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"The Radio Consultant"
Written By Dick Shuey (dick@dickshuey.com) The Radio Consultant is a creature who you probably will never meet nor see....so in reality do they really exsist...??? Yes they do....and cruel they are...!!!! Everybody believes that Radio Consultants only program the Music and tell the Radio Station what to play ....WRONG...!!!! Let me share with you a personal experience I have had many years ago with a Radio Station Consultant.... His name was BILL HUDSON of Hudson and Associates of Nashville. To some old timers...I'm sure the name rings a bell...ting-a-ling...!!!! Julian Gross... my Boss and owner of WEXT Radio in Hartford, Ct. sold his Radio Station.. The new owners purchased the guidance and expertise of Mr. Hudson to help them program their newly purchased Radio Station... Many of today's Country Music Artists from that era remember Julian Gross as he owned COUNTRY MUSIC PROMOTION's in Hartford and brought a monthly Grand Ole Opry Show to the Bushnell in Hartford... He was a wonderful pioneer of Radio and Country Music In the New England area... We all remember Abe Hamza....who furnished these wonderful shows...to Julian. The first thing to go under the new ownership was the Country Music Shows.... The Second thing to happen and most memorable was that the entire WEXT Staff was fired except ...little ole me...!!!! A record hasn't even been played yet under new management...!!!! That's pretty embarrasing in it's self...!!!! Why because Mr. Hudson said so...!!!! The new ownership didn't keep me because they liked me...or my talent...they kept and paid me because Mr. Hudson said so... The only time I ever met Mr. Hudson is when he was present when I was told I would be moved from Afternoon Drive time to the Morning Drive Time shift and was told that I was getting a pay raise....and to be quiet.. Mr. Hudson even made that decision...Thanx for the $$$ Mr. Hudson....I was worth it.. All you had to do was ask me.. Now friends that is pretty cold stuff...and a cold reality....!!!! Can you imagine being sworn to secrecy and have to stand their and watch all your friends clean out their desks and walk away with a two week severance pay check...?????!!!! It's a pretty sober and silent situation to be in... Sad to say...everyone of my associates left Radio for good....like the fool I am...I didn't know any better and continued on...in and out of Radio to this day.... Once a D.J...always a D.J....just ask one of them. Guess it's just in my blood...and I can't help it..I don't know any better... I wanted to tell this little story so you'd realize that Radio Consultants...are powerful and just don't control the Country Music you hear...they control people too....The D.J.'s...the Station Sales Staff...The Artist's careers ...either in a direct or indirect way.... They do their dirty work and it only takes them a day or two...they do it...and they leave town....and everybody else has to live with the decisions they have made. You get paid.... what they say you are worth...and play what they say to play...and do what they say to do...and yes...what you can say on the air waves also. It's a very simple ...cruel and unfair formula. There's a lot of talk about the creature today...so I thought I would enlighten you just a bit with my experience with the "snake that crawls in the grass"....they just kinda' slither away and hide....as fast as they appear. And like the snake ...when they bite...they are poison to the victim...you...I...and the entire Country Music Industry. Somebody need's to call in the Doctor...!!!! You realize that if you ever have had to live it. Welcome To Show Biz...!!!
Dick Shuey |