Scott Sloan was a jock at the old WQFM in Milwaukee, a poster child for rock stations at the time. 50,000 Watts of Alcohol and Drugs could have been the station’s tagline for promos.
“I think part of the job requirement was to be coked-up,” Sloan said.
(Notice, I didn’t say he was joking.)
Sloan attended Bowling Green State University, a public school in Ohio. He can be heard daily on 700 WLW in Cincinnati from 9:00am-noon.
“I stumbled into radio like everybody else. But I took it very seriously,” Sloan said.
In college, he had an arduous routine. First, Sloan did overnight work, then went straight to WBGU, his college station, for a morning shift.
“We had no idea what we were doing. We tried to figure it out as we went along. Howard Stern was impacting radio.”
After a successful deejay career, Sloan eventually made the jump to talk. He had been impacted by the Loop out of Chicago with Kevin Muller and Gary Meier.
“I had a lot of respect for Steve Dahl,” Sloan said. “He always showed up, put in the work. When you’re on the air, it’s supposed to sound like you’re not working. But you are.”
Sloan explained as a show host, you’re prepping all the time. But that’s if you intended to be any good.
“I think you’re always looking for stuff to present. You should always be you. If you’re an asshole at home, be an asshole on the radio.”
Sloan said regardless of how you present yourself on air; you tend to become your character.
“Where we get stuck is when we try to change lives,” he said. “What happened to entertainment? We’re so full of the ‘Gotcha’ culture, people looking to trip each other up.”
As a parallel, Sloan said it’s the same thing standup comics are going through now, facing restrictions imposed by a society that has suddenly changed its collective mind.
“We’re not brain surgeons,” he said. “We’re not the brightest bulbs. I know so many people in this business that have failed miserably. If some people are antisocial, they can hide behind the microphone. If you’re a well-rounded person and your show is successful, people will try to emulate you.”
Chicago radio knew how to get it right, Sloan said. The Loop was always entertaining. Sloan explained on his station that he could take lessons from those jocks, make mistakes and learn. It was fun.
“When I started, I wasn’t good,” he said plainly. “I was kind of making it up as I went along. You may start out with no listenership, but when you work in a cluster, you kind of know that going in. You’re either the big dog, or you’re the little dog working for the cluster.”
Sloan said It gives you an amazing sense of freedom, knowing you can learn without all the pressure. If people are paying attention to you, you have an opportunity to work with a blank slate.
“You’re not as important as the money-makers. You can play the underdog when you’re figuring out your act.”
He met his wife Michelle at Bowling Green, studying alongside each other. Sloan said his wife went into television and, between the two, always landed good jobs.
“It’s tough in this business to find a wife who understands the business because she’s in the business,” Sloan explained. “When my kids were young, we were forced to have a lot of ‘staycations.’ I remember filling the car with kids and gear, and when we were literally pulling out of the driveway, I got a call that the space shuttle Columbia had exploded. We’re going wall to wall with our coverage as we were still one of the few live stations. I looked at my wife, and she knew I had to go to work immediately. Vacation over. Michelle understood. She got it. How many spouses would take it that well if they didn’t know the business?”
Sloan has been married to Michelle for 30 years. He’s made use of that longevity on the air.
“You have to roast your wife, have a sense of humor if you expect to make it for any length of time,” he explained. “One of the most popular segments on my show is Real Estate With My Wife. She works in real estate now, so I guess it’s kind of a commercial for her business, but I’m not paying for that shit. It’s too expensive at our station.” Michelle leads the show with personal information relating to her and Scott.
“Our relationship is a platform for jumping off,” he said. “Recently, she got a $700 haircut. By that, I mean by the cut, doing tons of other things I don’t understand. That’s divorce material. I made the argument on the air that she was doing it to impress other women because guys don’t care that much about hair. The phones went crazy.”
Compared to when Sloan started, job descriptions around the stations have changed. “Program directors these days do some paperwork. They’re stretched so thin they don’t have time to coach talent or manage the station. Everyone is stretched, and it’s sad.”
Early influences like Stern and Rush helped Sloan focus on his own presentation.
“I liked Rush, but I didn’t listen to him that much. I’d listen to him driving in, but I think he became too self-important. Everybody evolves. Some people have so much reverence for the man it’s elevated to the point of ridiculous.”
Sloan said veteran broadcaster Bill Cunningham, who can be heard on WLW, is probably one of the most emulated talkers. “Hannity took what he does right from Bill,” Sloan said.
Sloan said he doesn’t recall being scared when he recalled his first time on the air.
