Do Not Forget the Magic of the Music and
Radio Industry’s Golden Era
radioinfo | October 20, 2014
By Paul Rappaport
Classics du Jour, NYC
Paul Rappaport
NEW YORK — I know that a lot of us sometimes reflect on how lucky we’ve been to have lived through such a magical, musical time in the world, and particularly here in the good ol’ USA.
But I thought it was worth reminding us all here tonight, that we were not only lucky to live through one of the most artistic times this country has ever seen, but that we also got to have a hand in shaping that culture.
By being able to help shape that culture, it let each of us know that we mattered, that we were in the right place at the right time — that we belonged to a much bigger picture, in helping connect some of the greatest music ever made with the public and that by making that connection we were somehow amazingly connected ourselves.
It was a time of creating high art, not only for the musicians, but in the way promotions were done at radio, the way we treated the press, and all of this art and creativity took precedence, and mattered before the money did. And, we were all able to accomplish things that could have only happened at that magical time.
One of the greatest art forms of the time was radio, especially FM radio!
I want to share one of my fondest memories that I have that took place with Tony Berardini. I don’t know if you’ll remember this, but you will really appreciate it.
This was when Tony was the general manager of WBCN. We were in a hotel room one evening in Boston and in some heavy business discussion and of course ‘BCN was playing in the background.
All of the sudden, the jock on the air, did this most amazing segue — into a song you’d least expect, perhaps not even a rock song, whatever — it was one of those “wow!” moments on the radio, one that just made you stop in your tracks, and smile, and go, “That was ****ing brilliant!”
And so it happened to Tony and me. We’re in this heated discussion and all of a sudden we hear this remarkable segue, and we both stopped talking at the exact same time, Tony looked up at me and had the biggest grin on his face, and said, “Isn’t it great!!” And, it was, and the great thing about it was, we also knew that all of Boston had heard the same thing and it was one of those magical “shared experiences” that our generation was lucky to have.
Tony had to be the coolest GM on the planet. But it was also time when program directors ruled, fought for less commercial air-time, and were constantly working on ideas to make their radio station the very best it could be and attract the most loyal listeners that they could. He was so proud of the art form that WBCN was.
In those days, The PD was in charge along with the GM and the sales department was necessarily there, but not wagging the dog.
And on the records side of things, yeah we knew we had sell albums and CDs, but honestly, when it came to things like creating the Pink Floyd airship (which I know some of you got to fly in), we did it just cuz it was a ****ing blast! A million dollar blast, but hey, we had money then. Magical times.
Lastly, I really want to share this with all of you. I know a lot of us have been, and are still physically active, and even if not, at least have some battle scars from hanging out with too many rock stars (or hanging out with each other, for that matter). I know some of you golf, play tennis, go to the gym, dance, etc. For myself one of my life’s passions has been surfing, and over the past few years I have suffered some injuries (two back injuries, and a concussion) — I’m just getting over all of that but was feeling really down because the old body just seemed to be wearing out a bit. And, then I cam across this quote in a magazine I read called The Surfer’s Journal and it put everything into perspective, and it all made sense.
I want to read this quote from Ivan Trent. Ivan is the son of a famous big wave surfer from the 60s named Buzzy Trent. Ivan is a big wave surfer himself and also a Navy Seal.
Ivan says: “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely with a well-preserved body. Rather, you should skid across the finish line sideways, favorite beverage in hand, body totally used up and worn out, screaming, ‘Hooyah! What a ride!’”
So here’s to all of us!
Paul Rappaport is a former VP of Columbia Records and currently co-owner of classic rock promotion/marketing firm, Classics du Jour. He can be phoned at 917-865-9710 or emailed at paulrap1@optonline.net. Co-Owner