Rick Minerd - Life Is A Jukebox

Fans of the 1970s sitcom  "WKRP in Cincinnati"  might remember that the producers of the show did in fact  loosely base it on a real life radio station in the Queen City with similar call-letters. WKRC in Cincy was, and may still be WTVNs sister station. And when the planning for the comedy show began the writers and producers explored WKRC and picked their brains for ideas that could resemble realism. As a matter of fact, when all of this was going on, former WTVN programmer-Jim Lohse was the PD at WKRC.

On the TV show the character of WKRPs  Program Director, Andy Travis did sort of remind  some of us of Lohse.  As  some of the others on the show reminded us of people we knew. Mr. Carlson was like some General Managers all of us have known.

No disrespect to the news directors I worked with, but Les Nesman reminded me of a few here in Columbus. Herb Tarlik was a carbon copy of every salesman I ever knew, Venus Fly trap had common personality traits of the soul brothers working the Columbus air-waves and every station had a few hotties  like Bailey Quarters and Jennifer Marlowe.

But I only knew one guy who could hold a candle to Johnny Fever.

I was working nights at WMNI.  I walked into the vestibule one night on my way into the studio and noticed this guy who appeared to be in his early 40s, long salt and pepper hair, scraggly whiskers and a well worn t-shirt with some sort of rock n' roll logo on it.

The guy was asleep on the couch. Snoring. And there was a brown paper sack on the floor that contained what appeared to be his worldly possessions.

My first thought was that someone had forgotten to lock the door and perhaps a homeless man had wandered in. I thought about calling the police to have him escorted out. Instead I woke him and asked if he was lost or confused or if there was something I could do to help him out.

He asked if my name was Rick. He explained that he was the new guy and he was waiting for me to train him. My Program Director did leave me a memo on this but I made it a habit of checking my mail box at the end of my shift. That gave me an excuse to argue new policies and such.

Anyway, we got things worked out and I quickly learned this guy needed no training. He was about the best disc jockey I had ever heard.

As a matter of fact he turned out to be someone I idolized as a kid.

He had worked at WCOL back in it's heydey and had a voice and personality that was truly amazing.  His name was Jim Davis.

Jim was not only tremendous on the air, he was amazingly funny off the air. His off air persona was a mirrors reflection of Doctor Johnny Fever. 

He dressed like him,  had similar sarcasm and a track record in the business that included gigs at stations from coast to coast. A rocker from the old school stuck in Columbus.

And like the character on WKRP  Jim hated rules. He broke them all.

I remember sitting in a dee jaye meeting   after the PD had finished a rant and rave about guys not following the format, and when he asked if there were any questions we all looked around the room and broke into laughter. Jim was asleep. Someone nudged him and he farted.  He was the best.

Jim wasn't fond of being compared to Johnny Fever. Partly because he didn't know who he was being compared to. He said he didn't own a TV.

Another fond memory was a contest idea that our PD had come up with. It was called  "Make-It-Or-Break-It." 

The idea was for Jim to play two new songs and allow listeners to call in and vote on which song should be added to our play list. Jim would play the songs then let the phones ring off the hook without answering them. After a few minutes he would come on the air and break  the loser.

He'd smash it on the table and play glass breaking sound effects and tell the listeners that they voted it the loser. What was really going on was Jim was the only voter.

One time he smashed a George Jones record and declared an obscure song recorded by an unknown artist that sounded like crap the winner. The Jones record went on to become a smash hit. Jim's winner was in the trash  when the PD showed up the next day.

Because of his talents and likeability on the air, women were always coming to the station late at night to meet him.

But he usually ignored the attention unless one showed up that was hard to look at or smelled bad,  Jim would greet them at the door and tell them that his name was Bill Weber. 

Bill was our morning man. He would tell them that Jim went home sick.

I could do this all night. I loved that guy. Another one of those Gems that  rarely comes along in life. Fun to listen to and fun to just hang out with and observe.

And as was his history he didn't stick around long. 

Sometime chasing jobs that paid more money Jim left us after about a year.

But he left enough memories behind to keep those of us who knew him laughing for years to come..      Rick

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