I’ve written and said a lot of things about radio in my day and certainly since I started writing this column. But, I realized this week that I’m not sure I‘ve ever really said ‘Thank you’ to an industry that has given me and continues to give me so much….so, if you don’t mind me straying from the sales topic for a week, here goes:
Thank you for my earliest memories with you – catching a Cardinals game and listening to Jack Buck or a Mizzou game with Bill Wilkerson on KMOX.
Thank you for letting me win movie tickets when I was 10 years old, listening to KHTR. The movie, Give My Regards to Broad Street, featuring Paul McCartney, was awful, but I was so excited to have won the tickets.
Thank you for ‘Casey’s Top 40,’ especially the always entertaining long-distance dedications. I listened every weekend and I always looked forward to being told “keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!”
Thank you for the local DJ’s I grew up with, who were part of the soundtrack of my youth – Rick Idol, Kenny Knight, Smash, JC Corcoran, Joe DeNiro, Steve and DC, The U-Man, Radio Rich, Phillips and Wall and others.
Thank you for being my alarm all throughout high school and college.
Thank you for letting me live my dream and giving me the opportunity to do sports play-by-play. There are definitely days I wish I would have continued down that road, but perhaps those days aren’t finished.
Thank you for allowing me to turn off my microphone after we threw it to ABC News the morning of September 11, 2001, as we did our remote from the World Golf Championship event that was supposed to be played at Bellerive Country Club. I had no words for what I was being told had happened, but listened all day.
Thank you for somehow staying on the air on July 22, 2003 when the 100-mph straight line wind storm came through Memphis. I believe I did an 8-hour air shift that day, but I really found out what it meant to be a service to the community.
Thank you for introducing me to the genius of Howard Stern. I thought I knew what great programming was, but until I really started listening to Stern on a regular basis, I didn’t realize the bar of great radio could go that high.
Thank you for all the people I‘ve met through you. Many friends as well as a few of the famous variety like Hulk Hogan, Bob Costas, John Daly, Jimmie Walker, Ric Flair, Edwin McCain, Jack Clark, Young MC and more.
Thank you for introducing me to country music. Darius Rucker got me to listen to the genre, but country radio pulled me and my wife in hook, line and sinker. I went from never having had a country station on my pre-sets to buying the Mega Ticket within a three-year span.
Thank you for all of the highs, for the wins, for the yes’s, for those days when everything is just clicking.
Most of all, thank you for the career and allowing me to grow with you. I’ve been, and always will be, one of your biggest fans and most passionate advocates.
I look forward to many more years together!
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
