1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,300 Unknown: JB, I knew that if he would, if I could get him into 2 00:00:03,300 --> 00:00:07,740 the studio, I knew how much love he would be showered with, yeah, 3 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:11,340 and so I got him in the studio, and he told his story, and his 4 00:00:11,340 --> 00:00:16,140 story was that he was in the Navy for four years. He served 5 00:00:16,140 --> 00:00:20,300 on Navy submarines in the 1970s he served his nation in a way 6 00:00:20,300 --> 00:00:24,320 that we, you know, beg people to do on the regular, and I wanted 7 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:26,900 to make sure that people understood that backstory and 8 00:00:26,900 --> 00:00:29,600 understood some of the issues that he went through. And 9 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,720 frankly, I think many of them were horribly unfair to people 10 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:35,360 that were just trying to live their lives back in the day, I 11 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:39,260 got him to tell that story and the level of people that came 12 00:00:39,260 --> 00:00:41,860 out of the woodwork. And I'm not talking about just listeners. 13 00:00:41,860 --> 00:00:45,520 I'm talking about, you know, mayors and Congress people 14 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,520 calling up and saying, We love you. We appreciate you. Thank 15 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,700 you for your service and and he didn't kill himself. 16 00:00:53,620 --> 00:00:59,320 Welcome to a podcast about music and entertainment before it all 17 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:04,440 goes down the disposal. This is circling the drain. 18 00:01:07,620 --> 00:01:10,980 Hey, welcome back to circling the drain. You know Jay Harper, 19 00:01:10,980 --> 00:01:14,340 yeah. Hi there, Johnny B, that's right. And now you got 20 00:01:14,340 --> 00:01:18,120 Jim McCarthy over there. Hello. And of course, me. Johnny 21 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:22,760 Bozeman, who cares? Johnny B is here, and we've got, we've got a 22 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:27,140 special guest, a superstar, a superstar from Super talk. We do 23 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:34,340 seven. WTM, can't wait to meet him. Matt Murphy, 24 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:38,480 thank you guys, thank you for inviting me, yeah, but thank you 25 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,460 for coming. And we can't pay you anything, but by gosh, we got 26 00:01:42,460 --> 00:01:45,640 you. You got your cardboard box. Cardboard box. Thank you. 27 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:50,440 Just as long as there's no drug sniffing dogs around, we'll be 28 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,200 fine. Yeah, you may want to, you may want to wait till you, wait 29 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:54,880 till you get home to try some of that. 30 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,420 Well, I regularly, I regularly expect that I'll be fired soon. 31 00:01:58,420 --> 00:02:00,040 So this cardboard box will come in 32 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:05,040 handy for packing up my things. You don't have many things, 33 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:07,560 apparently, not a lot of things. Well, 34 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:09,180 he works in radio, right? 35 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:13,320 But speaking of we have worked together for a brief moment. We 36 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:17,280 did, it was a couple of years we did at Super talk, 99 seven. 37 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:19,980 WTN, where, you know Jay Harper still? 38 00:02:20,100 --> 00:02:21,980 Yeah, I still hang around. He's around 39 00:02:21,980 --> 00:02:26,240 very often. He does the traffic reports with popcorn going on, 40 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,420 with the old school teletype going on in the background, fill 41 00:02:29,420 --> 00:02:32,420 in on news occasionally. Oh yeah, we love having Jay. We 42 00:02:32,420 --> 00:02:33,440 love Jay. Yes, 43 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,140 well, we love you. Well, thank you. And we've been wanting to, 44 00:02:36,140 --> 00:02:39,740 you know, because I, even though we worked together for so long, 45 00:02:39,740 --> 00:02:43,060 I never really got to get the matt Murphy story? I've heard 46 00:02:43,060 --> 00:02:46,540 some of it, and that's why we wanted to have you in, because 47 00:02:46,540 --> 00:02:47,980 we want to learn more about Matt 48 00:02:47,980 --> 00:02:50,500 Murphy. I didn't think this was that type of show. 49 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:56,440 This is your life. Matt Murphy, no, because you came to us from 50 00:02:56,500 --> 00:02:59,860 you actually were born in Georgia. I was in Tom, Thompson, 51 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:02,760 Thompson, T, H, O, M, S O N, no. P, in time. No. P, there you go. 52 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,520 Thompson, yeah, but everybody tries to put a P in Thompson. 53 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:09,540 And there's also a Thomas stun. There's a Thomasville, there's a 54 00:03:09,540 --> 00:03:13,560 Thompson Ville, boy, there's not a lot of, not a lot, not a lot 55 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:14,520 of thinking going on in 56 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,940 Georgia. Didn't have creative people behind that. 57 00:03:18,060 --> 00:03:22,100 We're rubes over there, across the state line. So, yeah. So 58 00:03:22,100 --> 00:03:24,920 Thompson, Georgia, which is just outside of Augusta, it's a 59 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:25,400 suburb of 60 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,940 Augusta, Georgia, yeah. So you, how long did you live there? And 61 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:30,140 I was born 62 00:03:30,140 --> 00:03:34,340 in mcduffy County Hospital, September 1, 1973 the world has 63 00:03:34,340 --> 00:03:39,500 known no peace nor quiet ever since. And I grew up there and 64 00:03:39,500 --> 00:03:41,920 lived there until I went to college at West Georgia College 65 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:45,700 in Carrollton. So what got you into radio? My friend, my dad. 66 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:51,160 So my dad, my mother, had malignant brain cancer in 1978 67 00:03:52,180 --> 00:03:57,400 when I was five years old and my father left the family. It was 68 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:01,980 me, my older brother, my older sister, and my dad decided that 69 00:04:02,100 --> 00:04:05,940 the quote that I always heard growing up was I can't handle 70 00:04:05,940 --> 00:04:12,420 this, so he left, and my mother went through brain surgery. She 71 00:04:12,420 --> 00:04:15,960 was given a 20% chance to live two to five years. She lived 25 72 00:04:16,140 --> 00:04:18,840 years. She died at the age of 53 so she lived a lot longer than 73 00:04:18,840 --> 00:04:21,420 people thought, and it was an absolute miracle that we had her 74 00:04:21,420 --> 00:04:23,540 for the length of time that we had her that we had her, yeah, 75 00:04:23,540 --> 00:04:26,900 but all of that to say, my father was a radio guy, and he 76 00:04:26,900 --> 00:04:31,520 was kind of a wanderer as as folks in the 1970s and 80s were 77 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:35,000 want to be, right? We're Gypsies in those days, and socially 78 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,020 radio, yeah, well, and my dad would jump from town to town, 79 00:04:39,020 --> 00:04:41,500 and God love him. I mean, he's passed away now too. But my dad 80 00:04:41,500 --> 00:04:44,860 would, would jump from town to town until the point that he 81 00:04:44,860 --> 00:04:48,700 would, he would reach a level of irresponsibility in the 82 00:04:48,700 --> 00:04:51,640 building, and people figured him out, and then he would get out 83 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:56,980 of it, right? So he would BS people for a while, get about a 84 00:04:56,980 --> 00:04:59,440 year or two out of a radio station, and then move on to the 85 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:03,000 next town. And so he was in Macon, Georgia, Charleston, 86 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,780 South Carolina, Valdosta, Georgia, Greenville, South 87 00:05:06,780 --> 00:05:12,180 Carolina, Augusta, a couple of times. Thompson, of course. I 88 00:05:12,180 --> 00:05:15,420 mean, just all of Milledgeville. I mean, he was just jumping all 89 00:05:15,420 --> 00:05:19,020 over the place. And the sad part about it was he was a great 90 00:05:19,020 --> 00:05:23,360 radio guy. I mean, he was fabulous on the air. So, long 91 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:27,080 story short, I didn't know my dad very well until I was 12 92 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,320 years old, and my dad came back into my life, unbeknownst to us, 93 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:32,840 because of court order, because he wasn't paying child support. 94 00:05:33,140 --> 00:05:36,980 And eventually he had to go to court, and the judge said, 95 00:05:36,980 --> 00:05:38,960 you're gonna need to start paying. He owed like, $50,000 96 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:41,600 for the three kids in child support, and he said you're 97 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:43,840 gonna have to start paying on this start paying on this. He 98 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:46,480 wanted to put him in jail. And my mother actually spoke up for 99 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,060 him and said, No, he's no good to us in there. But a part of 100 00:05:49,060 --> 00:05:51,580 that, and once again, we didn't know any of this, was that he 101 00:05:51,580 --> 00:05:55,060 had to take us for the summer, for two weeks for the summer. 102 00:05:55,060 --> 00:05:57,460 And, you know, we got to experience a dad. I didn't know 103 00:05:57,460 --> 00:06:01,680 this guy. He left when I was five, but we went to, he lived 104 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:05,460 in Macon at the time, and worked at, I think it was W, D, E N, in 105 00:06:05,460 --> 00:06:06,240 Macon, Georgia. 106 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,480 Oh, yeah, a big deal. Yeah. I used to call that station. Did 107 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:10,620 you really MCA record? 108 00:06:10,620 --> 00:06:14,520 Oh, there you go. Yeah. So my dad went, he was music director 109 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,940 over there, and he was the afternoon drive guy, and he, 110 00:06:17,940 --> 00:06:21,980 they called him Dr Lee. I mean, it was, it would, you know, Dr 111 00:06:22,100 --> 00:06:25,580 Lee, curing all your country music, blues, you know, I like, 112 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,340 oh, it was this hook, right? And so he it was the whole Dr 113 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:34,040 shtick, yes, and, and so I went in. I was almost 12 years old. 114 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:36,380 It was the summer of my Yeah, I was right before I turned 12. 115 00:06:36,620 --> 00:06:41,140 And, and I went to work with him, and I watched what he did, 116 00:06:41,140 --> 00:06:43,420 and I was fascinated. And he told me, he said, When the 117 00:06:43,420 --> 00:06:45,760 light, you know, he had one of those light bulb, you know, 118 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,220 switches that when the mic comes on, the light bulb goes on. And 119 00:06:48,220 --> 00:06:50,560 he said, when the light goes on, you've got to be quiet. You've 120 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:55,600 got to pay attention. And so I had this perception that when my 121 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,300 dad started talking, everybody had to be quiet and pay 122 00:06:58,300 --> 00:07:03,300 attention to him. And I'm like, I want that. That's what I want 123 00:07:03,300 --> 00:07:06,840 that in my life. And so I became fascinated with it, and I went 124 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:11,340 home and I just I didn't see my dad a lot. After that summer, we 125 00:07:11,340 --> 00:07:15,540 kind of went back to normal. But when I was 14 years old, I 126 00:07:15,540 --> 00:07:18,600 applied to the local radio station in Thompson, Georgia, W 127 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:23,480 T, H, O, W t, WA, and it was an am FM combo. You guys will get a 128 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:26,420 kick out of this. I thought it was big time, right? 3000 watt 129 00:07:26,420 --> 00:07:31,340 FM country music station. Who your better? Country FM, which? 130 00:07:31,340 --> 00:07:38,900 We're not the best, but we're better. And and W, Tw is a 1000 131 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:42,760 watt full service am radio station. It was called the heart 132 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:47,500 of Thompson, your favorite easy listening hits from the 40s to 133 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:51,280 the 80s. So they were, you know, full service. They had, but 134 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:53,620 here's the fascinating thing, guys, and I might be getting 135 00:07:53,620 --> 00:07:57,100 ahead of this a little bit, but they had, back in the day, they 136 00:07:57,100 --> 00:08:00,880 had a news director. They had a continuity director. I mean, 137 00:08:00,940 --> 00:08:05,700 this is a 1000 watt, 3000 watt combo. Sure, local, you know, a 138 00:08:05,700 --> 00:08:08,640 town that serves, I mean, these radio stations served a county 139 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,360 of about 25 to 30,000 people, and they had all of these 140 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:15,240 positions. But anyway, I applied. I was too young. 141 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,360 Obviously. I was 14. I didn't realize that when I turned 15, I 142 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:22,340 was working at Winn Dixie and and and Mike wall, the general 143 00:08:22,340 --> 00:08:24,740 manager and eventual owner of the radio station, called me, 144 00:08:25,220 --> 00:08:29,300 and I did not real. I did not realize that he had worked with 145 00:08:29,300 --> 00:08:36,140 my dad when he called me up and he told me later on in life, he 146 00:08:36,140 --> 00:08:38,660 said, I didn't really want to hire you, because I figured if 147 00:08:38,660 --> 00:08:40,840 you turned out anything like your dad, you would just be a 148 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:41,800 big old piecing Jim. 149 00:08:41,980 --> 00:08:46,960 No wonder we got along with my dad. Every time I meet somebody 150 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:51,460 in Nashville that worked with my dad and radio, it's always, oh, 151 00:08:52,540 --> 00:08:57,520 you're not like, yeah, I have to go into that. So what got you so 152 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:00,960 you you did end up going to Montgomery, Alabama. I know that 153 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,240 you is that where you started talk radio? 