So it’s World Radio Day…And I need to come clean…
I have to be honest, until I was told by a coworker, I didn’t realize it was it was World Radio Day…
A day in which radio professionals around the world rejoice in their accomplishments in a world of microphones, AM FM signals, contests, songs, requests, live broadcasts, listener worship, and all the great things that come with being a radio star. For a quarter century I have been a part of that world, and enjoyed amazing success. However today I must come clean.
I cheated.
There, I said it. I cheated. I used PEHs. For the better part of the past two decades I used Performance Enhancing Headphones.
I was first turned on to them during my college radio days by of all people one of my professors. We’ll call him Mitch. Mitch always said two things to me, “Kid, you either got it or you don’t”, and “Kid, you don’t got it”. Mitch did however have one other bit of wisdom. PEHs. Of course back then they weren’t the big digital phones you hear about today for sale on the black market and in Russia. No, back them you could get them in a dark alley behind the Radio Shack for a few bucks. My friends, I’m telling you, once you realize how great you become once you use this stuff, you never want to go back to being a hack. So it began for me, all the glory all the accolades and awards, all the lies. All of it continued right up until a few days ago when a coworker, a young kid just in the business a few months came up to me to tell me about World Radio Day. Except he caught me when I wasn’t expecting him. He caught me using PEH’s. I’ll never forget his face, the tears, and most of all those words. “Why Jimmy? Why??” I answered him the only way I knew how. By telling him I was a loser, and he was twice the DJ I was even with less than half the experience, because he did it clean..Then I told him to go get my dry cleaning.
Anyway, now that I’ve come clean, I hope you don’t think less of me. The pressure’s of the job, and the competition is relentless. There’s always a young buck trying to knock you off the top. Sometimes, you feel you just need that little extra edge. I thought Performance Enhancing Headphones would give me that edge. Instead they gave me a reason to speak up on World Radio Day. I hope my brothers and sisters in the biz that are still using PEHs will step up to the plate and join me. If we can’t do radio clean, then why do radio at all?
-Jimmy Steal
Radio Star, Cheater.