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Here's To Born Again Jewish Indians Running Hip Hop Stations
January 10, 2017
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Six months after I had arrived in Charlotte as PD of WIBT, 96-1 The Beat, in 2005, Marc Chase entered the limo with Lemon Drops or some frou frou drink, and he uttered a word about my faith, saying, "Ragman, there may be something to this God of yours."
Ragman was my on-air name dating back to the late 80's in Rock radio in Providence RI, which I took with me until '91 when I became Marc's marketing and promotions guy at WFLZ, the Power Pig in Tampa.
But fourteen years later, Marc still addressed me as such, and in the presence of Clear Channel Charlotte GM Morgan Bohannon, OM and WKKT Kat Country PD Bruce Logan, Classic Rock WRFX PD Jeff Kent, Alternative WEND PD Jack Daniel, Lite 102.9 PD Nick Allen, Marc raised a shot glass and made a toast to me saying, "Here's to Born Again Jewish Indians running Hip-Hop stations!"
And with that, we all took a drink.
Uh Oh, He's About To Preach
Drinking was once something I did often, but in February of 1991 on my back on my bed, in the basement of a townhouse in Cumberland Rhode Island, drenched in depression, full of despair, I called out to God for help, and then something I wasn't expecting happened. He answered. And in an instant, I went from hopeless to hopeful, and my life was really just beginning.
So, yes, Born Again. My father Morris Wagman was a Jewish man, and in his last seven years of life, he instilled in me all that he knew about his faith, and as I continued learning about God and even until this day, I find my beliefs incredibly in line with what my father shared.
I am proud of my heritage, and of course, the oddity of the mix. My mother was born and raised on an Indian Reservation in Northern Wisconsin, and because of her bloodline, even with the blending, I proudly have enough percentage to be a card carrying member of the Ojibwa Tribe, which resides near the shores of Lake Superior, whose Chief is my first cousin.
After my father's passing, my mother returned to her homeland and resides there even now. It's a gorgeous place.
Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones...
So, Marc Chase wasn't just calling me names, he was simply rolling into one ball so many truths and qualities that wouldn't normally be needed to adequately describe a person; but for me, it fit.
The reason to drink and the celebration wasn't about me specifically, but about the cluster, but Marc addressed the elephant in the room, which was this brand new Rhythmic Top 40 radio station that wasn't supposed to be much more than a flanker between WNKS, the Pop station and WPEG, the Urban station; but ended up as a market leader.
This moment certainly needed addressing.
And I cherished Marc's words about God, as I could only credit God for this victory. I had been out of radio programming for five years, and while I always knew programming was an area of strength for me, being out so long took a lot of the confidence I once had doing this job.
It's The Reason Mom's Put Their Kids In Timeout
However, it was the time away that actually gave me the true tools needed to thrive in this position, as being taken out of the thing you love for a long time allows you to see all of your areas of weakness. Knowing your weaknesses allows you to minimize them, which will naturally allow the strengths to shine, which is what happened in those first few months in North Carolina, which set this station on a fast track to ratings victories.
In a cluster situation it is rare that every station would thrive, but on this day, it was the case at the Clear Channel compound in Charlotte, as all of the stations were performing beyond expectation, outperforming competitors and as a cluster, we were miraculously in sync, and it was THIS phenomenon that made Marc Chase think God had something to do with it.
Morgan Bohannon and Bruce Logan had created a team atmosphere; a real team of programmers who liked each other, cared about each other and helped each other out in a moment's notice, no matter what.
We were all so different from each other, and that was part of what made it work, but mostly Morgan and Bruce trusted their people, and by doing so, their people thrived.
The Opposite Of The Perfect Storm
Never did I witness such a perfect atmosphere of communication, buttoned up meetings, schedules and keeping the train on the tracks the way we experienced during that time in Charlotte. Yes, it was business first, but FUN was so evident that it could be felt in the hallways, no matter which department you found yourself passing by.
Success has a way of cultivating more success, and this was the repeated pattern in Charlotte, and it seeped beyond the programming team into on-air, sales and promotions, and ratings victories happened, goals were reached and personal dreams were attained for many. Read the related story, Are Your Dreams Coming True?
People often say you should never look back, but when looking back takes you to a time when EVERYTHING was in sync, I'd suggest at least looking back for the fond memories, but mostly for rediscovering the magic that made it all happen, so you can work towards making it happen again, even where you are right now.
May your VP of Programming raise a glass and make a toast to you soon.
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