10 Questions with ... Reggie 'Smooth Az Butta' Brown

NAME:Reggie 'Smooth Az Butta' Brown TITLE:Afternoons (2-6p), Asst. Program/Music/Imaging Director STATION:WKKV (V100.7) MARKET:Milwaukee COMPANY:Clear Channel WEBSITE:www.myspace.com/smoothazbutta BORN:7/29/64 in Goldsboro, NC RAISED:Milwaukee

Please outline your radio career so far.

WYMS/Milwaukee, December 1981
WAWA/Milwaukee, June 1982
WLUM/Milwaukee, November 1986
WGCI /Chicago, March 1989
WKKV/Milwaukee, October 1992
WEJM/Chicago, August 1994
KMJM/St. Louis, February 1998
WKKV, November 1998 to present

1) What was your first job in radio? Early influences?

My first (paid) job in radio was working at WYMS/Milwaukee, which stood for "Your Milwaukee Schools." I was a board operator for various ethnic shows, plus I read the daily newspaper to the blind on a subchannel.

Two of my influences were legendary DJ Dr. Bop (R.I.P.) in Milwaukee, who had a way with words -- the gift of gab. "I'm a chick chaser and a money waster." He was the MAN! I wanted to be just like him. He was buried in a doctor's outfit.

Also, radio veteran Steve Hegwood. He had the voice that the women loved! When I was in high school, I used to mimic Steve's voice. Me and my friends would call girls and tell them that they won prizes. I was so good at it that Steve was mad at me when he first met me! Till this day I still don't know how he found out it was me. We laugh at it now. He's still the MAN!

Jimmy Smith, Jerry "Smokin" B, Frankie Crocker (R.I.P.), Brian Anthony, Tony Fields, Barry Mayo, Nate Bell, Monica Starr and Tom Joyner are a few.

2) What led you to a career in radio? Was there a defining moment that made you realize "this is it"?

Growing up, I was a music whiz. In 10th grade a teacher at my home school Riverside High asked me if I could DJ at our homecoming dance. I said yes, and using my father's home stereo system, I pulled it off. Other schools heard about me, and the rest is history.

In my junior and senior years of high school, I went to John Marshall High in the mornings; it was a Broadcast Specialty school. I used to make 90-minute cassette tapes for people using my "made up" station's call letters: WREG 105.3, "Nothing But The Jams." People I didn't know would ask me for tapes. They thought it was a real station. Some of those same people call me today and reminisce about those days -- 1980, before hip-hop was global.

3) If you were just starting out in radio, knowing now what you didn't then, would you still do it?

Yes, absolutely. I love what I do. I've learned that people respect you more when you keep it real with them.

4) Where do you see yourself and the industry five years from now? How do you feel about the PPM eventually replacing the diary?

I see commercial radio in a huge battle with satellite radio, and I see myself programming my very own station -- commercial-free. Well, maybe not commercial-free. The money has got to come from somewhere! The PPM will be the truth. Real numbers won't lie. I can't wait for it to kick in this way.

5) How you feel about being made to wait on a record you hear until the research validates it?

I'm in the nightclubs every week, so I hear a lot of songs before they become "radio songs." Yung Joc has a song called "It's Going Down" that was hot in the clubs two months before we started playing it. When we researched it for the first time, it came back as the top song on our research. So to answer the question, I don't hate it. I realize that I'm not living in the days of old anymore, where a programmer would hear a song and put it in hot rotation instantly. What's hot to me and hot in the clubs may not be hot to our listeners. Research helps us in a MAJOR way. It's the truth.

6) What is going to happen to the training of tomorrow's talent and programmers if the current trend continues? How do you feel about syndication and voicetracking?

The more things change, the more they stay the same. So the future talent of tomorrow needs to find a veteran in the biz they can learn from.

I'm not a fan of voicetracking. I believe "live radio" is being true to your listeners. What if something drastic happens in your community concerning your audience, and your jock who voicetracked is on the air talking about the dress Beyonce wore to the Soul Train Awards? Enough said.

Syndication? Same scenario. But if you have a syndicated show that is tightly produced, with a great local talent and a host who knows that the MUSIC is the star, you can win.

7) How do you personally feel about what the addition of the syndicated Steve Harvey Morning Show will bring to the Milwaukee audience currently being served by WKKV?

No comment.

8) Of all the skills you have gained through the years, is there an area you'd like to improve?

Yes: more community involvement.

9) How do you feel about callout research and its effect on Urban playlists? And as a result of it (Clear Channel currently uses Critical Mass), are Urban programmers going to be slower in adding and playing new music while they're waiting for research to validate new records' potential?

See question No. 5

10) As you look back over your career, any regrets? Missed opportunities?

YES! I regret not investing in AOL when I had the chance back in 1993. My friend just put her son in grad school, and she still doesn't need a job. Plus she has a place in Cali and France. Dang!

1) What's been your biggest disappointment in radio today?

The lyrics to some of these songs.

2) How did you get your present job?

I had a GREAT job in St. Louis. I was the voice of Majic 105, KMJM. Good money too. Thanks B.A. & Chuck. But I was lonely, missing my family. Nate Bell recognized my talent, he believed in me and brought me home. Six PDs later, I'm still here. Thanks Nate.

3) What is your biggest challenge working at this station?

Getting WKKV (V100.7) to be the #1 overall station, not just #1 in music. Apparently Milwaukee loves Talk radio!

4) What do you do with a song you don't like?

Find out why my audience likes it.