Fair Woes and Free Tickets: A Radio Relic Recalls

It's fair week, and it brings back memories of when we had to man a booth there all week. For us here at Cat Country, we had to emcee the Hollywood Stunt Show. It was fine the first 27 times, but after that, it got a little stale because they didn't change the show in any way, performance after performance. But we were trying to get a new radio station established, and that means you've got to be out there promoting it.

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Our shifts at the fair would come after we were on the roof of the Chevy dealership doing our shows. We did those for Denny Menholt for many years. At least we got to be up there in the mornings when it was cool. Our afternoon guy, not so much.

We would also throw in emceeing all of the country concerts that came to Metra. But even that lost its luster when they changed how they opened their shows. It used to be that you walked out when the band was ready, said your bit, and then said, "Please welcome ____." Now, you go out and say that the headlining act will be out in a few minutes. Then they play their pre-produced open. It also cut way down on how many of the stars we actually got to talk to. One of the reasons I'm in country radio is because I like the music (at least I used to).

Also, back in the day, everybody who worked on the air got free concert tickets. They may not have been the greatest seats, but it was hard to beat free.