“If you’re not the main show, you don’t have to be that good. You’ve got that buffer. I was doing sports from 6-8, and nobody was listening. I was ‘Scott the Sports Idiot.’”
Sloan said he had nothing to lose since nobody was listening to his show. He’d try a different take.
“I started calling sports bars,” Sloan said. “The bartender would ask why I was calling a sports bar. I told them I didn’t have any listeners, and I figured people who talked about sports were in the bar. That’s why I’m calling you.”
Auditions on the radio are part of the gig. Sloan recalled going to Toledo in an attempt to land a talker job. The green light came on, and they told him to ‘go.’
“There were all these programming guys standing around,” Sloan explained. “I remember thinking it was important to avoid making eye contact with those guys. I just went into my own zone. I actually put my feet up on the board. I think they thought, ‘well, this guy is comfortable.’ I guess I fooled them. I didn’t think I had that much to say.”
Sloan said he’s a regular guy who shows up for his show in jeans, and a shirt.
“I don’t get the talkers who show up in a suit and tie like they’re working at a bank. I’m supposed to have reverence for these guys?”
On the air, Sloan deals with the listener’s insanity. He offers a blunt assessment of the situation today.
“Politics today is about how much we can kiss ass,” Sloan said. “I’ve always voted Republican, but I don’t recognize the party anymore. America is in a spot right now; everyone is so serious. Always more of the same, and it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
He said every show is different, but it’s always live and local. “My role is to take the news that morning, open the phones, and get guests. We have Bill Cunningham from noon to 3 in the afternoon. He is such an incredible guy. He does it in a tongue-in cheek-manner. I think he’s the most entertaining guy in the industry. When I watch his show, he’s the Harvard of talk show host. I figure compared to him; I should be working at Taco Bell. We don’t need, and nobody could be, another Bill.”
Sloan believes hyper-local is the way it should be.
“If I’m driving from Milwaukee to Nashville, I don’t know what they’re talking about. I don’t have a reference point because I’m not from those towns,” Sloan said. “And I guess that’s how it should be as long as it makes sense to the local community. Cincinnati knows what I’m talking about, even if Cleveland doesn’t. At WLW, we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We don’t have over-the-top characters like wrestling.”
Sloan said things will change, as they always do.
“Someday, somebody will come along and alter everything. The way hosts present. When Stern came on the scene, everybody was cursing, doing prank phone calls. He was amazing. Then the Morning Zoo went away. Something else will come along and shake up the industry. Then somebody will rush to be like them. It’s like The Simpsons. After that show came out, every network had to get an animated show.”
Sloan expressed his frustration with some of the technology we’ve integrated into our daily lives.
“The human brain has only so much hard drive. If I have to remember one more password, I don’t know what I’ll do. I’m an inch deep and a mile wide. I know just enough to get myself into trouble. I didn’t learn anything until I left college. It’s not the college; it’s the money-grubbing college industry. You mean to tell me I can spend 100 grand on a degree in advanced puppetry, but there are no jobs in puppetry? Sesame Street isn’t hiring. I can’t find a job, so I’m living in my mom’s basement for the rest of my life?”
On the air a few days ago, Sloan said the Trump Mar-a-Lago thing pissed many people off. Sloan said everybody’s first impulse was thinking their side was right.
“With the assault on the FBI building in Cincinnati, the Federal building was directly behind our old studio. We saw that building every day. So I said this “Gravy Seal” was going to shoot through bulletproof glass with a nail gun? With reaction from the callers, you would have thought I was the antichrist. They said a Trump supporter wouldn’t say that. Here’s the problem. The same people that hate the FBI don’t recall they are the same people Comey and the FBI were investigating.”
Sloan said we’re so into our own silos we won’t talk to anyone who challenges us. He explained that’s a sign of weakness.
“People believe in things when it’s convenient for them. They chant ‘Defund the FBI,’ but didn’t you just call yourselves the party of Law and Order? We look like crazy people. We treat crazy people like they’re on par with the rest of us. We’ve given the crazies a voice, a sense of importance. Nothing against Jerry Springer, but he did open a door.”
Scotty, Scotty, Scotty.
Jim Cryns writes features for Barrett News Media. He has spent time in radio as a reporter for WTMJ, and has served as an author and former writer for the Milwaukee Brewers. To touch base or pick up a copy of his new book: Talk To Me – Profiles on News Talkers and Media Leaders From Top 50 Markets, log on to Amazon or shoot Jim an email at jimcryns3_zhd@indeedemail.com.
