Alternative Famous Firsts
Ian McCain
Assistant Program Director
WLUM (FM 102/1)/Milwaukee
KRCK-FM/Omaha
It depends. First concert I was taken to by my parents? Juice fucking Newton. First concert I went to on my own? Verbal Assault or Sting (Dream of the Blue Turtles tour) were that same summer.
The Bay City Rollers
Charlie Daniels Band
Not necessarily “dead air” but in the days when there was no automation, I was doing nights on a Friday night at The Planet in Lincoln and the overnight person didn't show, and then part-time person on at 6am was sick... and the program director was out of town (pre-cell) and no one else picked up, so I was on the air from 7pm Friday to 1pm Saturday... playing every CD and segueing every element. lol. People forget what that was like.
Steve Burrell
Morning Host / Music Director
KTCL (Channel 933)/Denver
Promotions help @ KSMT The Mountain in Breckenridge Colorado
Billy Idol and Faith No More @ McNichols Arena Denver
Dimensions ( A K-tel mix album). Billy Squire was the main draw for me.
Michael Franti in 2002
Dead air got me my gig! My first station was satellite fed (Dial Global, now known as Westwood One), and the connection crashed over a weekend. I was called upon to spin CD's and talk while they fixed the issue. After that weekend, they put me on live in the mornings, and we turned it into a 100% live station within the year.
Phil “PK” Kukawinski
Content Director + Afternoon Drive
WGHL (ALT 105.1)/Louisville, KY
Started out as an intern at 89X back in 2009. Celebrating 15 years since my start this coming June.
Outside of seeing some friends in Battle of the Bands in high school, my first concert with an actual touring band was seeing After Midnight Project with Ashes of Soma back in 2008 at the now torn-down T.N.T.'s in Michigan. Still have a signed shirt somewhere in storage.
Not ashamed to admit the first CD that I bought was the CD-Single to "Quit Playing Games With My Heart" from Backstreet Boys. Backstreet for life!
A Day To Remember back in 2009 for their "Pulling Your Pud Tour"; it was awkward.
Honestly, I don't remember my first dead-air experience. I block them out of my mind, unless it's something insane. Like being off the air for 20 hours just a couple weeks ago, or the time that I was doing weekends on 89X and the top of the building caught fire during my shift. I definitely stayed in the building longer than I should have until firefighters told me I had to leave. Thankfully we had someone in Windsor who was able to jump into the studio there and hit play (shoutout to Dan MacDonald at AM800).
