My Dream Job

Five years ago I thought I had achieved a dream of mine. To make a living doing the kind of radio I liked doing. I started sending tapes to Real Radio back in 1997. I am sure that they all went into the trash immediately. I worked at the time for an FM talk station in Austin Texas, KJFK but I knew that WTKS was where I needed to be. This is where it all started, the model for ALL FM talk stations across the country. I probably sent 30 packages in hopes of getting a job here.One morning my boss in Austin called & said not to bother coming in, the station was flipping formats. Hispanic, Tejano or some such crap. My first radio firing was official. I started looking for another radio gig immediately. Tapes, (yes tapes), resumes, pictures, ratings info and some xerox copies of local BS awards I had won, all packed in manilla envelopes ready for the US mail. I sent out a hundred at least. Nothing. Maybe I wasn't any good after all. Maybe I should stay in the bar buisiness. Maybe this radio career is a pipe dream. What is a "talk radio host" anyway? Was I one? I didn't have a diploma that declared it so. I did however get a couple of calls from station managers & actually was flown out to Omaha Nebraska (yes, I considered a job in Omaha) to meet the station owners. I got an offer from Omaha. It depressed the crap out of me. Omaha.Finally I found an ad in a trade magazine for Orlando. Not WTKS but one of it's sister stations, 540 WFLA! They needed a host. A political host. I overnighted one of my "packages" & sat by the phone. Well, it rang & on the other end was Tom Benson the program director (he also got fired yesterday). He wanted to meet me. 3 days later I was on a plane to Orlando. Could I do political talk? Can't be THAT difficult huh? During my visit I got a tour of the facility. It was a far cry from my humble beginnings at KJFK in Austin. These studios were incredible! WOW! They were HUGE, the didn't have folding card tables in them, they had computers, nice leather chairs etc. Back at KJFK, they used "carts" for commercials. Carts are like 8 track tape cassettes each with one commercial on it. The entire wall in the studio was a giant rack that held a few hundred of these things. Clear Channel had computers, slick boards, real studios!After the tour I was introduced to Chris Kampmeier, the guy who had been throwing my tapes in the trash for 2 years. I recieved an offer and accepted it 3 minutes later.For some reason I thought it was a good idea to take this job even though it wasn't my dream scenario, it was right down the hall from Real Radio! I followed the shows on RR closer than the ones on my own station. Stern, Monsters, Philips Phile, Garabo (yeah, I listened to Garabo). In 2003 Clear Channel fires Stern and moved the Monsters into the morning. It took me a few days to get the balls, but I walked into Kampmeier's office & annouced....."I am your man". Kampmeier had no idea what I was talking about. I said " I am your man for the opening at Real Radio"! His exact, response was, and this is a quote......"You are aout of your f#&#^$g mind, bud"! I was crushed. it was over. Back to AM for me.A month later the station's employees got together to discuss who should fill the opening. Jim Philips spoke up & said, "what about Shannon Burke"? "He has the chops, as long as he drops that conservative crap" More to come...........Stay tuned!