Texas Radio (Sans big Beat), Zen And The Art Of Quarter Hour Maintenence, And Solid Gold Stupid In The Great White North

More Stories: Years ago I was at SXSW with some friends who owned a FM station that was heard in Austin but had studios in a town some 20 miles down the road. We took a drive one day to see the place, and on the way I came up with an idea for a format. What could be more perfect in Texas I thought than a station called "Kay Bob". Being the programing whiz kid that I was, I came up with a KBOB format on the spot: All Willie + Waylon and the Boys...and all the DJs would be named Billy Bob, or Bobbie Ray, or Bobbie Sue or..well you get the idea. After pulling into the town (complete with hitching posts and good ole' boys on the courthouse steps), I reconsidered the likey reception a long haired wise guy from MoTown might get pitching a format in those parts. Sorry Hos, no KBOB ever happened.



I had another long standing radio theory that involved a simple formula: divide the total power in watts by the number of times a day you play Stairway To Heaven, then multiply by the number of trailer parks in your Metro.... and you should get pretty close to your average quarter hour rating. My stupid formula made as much sense as most of the nonsense I heard from consultants over the years. I remember Lee Abrams telling us once to "be like the mafia on the phones". I still don't know what the fuck that meant.



Years later I gaped in wide wonder when I heard a Windsor Canada station try a Motown Gold format with 20% Can Con ( Canadian Content). That meant every fifth song had to be from a Canadian Motown artist. Go ahead and name one......... I rest my case eh. They would have been better off as CBOB.