Alternative Famous Firsts
Michael “Marty” Whitney
Morning Show Host
91X/San Diego
1993 Ski and Snowboard Reporter at KRZQ Reno. Current talk and fmr. KROQ character guy with Kevin and Bean, Brian Suits invited me aboard his morning show. KLLC Jayn, KOZZ Max Volume, PD Rob Brooks, KXTE alumni Chris Ripley were teammates too. I was paid in lift tickets from the prize close and went riding Lake Tahoe ski resorts after 10a.
Jan. 27 1987 - Bon Jovi “Slippery When Wet” tour. Everything from the hesher puking on our freshly purchased concert shirts on the floor next to us to Sambora’s double necked dry ice fog saturated guitar, I was in love with it all!
Culture Club “ Karma Chameleon” on 45 but before that I was fined by my local library for not returning Queen's “Greatest Hits” so I paid for cost of the 12 inch.
At age 13, Cornell Gunter of The Coasters (Yakety-Yak, Charlie Brown) when my mom told me to come sit in her section during her graveyard shift at the Ormsby House coffee shop in Carson City, NV. cuz she wanted me to meet the band who held court drinking in hot tea and eating house hash after their second show of the night.
To save a buck, the company agreed to use a bartered satellite feed of music with DJs. I’d been live on overnights but was repurposed as the board operator In favor of the service called “The Exit”. The feed was inconsistent and often ceased playing music 10 mins. at time or more as I sat watching. One overnight at 3a, The Boss called and said “we are off the air!”. I said “yeah, the satellite service stopped playing about 30 minutes ago”. He said “well play a CD!” “There’s no music log, should I play whatever”, I replied. He said, “Yes, play anything”. KRZQ put me back on the next night and “The Exit” exited.
Jordin Silver
Middays & National Host
KRBZ (ALT 965)/Kansas City & Audacy
Street Team @ 1077 The End in Seattle.
Hootie and the Blowfish
Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
A local Seattle band called Schoolyard Heroes.
Can only remember the first time I died on-air -- In 2008 I had a tastemaker specialty show where I'd pick and play new stuff from MySpace Music (ps-I broke Katy Perry on that show.) Popped on a self-cleaned version of "Black Dahlia" by Hollywood Undead and went to the restroom. Walking back and realized I got all the verses and choruses, but the song ends with "I used to be lovestruck now I'm just f**d up"...on REPEAT....over and over.......and because it's MY luck, there's an ECHO EFFECT on the profanity...
Brian Garris
Music Director | ON-AIR
KJJZ-HD2 (ALT 101.5)/Palm Springs, CA
September 1995, KPSL 1010AM Talk Radio in Palm Springs, as an intern/assistant producer for “Palm Springs Life - The Radio Show”
My late father Sidney Garris managed The New Christy Minstrels, as well as The Crusaders featuring Joe Sample, Wilton Felder, and Nesbert “Stix Hooper,” so my first concert was probably around 5 years old in the early 80’s.
The first record I remember buying at the record store was the RUN DMC “Raising Hell” cassette tape. My Mom and I both listened to it together at home as she wanted to ensure it was suitable for my young ears, little “tricky” at times, but overall, she let me “walk this way” with it!
My first interview was with Vinnie Brown, of the Grammy Award winning Hip-Hop group Naughty By Nature. I was helping to produce a local talk show on 1010AM, found out they were at an LA radio station doing press, so I called the station, and asked if Vin could jump on with me after, and he did, he called us in Palm Springs!
OH BOY! Well, I was filling in on the weekends on Power 100.5 in Palm Springs, and my girl-crush stopped by to say Hi. I ran outside quickly to give her a radio station t-shirt, and she planted a huge kiss on me to say thank you! I was so excited that I forgot the door code back into the station, and we were running off CD’s, and carts manually, NOT automation. After multiple attempts, I finally cracked the door code and got back in… after several minutes of dead air!
