Am I getting older or just more aware!

One of the problems with getting older is you tend to learn things along the way!  Business-wise, you learn all your mistakes(which means I’m wise beyond belief), Friends-wise, you definitely have experienced all the drama and learn who your “real friends” are, sometimes pleasantly surprised as to who they are, and how few there really are…

Relationship-wise, that’s an ongoing experiment…if there was an exact blueprint, there’d be no heartbreak in the world…my comment on that is communication and patience.  Problem with getting older is you tend to pick up on “nonsense” a bit quicker…not sure if that’s a good thing or not.  Reason being, my thoughts “were” that I wanted someone younger than me because they were more apt to be flexible and hadn’t grown in stubbornness…then I thought, no, I want someone older that will appreciate me more and isn’t full of games…then I decided I wanted someone in the business that understood my work but do you want to discuss work ALL the time, but someone out of the business doesn’t understand your committment and the hours it takes…wrong on all accounts!

What prompted me to even discuss this is when I went to the Fresno State-Boise State football game the other night…I happened to be walking by these beautiful group of girls(young ladies), but when they were passing, loudly they were calling each other the b-word, the n-word, the h-word, talking about good they’re p was…I was like, ok, am i getting older, I don’t remember girls, young ladies, talking like that to each other, at least in public…

The next day I was on my facebook and noticed the same thing was going on…I went to Twitter and again, all this foul language being shot at each other and openly saying-writing private things  for everyone to see…

When I started the first “rap station” 1580 KDAY, we’d make the artists do a special version of a song replacing bad words with good ones…the artists cooperated for they knew I wouldn’t play it if they didn’t.  Nowadays when you listen to the radio, you’ll hear bleeps, halfway edits, bad language turned backwards, or blank parts…and believe me, the kids know the words.  I’m guilty of it now because if I don’t play it, I’ll get hurt in the ratings.

I’m very well aware of the cliche that “what you grew up listening to is what you’ll always want to hear” and that’s where “I think” the problem lies.  Am I just getting older or more aware?

What’s even more interesting to me is that the ladies you hear saying all those things are the very ones you see in church on Sunday morning…hmmmm.  It confuses me sometimes when people that call themselves christian while in church, don’t practice it the whole week…and I constantly hear, “Where’s all the good men at”…I want to shout, “I”M HERE!”…

Having been in 3 marriages and divorces and I can’t even count how many failed relationships, who am I to talk.  I’ve always had a “workaholic” problem and I’m still trying to grow out of it.  I feel, better yet I know,  whoever ends up being in my life will have the best man they could ever have…So I have to ask, is what’s going on in the world, is it just a part of growing up?  Am I getting older, or Just more Aware?

State of Radio Today!

Since radio consolidation, it has “muffled” creativity in radio! When radio had individual owners, everyone was competing for different age groups, radio HAD to be entertaining, dj experience meant something, it was an all out war! 

Although I admit most of the dj competitors and I would have a drink at the end of the day and laugh about how we were destroying each other, how the owner was stupid, or compare notes on certain radio groupies…it was fun! 

Back then when a record company gave you a gold record, you would have earned it by being the first in the market to “break a record”…they later went on to give every dj one that played the record, that took all the fun out of it ;(

I remember when all the record companies were pissed at me because I started exposing “rap” music instead of playing that major artist they’d spent so much money on developing…the independent guys were pleased, the swap meets were pleased, the little mom and pop record stores got rich, and more importantly, that artist that never would have received airplay, got exposed!  It worked out for the listeners as well…and as they say, the rest is history…

But then, consolidation…radio companies could tailor each station they owned in a market and get very specific on each one towards a certain demo and “superserve” them…My description of it was that the listener no longer got steak, potatoes, vegetables, a drink, and dessert…they were served “steak only”…and they still are today!

Affirmative action…once stations knew they didn’t have to hire black jocks anymore(remember the token black jock on overnights)they didn’t…How many black jocks do you see programming a Top 40, Hot AC, AC, or even CHR Rhythmic station, you could probably count them on one hand today…yet most of it is black music being programmed now by people with no knowledge beyond “focus groups” and “research”, it’s amazing!

Experienced jocks, that costs too much money…in todays PPM world, the less talk the better anyway…

I was listening to a R&B Oldies station a few weeks ago, playing Zapp, Lakeside, The Gap Band, Rick James, and others and in between sets, the jock, who sounded like a white lady that I’d deal with at the bank was the dj…it just didn’t “feel right”…as a matter of fact, after listening to the entire station, there were no black djs…hmmm

I want to make it very CLEAR, I love ALL RACES, there’s not a racist bone in my body, but it is disheartening that Corporate Radio doesn’t think that black djs/programmers can draw listeners beyond certain formats although that particular station may only feature black music. Or that an African-American can’t be in upper management!

I’ve programmed every format and always, ALWAYS, had an immediate and successful impact…Given the same signal, you can’t beat me…BUT, I’m black…I’ve bought and sold radio stations, made several mistakes, usually in who my partners were, but I’ve learned. That’s how you learn. Go for it!

Consolidation, being African American, and not being a “yes-man” has been a hurdle…While I’m definitely a “team player and somewhat of a pragmatist”, I’m a leader and the only way leaders survive is to get their own station or business…The FCC has even taken away the so called ”Minority Tax Certificate” which would help minorities incl. females buy radio stations…another hurdle!

20 years ago, I wrote a editorial in Billboard Magazine trying to encourage peeps in the hip hop world to invest in radio stations…there’s rockers that own stations, country & western guys that do, spanish groups that do, and so on…to this day NOT ONE person in the hip hop world has done it…I pray I live to see that day for I know that once one does, as always, they will all get in on the game.  If you’ve ever noticed, when a nightclub is really hot, there are no “black nights”…when things go down, all of a sudden they add one or two…Parallel that with radio flattening out, we might see more minority participation, let us pray…

I write this to say that if you’ve been through/are going through anything like what I’ve discussed, hang in there, stay strong, more importantly STAY PERSISTENT! I’d love to hear your comments!

Much Respect,

Greg Mack

That’s What I Was Thinking!