I received an email this morning from my better half, Kathy, saying today is Mike Cooper’s last day on the air.  Mike Cooper is an on-air radio personality in Toronto.  After 45 years on the air, he’s decided to hang up his earphones, and go quietly into the night. My musical tastes have changed over the years; therefore, I don’t listen to the station that Cooper worked for, CHFI. That being said, I regret not tuning in this morning, to at least listen to a portion of his last show on the air. When I found out this was his last day, a rush of memories came flooding back to me.

Many, many, and I do mean many, moons ago I worked with Mike Cooper at CFTR. Back then CFTR was a rock radio station, and we battled mightily against the then powerhouse, 1050 CHUM. Back at CFTR, I worked as an intern, that’s code for free, and eventually got a full time gig working the board. My responsibility was to make sure the songs made it to air; you never missed playing a commercial, always pumped the on air jock’s tires, and never pissed them off.  It was simple, the jock was the star, and I was the help. Working the board was my entry point into that business. My goal was to be on the other side of the glass, and be the on-air talent. Every once in a while I would work the board for Cooper’s show. He was a pro, and now and then he would put me and his regular “producer”, on the air to do a bit.  We would do character voices, and Cooper was a great straight man. He would laugh his ass off on air as we did our shtick, and we had to work at not busting a gut ourselves. His regular “producer” (who just happens to work in our industry today, what a small world) was on-air with Cooper more frequently. I never asked his regular producer what he felt like when he finished doing a “bit” with Cooper on the air. For me? Easy; my god, what a rush. Watching Cooper work stoked my internal flame.  (more…)

I came across an article that truly made me burst out laughing. It was an article from the Telegraph. The headline read as follows: “Islamic State forced to halve its jihadist’s monthly salaries in tough times”.  ISIL’s SLT, Senior Leadership Team, (honestly, I’m actually laughing while writing this) in Syria and Iraq released the following statement, “because of the exceptional circumstances that the Islamic State is passing through, a decision was made to cut the salaries of the mujahideen in half.  No one will be exempt from this decision, no matter of his position”. There was no clear explanation as to why terrorists would be forced to take a pay cut. Did the price of suicide vests go up? Was there a run on virgins in paradise, thus increasing the virgin acquisition costs? There was also no mention how those most impacted would respond.  No word if front line terrorists planned on withholding their services.  I guess they could all vote to strike or take some kind of work to rule action. So many unanswered questions.

There’s nothing funny about terrorism, and the ridicule, contempt and derision these mass murderers receive is justly deserved. Now they’ve earned the right to be mocked as well. The absurdity of the article should help all of us put things into perspective. (more…)

It’s the start of a new year. 

Sure, many were back to work on the 4th of January, but in our industry things get back to “normal” the second week of January.  So, here we are.  Like most people, I believe that what’s ahead will be better than the journey just travelled.  However, to be totally candid, 2015 was a very good year for me.  On all fronts, be it personal or professional.  Having a better year will be a challenge, but that’s life.  You push, you strive, and you never settle.  Frame of mind is critical, and over the last six months I’ve been working on just that.

Not to get all Tony Robbins on you, “awake the giant within…love yourself…blah, blah, blah”, your state of mind plays an import part of all your outcomes.  We all have to fight against a self-fulfilling prophecy.  If you think it sucks, it may not actually suck, but it will eventually suck.  In this day and age it can be challenge to stay positive.  We are constantly bombarded with predictions of doom and gloom.  Take this week for an example, the Canadian dollar dipped below 70 cents U.S., and a very respected economist is predicting it could drop to 59 cents U.S.  And as every info-commercial says, “but wait, there’s more”.  It’s now being suggested that oil could drop to $20 USD a barrel.  All this in the second week of January.  So, how does one pushback against all the white noise?

Here’s what I did.  Firstly, I was finally honest with myself, and I admitted that I was an information and news junkie.  I became obsessed, and needed my daily fix of bad news.  Trust me; it’s not hard to find bad news.  In today’s world it’s everywhere.  It takes a lot more work today to dodge the bad news assault.  Given the reality that we all live in an information world, I came to the conclusion that I had to change my information gathering habits. So no more Fox News, no CNN, and no MSNBC.  I would actually turn to MSNBC, knowing full well that within minutes I would want to throw something at the screen.   Like I said, I was addicted.  Here’s another thing, no more talk radio in the car.  Doesn’t matter if it’s sports or news.  I came to the conclusions that on too many occasions I would arrive at work with a less than pleasant disposition.  Why?  Because I invited mindless babbling into my car, which more often than not would just piss me off.  So things had to change.  There’s no excuse for waltzing through life being willfully ignorant, but given that news is readily available everywhere, I decided that I would control when and where I received my news.  The first real sign that my new approach was working was when someone asked me, “what do you think about David Price signing with the Boston Red Sox, and not the Toronto Blue Jays?”  I was relieved that I didn’t even know it happened. Me, not knowing about something that happened in sports?  That was big!

Here’s what else I did, I replaced information with music.  I know that may sound schmaltzy, but it works.  Truth be told my car played a major role in my musical listening pleasures.  The car has a feature that when you push a button, and say play “artist and song”, it searches the net and finds the song.  It also creates a custom radio station for me.  For example, Rolling Stones Start Me Up radio station.  From there it searches for songs from the same genre.  If I don’t like the song it found, I press next.  The cool thing about this is that it’s taken me out of my 70’s and 80’s musical time machine.  I didn’t know there were so many new artists out there, well, at least new to me.   Bands like O.A.R., James Morrison (not the old guy who sings like he’s got a mouth full of marbles) and Augustana.  Really talented bands and I love the fact that our 14 year old is shocked that I know who they are. 

This may not work for everyone, but I find that I’m in a better mood more often because I’m listening to more music, and not mindless chatter.  I still get my fill of information, but in a much more condensed fashion. More importantly, I decide when I’m ready for the info download.  My new approach doesn’t change the facts, and what’s happening around me.  But it will no longer control me.  Based on what’s happening in the real world, and how the year is starting off, I got my music cranked.  I also customized a new radio station in my car, David Bowie Ashes to Ashes.  Seemed appropriate.

Until next time.

Cheers!