was green, hadn't eaten for days, broken on every level; my grandfather, who was like a father to me was dying. I called my grandmother, who convinced me to come home and get help. I went to Hazelden in Minnesota on March 25, 1989 and then to an extended addiction treatment center in York, PA. I've been sober ever since.
The greatest challenge of being sober overall is just dealing with life on life's terms sometimes just as people who aren't addicted have to. But I wouldn't trade this gift of sobriety for ANYTHING, as it's been by far the greatest gift I've ever received!
3. Your show deals with addictions beyond substance abuse. Are other addictions, like, say, gambling or eating, similar in cause and treatment to those for drug and alcohol use? Is an addiction an addiction? What differences are there, if any, in how to approach recovery?
An addiction IS an addiction. It is defined by the AMA as an obsession of the mind coupled with an allergy of the body. I have a huge black hole inside of me that needs to be filled, so I filled it with alcohol and drugs, "outside things" to escape & feel better. It's the same for gambling addicts, sex addicts, eating disorders and the over 200 other addictions that are treated by 12-Step based recovery programs.The most successful treatment for addiction bar none is 12-Step recovery. In some cases, we addicts need outstide therapy with a qualifed psychologist or psychiatrist as well as 12-Step recovery to deal with some of the horrible events that occurred in our lives. There are many addiction treatment facilities worldwide who provide specialized programs for various addictions as well due to some of the basic differences inherent how in some addictions manifest themselves in some peoples lives that you mentioned, such as gambling, eating disorders, etc. Bottom line, though: an addiction is an addiction.
4. Since you've been doing the show, what's the most rewarding moment you've had in talking to callers and guests?
It's the many callers that I've been blessed to talk to who heard the show, stopped what they were doing, many who have been drinking and drugging when they came on the air, desperate to get clean & sober, afraid, dying, and looking for help that we've been able to help achieve sobriety.We get a ton of voice mails from people who need immediate help. I call ALL of them back and have the blessing to be there for them and help them get to a meeting. We have given away a 30 day stay at a major addiction treatment facility to someone who couldn't afford it. We're using radio to help save and change lives. Is there ANYTHING better than that??!!
One quick example: A grandmother calls us about her 20 year old granddaughter who was raped by an illegal alien, got pregnant, had the baby and fell deeper into her crack addiction and couldn't afford treatment for her daughter. Through a sponsor of ours, C.A.R.E. in Palm Beach, FL, we were able to offer her the treatment that she needed.
5. You've been in the music and radio business for a long time, and everyone reads and hears about people in the creative industries ending up addicted or in rehab, or knows co-workers who probably need help. Are the creative fields more likely to attract people who are prone to addiction, or do they create an atmosphere under which addictions are fed and grown? And is it a misconception or truth that addiction is more widespread among those in show business than in the "regular" community?
We have a saying in the 12-Step program: "It affects EVERYBODY from the park bench to Park Avenue." Addiction knows NO boundaries regarding race, socioeconomic status, career, religion... I"ve heard everybody from Clapton to Steve Tyler to you name it who are addicted share publicly, as well as some of the all time great actors, musicians, comedians and the like in meetings I've been to, the same sentiment that I too experienced during my days of drinking and drugging while DJing, being on the air, etc.; that it took us to a place inside ourselves creatively that we didn't believe we could get to without that stuff. And the results don't lie. How much all-time great music did Clapton, Aerosmith and Stevie Nicks create during their years while in active addiction?! Although for those of us who've been blessed to get sober, we've found that we're even better creatively and extend our careers because of sobriety. Yet, addiction is as widespread in our industry as it is in the "regular" community worldwide. The perception that it's more of a problem for us in this business has been created by the media. When we screw up by getting arrested, dying, etc., it's all over the press. When "regular" people mess up, it's not on TV 24/7.
6. What do you think about shows like "Celebrity Rehab" -- do you see them as exploitative or helpful in educating the public about addiction and recovery?
"Celebrity Rehab" is TOTALLY helpful to millions! Dr. Drew Pinsky, who's been a guest on my show and embraced us totally for what we're doing, has successfully pulled back the covers on the addiction treatment experience, from day one and dealing with the physical withdrawals we experience from our addiction, to the experiences that are shared by the celebs during their years of active addiction, to his and his staff's support for them as they resume their lives by strongly suggesting continued treatment in 12-Step recovery meetings, etc."Intervention" on A&E is a tremendously successful show in exposing how to help an addict break surrender to the denial that everyone experiences with this disease for so long and getting into the recovery process. However, there are many shows that I find ridiculously exploitative because they're mainly in it for the money first & not the mission to help people, which is Drew's & our primary purpose, as it should be.