154 00:09:03,660 --> 00:09:06,660 Montgomery was where I started talk so, you know, I worked in 155 00:09:06,660 --> 00:09:10,920 high school at W t, w, T, H, O, and I knew I loved radio, I 156 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,440 loved performing, and that's what I looked at it as 157 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:16,500 performance. And so I decided that I wanted to be an actor, 158 00:09:16,500 --> 00:09:20,540 and that's when I went to school, went to college, I I was 159 00:09:20,540 --> 00:09:23,840 a theater major, and I also worked at the college radio 160 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:27,860 station. And at a college radio station, I learned the freedom 161 00:09:27,860 --> 00:09:30,680 of doing whatever the hell you wanted to do, whenever you 162 00:09:30,680 --> 00:09:33,560 wanted to do it and ask forgiveness later, yes, which 163 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:36,560 was a very, very nice lesson. But I also learned the very 164 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:44,440 important lesson that there are there are lines. One of them i i 165 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,500 regularly would play. We were still playing records. We were 166 00:09:47,500 --> 00:09:51,340 still like a college jukebox before they turned us to NPR. 167 00:09:51,820 --> 00:09:54,760 And we would, you know, so we're playing, you know, we've got 168 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:58,000 these stacks of records. And I would play live cuts off album, 169 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,660 so I could go to the McDonald's and get better. I put in the 170 00:10:00,660 --> 00:10:02,220 morning. Yeah, that's radio 171 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:07,320 I was playing. That's why red so vine became so big, because 172 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:08,820 those songs were so long. 173 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:14,580 So no, I was live version of whipping post is 22 minutes. So 174 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,780 I would put on live version of whipping post, get my car and go 175 00:10:18,780 --> 00:10:24,560 to McDonald's. And so I got into a fender bender. I got into a 176 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:28,100 fender bender the parking lot of McDonald's, and the cops are 177 00:10:28,100 --> 00:10:31,520 there, and I got my radio on listening to 178 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,560 that record. I'm looking at a cop going, can I go back to the 179 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:41,720 race? Like, no, I've got paperwork. What are you talking 180 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:45,100 about? You talking about at a radio station? So that was a 181 00:10:45,100 --> 00:10:48,100 little bit of a line that I couldn't go back from that. 182 00:10:49,660 --> 00:10:53,260 So, you know, I loved when they switched the format. It's kind 183 00:10:53,260 --> 00:10:57,280 of funny. My the director of mass communications, Dr Chester 184 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:00,480 Gibson, which was a complete, you know, I don't know, hard ass 185 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:04,260 is what he was. But he, he we had a love hate relationship, 186 00:11:04,260 --> 00:11:06,900 because I think he saw potential in me, but he was also just 187 00:11:06,900 --> 00:11:10,260 really, really hard on me. And when they flipped the radio 188 00:11:10,260 --> 00:11:14,220 station to Public Radio, not, you know, it was, it wasn't NPR, 189 00:11:14,220 --> 00:11:16,680 I think it was Public Radio International, is what they 190 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,040 called it within, you know, all of us that just used it as 191 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:23,600 jukebox we're kind of out of a out of a gig for, for lack of a 192 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:26,180 better term. And he brought me in, and he said, Have you ever 193 00:11:26,180 --> 00:11:30,740 thought about doing a talk show? And I said, Well, no. And he 194 00:11:30,740 --> 00:11:34,280 said, I think you would be good. And I invite I was liberal as, I 195 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:38,960 mean, you know, I was, I was a sophomore in in college, and I 196 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:41,440 was in the theater program. I mean, I was as liberals, as as 197 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:44,560 they come at that point. Yeah. And he said, I think you do a 198 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:47,200 good job, and we want some local programming. So why don't you 199 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:51,700 think about it? So I did it. I did a one hour daily radio show 200 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:55,480 on the college radio station. It. I still have tapes. No, you 201 00:11:55,480 --> 00:12:01,080 can't hear them because they're horrible. It's just really bad. 202 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:05,820 But in that, I got a bug out of that. I got just a buzz and 203 00:12:05,820 --> 00:12:09,000 that, you know, that's like a 50 watt, or whatever it is, one of 204 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,820 those college things where it gets to the Student Center, and 205 00:12:11,820 --> 00:12:12,060 that's, 206 00:12:12,180 --> 00:12:14,400 right, yeah, you could put speakers on top of the building 207 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:15,300 and reach more people. 208 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:20,040 But, man, I thought it was big time, right? Everybody's 209 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:24,260 listening to me and, and so, you know, I traveled a little bit. I 210 00:12:24,260 --> 00:12:27,140 moved to Connecticut for about nine months. If you have nine 211 00:12:27,140 --> 00:12:30,800 months to live, move to Connecticut, because by the time 212 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:33,200 the nine months is up, you'll want to die. We're in 213 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:37,820 Connecticut. We lived in Middletown, okay, I grew up in 214 00:12:37,820 --> 00:12:42,460 Danbury. Oh, well, see, yeah, Jim knows, yeah, Jim's 25 years. 215 00:12:42,460 --> 00:12:46,120 I get it. It was, it was a no Connecticut. It's a beautiful 216 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:48,580 state. The people are different. That's what 217 00:12:48,579 --> 00:12:51,759 it's basically just like. It looks like Tennessee, just with 218 00:12:51,759 --> 00:12:53,679 a lot more taxes and jackals. 219 00:12:54,579 --> 00:12:58,599 That's a great, great way. But I was at Middletown for about nine 220 00:12:58,599 --> 00:13:01,319 months, and could not get a gig in radio up there to save my 221 00:13:01,319 --> 00:13:04,079 life, because in the in the south, right? I don't have a 222 00:13:04,079 --> 00:13:07,679 southern accent. In the south, I sound like everybody else, but 223 00:13:07,859 --> 00:13:10,019 let me promise you, in Connecticut, they're like, What? 224 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:17,820 Radio rubber band in his mouth. Who's this hillbilly? 225 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,720 I moved back home to Georgia. I was looking for something to do. 226 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:23,960 I worked part time in Georgia. Time in Georgia, and I got a 227 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:26,840 call from a buddy of mine that I worked with. I got my first full 228 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,440 time gig in country music radio in Augusta, doing seven. So my 229 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:34,400 arc there was just mark was I got the job doing seven to 230 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:38,780 midnight, and they liked me, and so they promoted me to mid days, 231 00:13:38,900 --> 00:13:41,500 and they liked me there, and they promoted me to afternoons, 232 00:13:41,500 --> 00:13:43,840 and they didn't like me so much there, so they moved me back to 233 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:46,720 mid days, and apparently I wasn't good enough for mid days 234 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:49,420 anymore either. So they moved they moved me back to seven to 235 00:13:49,420 --> 00:13:52,420 midnight, and then they changed the format of the radio station 236 00:13:52,660 --> 00:13:56,800 to urban. So that ended that, and that was like all in the 237 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:03,480 span of 18 months. But the one note that I remember getting 238 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:05,880 from my program director all the time, guy by the name of Bob 239 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:13,380 Raleigh, was, would you please shut up? Nobody, I mean, nobody 240 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:18,240 cares what you think about anything they want to hear. 241 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:19,260 Shania Twain. 242 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:25,700 He's like, Yeah, haha. He went, he came 243 00:14:25,700 --> 00:14:29,180 into the studio one day, and he goes, he goes, these are the 244 00:14:29,180 --> 00:14:32,540 words I want you to coming out of your mouth. Here's Garth 245 00:14:32,540 --> 00:14:33,080 Brooks. 246 00:14:33,380 --> 00:14:37,940 That's it. So I gave you cards. That's what I got. Cards. Read 247 00:14:37,940 --> 00:14:39,980 these cards, liner, liner cards. 248 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:46,000 We did that for a minute, and I realized, well, maybe this music 249 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,580 radio thing is it for me. And it was around that time I got a 250 00:14:48,580 --> 00:14:53,080 call from a buddy of mine and he Well, the format flipped. And I 251 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,720 went back working at Waffle House trying to figure out what 252 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:58,600 to do. And a buddy of mine called in Montgomery and said, 253 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:01,860 Hey, we're we're. Starting up this talk radio station to 254 00:15:01,860 --> 00:15:04,740 compete with the heritage talk station, and if you're 255 00:15:04,740 --> 00:15:08,280 interested, you can produce the morning show. And so I went over 256 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:11,640 there to do traffic in the afternoons. I did some news in 257 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,340 the afternoons, and I was producing the morning show. And 258 00:15:14,340 --> 00:15:18,420 about five months into that, they fired me too because they 259 00:15:18,420 --> 00:15:21,980 felt like it wasn't working. But Don Markwell in Montgomery, 260 00:15:21,980 --> 00:15:25,940 Alabama, had heard me. He was the guy that ran the heritage 261 00:15:25,940 --> 00:15:31,640 talk station, W, A, C, V, and he called me up, and I'll never 262 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:34,280 forget it, the first meeting that we had. Markwell was a very 263 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:37,820 imposing guy with this huge, deep voice. And, you know, I'm a 264 00:15:37,820 --> 00:15:43,600 young like 25 I'm 25 years old, and the Bob gamba curta was the 265 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:45,820 guy that had started the morning show, and he had been a 266 00:15:45,820 --> 00:15:49,480 television guy who thought he could do radio. And talk radio 267 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,840 is littered with TV people that think that they can do talk 268 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:55,180 radio, and then they find out it's a little bit harder than 269 00:15:55,180 --> 00:15:59,380 paying for it. And gambacurta called his show gambacurta 270 00:15:59,380 --> 00:16:03,000 against the morning. He thought it was oh, gamba curtain against 271 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:09,960 the morning. The morning against the morning. He thought it was 272 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:14,400 combative and it was tough. Yeah. And so I sit down with 273 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,820 Markwell, I'm interviewing for a job. And he said, So you 274 00:16:17,820 --> 00:16:23,180 produced gamba curta against the morning. And I said, Yes, sir, I 275 00:16:23,180 --> 00:16:26,780 did. And there's this long pause, and he said, the morning 276 00:16:26,780 --> 00:16:27,320 won. 277 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:38,540 Yes, sir. He took a shot. And here's the wonderful thing, he 278 00:16:38,540 --> 00:16:43,720 created an afternoon news position for me. He created a 279 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:46,780 local afternoon show. Oh, wait, a morning news position for me. 280 00:16:46,780 --> 00:16:51,580 He created a local afternoon show for me, because, and, you 281 00:16:51,580 --> 00:16:55,120 know, look, I think that there are plenty of other people that 282 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:59,200 are far more talented than me in the business, but he saw a 283 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:02,760 certain amount of talent in me. And he said, You're wasting your 284 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:04,920 talent doing what you're doing over there. You need to come 285 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:08,940 over here, and we need and he was one of the old school guys 286 00:17:09,120 --> 00:17:13,080 that would literally look for talent and try to bring it in 287 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:17,220 and cultivate it in a way that radio does not do anything and 288 00:17:17,220 --> 00:17:20,460 hasn't for some time. Yeah, that's right, that's a concept. 