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June 17, 2021 9:31 am  #1


Should Disc Jockeys Be Heard & Not Seen?


The Internet has changed many things, including letting those who care to check what their favourite (or least favourite) on-air personality looks like on their station's website. But that wasn't always the case. The cartoon above had me thinking of two scenarios:

-If you're an on-air personality, you've almost certainly had a listener come up to you and say "you don't look like you sound on the radio."

-And if you're a listener, you've probably been surprised by how a person you've heard for years but never seen actually looks. 

It's happened to me on occasion, although my on-air time was short. But I've been in both places. This is not meant as an insult, but I was never able to reconcile how the now departed Mike Stafford actually looks with the voice I heard coming out of the speaker. Not that he's a bad looking guy. I just had an entirely different mental image of him. 

Alternately, I have a close friend who's a newscaster. If you saw this guy, he looks like the stereotypical nerd - about 5'7", thick glasses, a bit unkempt. But then he opens his mouth and out comes this voice that sounds like it's coming from the bottom of the earth, a simply magnificent radio presence. 

Not that anyone should be judged on their appearance. It's just tough when you have a mental image of someone based solely on their voice and then they look nothing like you thought. It's tough to get that out of your mind when you hear them again. 

But that's part of the magic of the medium - and maybe reality should never intrude on that image. 

OK, time for one more dumb cartoon.

 

June 17, 2021 11:34 am  #2


Re: Should Disc Jockeys Be Heard & Not Seen?

I don't know how many times in my career; when a listener would meet me, they would say, "So you sure don't look like you sound."  I eventually had a comeback line.  "Well you see, on the air, I'm much taller and thinner."

 

June 17, 2021 1:38 pm  #3


Re: Should Disc Jockeys Be Heard & Not Seen?

Great answer! I'm not sure why, but I've worked with many jocks and news people over the years and heard them on air before I did. Only a few matched my mental image of them.

Of course, I knew what you and the CKFH and CHUM jocks looked like because of the charts both stations put out. I believe that's you in the middle, with Duff Roman and Mike Williams on the left and Mal Faris and Tom Fulton on the right.

     Thread Starter
 

June 18, 2021 9:44 am  #4


Re: Should Disc Jockeys Be Heard & Not Seen?

John D wrote:

I don't know how many times in my career; when a listener would meet me, they would say, "So you sure don't look like you sound."  I eventually had a comeback line.  "Well you see, on the air, I'm much taller and thinner."

Guilty as charged! Many years ago I was reading a newspaper article on Toronto radio stations. There was a photo of Wally Crouter. My first thought something similar to "You don't look like you sound"  Fabulous comeback line John.