7. Who are your mentors, influences, and inspirations?
Though many public figures have made my first choice for inspiration corny because they're not real about it, for me, it's no less valid, and that's God. It's ONLY by the grace of God that I'm even alive!Next, it's the program of 12-Step recovery. It is from which all else in my life emanates from personally and professionally.
Specific mentors: Asher Benrubi, who used to sneak me into DC101 back in '81 to teach me how to be an on-air jock and, most of all, convinced me to go to rehab! He has been huge for me with "Recovery Radio Live!"
Steve Smith (Hot 97, etc). He consults the show & his boot camps have been huge in helping me become a talk show host!
Dr. Dave Ferguson and Albie Dee who took me out of the clubs and gave me my first gig in radio at WPGC. Albie helped me make my first aircheck. Dr. Dave helped me make my name in the business when he gave me the gig at KSFM!
Joel Denver, since 1989! Who hasn't he helped in this business?
Charlie Minor, who did my deal to come to Hits on the back deck of his house in Malibu. Dennis Lavinthal, Lenny Beer, Dave Adelson, et al. at Hits! The mix show community wouldn't have achieved all that it has without their vision and support!
Russell Simmons and Lyor and Steve Rifkind, my 1st clients from my Hitmakers days & when I went to Hits who supported me for all 11 years there!
Alan Foster at The Recording Academy, Tim Reever, Steve Lapa & George Johns at WFTL, Jack Silver, Cal Saul et al. at KLSX, E. Curtis Johnson/KYNO, Mike Mangan/WSTP, Jamie Hyatt/KHBZ, Tim Fry -- best lawyer in the business, Dr. Mitch Wallick at CARE, Indian Bob, all of the amazing people God put in my life who've helped keep me sober all these years AND my mother and grandparents, who helped me get into rehab!! There are so many more names I could drop that've inspired me & I'm sorry for the long list, but like The Four Tops--"I Can't Help Myself"...
8. Of what are you most proud?
Personally, getting sober and being sober one day at a time ever since March 25, 1989! Professionally, coming off the streets of D.C. to achieve my dream of being on the radio. Becoming a voting member of The Recording Academy in 2001. Creating the mix show community, wherein we built a power base for ALL mix show DJ's to advance to power postions in the music industry and in many other prominent ventures. And all the while, we helped so many new artists have careers that they may not have had without the support of the mix show community. Being voted into "The Source Power 30" list of the most influential figures in the business 4 years in a row! And I'm proud of the fact that so many incredible people in this business have believed in me, even in my darkest days, because I haven't achieved any of what I've achieved without a lot of help!
9. You and the show are devoted to helping people turn their lives around, but what about when someone is clearly in trouble and hasn't yet faced the music? If someone calls you asking how to help a friend or loved one who doesn't yet recognize the need for help, what would you suggest they do? Is intervention the way to go, or do you need to wait until the individual recognizes the bottom his or herself?
It wasn't until I decided that I was an alcoholic and needed help that I got it! NO ONE can make an alcoholic get clean & sober until that person completely surrenders. I sponsored a guy a few years ago that had been relapsing for 24 years! He was an MIT grad, had money, great wife, etc. He's now 4 years sober! It wasn't until HE was ready to not drink and use, no matter what, that he was able to achieve sobriety. Intervention is a great tool, but only if the addict TRULY is ready for the help. My sponsor puts it best: "You'll know when the alcoholic hits bottom and that's when they stop diggin'!" If you even remotely have a concern for a loved one or yourself, GO TO AN OPEN 12-STEP MEETING AND JUST LISTEN!! 12-Step recovery has been around since 1935 and has helped MILLIONS survive! The meetings are FREE!
10. What's the best advice you ever got? The worst?
Personally, the best advice was to go to rehab! Professionally, it's when Asher was teachin' me the ropes back in '81 about being an on-air jock. He said to me "you've got 2 choices -- you can be yourself, or be somebody else. Ricky, you're good enough as you are, so just be you on the air!"The worst? "Hey Ricky, do this bong hit! It'll make you feel better!!"
-
-