Alternative Famous Firsts
Megan Holiday
On-Air Personality
KROQ/L.A., KITS (Live 105)/SF & KKDO (ALT 94.7)/Sacramento
Live 105 in 2010. I came in on nights with Menace for The Free For All show. We had partnered with Jelli radio for the first ever user controlled radio show where listeners were on their computers voting songs on and off the radio. I was giving shout outs and holding down the chat room. It was a ton of fun and I worked my way up from there at the station.
My friend took a bunch of us in a limo to see Ricky Martin for her 13th birthday... AND Jessica Simpson opened up! Wowie, what a time to be alive.
The first CD I bought with my allowance money was the Sublime self titled album. Sublime made a huge impact on me and I love this new chapter with Jakob, he is just the best.
The lovely and beautiful Carah Faye of Shiny Toy Guns! I'm still friends with her to this day.
How about first time cussing on the air? This one is more fun. One of my first shifts at LIVE 105 I did a horrendous break and then screamed FUCK not realizing the mic was still on. I hit the dump button at least 75 times and had a heart attack. I have since lived to tell the tale.
Randy Slack
PD/Morning Show Host
WRMR (Modern Rock 98.7)/Wilmington-Greenville, NC
Overnights at B-105 in Cincinnati.
Cletus T Judd at the Pike County Fair. I got on stage and sang.
POD, The Fundamental Elements of Southtown
Chad Smith of the Chili Peppers. I don’t have the audio from that anymore, but I was super nervous because I had no idea how to interview artists, but the 15 minutes in the bowels of the PPG Paints arena flew by. Chad told me a story about how Anthony saw Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and was inspired to add Brandy to their set list of their European tour. The fans over in the UK didn’t recognize the song, so they just confusingly watched. Chad said it became a palate cleanser, and that they would make it a game to try to get the crowd back after playing it.
I fell asleep at the board during a Cincinnati Reds game. Woke up to just ambient stadium noise. Shoutout to Marty and the Cowboy for staying quiet til they heard spots.
Alan Cross
All-round radio, podcasting, and alt-rock guy
About a dozen Corus Radio stations (The Edge/Toronto, Q107/Toronto, Y108 Hamilton, Power 97/Winnipeg, The Edge/Calgary, CFOX/Vancouver, The Wolf/Peterborough, Dave/Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge, CHED/Edmonton, CJOB/Winnipeg, and more)
Not counting the campus closed-circuit radio gig that had me broadcasting for an hour a week to an often-empty hallway, it was CFQX-FM/Selkirk, Manitoba. It was a 5000-watt elevator music station broadcasting from the middle of a wheat field and across the street from a mental health facility.
KISS! Winnipeg Arena on July 21, 1977, with openers Cheap Trick.
Elton John’s Greatest Hits Vol.1 for $4.99 using funds from my paper route. My mother was FURIOUS that I would waste my money this way.
Harlequin (a very popular Canadian band who played my high school) in 1979. Bass player Ralph James later went on to become one of Canada’s most powerful agents. We see each other a lot.
Out in the wheat field radio station, I misjudged the length of a bible tape. I stepped out to get a Big Mac while it ran. But the station was so poorly rated, I doubt if anyone even noticed.
