Alternative Famous Firsts
Laura Lee
Program Director/Midday Host
WWCD Radio : Streaming at WWCDRADIO.com
After an internship at K-ROCK in NYC, I sent my tapes out and ended up overnights at KWOD in Sacramento, CA.
Officially it was Michael Jackson during his Bad World Tour. I was 10 and my Uncle had tickets and took my mom, brother and I. As far as the first concert that I wanted to go to, that would be U2 during their Zoo TV tour. August 25, 1992 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburg, PA.
U2 - Achtung Baby
Beck, May 2, 2000 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. I was super nervous and can't remember a single question I asked him, but I remember how super kind the guy was to me. I will be forever grateful he gave me that experience. And not that you asked but my 2nd interview was with Jerry Cantrell, complete dick.
While I know what you're asking about, I want to spin it and talk about my first Dead Air DAVE experience because he was a big reason I even ended up in radio. He was working at K-ROCK in NYC when I interned there and he needed fresh voices for the weekend sponsorships. I thought it was so neat to hear MY voice on the radio. From there it was encouragement and help in making an aircheck tape and then I thought to myself, let's see what happens, and applied for jobs. When I did land a job, overnights at KWOD, I packed a bag and flew to the other side of the county. I had no idea what I was getting into and wanted to call it quits several times in the beginning but stuck it out and 24 years it's no longer a job, it's my career. I joke that there are times when I curse Dead's name, but I wouldn't change a thing. Radio shout outs to Ashok! He can be heard on 1010 Wins and WCBS 880 in NYC.
Mike Mewborn
Executive Producer / Host
B-Side Trax
WINK AM-FM / TV Ft. Myers, FL. On the FM side, we played 97 Rock, a mainstream TM rock format out of Dallas. Meanwhile, over on the AM side, 'Mr Rock & Roll' was playing "The Music of Your Life" ~ Rosemary Clooney, Glenn Miller Les & Larry Elgart ~ Whaaaat? I survived & lived to rock another day! I love those old songs now ...
Chicago Transit Authority at The Hollywood Sportatorium in Miami. I still have the ticket stub!!
My first actual record was the 45 of “Indiana Wants Me” by R Dean Taylor. My 1st album cost a whoppin' $1.49 in the cutout rack. It was Cactus debut LP Cactus. Made famous because Eddie Van Halen modeled the intro to “Let Me Swim” as “Eruption” leading into “Runnin' With The Devil” from that 1st record.
Carmine Appice. I pulled him into the studio after a Nugent show in Ft. Myers at the former Lee County Arena. What an amazing career & a fun guy to boot. I'll never forget him burping into the studio mic!!
At WINK, the job was 2-sided: The AM side was live-assist. There were 2 reel-to-reels with the music on them that ran automatically. 4 times an hour on the quarter hour, there was a programmed stop where you went live & played the spots that you had manually pulled on cart. The FM side was a huge computer hosting 4 reel-to-reels with the music on them. There were 120 slots for the carts that ran the liners, buffers, sweepers & spots that were programmed on a computer in the production studio. My job was to keep the reels refilled, once an hour go into the production room & record either news or weather along with the top-of-the-hour ID. I HAD ONE JOB!! Working overnights, for some reason, I had the hardest time staying awake between 3:30-4:30 in the morning. I woke up more than once to the dreaded sound of the dead air siren ( sorry Ben Sensing ! ). Once in a great while I even managed to have dead air over on the AM side, usually while I was firefighting over on the FM side (sorry again Ben). Did I mention? I love RADIO!!
KLEIN (formerly Kevin Klein)
Host: Klein.Ally.Show
KROQ/Los Angeles
After an internship at the legendary WHFS, I landed a cushy gig as an overnight board op for a smooth jazz station in Washington DC. Jealous?
Live On July 15th 1994 and Adam Sandler the same year.
2 Live Crew As Nasty As They Want To Be and G N R Appetite for Destruction.
I think I sat down with Seether when I was starting out at KROCK in Syracuse. The following week I got a phone call from Bono. I couldn’t believe it. Then his people realized he called the wrong “KROCK” in New York.
A listener sent me pizza during one of my night shifts at WXRK in NYC. I was so hungry that I went to lobby and forgot my key card. Just me in an elevator with a pizza and a Strokes song ending quickly. About 8 minutes and 4 slices later I got back in. Total dead air 6:32.