289 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:26,960 So so, you know? So I went to work in Montgomery at wacv, you 290 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:31,280 know? I worked briefly for the competitors, interestingly 291 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:36,620 enough, at cumulus, who are the guys that fired me. And at wacv, 292 00:17:36,620 --> 00:17:40,840 I would get up in the morning, I did an hour of like news, which 293 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:44,140 was really just rip and read. I had no interest in making it a 294 00:17:44,140 --> 00:17:47,500 good product. It was between six and 7am so I would rip and read 295 00:17:47,500 --> 00:17:49,480 for an hour of it was a news hour. Just here's what's 296 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:51,700 happening in the news, here's what's happening in sports, 297 00:17:51,700 --> 00:17:53,860 here's what's happening in weather, here's what's happening 298 00:17:53,860 --> 00:17:56,440 in traffic. And then at seven o'clock, I would produce the 299 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:00,040 sports show that came on from seven to nine, and do news for 300 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:05,520 them from nine to 11. I produced Don Markwell show. I would take, 301 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,700 get a break from noon until four, and then I come back and 302 00:18:08,700 --> 00:18:11,340 do my own show four until six o'clock. We did that for a few 303 00:18:11,340 --> 00:18:12,720 years before Birmingham called 304 00:18:13,139 --> 00:18:16,799 and you went to Birmingham, and you actually worked at 99.5 305 00:18:18,959 --> 00:18:24,379 which I actually worked at before it was a rock station, k 306 00:18:24,379 --> 00:18:27,199 99 and then it became a country station, 307 00:18:27,620 --> 00:18:32,180 and people still talked about K 99 when I was there. What? 20 308 00:18:32,180 --> 00:18:33,620 years later? Oh, yeah, Birmingham. 309 00:18:33,620 --> 00:18:36,980 I don't know if you've got the same feeling. Birmingham was a 310 00:18:36,980 --> 00:18:42,160 great radio town right at the time I was down there, radio was 311 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,100 like, You were above TV to them. 312 00:18:45,700 --> 00:18:49,600 Well, they had, they had people like Johnny B they had people 313 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:53,080 like and I got to meet some of these folks before. I mean, now, 314 00:18:53,140 --> 00:18:57,700 sadly, a lot of them are gone, but people like Doug Layton, who 315 00:18:57,700 --> 00:19:00,040 was the voice of Alabama, he was a color guy for Alabama 316 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:03,780 football, and Doug did morning radio, John Ed, Willoughby, 317 00:19:04,140 --> 00:19:07,740 Tommy Charles, were two guys who were just absolute. I mean, it 318 00:19:07,740 --> 00:19:10,740 was back then when, when these guys were absolute, just 319 00:19:10,740 --> 00:19:12,240 monumental icons. 320 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,540 Well, they were the ones. I think it was TC and John Ed, or 321 00:19:15,540 --> 00:19:19,020 maybe one of them that began the Beatle burning. You know, the 322 00:19:19,020 --> 00:19:22,820 burning the Beatle records over John Lennon's, you know, Jesus 323 00:19:22,820 --> 00:19:24,080 Christ remark. 324 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:30,560 It was, I think it was, it was Doug Layton, and it was one. It 325 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:35,120 was two of those three, because Tommy Charles and John Ed did 326 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:38,180 stuff together. Doug did stuff by himself. And then eventually 327 00:19:38,180 --> 00:19:40,700 John Ed and Doug. I think it was John Ed and Doug, one way or the 328 00:19:40,700 --> 00:19:43,780 other. I asked him about that before Doug passed away, and 329 00:19:43,780 --> 00:19:47,200 Doug and Doug said, I mean, it was a radio stunt. Oh, sure. I 330 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:50,860 mean, it was 100% a radio stud. It became huge. It exploded. He 331 00:19:50,860 --> 00:19:54,340 said, We had no idea that it would explode, explode in the 332 00:19:54,340 --> 00:19:56,800 way that it did. Oh, yeah, he said, but when it did, man, we 333 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,920 were like, Let's go. I. 334 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,140 I need all these southern girls, you know, burning their album if 335 00:20:04,140 --> 00:20:07,080 they're gonna talk about Jesus like that, John Lennon needs to 336 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:14,460 go to church. But what did it become a talk station? Because I 337 00:20:14,460 --> 00:20:15,600 did know when that happened. 338 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,120 So it was actually when, when I first, when I first got to 339 00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:20,960 Birmingham. Work for a number of years at Crawford broadcasting, 340 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,540 who's primarily a religious broadcaster, but he wanted to 341 00:20:23,540 --> 00:20:26,300 branch out into secular radio, and he did it too. He created a 342 00:20:26,300 --> 00:20:28,820 radio station, and they put me on in mid days, and then 343 00:20:28,820 --> 00:20:31,580 eventually I got afternoons, and eventually I got fired there 344 00:20:31,580 --> 00:20:34,760 too. So, I mean, because you get fired? Well, I mean, I got let 345 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:38,360 go because they changed formats again, sure. Well, I hooked up 346 00:20:38,360 --> 00:20:47,020 with WAPI 1170 AM, oh, yeah, and 99.5 was, let's see. They went 347 00:20:47,020 --> 00:20:56,080 from light rock to country, then back to soft rock and then back 348 00:20:56,080 --> 00:21:00,540 to country. Wow, in the span of like, four years. Wow. And they 349 00:21:00,540 --> 00:21:05,100 were Nash icon. It was Birmingham's version of Nash 350 00:21:05,100 --> 00:21:07,920 icon, and it was cumulus broadcasting that was doing it, 351 00:21:07,980 --> 00:21:12,480 and it was not working. And it wasn't it wasn't working just 352 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:16,080 for I think these are issues systemic with radio right now, 353 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:19,740 that music radio is having its own, you know, set of issues, 354 00:21:19,740 --> 00:21:23,600 and it's 100,000 watt radio station, and I knew that to be 355 00:21:23,660 --> 00:21:29,120 successful, I was a program director of 1170 and I was doing 356 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:32,240 the morning show. We had an afternoon host and we had a news 357 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:37,340 person, that was it. And I knew that in order to generate any 358 00:21:37,340 --> 00:21:41,380 level of success, we had to have an FM it was it was just the 359 00:21:41,380 --> 00:21:43,960 nature of what we were doing. This was, this was back, I 360 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:49,960 guess, in 2012 2013 and so we got a new general manager in the 361 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:52,660 building, and the old General Manager made a lot of promises 362 00:21:52,660 --> 00:21:55,060 that were a lot of lies to me, and that's fine, but, I mean, 363 00:21:55,060 --> 00:21:57,100 they were, I mean, he just, you know, he just that. I was like, 364 00:21:57,100 --> 00:22:00,960 Hey, would you I didn't think that happened. No, you would go, 365 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,780 you would go to this guy, and I would say, Listen, I really 366 00:22:03,780 --> 00:22:07,440 need, can you just pitch this FM? Here's my concept. We really 367 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:10,200 need an FM signal. We can make a lot of money. Oh, I, you know, I 368 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,560 do it. But you know, you know the corporate guys, they say no. 369 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:16,020 And I, you know, I made the pitch again. And you know, you 370 00:22:16,020 --> 00:22:19,980 find out later on that he never, he never even talked to well, 371 00:22:19,980 --> 00:22:22,700 the new guy comes in. Is a great man by the name of David walls, 372 00:22:22,700 --> 00:22:26,180 and we sit down with him and my good buddy Ryan Haney, who's the 373 00:22:26,180 --> 00:22:29,000 Program Director of the sports station and the operations 374 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:33,200 manager, said, Don't hit him with the FM thing yet. Just let 375 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:37,100 him get his feet underneath him before you go off on because he 376 00:22:37,100 --> 00:22:41,320 knew how badly I wanted that 99.5 signal to be taught, yeah. 377 00:22:41,740 --> 00:22:45,640 And he said, Don't hit him with it yet. And so we sit down, and 378 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:49,060 he's like, all right, what do you need, Matt to make, you 379 00:22:49,060 --> 00:22:52,360 know, W API successful? And I said, Well, you know, we had 380 00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:54,820 made some changes. I said, well, we need to move me back here, 381 00:22:54,820 --> 00:22:57,640 and we need to do this, and we need to invest here. And, you 382 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,360 know, I gave him kind of the pitch. And he said, and we do 383 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:04,140 these things, API makes me money. I was like, Oh no. And he 384 00:23:04,140 --> 00:23:06,780 was like, what? And I said, No, no, you're not gonna, you're not 385 00:23:06,780 --> 00:23:09,900 gonna make any money. I said, this will probably get us a 386 00:23:09,900 --> 00:23:12,660 little bit better ratings, but you're not gonna make any money 387 00:23:12,660 --> 00:23:14,760 on it. And he goes, What do you mean? I was like, no, no. The 388 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,220 only way you're gonna make money on this is if you give me that. 389 00:23:17,220 --> 00:23:21,620 FM, Ryan, these eyes get really thick. And he was like, what? 390 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:25,940 And I said, we needed an FM signal. And he said, and he 391 00:23:25,940 --> 00:23:29,000 said, Why aren't you pitching me that? And I pointed to Haney. I 392 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:33,800 was like, because he told me not. So he said, Tell me what 393 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:37,280 your idea is. And I pitched my idea, and I told him, and this 394 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:42,700 was a it was a miracle. It was in 2015 by then, I said you, if 395 00:23:42,700 --> 00:23:47,740 you can convince the powers that be to invest $300,000 a year 396 00:23:47,740 --> 00:23:50,680 into that signal above what we're already spending on 397 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:54,580 current talent, it will make you money. And he convinced them, 398 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:59,440 and so we launched talk 99 five. And it's ironic that one of the 399 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,600 radio stations that I used in my presentation to corporate to 400 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:08,040 prove to them, to demonstrate to them that the concept works. Was 401 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:11,340 super talk, 99 seven. WTN, interesting. And I was like, 402 00:24:11,460 --> 00:24:14,880 this is working in Nashville, Tennessee, exactly what I want 403 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,060 to do in Birmingham, Alabama is already succeeding. And you tell 404 00:24:18,060 --> 00:24:21,980 me that it's not making money. And they, they bought it, and we 405 00:24:21,980 --> 00:24:28,520 launched it in the we launched it in the spring of 2016 and we 406 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:31,520 could not have launched it at a better time, obviously, because 407 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:35,780 of, well, no, no, I'm sorry, am I right? 2016 2015 my gosh, I'm 408 00:24:35,780 --> 00:24:38,480 getting old. My dates are getting missed. No doubt. I 409 00:24:38,540 --> 00:24:44,500 guess they're nine years old. So it was, it was It wasn't 2016 no 410 00:24:44,500 --> 00:24:49,960 doubt. So the funny thing is, is that we wanted to really hyper 411 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,200 focus on local issues, and Donald Trump came along and just 412 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:53,620 blew on. 413 00:24:55,540 --> 00:25:00,540 Well, the cool thing about you that I've always loved, I. And 414 00:25:00,540 --> 00:25:03,720 this story really grabbed me. Was a story out of Birmingham 415 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:08,760 while you were at 99 was Liberty Bell. Oh yeah, yeah. Tell us 416 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:10,920 about Liberty bill. That was a very touching 417 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:13,920 story. Well, you know, if we you know, people ask, you know, and 418 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,140 you guys get asked this all the time. If you've been in radio 419 00:25:16,140 --> 00:25:18,600 for as long as you know, collectively, all of us have, 420 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:21,480 you have these moments and these experiences, and people want to 421 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,300 know You know, the best people that you've ever best people 422 00:25:23,300 --> 00:25:25,880 that you've ever interviewed and the best moments that you had in 423 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,720 radio. And I've always felt like the best moments come a 424 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:34,460 organically and B, for me, at least, they're the moments that 425 00:25:34,460 --> 00:25:38,180 truly touch people and that impact and affect lives. And so 426 00:25:38,180 --> 00:25:42,400 this guy, Liberty Bell, was a regular caller. And we all, if 427 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,680 you've been around talk radio, you listen to talk radio long 428 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:47,800 enough, you know, you understand that we have regulars and we 429 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:50,080 have, you know, and you they come on, they call every day. 430 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,780 They want to talk every day. And I had a number of regulars that 431 00:25:52,780 --> 00:25:55,300 would call the show, and Liberty Bell was one of those regulars. 432 00:25:55,300 --> 00:26:00,520 Liberty Bell was a liberal. Liberty Bell was a drag show 433 00:26:00,580 --> 00:26:07,260 queen. I guess his real name was Sean or Ron Ronald, Sean Simon, 434 00:26:07,260 --> 00:26:12,780 oh yeah, and he, he was a longtime gay activist in the 435 00:26:12,780 --> 00:26:18,720 1970s and 1980s in in Birmingham and in the 90s and 2000s he had 436 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,740 translated that into just harassing talk radio hosts, you 437 00:26:22,580 --> 00:26:24,980 know, calling us up. And he was a great caller and a great 438 00:26:24,980 --> 00:26:27,500 personality, very flamboyant personality, but he would, he 439 00:26:27,500 --> 00:26:30,980 would come to our events in full drag. I mean, it was hilarious, 440 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:35,540 and Ron was not an attractive man. 441 00:26:36,500 --> 00:26:38,720 Why is that much less 442 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:44,740 go that way, doesn't it? Why is always some guy that's, you 443 00:26:44,740 --> 00:26:46,420 know, sitting at home, that's, you know, 444 00:26:48,220 --> 00:26:50,380 just does not he's not a good looking man to begin 445 00:26:50,380 --> 00:26:54,700 with. What will make this look better? Something was 446 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:06,180 sparkles. So he was a regular caller, and I just, you know, I 447 00:27:06,180 --> 00:27:11,040 appreciated the dynamic and his tenaciousness. And one day he 448 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,860 calls me up and he tells me that he wanted, he said, I just want 449 00:27:13,860 --> 00:27:16,560 to tell you goodbye. And he just didn't sound like himself, and 450 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:18,540 he said, I want to tell you goodbye. And I was like, oh, 451 00:27:18,540 --> 00:27:20,400 what's going on? Are you, you know, I'm thinking, are you 452 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:23,000 leaving? Are you are you moving out of town? What's happening? 