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And like Ashby,he's done most of it at the same station, a real rarity in this day of everybody gets fired.
40 years in, WYRK's Dale Mussen relishes the power of radio
Q: What do you tell young people who want to get into radio?A: "It’s a tough job to get into. It’s a tough job to stay in. I know the passion that I had for it, and I run into so many people that do have that passion. Hopefully they have the talent to do it. Hopefully they can connect with an audience. But there are so many changes in broadcasting, it’s kind of a scary time. I’m glad I have completed 40 years. I don’t know how much further it’ll go. But the advice is, if it’s something you really want, and you’re ready for all the challenges, go for it."
Odd. I tell people that if they want a job that might last the 'duration'...that if they want to get into an industry with a future...that if they want to work for a company that cares for and takes care of it's own...that RADIO is an industry quickly heading on its way out the exit door and down the slippery slope and that they should really think about an entirely different direction. Roger and Dale are merely exceptions and most obviously not everybody is suited to, OR EVEN WANTS TO HOST, the 'morning show'. Is there any assurance that you'll still have the same boss...or even the same owner for more than 10 years? 20, 30, 40, 50? Good gawd no!!! 5 years is more like it in this sad and forlorn day and age.
Doug Thompson and Dale Patterson just contributed a LOT of time and effort to launch a site honouring a radio station [not to mention a company] with a glorious past and a history worth remembering. 60 years from now what radio station or company will anyone really remember fondly...let alone give a proper shit about? Those days ended about 30 years ago. You know...back when radio stopped playing music and merely rolled with videos you couldn't see. NO...You don't get to 'spin' much in the way of music even worth hitting the 'play' button for. Those days are totally toast. [As they have been since Michael Jackson started inviting kids over for sleepovers.]
Last edited by Old Codger (June 2, 2017 7:00 pm)
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Due props to Dale lasting this long in radio. That said...
WTSS' Roger Christian's response to this? Hold my microphone.
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Roger Christian's been in radio 51 years, the last 41 at Rock 102/Magic 102/Q102 and now Star 102.5. He started as a "Teen DJ" at WYSL-FM in 1966, and there's an interesting story behind that:
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Here's a small article on Roger Christian's milestone from March 2016:
WTSS/Buffalo's Roger Christian Celebrates Four Decades On The Air
Remarkable that there are two such veteran radio survivors in the same market.
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Let's not forget, too, that Bill Lacy's been around for YEARS...wakeup duty first for WBEN, and now at WHTT.
Then there's Tom Donahue, currently holding down mornings at WECK(he did wake up duty at WNUC for a few years, which is now WLKK(Alternative Buffalo). (He did this while also serving as a professor at Buffalo State College in the Communications Dept. and acting as an advisor to WBNY-FM(full disclosure: I took a class or two from him). He's now retired from Buff State.)
Shredd & Ragan have been at 103.3 doing mornings for most of that time.
And then there's DJ Anthony at Kiss 98.5, who's been doing either evenings or late nights for what seems like forever.
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ckg927 wrote:
Let's not forget, too, that Bill Lacy's been around for YEARS...wakeup duty first for WBEN, and now at WHTT.
Then there's Tom Donahue, currently holding down mornings at WECK(he did wake up duty at WNUC for a few years, which is now WLKK(Alternative Buffalo). (He did this while also serving as a professor at Buffalo State College in the Communications Dept. and acting as an advisor to WBNY-FM(full disclosure: I took a class or two from him). He's now retired from Buff State.)
Shredd & Ragan have been at 103.3 doing mornings for most of that time.
And then there's DJ Anthony at Kiss 98.5, who's been doing either evenings or late nights for what seems like forever.
- Bill Lacy goes back a long way, to WBUF in 1970. His 50th anniversary in radio isn't that far away.
- WYSL, WUSJ, WGR, KISS 98.5, Oldies 104, WWKB, WNUC are all on Tom Donahue's resume along with the aforementioned stations.
- Ted Shredd and Tom Ragan have been at WEDG for 23 years, a long time for any radio partnership.
- DJ Anthony has been at KISS 98.5 since 1994.
- But the most amazing survivor might be John Zach, with the announcement that he'll be returning to the airwaves soon at WECK. The veteran of Buffalo stations WKBW, WGR and WBEN started in broadcasting in the late '50s as a volunteer at WNED-TV.