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10 Questions with ... Ken Dashow
July 7, 2006
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NAME:Ken DashowTITLES:Afternoon Drive HostSTATIONS:Q104.3MARKET:NYCCOMPANY:Clear ChannelBORN:BrooklynRAISED:Brooklyn ("What, you gotta problem wid dat?!!!")
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
"XL Country" in Newton, NJ, where I was 18 year-old "Cousin Ken" ('78-'80, while I was attending NYU), then on to WRCN in Riverhead ('80-'82), then my big break: WAPP - The APPLE, for the commercial free summer of '82; then, realizing it was just a lousy radio station without commercials, I jumped to WNEW-FM, the station that taught me everything I knew about music, where I got to work with my heroes for 17 years, from 1982 - 1999, when they decided that 'NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE BEATLES ANYMORE," and I jumped to Q104.3, where I have been ever since, and the Beatles seem to be doing just fine, thank you.
1) What was your first job in radio?
In High School, we built a 4-watt station at Poly Prep in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. My first job was re-soldering the leads on the old transmitter we had to keep us on the air. RF Burn? What's an RF burn???
Early influences?
WMCA, The Good Guys, and then to WNEW - where Scott Muni, Dave Herman, Allison Steele, Richard Neer, Pete Fornatele, and Dennis Elsas taught me everything I know about what great radio is supposed to sound like
2) What led you to a career in radio? Was there a defining moment, which made you realize "this is it"?
6 years old, listening to Jack Spector in my bedroom, and just knowing, as much as I wanted to play for the NY Mets, I would be on the radio like "My main man, Jake!"
3) What career path would you be following had it not been for this industry?
Theatre. I am a published playwright, and I've acted and directed in enough shows to know that live performance is why I'm on this Earth...
4) How do you feel terrestrial radio competes with the satellite radio and Internet these days?
We compete with everything, but satellite and internet will always be niche formats. It's the guy who dipped a hard-drive in white plastic and said: "Here, carry your whole music library with you digitally in a unit the size of a cassette tape" - now THAT'S the real competition!
5) Where do you see the industry and yourself five years from now?
HD will be our breakthrough. When there are 3 times as many stations, for FREE, all with digital quality, the choices will be too easy and too strong to just plug in the iPod or pay for satellite.
6) What's the best concert you've been to so far this year and why?
The benefit I hosted for Arthur Lee of the old psychedelic rock band "Love" last Friday night at the Beacon Theatre: Garland Jeffreys, Yo La Tengo, Ryan Adams, Nils Lofgren, Ian Hunter, and Robert Plant. It turned into a 6 hour concert, with Plant hitting the stage at 1AM, and NOBODY left! Robert hung-out all night and shared stories - it was, for lack of a better word, a "happening," and I was proud to be part of it.
7) Tell us what music we would find on your car or home CD player (or turntable) right now and what is it you enjoy about that particular selection?
The Frank & Joe Show's new album "Submarine Bus." Find it. You will love it. Also, Jaqui Naylor's "East-West" live recordings - she's doing something called "acoustic smashing,' where she sings "My Funny Valentine" to a jazz interpretation of "Back In Black," and it's just brilliant.
8) What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?
I can't stand people who "try to be funny." Being disgusting has become an excuse for people without talent to have a career by being "shocking." It works for Howard, it works for Opie & Anthony, because that's who they are as entertainers. The best advice I ever received early on was: "Just be yourself," and I think that's why I have connected with listeners in New York City for the last 25 years - on the air, I'm just: me.
9) What was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you at a remote?
I wasn't at the remote - I was on the board at WRCN in Long Island, only working there a month, and they told me to bring up the remote from the Mattituck Strawberry Festival exactly at 2 PM. Ever the conscientious young man, EXACTLY at 2 PM, I said: "Now, let's go to Malcolm, who should be knee-deep in strawberries - Mal?"
And what came over the line was our engineer's voice, Charlie, who said: "Stop asking me when it'll be fucking ready!!! It'll be fucking ready when it's fucking ready!!!" Now THAT was a proud moment in my broadcasting career - which I assumed was over at that moment.
10) Most of us have known or even worked for a "colorful" owner/GM/air talent. Care to share a story? (The names can be changed to protect the innocent).
I am going to re-create the moment verbatim: new ownership, new President (who's a coked-out asshole), and a new GM who's a racist moron. Xmas party 3 months later, and "El Presidente" shows up with 2 hookers and white powder under his nose. He stands on a chair and says - and I quote: "Everybody, please listen-up. It's great to be here with you. I have confidence in all of you to accomplish great things in the coming year. Now, I've heard the rumors that you don't think much of my General Manager: you think he's a weak, spineless, brain-dead worm....and you'd happen to be right! That's why I hired him - to do my bidding. What you don't believe me?" At this point, Mr. President takes 2 dollar bills out of his pocket, throws them on the floor and says: "here, Worm - pick those up." Have you ever heard a ballroom with a hundred people in it so silent that you could actually hear the filaments buzzing in the light fixtures? Well THAT was that moment. And what does the GM do? He bends down, picks-up the two bucks and says: "Here, Sir, you dropped these." The President says: "Keep 'em, Worm." And THAT was the end of that party....and, a few days later, the GM...and, soon after, the president.
Bonus Questions
Who would be your dream guest on the show?
Pete Townshend. He enjoys the introspection of his life and music, and that's someone who's always a great interview; I've talked to Paul McCartney, Ringo, David Bowie, etc, but Pete and I have never crossed paths on radio - only at a concert.
What is your favorite TV show?
"Deadwood." You cocksuckers have a problem with that?
What is your favorite TV Commercial? Radio Commercial?
The Miller Lite campaign of a few years back: "Here's to you, Mr. 'Too-much-Cologne' Cologne Wearer."
Name the artist/act (living or dead) you'd love to meet and why?
Right now, I'd love to interview Sir George and Giles Martin, along with Guy Laliberte, who created "Love," the Beatles-inspired Cirque Du Soleil show in Las Vegas. Everyone has told me they have reinvented the Beatles in a visual, aural stunning manner that brings the audience to tears. I cannot WAIT to see it!
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