453 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:27,260 And he said, Well, he said, I'm 50. I said, eight. I think he's 454 00:27:27,260 --> 00:27:31,880 58, years old. And he said, The gay people don't want me 455 00:27:31,940 --> 00:27:34,520 anymore. They don't have any respect for what I did for them 456 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,220 in the 70s. They don't have any respect for what I did for him 457 00:27:37,220 --> 00:27:41,260 in the 1980s they just think that I'm an old I won't use the 458 00:27:41,260 --> 00:27:45,220 word that he used, but I mean that I'm just an old drag hag, 459 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:49,240 an old queen, an old queen, and they don't like me. Said, you 460 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:51,460 the straight folks are never going to accept me, so I'm going 461 00:27:51,460 --> 00:27:56,620 to kill myself. And I was like, what? And he said, I'm going to 462 00:27:56,860 --> 00:27:59,560 I've decided that I'm out of here. I'm going to get out of 463 00:27:59,740 --> 00:28:03,300 here. And I said, and I get emotionally just telling the 464 00:28:03,300 --> 00:28:08,400 story, but yeah, I said, I said, Well, do me a favor. And, and I 465 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:12,360 said, do me a favor. I said, do me a personal favor before you 466 00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:15,300 kill yourself. And he said, What's that? And I said, Would 467 00:28:15,300 --> 00:28:19,440 you mind coming to the studio before you do it and just 468 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,340 telling everybody your story? Because I don't think everybody 469 00:28:22,340 --> 00:28:27,740 knows it. And I did, yeah, and he agreed to do that. And I knew 470 00:28:29,420 --> 00:28:33,200 JB, I knew that if he would, if I could get him into the studio, 471 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:38,240 I knew how much love he would be showered with, yeah, and so I 472 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:41,020 got him in the studio, and he told his story, and his story 473 00:28:41,020 --> 00:28:45,880 was that he was in the Navy for four years. He served on Navy 474 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:49,780 submarines in the 1970s he served his nation in a way that 475 00:28:49,780 --> 00:28:54,040 we, you know, beg people to do on the regular. And and I and, 476 00:28:54,100 --> 00:28:57,760 and I wanted to make sure that people understood that backstory 477 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:00,600 and understood some of the issues that he went through. And 478 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,720 frankly, I think many of them were horribly unfair to people 479 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:07,020 that were just trying to live their lives back in the day. And 480 00:29:07,020 --> 00:29:11,880 we, we told he, I got him to tell that story and the level of 481 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:14,160 people that came out of the woodwork. And I'm not talking 482 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:17,460 about just listeners. I'm talking about, you know, mayors 483 00:29:17,460 --> 00:29:20,720 and Congress people calling up and saying, We love you. We 484 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:24,320 appreciate you. Thank you for your service. And and he didn't 485 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:28,580 kill himself. He I felt, I feel like every every person has 486 00:29:28,580 --> 00:29:33,560 value, whether they know it or not, and I My goal was to show 487 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,920 him the value that he had, and we managed to do that 488 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:40,460 well. And that's why I've always been a big fan of yours, because 489 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:45,040 that's what I got out of you. And I think, I think, I think 490 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:49,420 you even said it in a article I read that covered you when you 491 00:29:49,420 --> 00:29:53,800 were coming up here, that you when you first got into radio, 492 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:57,700 was all about you, which we're all like that. The whole reason 493 00:29:57,700 --> 00:30:01,200 you get into it is kind of an ego thing. But when you get into 494 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:05,100 talk radio, you start to learn it's not all about you. It's 495 00:30:05,100 --> 00:30:10,560 actually helping people. It's the audience, and that's what 496 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:14,100 really turned me on about you. In fact, when you were going to 497 00:30:14,100 --> 00:30:18,120 come up here to Nashville, you were about to start and you were 498 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:22,340 at a welcome center, the Welcome Center down, you know, by the 499 00:30:22,340 --> 00:30:26,300 state line, right? And my wife and I were listening in the car, 500 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:29,540 and we about just wanted to drive down there and welcome you 501 00:30:29,540 --> 00:30:34,700 to I dug you from the minute I heard you on the radio. I became 502 00:30:34,700 --> 00:30:35,240 a fan. 503 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:39,260 Well, thank you. And I dug you. I dug, I dig, both of you guys. 504 00:30:39,260 --> 00:30:43,780 I mean, I think it's awesome. No, the realization was because 505 00:30:43,780 --> 00:30:46,540 it was, I mean, and I still have an ego. I mean, we all have, 506 00:30:46,540 --> 00:30:49,180 well, you have to, I mean, we'll have a certain level of ego if 507 00:30:49,180 --> 00:30:51,460 you're involved in this business, in any level of 508 00:30:51,460 --> 00:30:56,980 broadcasting. And I still have that. But it I realized that it 509 00:30:56,980 --> 00:31:00,220 became so much more fun. And I didn't realize it at the time, 510 00:31:00,220 --> 00:31:02,940 but I recognized that if I made it about the people that were 511 00:31:02,940 --> 00:31:07,140 calling in, if you make it about the issues and the people, then 512 00:31:07,500 --> 00:31:10,380 the people are drawn to you more. But then slowly but 513 00:31:10,380 --> 00:31:12,960 surely, I realized that I was having so much more fun. It 514 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:18,360 became so much more important to me when it wasn't so much about 515 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:23,300 me, right, and it was about the people that gravitated to us for 516 00:31:23,300 --> 00:31:26,000 whatever reason, for entertainment purposes or for 517 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,660 very important reasons, or for the news that they get from talk 518 00:31:29,660 --> 00:31:34,160 radio or the camaraderie or the fellowship. And I think a lot of 519 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:36,920 people gravitate to what we do, or at least they used to, 520 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:42,340 because they sincerely want to be around people that they feel 521 00:31:42,340 --> 00:31:46,900 like, understand them and get them and they you truly become 522 00:31:46,900 --> 00:31:49,000 family to a lot of these folks. That's what 523 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:54,340 I love about. I think WT ends audience is very unique. And I 524 00:31:54,340 --> 00:31:58,600 think that's that's why when, when you would I think it was 525 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:04,320 the first time you were on WTN, and not that my, what my, my 526 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:08,760 opinion mattered to anybody. I remember texting Dan mandis, and 527 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:13,200 I said, Man, this is your guy, and I think he already knew that 528 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:13,980 anyway. But, 529 00:32:14,700 --> 00:32:20,060 I mean, I don't know. I think the jury might still be but I 530 00:32:20,060 --> 00:32:24,020 will say this, and not to get terribly maudlin on the subject, 531 00:32:24,020 --> 00:32:26,960 but there were very, very few. I didn't know Jay at the time. We 532 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:30,740 met a little bit afterwards, but there were there. I felt like 533 00:32:30,740 --> 00:32:34,640 that. I had the goods to be successful in Nashville, but 534 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,940 there were very few people in that building that I wanted to 535 00:32:37,940 --> 00:32:40,900 impress, and you were one of them. I mean, there's no 536 00:32:40,900 --> 00:32:45,760 question about it. I wanted Johnny B's approval. Still do, 537 00:32:45,820 --> 00:32:50,260 as a matter of fact, but now, I mean, because I have such 538 00:32:50,260 --> 00:32:54,700 respect for the people that did it in the way that we have done 539 00:32:54,700 --> 00:32:56,920 it, and that's not to say that there weren't other people in 540 00:32:56,920 --> 00:32:59,020 the building that have done I mean, I love Dan Mantis to 541 00:32:59,020 --> 00:33:02,220 death. I mean, I love all those guys. I'm not I'm not knocking 542 00:33:02,220 --> 00:33:06,840 any of them, but I knew your backstory enough to know that 543 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:11,520 you came through in the way that you did, and I had such respect 544 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:15,120 for your relationship with Phil and for what you and Phil built 545 00:33:15,420 --> 00:33:18,960 over the years in Nashville. And I'm like, Well, if I can't get 546 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:22,700 this guy on board, then I'm probably screwed. I think it 547 00:33:23,660 --> 00:33:28,460 was pretty obvious that you had made it, because we were having 548 00:33:28,460 --> 00:33:33,980 a bad snow day, and Matt and I were sitting, we were against a 549 00:33:33,980 --> 00:33:38,780 wall there, just talking and the and the operation the operations 550 00:33:38,780 --> 00:33:41,260 manager is never gonna forget this story. The Operations 551 00:33:41,260 --> 00:33:45,820 Manager comes up to to Matt and goes, Hey, man, we got you all 552 00:33:45,820 --> 00:33:48,520 set up across the street. You know, just drop my name. 553 00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:52,960 Everything will be taken care of. And I'm waiting on him to 554 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:55,780 say the same to me. All he does is come to me and go, Hey John, 555 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:00,580 good luck getting home. My version of that, my version of 556 00:34:00,580 --> 00:34:03,180 that story. I tell that story. Jay, yeah, he's told me that a 557 00:34:03,180 --> 00:34:08,160 number of times. Charlie comes around the corner and he goes, 558 00:34:08,220 --> 00:34:12,780 Matt, and it's like, it's a five minute diatribe. Matt, we 559 00:34:12,780 --> 00:34:15,060 appreciate you so much. Thank you for sticking in there with 560 00:34:15,060 --> 00:34:18,240 us. We know we've got you always blah, blah, blah. We got you set 561 00:34:18,240 --> 00:34:20,780 up the Best Western and just you just say, money. If there's 562 00:34:20,780 --> 00:34:24,200 anything you need, you just give me a call. And we appreciate you 563 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:27,920 so much. And just, God bless you and everything you're doing. And 564 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:31,580 we appreciate you. Do you need a couple of dollars? And then 565 00:34:31,580 --> 00:34:34,220 there's a pause, and he looks, he goes, Oh, hey, Johnny, do you 566 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:36,860 think he did that on purpose? 567 00:34:40,699 --> 00:34:43,659 Well, can you tell the story about how you came up to 568 00:34:43,659 --> 00:34:47,319 Nashville, how you got to talk to Dan? Because I love that 569 00:34:47,319 --> 00:34:47,859 story. 570 00:34:47,919 --> 00:34:51,819 So, I mean, it's obviously very, I mean, it starts off in a very 571 00:34:51,819 --> 00:34:57,039 sad way, because, and it's sad the way that some people, you go 572 00:34:57,039 --> 00:34:59,919 back to talking about egos, yeah, it's sad the way that. 573 00:34:59,999 --> 00:35:04,499 Some people do their business in this business. And what I mean 574 00:35:04,499 --> 00:35:08,999 by that is that Dan, Dan told me later, Dan Mantis, who is our 575 00:35:08,999 --> 00:35:13,439 morning guy on Super talk 99 and he's a great guy, Marconi award 576 00:35:13,439 --> 00:35:16,619 winner. And I told him that was gonna happen. Oh yeah, there's 577 00:35:16,619 --> 00:35:20,479 no question about it. And, and Dan was just named the by the 578 00:35:20,479 --> 00:35:24,019 way, let me give it a little shout. Oh, I love those. I saw 579 00:35:24,019 --> 00:35:30,259 that the Nashville scene is a liberal rag in Nashville, and 580 00:35:30,259 --> 00:35:34,279 they do these annual best Dubs, and they have the best 581 00:35:34,279 --> 00:35:35,719 conservative category, 582 00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:38,720 which Phil used to win regularly, right? Yeah, number 583 00:35:38,720 --> 00:35:39,320 one all the time. 584 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:44,320 So this year, the winner of the Best conservative of Nashville, 585 00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:46,600 according to Nashville scene, was none, 586 00:35:49,420 --> 00:35:52,180 and in second place Dan Manders. 587 00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:57,580 So Dan said, this morning, oh, it's great. I'm second to none. 588 00:35:57,580 --> 00:36:01,980 Well, I guess you are. And I told him, I said, I got I called 589 00:36:01,980 --> 00:36:04,680 him. I said, I've got that beat. He goes, What do you mean? And I 590 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:08,460 said, last year, you know, the Tennessean Does, does these, 591 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:11,580 best of visual things, best of music, city things, and they had 592 00:36:11,580 --> 00:36:14,400 a best radio personality category. And I have no idea how 593 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:17,880 it happened, but I won the Best radio personality category for 594 00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:22,760 last year. This year, they don't have the category, the category, 595 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:27,140 good Lord, if Bobby bones can't win every year. 596 00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:34,940 No, so, so I, you know, obviously we none of, I mean, we 597 00:36:34,940 --> 00:36:38,060 were all praying for Phil and hoping that Phil got better. And 598 00:36:38,060 --> 00:36:43,360 when, when Phil sadly passed away. You know, I had been, this 599 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:47,200 was going into the sixth year of doing morning radio in 600 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:50,740 Birmingham and being the Program Director of talk 99 five. And I 601 00:36:50,740 --> 00:36:53,380 felt like we had conquered the mountain. We had beaten the 602 00:36:53,380 --> 00:36:56,200 heritage talk station, the quote, unquote rush station in 603 00:36:56,200 --> 00:37:00,600 the market. And, you know, I kind of had felt like I had done 604 00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:03,120 everything that I could do, and I never wanted to be a program 605 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:05,640 director. And five years of managing people when you don't 606 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:10,020 really want to manage people, is exhausting, and I got a great 607 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:13,260 deal of satisfaction out of it, and I got a great deal back, but 608 00:37:13,260 --> 00:37:15,660 I was ready to move on, so I knew that, and I was watching 609 00:37:15,660 --> 00:37:19,800 what was happening in Nashville, and I knew how similar, or at 610 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:23,780 least I felt that I knew how similar the markets were. And so 611 00:37:23,780 --> 00:37:28,820 I wrote when after Phil passed, I wrote Dan a message, and I 612 00:37:28,820 --> 00:37:31,220 said, I know you're getting inundated with people right now, 613 00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:35,900 but let me know if I can help you out in any way. And you 614 00:37:35,900 --> 00:37:37,700 know, the next day, he wrote back and said, Thanks, 615 00:37:37,700 --> 00:37:43,060 appreciate it. And so about two days later, three days later, I 616 00:37:43,060 --> 00:37:47,560 wrote him a note, and I said, By the way, I'm looking to move on. 617 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:51,520 I work for cumulus. I would love the opportunity to sit down and 618 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:55,660 talk with you about possibly being the guy to replace Phil 619 00:37:56,140 --> 00:38:01,020 and or at least being considered for the radio station. And he 620 00:38:01,020 --> 00:38:03,780 didn't write me back, and so I followed up, like, two days 621 00:38:03,780 --> 00:38:07,020 later by saying, Oh, by the way, I'm going to be in Nashville 622 00:38:07,020 --> 00:38:09,480 this weekend. I'm visiting some friends in Nashville this 623 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:13,800 weekend, so I'm there anyway. If you want to sit down and talk, 624 00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:17,640 let me know. And this was, like, on a Tuesday or something, and I 625 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:20,120 didn't hear back Wednesday. I didn't hear back Thursday. Now, 626 00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:22,640 knowing Dan, I know exactly why I didn't hear back, but then I'm 627 00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:25,100 thinking, well, he's just sloughing me out, yeah. But Dan 628 00:38:25,100 --> 00:38:27,860 would just, was being buried. He was just, there was so much 629 00:38:27,860 --> 00:38:30,740 going on at the time. Oh, yeah. And finally, like, on Thursday 630 00:38:30,740 --> 00:38:33,380 afternoon, he wrote me back and he said, Hey, did you did you 631 00:38:33,380 --> 00:38:36,740 say you were going to be in Nashville this weekend? Because 632 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:39,560 if you are, we maybe can get together. And I was like, 633 00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:43,480 Absolutely, I'll be there visiting friends. If you want to 634 00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:46,000 get together, we can. And he said, Sure, Saturday morning. 635 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:48,100 And he told me where to meet him, at a Starbucks in 636 00:38:48,100 --> 00:38:52,480 Hermitage. And and I got off the phone, and I told my wife, 637 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:54,220 Erica, I said, I gotta book a hotel, 638 00:38:58,060 --> 00:38:59,500 because this guy bit I really 639 00:39:01,900 --> 00:39:03,840 got to go to Nashville for the weekend. I 640 00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:06,480 really do so get some friends. It 641 00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:11,460 just so happened that I booked a hotel right across street. It 642 00:39:11,460 --> 00:39:13,860 was unbeknownst to me. It was right across the street from the 643 00:39:13,860 --> 00:39:16,260 radio station. Was the Best Western Thank goodness. Oh yeah, 644 00:39:16,260 --> 00:39:17,640 not the Comfort Inn with the marble 645 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:19,740 rye guy. That was an experience. 646 00:39:20,100 --> 00:39:24,500 So I went, and I met with Dan, and Dan was 30 minutes late, 647 00:39:24,500 --> 00:39:28,160 which was great for me, because he was very, I mean, but it was 648 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:30,620 a great week. We spent like two hours together, and then he 649 00:39:30,620 --> 00:39:32,900 asked me if I would do some some filling work in the mid days. 650 00:39:32,900 --> 00:39:37,100 And I did, and they offered me the job. And like, three months 651 00:39:37,100 --> 00:39:39,800 later, Dan and I are sitting talking to somebody, I forget 652 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:45,280 who. And he said, You know I knew. He said, I want to tell 653 00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:49,120 you something, man, I knew that day that we met for coffee, he 654 00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:51,880 said, I made you do the fill in stuff. And he said, but I knew 655 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:55,060 that day you were my guy. And I was like, really, that means a 656 00:39:55,060 --> 00:39:57,280 lot to me. Dan, I appreciate that. I was like, I've got 657 00:39:57,280 --> 00:39:59,560 something to tell you. And he said, what? I said, I don't have 658 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:00,660 any for. In Nashville. 659 00:40:05,100 --> 00:40:07,440 He thought from and he goes. I knew 660 00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:10,740 it. But 661 00:40:10,980 --> 00:40:15,480 the point is, and this is the message, right? Figure it out. 662 00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:19,320 There are plenty of ways to crack a nut. And I knew if I 663 00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:22,220 asked him if he would beat for me, with me, and I told him I 664 00:40:22,220 --> 00:40:25,100 was driving to specifically do that, he would say no. Exactly. 665 00:40:25,100 --> 00:40:28,820 I knew that he would say no, but I felt like, if I told him I was 666 00:40:28,820 --> 00:40:32,420 already there, that it would get me in the door. And I truly felt 667 00:40:32,420 --> 00:40:35,180 like if, if we sat down and we met, that I could get the gig, 668 00:40:35,240 --> 00:40:35,900 and it 669 00:40:35,900 --> 00:40:38,480 worked out, and you did, it worked out, and I'm so glad it 670 00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:43,060 did, because, and I'm glad you know, I loved, you know, of 671 00:40:43,060 --> 00:40:45,760 course, you know, I loved Phil Valentine. I loved working with 672 00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:52,240 him, and I love Brian Wilson, but you being in that afternoon 673 00:40:52,240 --> 00:40:54,700 slot is just, that's just 674 00:40:54,700 --> 00:40:59,020 perfect. Well, I mean this sincerely. I mean, well, I ain't 675 00:40:59,020 --> 00:41:01,260 saying that because, you know, Why would, why would why would I 676 00:41:01,260 --> 00:41:04,980 say it if I didn't mean it sincerely? But the biggest 677 00:41:04,980 --> 00:41:08,040 compliment I know that Phil and I did not do, not do the same 678 00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:12,240 type of show, no. But the biggest compliments I get is 679 00:41:12,240 --> 00:41:18,720 when people tell me that I remind them of Phil and I and 680 00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:21,620 what that means to me, because I know that Phil and I don't do 681 00:41:21,620 --> 00:41:25,220 the same type of show, so I know I can't possibly sound like 682 00:41:25,220 --> 00:41:29,840 Phil, right, but I hope that I'm giving them the same feelings, 683 00:41:30,140 --> 00:41:32,960 and I think that's what they mean. Well, that's what I get 684 00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:36,440 out of it, right? Because people don't. And this is another 685 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:41,140 lesson that it took me a long time to learn, that because, 686 00:41:41,140 --> 00:41:44,140 believe it or not, for anybody that's listening to my show, I 687 00:41:44,140 --> 00:41:48,820 used to be a lot more bombastic and forceful, and I would say 688 00:41:48,820 --> 00:41:55,300 negative, than I am now. And I realized at some point that 689 00:41:55,300 --> 00:41:58,300 people don't walk away from your radio show, remembering what you 690 00:41:58,300 --> 00:42:00,840 say. They walk away from your radio show, remembering how you 691 00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:06,900 made them feel exactly, and you can either make them feel good 692 00:42:07,140 --> 00:42:11,040 and hopeful, or you can make them feel bad and down. You can 693 00:42:11,040 --> 00:42:16,140 make them feel anxious. I mean, so i hope that i i can come 694 00:42:16,140 --> 00:42:20,720 anywhere in the same orbit to the impact emotionally from a 695 00:42:20,720 --> 00:42:24,080 feeling standpoint that the way that Phil, Phil Valentine, was 696 00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:24,980 able to do it, well, I 697 00:42:24,980 --> 00:42:29,000 think you do, because anytime I've listened to you, I always 698 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:32,060 fill up, and that's why I was telling you one time, whenever 699 00:42:32,060 --> 00:42:36,260 we were talking on the phone about Phil on the air, Phil was 700 00:42:36,260 --> 00:42:40,280 an upper I mean, every time that dude walked in a room, he lifted 701 00:42:40,280 --> 00:42:44,680 it up. You do the same thing. I used to. I used to just treasure 702 00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:47,980 when I would be working, you know, after the morning show, 703 00:42:48,580 --> 00:42:52,180 and I would pray that you would come to work, because every time 704 00:42:52,180 --> 00:42:56,380 you did, it was like it lifted the place up. Man. And I love 705 00:42:56,440 --> 00:43:00,160 one day when, when I had trace Atkins on the phone, oh, man. 706 00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:05,580 And I noticed Matt was just he wouldn't move. He was sitting 707 00:43:05,580 --> 00:43:06,960 behind me the whole time. That's 708 00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:10,020 Trace Access. I'm a kid, man, when it comes to that kind of 709 00:43:10,020 --> 00:43:13,680 stuff, I'm a kid. But you know, you know, we talk about a lot of 710 00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:16,620 hard edged stuff on the show, and I get very passionate, and I 711 00:43:16,620 --> 00:43:19,740 get very frustrated, and I get very angry at some of the things 712 00:43:19,740 --> 00:43:23,180 that are going on. And so we have those times of anger. But 713 00:43:23,180 --> 00:43:27,080 in generally, in life, I remind myself every day. I get up every 714 00:43:27,080 --> 00:43:30,140 morning and I get to do this every day. Yes, I mean, I get to 715 00:43:30,140 --> 00:43:34,820 do something that I've always loved doing anyway we get and, 716 00:43:34,820 --> 00:43:37,940 you know, I y'all know, y'all been around plenty of radio 717 00:43:37,940 --> 00:43:40,960 stations. That radio station, there's a bunch of hens, man, 718 00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:43,780 they get around, and those hen circles start going, and 719 00:43:43,780 --> 00:43:46,000 everybody hates this guy, and everybody's that guy, and 720 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:49,180 everybody, everybody hates management, yes, you know, but, 721 00:43:49,240 --> 00:43:52,660 but if we just step back for a moment and recognize what a 722 00:43:52,660 --> 00:43:55,780 blessing it is that we get to do this on a daily basis, I just, I 723 00:43:55,780 --> 00:43:57,520 try to come at it with that attitude. Well, 724 00:43:57,520 --> 00:44:01,500 Phil used to use a great analogy to me. He when things be kind of 725 00:44:01,500 --> 00:44:04,920 going haywire with management, it was kind of on the negative 726 00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:08,940 side to go, Johnny, put on the blinders. Let's just have fun, 727 00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:12,240 and we would, right. And that's what you got to do, and that's 728 00:44:12,240 --> 00:44:14,280 what you're doing every afternoon, 729 00:44:15,180 --> 00:44:18,600 you know, being in talk radio, you know, especially moving over 730 00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:22,400 from music radio and getting into talk radio and having 731 00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:27,980 political talk for the most part, the conversations that you 732 00:44:27,980 --> 00:44:32,120 have, you mentioned, instill feelings in people, and that's 733 00:44:32,120 --> 00:44:35,120 what they remember. You know you're going to have your 734 00:44:35,120 --> 00:44:40,960 detractors, and how have have you? Well, you always have to 735 00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:45,100 have somewhat of a thick skin to some degree to do what you do. 736 00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:50,980 And do you let the detractors? Do they get to you at times? Or 737 00:44:51,040 --> 00:44:54,760 how have you learned to just let that roll off, you know, roll 738 00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:56,020 off your back? Or does 739 00:44:56,020 --> 00:44:58,780 it, no, I mean, haters are motivators, right? I mean, if 740 00:44:58,780 --> 00:45:01,320 you believe in what you're doing. Doing. And if you have 741 00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:04,740 the courage of your convictions, there have been, I will say 742 00:45:04,740 --> 00:45:08,340 this, there have been times, and I, you know, if I sat here long 743 00:45:08,340 --> 00:45:12,000 enough, I could probably think of an instance or two, but there 744 00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:17,220 have been times when I took a position on an issue and maybe I 745 00:45:17,220 --> 00:45:21,200 hadn't fully thought it out. And some people came at me earnestly 746 00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:24,140 and maybe even passionately, and said, I think you're wrong. And 747 00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:27,920 so you you reevaluate. I mean, you think about the 748 00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:30,140 presentation, you think about the positions that you're 749 00:45:30,140 --> 00:45:32,720 taking. You think about is this best for the people, best for 750 00:45:32,720 --> 00:45:35,960 the country, best for the whatever. But you know, as far 751 00:45:35,960 --> 00:45:39,140 as the haters go, I mean, they're, they're just, they're 752 00:45:39,140 --> 00:45:42,340 just that. They're, they're, they're folks that, you know, 753 00:45:42,340 --> 00:45:45,340 I'm all about starting a conversation. So, you know, I 754 00:45:45,340 --> 00:45:49,360 have a long standing policy that anybody that is of interest to 755 00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:51,580 the listening audience that wants to come on my radio show 756 00:45:51,580 --> 00:45:53,920 is allowed to come on the radio show. And I don't care what your 757 00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:56,260 politics are, and I don't care how much we disagree. I feel 758 00:45:56,260 --> 00:45:59,560 like I have the courage of conviction. And, you know, I 759 00:45:59,560 --> 00:46:04,860 have, you know, my foundation grounded enough that I can 760 00:46:04,860 --> 00:46:07,740 present my argument. You can present your argument. And, you 761 00:46:07,740 --> 00:46:09,900 know, the audience can decide who they agree with who they 762 00:46:09,900 --> 00:46:12,960 don't. But, you know, as far as the detractors go, I mean, it's 763 00:46:12,960 --> 00:46:16,140 just a lot of the same old stuff, you know, it's, oh, 764 00:46:16,140 --> 00:46:20,360 they're, you know, it's hate radio, you know, and none of 765 00:46:20,360 --> 00:46:24,260 that. And, you know, and it's just not true. No, it's also 766 00:46:24,260 --> 00:46:26,180 just not true. I mean, are we passionate? Sure we're 767 00:46:26,180 --> 00:46:28,820 passionate. Do we believe that, you know somebody, somebody 768 00:46:28,880 --> 00:46:31,700 called me up one time and say, You know what your problem is? 769 00:46:31,700 --> 00:46:34,340 Murphy, I was like, what it is, you always think you're right. 770 00:46:36,380 --> 00:46:38,300 Well, well, yeah. I mean, 771 00:46:40,760 --> 00:46:44,380 why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't I always think I'm right? That's 772 00:46:44,380 --> 00:46:48,040 why we're on here. Do you want me to say things that I think 773 00:46:48,100 --> 00:46:50,020 are wrong? Yeah, maybe you 774 00:46:50,020 --> 00:46:52,060 should have a segment called I could be wrong. 775 00:46:54,520 --> 00:46:57,700 Charles Barkley had a great good friend. Charles Barkley had a 776 00:46:57,700 --> 00:46:59,920 great book called I might be wrong, but I doubt it. 777 00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:06,720 I So, you know, as far as that goes, I mean, you know, for me, 778 00:47:06,960 --> 00:47:11,400 it's very rarely reached a level where I thought, I mean, they 779 00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:13,620 get personal. You know, of course they get personal. You 780 00:47:13,620 --> 00:47:17,640 know, they'll, you know, your detractors try to take you off 781 00:47:17,640 --> 00:47:21,500 your game by, you know, doing that kind of thing, but it has 782 00:47:21,500 --> 00:47:25,160 rarely gotten to the point that I was worried about. It was a 783 00:47:25,160 --> 00:47:27,620 couple of times in Birmingham, I haven't had anything in 784 00:47:27,620 --> 00:47:30,260 Nashville. There were a couple of times in Birmingham, I had my 785 00:47:30,260 --> 00:47:35,540 window busted out at the radio station once during a pretty 786 00:47:35,540 --> 00:47:40,300 heated issue with the City Council. We're pretty sure we 787 00:47:40,300 --> 00:47:42,940 knew who did that we wouldn't have any security cameras. And 788 00:47:42,940 --> 00:47:47,140 then I had, there was one time where I had a guy who, you know, 789 00:47:47,860 --> 00:47:53,140 I made the point that none of our utilities were in my name, 790 00:47:53,860 --> 00:47:57,220 just as kind of a way to protect, you know, it was all in 791 00:47:57,340 --> 00:48:04,320 Erica's name. And your wife, my wife and and her maiden name too 792 00:48:04,740 --> 00:48:10,380 at the time, and someone, I got a letter in the that wasn't 793 00:48:10,380 --> 00:48:15,900 mailed, that was just put in my mailbox to Matt Murphy, and it 794 00:48:15,900 --> 00:48:21,500 was a letter detailing what they had seen me doing over the last 795 00:48:21,500 --> 00:48:26,000 like, 48 hours. And so these people had followed me around 48 796 00:48:26,180 --> 00:48:29,420 hours. It was like, I saw you go into the grocery store and blah, 797 00:48:29,420 --> 00:48:32,240 blah, blah. And that was, that was a moment that it was like, 798 00:48:32,240 --> 00:48:35,000 Okay, what am I supposed to do with this? And you know, you 799 00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:38,600 just, you have to protect yourself as best as you possibly 800 00:48:38,600 --> 00:48:43,000 can. I mean, in light of the Charlie Kirk situation, you 801 00:48:43,000 --> 00:48:47,200 know, I, I know that we at cumulus, you know, we received 802 00:48:47,200 --> 00:48:52,480 an email after that incident saying, you know, we're beefing 803 00:48:52,480 --> 00:48:57,520 up security. And you know, for our conservative well, for 804 00:48:57,520 --> 00:49:00,480 everybody, it's a station, but especially the conservative talk 805 00:49:00,480 --> 00:49:04,260 show hosts. I mean, have you felt any since the Charlie Kirk 806 00:49:04,260 --> 00:49:08,040 assassination? Have you felt any more threatened? Quote, unquote, 807 00:49:08,160 --> 00:49:12,360 and how does your wife react to all of this stuff does? Is she 808 00:49:12,420 --> 00:49:13,140 concerned? 809 00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:17,340 Yeah, she you know, when the day that Charlie Kirk was 810 00:49:17,340 --> 00:49:23,300 assassinated, I was on the air, and that was tough, because we 811 00:49:23,300 --> 00:49:27,320 have Chris hand on the radio station who worked with Charlie 812 00:49:27,380 --> 00:49:31,700 and turning point USA. And Chris had actually, just months 813 00:49:31,700 --> 00:49:35,420 before, dissolved his formal relationship, and he still had 814 00:49:35,420 --> 00:49:38,780 an informal relationship with him, but part of what Chris did 815 00:49:38,840 --> 00:49:43,720 was coordinate those events, he would help set up the logistics 816 00:49:43,720 --> 00:49:47,800 of those events, like flights and security apparatus and 817 00:49:47,800 --> 00:49:53,380 communication. So he was intimately in touch with the 818 00:49:53,380 --> 00:49:56,260 security team. He knew the security team had all their, you 819 00:49:56,260 --> 00:50:01,320 know, cell phones and whatnot. And so Chris had a. Um, he had a 820 00:50:01,320 --> 00:50:04,500 line of communication in with those folks, I think, unlike 821 00:50:04,620 --> 00:50:07,800 really, anybody else in the country at the time. And so he 822 00:50:07,800 --> 00:50:10,800 told me, I went on air at three o'clock. We knew that Charlie 823 00:50:10,800 --> 00:50:15,360 had been shot. We knew it was serious. And Chris told me, just 824 00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:18,000 after I got on air that Charlie didn't make it, he texted me, he 825 00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:20,840 said, but please don't say anything about it yet, because I 826 00:50:20,840 --> 00:50:26,960 want to make sure that you know that's okay. And about I don't 827 00:50:26,960 --> 00:50:34,820 know. 15 minutes later, he texted me and said, you can, you 828 00:50:34,820 --> 00:50:37,460 can say that Charlie's no longer with us, and so I had to go on 829 00:50:37,460 --> 00:50:39,800 the air and say that Charlotte, Charlie was no longer with us, 830 00:50:39,860 --> 00:50:44,320 and and that was just a very tough day, obviously, because 831 00:50:44,320 --> 00:50:46,780 you knew it was one of those moments where you know that, 832 00:50:46,780 --> 00:50:49,300 well, everything is going to change now. I mean, you know, 833 00:50:49,360 --> 00:50:52,840 permanently, in terms of how we do our business, in terms of 834 00:50:53,440 --> 00:50:57,820 interactions and but I never thought about myself. I never, 835 00:50:57,880 --> 00:51:01,500 you know, concerned. I was never concerned about my own security 836 00:51:01,500 --> 00:51:06,120 until I got I got home that night in Mount Juliet, and I get 837 00:51:06,120 --> 00:51:09,180 my bag out of the truck, and I walk in, and I walk through the 838 00:51:09,180 --> 00:51:12,300 door, and Erica's in the kitchen, and she's washing 839 00:51:12,300 --> 00:51:15,540 dishes, and she says, Hey, honey. And I said, Hey honey. 840 00:51:15,540 --> 00:51:20,720 And she looked at me and burst into tears, wow. And, and I'm 841 00:51:20,720 --> 00:51:23,600 like, it's gonna be okay. And I go over and I, you know, I hug 842 00:51:23,600 --> 00:51:25,640 on her, and she was like, I'm just worried that, you know, 843 00:51:25,640 --> 00:51:28,700 they'll if they kill Charlie, you know, what about you? Blah, 844 00:51:28,700 --> 00:51:32,720 blah, blah. And my line to Erica, and it's true, I was 845 00:51:32,720 --> 00:51:36,140 like, Baby, yes, it's true that we live in a dangerous world. 846 00:51:36,140 --> 00:51:39,620 Yes, it's true that there are crazy people out there. And yes, 847 00:51:39,680 --> 00:51:45,100 it's true that they killed Charlie Kirk, and you're right 848 00:51:45,100 --> 00:51:48,820 that I swim in that pond. That's the pond that I swim in, I said, 849 00:51:48,940 --> 00:51:51,940 But you have to understand, Charlie Kirk was a whale in that 850 00:51:51,940 --> 00:51:55,060 pond, and I'm an itty bitty Guppy. If they get to the 851 00:51:55,060 --> 00:51:55,900 guppies baby, 852 00:51:57,760 --> 00:52:01,200 if they get from the whales all the way through the fish down to 853 00:52:01,200 --> 00:52:05,580 this little bitty Guppy. We're in a hell of a lot of trouble. 854 00:52:06,120 --> 00:52:09,240 They're not going to get to this Guppy for a long, long time, you 855 00:52:09,240 --> 00:52:13,920 know. But the thing that I say all the time is that, you know, 856 00:52:13,920 --> 00:52:17,520 when people talk about security or whatever, I appreciate the 857 00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:21,260 security apparatus that they're putting in place, but I've also 858 00:52:21,260 --> 00:52:26,180 never in my life, they talk. I hear talk about these signs that 859 00:52:26,180 --> 00:52:29,180 say you can't take guns into places. I've never seen one. 860 00:52:29,660 --> 00:52:34,280 Never seen one in my life. I see those signs about how you can't 861 00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:36,980 Arm yourself to ultimately protect yourself. And there's 862 00:52:36,980 --> 00:52:39,620 certain people tell me all the time, there's these businesses 863 00:52:39,620 --> 00:52:41,800 that don't want you to I've never seen one of those signs, 864 00:52:41,800 --> 00:52:44,380 really, not in my life. I've never seen one. John, I haven't 865 00:52:44,440 --> 00:52:47,440 never seen I've never seen one. Can't say I'm looking but I've 866 00:52:47,440 --> 00:52:48,100 never seen one. 867 00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:50,500 All it is, is a bull's eye. 868 00:52:54,700 --> 00:52:58,660 Maybe it's obviously, you know, it's a concern. But I, you know, 869 00:52:58,660 --> 00:53:04,380 there have always been mentally insane people, and sadly, not to 870 00:53:04,380 --> 00:53:07,680 get terribly deep into it, but I would say this, that one of the 871 00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:10,380 things that Donald Trump has managed to do, he's managed to 872 00:53:10,380 --> 00:53:13,620 have such success against a group of people that are not 873 00:53:13,620 --> 00:53:18,060 accustomed to others fighting back and winning right, that 874 00:53:18,120 --> 00:53:21,380 they have lost their minds. They have absolutely lost their 875 00:53:21,380 --> 00:53:24,320 minds, and all they know to do, and they've been doing it for 876 00:53:24,320 --> 00:53:28,460 years, is to elevate, elevate, elevate, elevate, and push. And 877 00:53:28,460 --> 00:53:31,400 now we're seeing the chickens come home to roost based on the 878 00:53:31,400 --> 00:53:33,980 language that they've been using. So if I'm an unhinged 879 00:53:33,980 --> 00:53:39,380 person and I hear Alexandria Ocasio Cortez or Chuck Schumer 880 00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:44,320 or Kamala Harris telling me that Donald Trump is Adolf Hitler. 881 00:53:45,340 --> 00:53:49,060 Well, who wouldn't want to kill Adolf Hitler? Exactly, right. So 882 00:53:49,300 --> 00:53:52,480 these things matter. And I think we've reached that inflection 883 00:53:52,480 --> 00:53:55,960 point in American society where we've got to, we got to tone all 884 00:53:55,960 --> 00:53:58,960 of that down. And frankly, one side seems to be willing to tone 885 00:53:58,960 --> 00:54:00,840 it down, and the other side doesn't seem to care. 886 00:54:00,900 --> 00:54:04,200 Well, you know, the whole thing is, I'm tired of the of the 887 00:54:04,200 --> 00:54:06,960 comparisons to Adolf Hitler because I heard it with Obama 888 00:54:06,960 --> 00:54:11,280 too, yes, and neither, neither Barack Obama or Donald Trump are 889 00:54:11,280 --> 00:54:15,480 anywhere near being like Adolf Hitler. No. I mean, you can't 890 00:54:15,480 --> 00:54:16,440 compare the two. 891 00:54:16,740 --> 00:54:19,980 Well, I mean, it's, it's the lack of a better argument. I 892 00:54:19,980 --> 00:54:22,880 mean, there's a, there's a phrase for it, that if you, if 893 00:54:22,880 --> 00:54:25,040 you reach the point that someone's calling you Hitler, 894 00:54:25,040 --> 00:54:27,920 that you know you've won well, your argument, because they have 895 00:54:27,920 --> 00:54:28,940 nothing else to talk 896 00:54:28,940 --> 00:54:33,620 about. Yeah, they have, excuse the expression. They have no 897 00:54:33,620 --> 00:54:36,380 more ammunition. That's right, that's it. That's 100% 898 00:54:37,160 --> 00:54:39,500 correct. But, yeah, I mean, it's, it's a different time. But 899 00:54:39,500 --> 00:54:41,800 I, you know, I don't think we're changing, you know, what we're 900 00:54:41,800 --> 00:54:44,080 doing one bit. I mean, I don't pretend to have all of the 901 00:54:44,080 --> 00:54:49,900 answers, but I absolutely love what I do. I love one of the 902 00:54:49,900 --> 00:54:51,820 things, you know, we talked about, you know, my changing 903 00:54:51,820 --> 00:54:54,760 attitude about it's not being about me, it's being about the 904 00:54:54,760 --> 00:54:57,220 audience. One thing too, is you would listen to other people, 905 00:54:57,220 --> 00:55:00,180 and I think Phil had this approach before. I knew. Him, 906 00:55:00,240 --> 00:55:04,200 and before I listened to him, but I would listen to the knock 907 00:55:04,200 --> 00:55:06,780 on Rush Limbaugh. And the knock on Rush Limbaugh is that he was 908 00:55:06,780 --> 00:55:10,500 a hater, and he was all and he was always yelling and screaming 909 00:55:10,500 --> 00:55:13,860 and all this. And I would listen to Rush Limbaugh, and I'm like, 910 00:55:13,860 --> 00:55:17,580 this is the most optimistic guy I've ever heard in my life. 911 00:55:17,580 --> 00:55:22,160 Yeah, that no matter what, no matter what is in front of us. I 912 00:55:22,160 --> 00:55:25,460 believe in America, no matter what we are facing, no matter 913 00:55:25,460 --> 00:55:29,360 what trials or tribulation. I believe in the concepts of the 914 00:55:29,360 --> 00:55:32,120 United States of America, and I believe in the American people. 915 00:55:32,120 --> 00:55:35,000 He always believed that the American people would be better 916 00:55:35,000 --> 00:55:38,180 than any issue that was in front of them. And I remind myself of 917 00:55:38,180 --> 00:55:41,140 that is don't get too down, because my natural tendency is 918 00:55:41,140 --> 00:55:44,380 to be pessimistic. My natural tendency is to be like we're 919 00:55:44,380 --> 00:55:44,920 host 920 00:55:45,940 --> 00:55:47,920 man, we're circling the drain. 921 00:55:50,680 --> 00:55:54,280 But I try to remind myself that the people are better than the 922 00:55:54,280 --> 00:55:56,980 government that represents them, and frankly, they're a heck of a 923 00:55:56,980 --> 00:55:59,680 lot better than some of the media outlets that want to 924 00:55:59,680 --> 00:56:00,100 proclaim 925 00:56:00,100 --> 00:56:04,140 our doom the 24 hour. I'm so sick of the 24 hour news cycle. 926 00:56:04,140 --> 00:56:05,040 Oh, I am. 927 00:56:05,340 --> 00:56:07,980 Matt. You said, when you were a young man, you were, you were 928 00:56:07,980 --> 00:56:10,260 Joe, liberal, what was what changed you? 929 00:56:10,920 --> 00:56:16,440 Neil Bortz, so I mean it, to put it really, really succinctly. I 930 00:56:16,440 --> 00:56:19,560 was living in Carrollton, Georgia. I had started doing 931 00:56:19,560 --> 00:56:24,740 this talk show, when the station flipped, and I knew that I was 932 00:56:24,740 --> 00:56:28,460 not doing it very well, and so I was trying to absorb people who 933 00:56:28,460 --> 00:56:33,620 were successful. And I started listening to WSB in Atlanta, and 934 00:56:33,980 --> 00:56:38,300 Neil Bortz had just left WGST, had to sit out a six month non 935 00:56:38,300 --> 00:56:42,940 compete and move over to WSB. And I listened to this guy, Neil 936 00:56:42,940 --> 00:56:46,900 Bortz. Was Neil Bortz informed me that I was a libertarian by 937 00:56:46,900 --> 00:56:50,260 listening to him on the radio. I thought, I just thought that I 938 00:56:50,260 --> 00:56:55,120 was liberal. And listening to him, he just made a tremendous 939 00:56:55,120 --> 00:56:57,580 amount of sense. And so I started doing what he told me to 940 00:56:57,580 --> 00:57:00,660 do, which is, go do my reading and go do my homework and and 941 00:57:00,660 --> 00:57:03,000 reading up on, you know, the differences between 942 00:57:03,000 --> 00:57:06,060 libertarianism and conservatism or whatever. And it kind of 943 00:57:06,060 --> 00:57:09,420 informed me that I'm a Liberty first guy, and I'm naturally a 944 00:57:09,420 --> 00:57:12,900 contrarian. So, you know, I like to say that I, you know, Groucho 945 00:57:12,900 --> 00:57:15,780 Marx used to say this, and I say it about myself, that I wouldn't 946 00:57:15,780 --> 00:57:19,680 belong to any club that would have me as a member. And so that 947 00:57:19,680 --> 00:57:22,940 includes good, you know, club Republican. So I don't really 948 00:57:22,940 --> 00:57:26,120 belong to that club, because I feel like my viewpoints deviate, 949 00:57:26,780 --> 00:57:30,620 you know, quite a bit from from Republican or conservative 950 00:57:30,620 --> 00:57:33,320 values. So, you know, that's why I started calling myself a 951 00:57:33,320 --> 00:57:35,840 libertarian with a small l, because, frankly, Libertarian 952 00:57:35,840 --> 00:57:38,660 Party is a little wacky too, but I believe in the basic concept 953 00:57:38,660 --> 00:57:41,140 of, you know, government serves best when it serves least, and 954 00:57:41,140 --> 00:57:44,380 the people themselves are responsible for their own 955 00:57:44,380 --> 00:57:47,620 futures and their own fates. And with liberty comes that level of 956 00:57:47,620 --> 00:57:50,440 responsibility. I just, I just wish we'd get to that too. I 957 00:57:50,440 --> 00:57:55,540 wish politicians would learn that they work for us. It's not 958 00:57:55,540 --> 00:57:56,800 the other way around. 959 00:57:57,100 --> 00:57:59,260 Well, there's no money in you know. I was saying this 960 00:57:59,260 --> 00:58:02,880 yesterday that you know, because we had this race that, you know, 961 00:58:02,940 --> 00:58:06,660 the special election race that concluded. And I'm like, you 962 00:58:06,660 --> 00:58:11,040 know, I don't want a politician to tell me what, if you're a 963 00:58:11,040 --> 00:58:14,580 conservative or a libertarian, why in the world would you want 964 00:58:14,580 --> 00:58:17,940 a politician to tell you what they're going to Washington DC 965 00:58:17,940 --> 00:58:21,560 to do exactly? I want them to tell me what they're going to DC 966 00:58:21,560 --> 00:58:26,360 to undo, exactly, right, exactly. We have far too much 967 00:58:26,360 --> 00:58:29,660 government in our lives as it is, but you don't win re 968 00:58:29,660 --> 00:58:33,260 elections telling people what you didn't do. And that's part 969 00:58:33,260 --> 00:58:36,440 of the problem, is that they get up there and they get 970 00:58:36,440 --> 00:58:39,380 washingtonized, and they become convinced, because of all of 971 00:58:39,380 --> 00:58:42,160 these consultants, oh, you've got to bring something home, 972 00:58:42,160 --> 00:58:45,520 whether that's a project or money or whatever it is, and it 973 00:58:45,520 --> 00:58:47,500 just it feeds the problem. It's called 974 00:58:47,500 --> 00:58:51,520 potemic Fever, 100% exactly what it is. I also want to share 975 00:58:51,520 --> 00:58:54,460 something that's a little more light hearted. But when Matt 976 00:58:54,520 --> 00:58:58,480 started at this station, you know, my wife and I really 977 00:58:58,480 --> 00:59:03,240 became big admirers of his show and loved him as a person, and 978 00:59:03,240 --> 00:59:08,280 his wife, Erica. So Erica and Glenna, my wife, started this 979 00:59:08,280 --> 00:59:16,860 horrible habit of making food, and it grew. It went out of 980 00:59:16,860 --> 00:59:20,420 control. It got to the point where I was walking in. I mean, 981 00:59:20,420 --> 00:59:24,380 I have to go out to my car several times to walk in with so 982 00:59:24,440 --> 00:59:28,580 once again, Matt, we've started it again. My wife has made you 983 00:59:28,580 --> 00:59:31,580 and Erica some goodies of some kind. I 984 00:59:31,580 --> 00:59:35,000 love it. Should I open this? Now, whatever you want to do, 985 00:59:35,000 --> 00:59:38,480 I'll open it. I'll give it, oh yeah, toss it over 986 00:59:38,480 --> 00:59:41,800 here. But it got out of control. It got to the point to where I 987 00:59:41,800 --> 00:59:45,160 talked to both women, in fact, I talked to Matt one day. I said, 988 00:59:45,340 --> 00:59:49,120 we've got to put an end to this, because we're both getting fat, 989 00:59:49,180 --> 00:59:51,700 and we were getting fat, and then we were having to carry all 990 00:59:51,700 --> 00:59:52,360 of this stuff. 991 00:59:52,359 --> 00:59:55,899 So Glenna, I'll tell the quick story that. Glenna, have you? 992 00:59:55,959 --> 00:59:57,579 Have you? Do you like pickles? Oh, 993 00:59:57,580 --> 01:00:00,300 yeah. Well, I've, we've already received, yeah, I've. Out of the 994 01:00:00,300 --> 01:00:02,280 Glenna special in pickles, and they're 995 01:00:02,280 --> 01:00:07,380 fabulous. I am a huge pickle fan. I'm a pickle aficionado. I 996 01:00:07,380 --> 01:00:14,220 would say I subscribe to pickle aficionado max. And these are 997 01:00:14,220 --> 01:00:17,220 the best pickles that I've ever had, the best pickles that I've 998 01:00:17,220 --> 01:00:19,680 ever had. And I accused Glenna putting crack or something in 999 01:00:19,680 --> 01:00:23,120 them at one because they're so good well. So Glenna, 1000 01:00:23,120 --> 01:00:25,760 recognizing how much I love them, she gave us, like, several 1001 01:00:25,760 --> 01:00:29,780 jars, and one was this huge jar of pickles, yeah, that we lost. 1002 01:00:30,140 --> 01:00:34,280 So Erica put that up in the Erica put that up somewhere that 1003 01:00:34,280 --> 01:00:37,640 we don't normally keep food, because that's the only place 1004 01:00:37,640 --> 01:00:40,900 that that huge jar of pickles would fit. And we found it, like 1005 01:00:40,900 --> 01:00:44,980 two months ago, and so I immediately ate them all and and 1006 01:00:44,980 --> 01:00:48,760 we cleaned the jar, and we set it aside to get back to you and 1007 01:00:48,760 --> 01:00:53,500 Glenna when we saw you next. And so Eric is out of town, and I'm 1008 01:00:53,500 --> 01:00:56,800 talking to her this morning, and I'm I say, Where's the jar? I'm 1009 01:00:56,800 --> 01:00:59,920 going to see Johnny B and Jay Today. We're doing a podcast, 1010 01:00:59,920 --> 01:01:01,860 and she got so angry at me. 1011 01:01:02,640 --> 01:01:06,120 Like, what? Why didn't you tell me, you guys were what? What did 1012 01:01:06,120 --> 01:01:09,180 I'm like, Why are you so angry? I would have made something to 1013 01:01:09,180 --> 01:01:11,460 send to give to Johnny. 1014 01:01:13,380 --> 01:01:17,100 Now it continues on. So this is 1015 01:01:17,640 --> 01:01:22,400 you're welcome to drop anything off with me if you need oh my 1016 01:01:22,400 --> 01:01:23,360 gosh, well, 1017 01:01:23,360 --> 01:01:26,060 let's John, let's not get crazy. There's even putting 1018 01:01:26,300 --> 01:01:28,520 Oh, 1019 01:01:32,540 --> 01:01:37,940 wow. Thank you. God, bless you. You're an angel from heaven, and 1020 01:01:37,940 --> 01:01:40,400 not just because you have to put up with Johnny 1021 01:01:41,900 --> 01:01:44,800 B that's awesome. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be here, 1022 01:01:44,800 --> 01:01:48,700 trust me. Well, buddy, you can listen to Matt Murphy every 1023 01:01:48,700 --> 01:01:53,920 afternoon from three till seven on the big, super talker, 99 1024 01:01:55,180 --> 01:01:58,600 three to seven central time. That's, of course, tell them all 1025 01:01:58,600 --> 01:02:01,000 the ways they can listen. You don't have to be in radio. 1026 01:02:01,000 --> 01:02:06,240 So, I mean 99.7 FM, anywhere from Alabama to Kentucky and all 1027 01:02:06,240 --> 01:02:09,780 points in between. You can also get us on anywhere that you 1028 01:02:09,780 --> 01:02:12,480 download music or information on the internet. You can get us 1029 01:02:12,480 --> 01:02:16,680 right. So that's, you know, podcast, Spotify. Tune in. I 1030 01:02:16,680 --> 01:02:19,980 heart. We have our own app. And then super talk TV. Super talk 1031 01:02:19,980 --> 01:02:22,760 TV, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch and rumble. YouTube, 1032 01:02:22,760 --> 01:02:24,980 Facebook, Twitter, Twitch and rumble. I encourage you to go 1033 01:02:24,980 --> 01:02:27,140 over to YouTube, because those people on the YouTube chat are 1034 01:02:27,140 --> 01:02:29,960 insane. They are insane. They can say anything they have even 1035 01:02:29,960 --> 01:02:30,620 over there, 1036 01:02:32,120 --> 01:02:36,200 and you, when you meet them out in public, they're pretty wild. 1037 01:02:36,200 --> 01:02:36,440 And I 1038 01:02:37,820 --> 01:02:41,200 tried, I tried to do this as best I can. I can. I try to 1039 01:02:41,200 --> 01:02:43,840 remember, to remind people, if you go over to the YouTube page 1040 01:02:43,840 --> 01:02:46,720 and you engage in the YouTube chat, that is not a monitored 1041 01:02:46,720 --> 01:02:49,420 chat, we don't know what those people are going to say. No, we 1042 01:02:49,420 --> 01:02:54,280 don't vouch for them. We have nothing to do with what some of 1043 01:02:54,280 --> 01:02:56,740 the language that's being used over there, some of the concepts 1044 01:02:56,740 --> 01:02:59,620 so but it's a it's a pretty rowdy bunch. I absolutely love 1045 01:02:59,620 --> 01:03:03,000 the audience. I love Middle Tennessee. I have fallen in love 1046 01:03:03,000 --> 01:03:05,040 with it. I fell in love with the state as soon as I got 1047 01:03:05,040 --> 01:03:09,540 here. Well, I think the feeling is mutual. Yeah, I'm and Johnny 1048 01:03:09,540 --> 01:03:12,660 can vouch for this. I mean, I'm, I'm a member of the matt Murphy 1049 01:03:12,660 --> 01:03:16,680 fan club, and when I first started at the station, I, you 1050 01:03:16,680 --> 01:03:18,900 know, and Johnny and I didn't really know each other that 1051 01:03:18,900 --> 01:03:24,320 well. And I told Johnny, I said that Matt Murphy guy, that dude, 1052 01:03:24,620 --> 01:03:29,480 that dude is a he's a major talent. We both, we both talked 1053 01:03:29,480 --> 01:03:30,080 about that. 1054 01:03:30,140 --> 01:03:33,080 We both have said that if there's anybody that could be 1055 01:03:33,140 --> 01:03:35,000 syndicated on that radio 1056 01:03:35,000 --> 01:03:36,380 station, that right 1057 01:03:36,380 --> 01:03:39,020 here, are you guys still charging the same fees for this 1058 01:03:39,020 --> 01:03:39,560 that y'all 1059 01:03:40,700 --> 01:03:44,980 always Yeah, seriously, Matt. I mean, yeah, you're a major 1060 01:03:44,980 --> 01:03:49,000 talent. Yes, you just have a good time. I remember, there was 1061 01:03:49,000 --> 01:03:54,760 one particular episode where you started speaking about a veteran 1062 01:03:54,760 --> 01:03:57,820 or something along those lines, that had passed away or 1063 01:03:57,820 --> 01:04:01,260 something, and you were talking about a funeral or what have 1064 01:04:01,260 --> 01:04:04,860 you. But, and I remember after that particular episode, I went 1065 01:04:04,860 --> 01:04:08,460 to you and told you, I said that that was the most compelling 1066 01:04:08,460 --> 01:04:13,260 hour of radio that I had heard in years, I mean, and what 1067 01:04:13,260 --> 01:04:18,240 really fascinates me, I mean, I know you do some show prep, but 1068 01:04:18,240 --> 01:04:22,700 you don't script anything, and your ability to just speak from 1069 01:04:22,700 --> 01:04:26,240 the heart and speak extemporaneously, it makes you 1070 01:04:26,240 --> 01:04:27,020 so great at what 1071 01:04:27,020 --> 01:04:30,020 you do now. I mean, I don't know about that great part, but I 1072 01:04:30,020 --> 01:04:34,040 will say this, that I like doing a show that is more free 1073 01:04:34,040 --> 01:04:37,940 flowing. It's and I still really, really love caller 1074 01:04:37,940 --> 01:04:41,680 interaction. I love engaging the callers and getting them 1075 01:04:41,680 --> 01:04:44,560 involved in the show. I've always felt like, you know, my 1076 01:04:44,560 --> 01:04:47,320 producers say, Well, do you want me to screen this person or that 1077 01:04:47,320 --> 01:04:49,720 person? I was like, I don't want you to screen anybody out. I 1078 01:04:49,780 --> 01:04:52,600 mean, there are obviously exceptions, you know, there are 1079 01:04:52,600 --> 01:04:55,300 certain people that don't know how to act, or people that call 1080 01:04:55,300 --> 01:04:58,300 chronically, right, right? But other than that, I was like, it 1081 01:04:58,300 --> 01:05:01,080 is my job to make it interesting. Interesting, right? 1082 01:05:01,320 --> 01:05:05,220 And, and if I get a caller that is not so interesting, I either 1083 01:05:05,220 --> 01:05:08,160 need to make them interesting or go on to another caller at the 1084 01:05:08,160 --> 01:05:11,160 same time. It's really about the voice of the people. And I love 1085 01:05:11,160 --> 01:05:14,820 the flow of a show where you don't where you end up in a 1086 01:05:14,820 --> 01:05:17,820 place, and you look back and like, how in the heck did we get 1087 01:05:17,820 --> 01:05:22,280 here? Yeah, how in the world did we go from there to here, you 1088 01:05:22,280 --> 01:05:24,620 know? But as I get older, I remember the show you're talking 1089 01:05:24,620 --> 01:05:28,340 about. And I think it was me relating the story of I happened 1090 01:05:28,340 --> 01:05:32,360 upon. It might be a different one, but I happened upon a 1091 01:05:32,360 --> 01:05:36,620 funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, and watching a veteran 1092 01:05:36,620 --> 01:05:39,380 be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. And I tell that story 1093 01:05:39,380 --> 01:05:43,720 quite a bit, and because it moves me so much. Yeah, it moved 1094 01:05:43,720 --> 01:05:47,560 me. But man, oh man, as I get older, I get I've gotten I get 1095 01:05:47,560 --> 01:05:50,920 so sentimental and so soppy, and I can't tell those stories so 1096 01:05:50,920 --> 01:05:52,120 much anymore, because I start 1097 01:05:52,120 --> 01:05:54,280 crying. Oh yeah, he started, you turn into Damn man. 1098 01:05:57,100 --> 01:06:00,840 Nobody wants that, Johnny, nobody. There's only one dead 1099 01:06:00,840 --> 01:06:01,140 man 1100 01:06:01,140 --> 01:06:04,920 Well, you know, and that's one, you know, that's the that was 1101 01:06:04,920 --> 01:06:08,760 the heartbreaking thing about me having to leave the station was 1102 01:06:08,820 --> 01:06:12,720 that I loved everybody there. Yeah, you talk about a great 1103 01:06:12,960 --> 01:06:17,760 group of people and a great audience. I would urge anybody 1104 01:06:17,760 --> 01:06:21,920 to listen to WTN, because it's a very interesting station. 1105 01:06:21,920 --> 01:06:24,740 They've got a very interesting take. Everybody's different. 1106 01:06:24,740 --> 01:06:30,080 Every talk show host is different. But I just I love 1107 01:06:30,080 --> 01:06:31,520 listening to you, plus you have 1108 01:06:31,520 --> 01:06:35,960 Ken Weaver. Oh, man, Ken Weaver is an absolute Jim. I wish we 1109 01:06:35,960 --> 01:06:39,020 could get him on here, but he's always busy. Well, he's got a 1110 01:06:39,020 --> 01:06:39,560 lot of things 1111 01:06:39,560 --> 01:06:42,040 going on. He lives down there in Murfreesboro, and he hates 1112 01:06:42,040 --> 01:06:45,220 driving on i 24 so much. Probably, he probably won't come 1113 01:06:45,220 --> 01:06:49,360 see I will say that in this business, you learn on the 1114 01:06:49,360 --> 01:06:52,000 inside of the business, you know, the part that a lot of 1115 01:06:52,000 --> 01:06:57,340 listeners don't see. You try to learn to have thick skin and and 1116 01:06:57,340 --> 01:07:01,560 not allow these things to personally affect you, the way 1117 01:07:01,560 --> 01:07:05,700 that you handled what happened between you and cumulus was the 1118 01:07:05,700 --> 01:07:10,740 most gracious professional manner that I can possibly 1119 01:07:10,740 --> 01:07:13,800 imagine. I will say this on or off the air. I've never heard 1120 01:07:13,800 --> 01:07:17,040 Johnny B say a bad thing about what happened to him and Johnny 1121 01:07:17,040 --> 01:07:18,000 B. There are plenty of 1122 01:07:19,440 --> 01:07:22,980 well, those episodes, those episodes, 1123 01:07:26,480 --> 01:07:29,240 besides, and there are plenty of reasons why you could, 1124 01:07:30,800 --> 01:07:34,400 because there's an unfortunate side to this business where 1125 01:07:34,640 --> 01:07:37,520 there are, oftentimes, and I won't speak about my own 1126 01:07:37,520 --> 01:07:40,300 employer, but I'll just say, generally speaking, there's a 1127 01:07:40,300 --> 01:07:45,100 complete disconnect between what they do crunching numbers 1128 01:07:45,100 --> 01:07:48,580 somewhere far, far away, exactly, and how it impacts real 1129 01:07:48,580 --> 01:07:51,580 people. And I'm not just talking about you or me, I'm talking 1130 01:07:51,580 --> 01:07:54,700 about the listening audience. Oh yeah, and it was incredibly 1131 01:07:54,700 --> 01:07:59,560 impactful when you, quote, unquote, left the radio station 1132 01:07:59,740 --> 01:08:04,140 and it was bothersome and, and just personally bothersome, 1133 01:08:04,140 --> 01:08:08,580 because I felt like you meant so much to the radio station. And 1134 01:08:08,580 --> 01:08:13,380 you know, you just have to kind of suck it up. And yeah, you do, 1135 01:08:13,380 --> 01:08:14,520 and keep going on well. 1136 01:08:14,520 --> 01:08:17,460 And plus, yeah, you know, I would say that the program 1137 01:08:17,460 --> 01:08:22,220 director, he, you know, I mean, I was treated with respect and 1138 01:08:22,220 --> 01:08:25,820 kindness, and I appreciated that, and they were nice enough 1139 01:08:25,820 --> 01:08:29,180 to say, you know, you can say goodbye tomorrow, and because 1140 01:08:29,180 --> 01:08:31,580 most places would just say, Yeah, 1141 01:08:31,640 --> 01:08:34,040 bring your headphones. Can I tell you 1142 01:08:34,040 --> 01:08:37,940 my best firing story? Though? Sure. So. I was in Birmingham. I 1143 01:08:37,940 --> 01:08:40,840 was working for Crawford broadcasting, and that's another 1144 01:08:40,900 --> 01:08:43,360 one that, if you only have nine months to live, go to work for 1145 01:08:43,360 --> 01:08:47,980 Crawford. Well, they, you know, they were a religious based 1146 01:08:48,760 --> 01:08:53,380 radio station. They created a secular news talk station that 1147 01:08:53,380 --> 01:08:57,040 you know worked for a while for them, but they started kind of 1148 01:08:57,040 --> 01:08:59,920 encroaching on what we were doing from a content 1149 01:08:59,920 --> 01:09:02,940 perspective, that made all of us very uncomfortable, and 1150 01:09:02,940 --> 01:09:06,900 eventually it just wasn't going to work out. So I was kind of 1151 01:09:06,900 --> 01:09:10,980 the last man standing. I was doing my afternoon show. They 1152 01:09:10,980 --> 01:09:13,740 had let their program director go. We had an interim program 1153 01:09:13,740 --> 01:09:17,460 director that had never done it before. And mark a very nice 1154 01:09:17,460 --> 01:09:21,620 guy. He was in sales, and he'd been elevated to PD for some 1155 01:09:21,620 --> 01:09:25,100 reason. And so my show started at three. I was on from three to 1156 01:09:25,100 --> 01:09:29,000 seven, and I would get in about two, and there was nobody before 1157 01:09:29,000 --> 01:09:31,100 me. So I would just go into the studio and set up and 1158 01:09:31,160 --> 01:09:33,860 everything. And Mark, you know, you could see people coming in 1159 01:09:33,920 --> 01:09:35,900 through the lobby. You can see the receptionist through a 1160 01:09:35,900 --> 01:09:38,660 window, just to paint the picture here. And then you go 1161 01:09:38,660 --> 01:09:41,020 around and you go into the studio. And so every day I would 1162 01:09:41,020 --> 01:09:43,780 see Mark come in. He would come in, he would sit down with me. 1163 01:09:43,840 --> 01:09:47,860 We'd talk for five or so minutes. All is well, and then 1164 01:09:47,860 --> 01:09:50,320 he would go back to his office, and I would continue prepping 1165 01:09:50,320 --> 01:09:58,300 for the show. Well, I found out later that the senior vice 1166 01:09:58,300 --> 01:10:01,440 president of the company had flown. Into Birmingham, Alabama, 1167 01:10:01,440 --> 01:10:05,940 from BLUEBELL, Pennsylvania to fire me on a Friday. Wow. But no 1168 01:10:05,940 --> 01:10:08,760 one bothered to check whether I was going to be there, and I had 1169 01:10:08,760 --> 01:10:14,820 scheduled a vacation day that day, so I was out of town, 1170 01:10:14,820 --> 01:10:19,560 perfect. So she comes in to fire me, the guy she was firing isn't 1171 01:10:19,560 --> 01:10:21,860 there. I don't know why they didn't just pick up the phone 1172 01:10:21,860 --> 01:10:25,160 and do it that way, but whatever. So that Monday, there 1173 01:10:25,160 --> 01:10:29,360 I am, be bopping into the radio station, and I sit down, and I 1174 01:10:29,360 --> 01:10:32,180 knew the writing was on the wall for me. I mean, I knew that, you 1175 01:10:32,180 --> 01:10:34,700 know, it was just a matter of time, but I was not going to 1176 01:10:34,700 --> 01:10:39,020 quit, right? I was going to be let go. And so Mark, this humble 1177 01:10:39,020 --> 01:10:42,340 fellow that had never done this before we always say he walks in 1178 01:10:42,400 --> 01:10:45,220 like I see him walk in every day, and he cuts me a look, and 1179 01:10:45,220 --> 01:10:49,300 then looks away, and then he goes. And I see him talking to 1180 01:10:49,300 --> 01:10:52,660 the receptionist, and he's like saying something to the 1181 01:10:52,660 --> 01:10:56,620 receptionist, and I see her look up at me with these wide eyes 1182 01:10:57,880 --> 01:11:02,820 and and so Mark leaves and doesn't come in like he does 1183 01:11:02,880 --> 01:11:08,280 every day. And I hit the talk back button, and my my producer 1184 01:11:08,280 --> 01:11:11,100 was setting some things up, and I hit the talk back button and I 1185 01:11:11,100 --> 01:11:16,380 said, Hey, I'm getting fired today. And he said, What? And I 1186 01:11:16,380 --> 01:11:20,240 said, I'm getting fired today. No, you're Shut up. I was like, 1187 01:11:20,600 --> 01:11:25,400 watch, like, five minutes after Mark comes in, the receptionist 1188 01:11:25,400 --> 01:11:29,060 gets up and walks into the room and says, Mark needs to see you 1189 01:11:29,060 --> 01:11:29,720 in his office. 1190 01:11:29,719 --> 01:11:33,079 This is not my first I swear what 1191 01:11:34,040 --> 01:11:38,120 I'm about to tell you is true. It sounds like it's not. I swear 1192 01:11:38,120 --> 01:11:41,560 this is true. So I walk in and the business manager sitting in 1193 01:11:41,560 --> 01:11:44,500 the room, and that was, Oh, all right. We got a witness. We got 1194 01:11:44,500 --> 01:11:46,480 the guy that's doing it, lack of paperwork. 1195 01:11:49,780 --> 01:11:51,280 Got it going, let's go. 1196 01:11:51,820 --> 01:11:57,640 And Mark has just this look of death on his face, and he's just 1197 01:11:57,640 --> 01:12:02,160 staring at me, and I sit down, and he starts, Matt, well, you 1198 01:12:02,160 --> 01:12:05,700 know you weren't here on Friday and so, and you know Laura was 1199 01:12:05,700 --> 01:12:11,580 in. He starts mumbling and fumbling and he starts crying. 1200 01:12:13,440 --> 01:12:15,480 Usually it's the other way around, right? 1201 01:12:17,040 --> 01:12:20,660 Like I said, I swear this trick, I reached across the table and 1202 01:12:20,660 --> 01:12:27,080 patted his hand, and I said, Mark, it's gonna be okay. I wish 1203 01:12:27,080 --> 01:12:30,740 you well in your future endeavors. Mark, so if you've 1204 01:12:30,740 --> 01:12:33,920 ever been in management, the first thing that they tell you 1205 01:12:33,920 --> 01:12:38,000 about this part of the job is, Do not apologize. The first 1206 01:12:38,000 --> 01:12:40,360 words out of his mouth ever I said it's gonna be okay is, I'm 1207 01:12:40,360 --> 01:12:41,020 sorry, 1208 01:12:43,060 --> 01:12:46,720 admitting wrong. If it's radio, he probably got let go shortly 1209 01:12:46,720 --> 01:12:46,960 after 1210 01:12:49,000 --> 01:12:52,480 that was it being like fired by Michael Scott or something. It 1211 01:12:52,480 --> 01:12:54,880 was the best firing ever. I mean, it was so nice. I got my 1212 01:12:54,880 --> 01:12:57,700 paperwork. It's happened to you a couple of times. I mean, you 1213 01:12:57,700 --> 01:12:59,380 ever think about just messing with them? 1214 01:13:00,460 --> 01:13:02,880 You know, like me, I'm not, come on. Oh, 1215 01:13:02,880 --> 01:13:05,760 whatever. I'm gonna go do my job, right? What are you guys 1216 01:13:05,760 --> 01:13:09,180 talking about? You know, you at the same time, you're like, my 1217 01:13:09,180 --> 01:13:11,520 concern is, let's, let's make sure we're not burning the 1218 01:13:11,520 --> 01:13:15,300 bridges that we might need to cross back over at some point. 1219 01:13:15,300 --> 01:13:17,940 So luckily, none of those bridges matter at Carver 1220 01:13:17,940 --> 01:13:20,300 broadcasting anymore, so I can tell the story I want so but 1221 01:13:20,300 --> 01:13:25,160 they did. But to your point, they I'm like, Are you gonna let 1222 01:13:25,160 --> 01:13:27,500 me do this? Like, 230 my show's a threat. It's like, are you 1223 01:13:27,500 --> 01:13:33,020 gonna let me do my show? And he said, Yes, but you can't say 1224 01:13:33,020 --> 01:13:38,420 anything about you leaving until the last 30 minutes. Yeah. And I 1225 01:13:38,420 --> 01:13:44,560 said, Okay, that's fine. And so they, they, what they did. They 1226 01:13:44,560 --> 01:13:48,820 had they wasn't mark. It was another producer that they 1227 01:13:48,820 --> 01:13:54,640 brought in to sit in the room with me, in the studio, not in 1228 01:13:54,640 --> 01:13:58,540 the control room, but in the studio with me. And they said, 1229 01:13:58,600 --> 01:14:00,760 he said, I'm here to make sure you don't say anything you're 1230 01:14:00,760 --> 01:14:03,120 not supposed to say. And I was like, What do you go are you 1231 01:14:03,120 --> 01:14:05,400 gonna do? 1232 01:14:05,639 --> 01:14:10,619 He pats the gun on his What are you gonna do? And he says, I 1233 01:14:10,619 --> 01:14:12,839 think I'm supposed to pull the plug to the microphone. 1234 01:14:15,000 --> 01:14:18,660 There's a guy in the control room radio well. And then they 1235 01:14:18,660 --> 01:14:22,520 also, it was confusing as hell to the audience, because they 1236 01:14:22,520 --> 01:14:25,340 put the delay on a 42nd delay. 1237 01:14:27,260 --> 01:14:30,200 And they said they did that just well, just in case Matt says 1238 01:14:30,200 --> 01:14:30,680 something, 1239 01:14:32,780 --> 01:14:37,220 42nd delay, so do not be burning that bridge all day long. 1240 01:14:37,700 --> 01:14:41,200 People, you know, it's a caller driven show, so I got callers, 1241 01:14:41,260 --> 01:14:43,720 and they're listening on the line. They have no idea what's 1242 01:14:43,720 --> 01:14:47,380 going on. They're 40 seconds behind. And so I go to them, 1243 01:14:47,380 --> 01:14:50,260 Hey, Jay, you're on the phone. And there's what we talking 1244 01:14:50,260 --> 01:14:50,560 about. 1245 01:14:51,760 --> 01:14:52,900 Jay, you're on it's 1246 01:14:54,520 --> 01:14:59,080 got to give the producer a lot of comfort, though, if anybody 1247 01:14:59,080 --> 01:14:59,920 cusses he has please. 1248 01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:06,120 Plenty of time. George Carlin, ask, Well, 1249 01:15:17,040 --> 01:15:20,480 dude, this has been so much fun, and I'm so glad you came and 1250 01:15:20,480 --> 01:15:21,020 hung out with 1251 01:15:21,019 --> 01:15:23,419 I love you guys. I love I love you guys. I love what you're 1252 01:15:23,419 --> 01:15:25,639 doing on the podcast. I watch the podcast. I enjoy the 1253 01:15:25,639 --> 01:15:28,159 podcast. I encourage everybody to like and subscribe to the 1254 01:15:28,159 --> 01:15:28,579 podcast. 1255 01:15:28,580 --> 01:15:30,920 Well, there you go, and Jay has all the info. 1256 01:15:30,920 --> 01:15:33,980 Yeah, we are getting there in terms of being on more 1257 01:15:33,980 --> 01:15:37,820 platforms. Of course, any audio platform that you can think of 1258 01:15:37,820 --> 01:15:42,820 for podcasts, we're on it thanks to Jim McCarthy or Chris Yes, 1259 01:15:44,140 --> 01:15:48,040 but yeah, you know, Facebook, YouTube, we're on, we're getting 1260 01:15:48,040 --> 01:15:51,580 on Twitch, and we've got a website that's about to be 1261 01:15:52,000 --> 01:15:55,180 debuted, and merchandise is coming. 1262 01:15:57,640 --> 01:16:00,520 Merch? Are you buying? Merch is ready? 1263 01:16:00,820 --> 01:16:04,920 Well, there we go. Should be arriving in the next couple of 1264 01:16:04,920 --> 01:16:05,460 weeks. 1265 01:16:05,520 --> 01:16:08,820 Well, we want you to come back to see the Triple J's again. 1266 01:16:08,820 --> 01:16:11,640 We'll have more interesting people for you. Sometimes it's 1267 01:16:11,640 --> 01:16:14,760 just us, and we're interesting enough, I think, of course, it's 1268 01:16:14,760 --> 01:16:20,880 circling the drone. Thanks for joining you.