Barry Michaels
Radio is My Life!
Barry's Bio 1
I had an incredibly happy childhood. Family, friends. A support group that many don't have today. Hunting, fishing, Boy Scouts, it was All American! Best of all, I had a father I could look up to. Big, strong, and a combat veteran of D-DAY. His name was Aaron, nicknamed, 'Big A'. Since I was seen with him everywhere, I became, 'Little a'. Now you know. I've got a sister that I admire and my Mom was every bit as strong as my Dad, a beautiful woman who made a great impression on me. My Mother would tell you, I would announce my next anticipated diaper change into a cucumber, fresh from our garden. I talked to the little farm animals through my 'microphone stick'. I began listening to the guy who first got me interested in talking into something other than a vegetable, Rick Shultz, host of the the 'Sunday Session' on WHEE Radio, AM 1370 Martinsville, Virginia. Thanks for all the memories Rick. You get the blame/credit for inflicting me on thousands of listeners!
I need a woman!
Geez, what a great time to be alive! Late 1960's, I'm in high school,
driving a 1958 Corvette that leaked oil like crazy and cost me my whole
savings, 900 bucks. Working after school, listening to WHEE during the day and WLS, WGAR, WCFL, WABC, and WBT at night. It seemed that every girl I dated during this time was Debbie
or Cindy or some variation thereof. They were all young flowers to be
picked, and here, we'll say no more.'The Radio Years', (Part 1) or "Oh God! Here I go!"
I'm working at the AMERICAN OF MARTINSVILLE furniture plant, slowly going crazy. God, I admire those people. Some of the most loyal, hard working individuals I've ever seen, before radio or since. I salute everyone of you! The backbone of America. It's not for me though. The only saving grace is seeing my Mom and Dad every day, and becoming a volunteer firefighter. I never thought I would enjoy being a 'smoke eater' as much as I did, but even to this day, I'm proud I did it. The radio bug is eating away at me, and I'm too chicken to apply for a job in my hometown. (I thought I should get a little experience under my belt before my friends and family heard me.) Bam! I've got it! Go to nearby Rocky Mount, Va. and beg the station manager for MY FIRST GIG! Well, it worked, eventually. Working days at the factory, afternoons and weekends at WYTI. Guess what our slogan was? Ready? 1570 WYTI..'The Mighty Whitey'! Wonder how that would fly in 2006? My first on air give-a-way? An eight pack of Double Cola, and trust me, the phones lines would flash for hours. The students at Ferrum College were big participants! Go figure.Thanks to Bill Jefferson, who gave me my first shot at being on the air. I wonder if he knew that I would have paid him to be on the radio? My Mom always worried about me at WYTI, because in those days, some radio stations were actually in a house, you know, six room brick ranch style. Anyway, the control room was always in what would have been the master bedroom, (Ha! I still think that's ironic!) and the transmitter directly under it in the basement. Mom called the Boss to make sure it wouldn't blow up her little boy! I still love you for that one Mom!
I eventually left for a Collinsville, Va. radio station, WFIC, MY FIRST FULL TIME RADIO JOB!!(I'm rich!..I'm rich!..I'm making 120 bucks a week! Quick! Get the local BMW dealer on the phone!) I just knew that I was one step away from WLS. And, why not? I still listened every night. I made tapes of myself in the studio saying their call letters, and I sent those tapes at least once per week. (Oh, silly, silly little man!) I was just convinced that any day now, the Program Director would call me for mornings. Right...
I eventually left for a Collinsville, Va. radio station, WFIC, MY FIRST FULL TIME RADIO JOB!!(I'm rich!..I'm rich!..I'm making 120 bucks a week! Quick! Get the local BMW dealer on the phone!) I just knew that I was one step away from WLS. And, why not? I still listened every night. I made tapes of myself in the studio saying their call letters, and I sent those tapes at least once per week. (Oh, silly, silly little man!) I was just convinced that any day now, the Program Director would call me for mornings. Right...
Barry says a bad word-on the air!
My first full time job was great, if you consider that I was working on air from one p.m. until sign off (Ha! Believe it! AM Radio stations did sign off at sun down, depending on where you were geographically in the United States) -that would be 8:45 in the summer months, on the east coast, and then going on the air that midnight at WLOE/Eden,N.C. Off the air at six a.m, a little sleep and back in Collinsville, Va. by one p.m. Did I mention the famous incident in which a rancid piece of meat hit me in the face causing me to drop my first F-BOMB on the air? Well, settle in for a really fun story! Greg Wells, who had a voice deeper than whale poop, and only about five feet tall, liked to keep his hamburgers warm by placing them in a 'cart machine'. For you non-radio types, 'cart machines' played tapes like old 8-tracks. (Sorry about the word 'old') Anyway, there is a pinch roller, (I'm not going to explain the term 'pinch roller', look it up for yourself. Do what my parents told me. "Show some initiative!") inside that turns the tape at the proper speed. Our radio station was infested with rats and evidently one of them climbed inside for a tasty snack, therby getting a piece of the meat entwined in the mechanism. At six a.m, I hit my 'BARRY MICHAELS' jingle, which went something like--'GET UP AND GET GOING'--a musical bed at that point for me to say something like "GET YOUR CRACK OUTTA THE SACK!"--followed by the jingle singers and our call letters. What the listeners heard was...the jingle..and me saying..'"GOOD MORNING!" (wham! the meat hits! ) "IT'S ....WELL F#@$ ME!!", ending, of course, with the jingle singers right on cue! GOD! I still don't know how I got away with that one. Let my heart settle down for a moment. I can still feel the fear! I did get a call about it, just one, and the guy says, "I know you didn't say what I thought you did!" Thankfully, he had been out drinking the night before. Can I get a big amen for Mr. Jack Daniels?? 
Nine Stitches..
While on overnights at WLOE/Eden, during part of that time, we ran 'public service' programming. I had trained myself to sleep during these thirty minute segments and to awaken when I heard silence. The complete opposite of what we humans usually do. After starting one of these shows at three a.m., I headed out to the couch to grab some shut-eye. The control room door had a latch on it, and obviously it closed, in effect locking me out of the studio. I didn't know that until the tape broke about five minutes in, I came running down the hall and promptly stuck my arm through the thin glass control room window. I stayed there bleeding until the morning guy showed up, drove over to the hospital and the emergency room staff sewed me up. Dedication or stupidity? You be the judge. I still carry the scar today..
The night guy thought it was the coolest injury he had ever seen. And reminded me from time to time that 'chicks dig scars'! Geez...
Here come the babies! What causes that? Bueller..Bueller..
Have I forgotten to mention that I had gotten married, bought a new car, and needed some extra bucks? I left WLOE for local radio at it's best, WMVA Radio, Martinsville, Va., and my first time on FM (Geez..it sounds so..FULL!)
It was during this time that I lost my Dad to a stroke, and I
suppose I was looking for support, a family larger than my own.
I found it, in my hometown. I worked with real pros, Pete Bluhm, Lynwood Judkins, Mike Evans, Owen Hall.
I especially liked the Christmas parties, where Lynwood, (the big boss)
had catered dinners and dancing for us inside the radio station
climaxing with the presentation of the Christmas Bonus!
(Remember those?) I hope he never knew that we got a little
'tight' at one party and thought it would be hilarous to put
the janitor on the air! That could be a story for my book. I think
the statue of limitations has run out on that incident! Lynwood
and his staff could not do enough to make you happy, and everyone
made me feel like I belonged. You might be
asking yourself-"Why would you want to leave a radio
family like that, Barry?" In part due to my Mom and Dad, who
urged me to go as far as I could in this world, and because I wanted to see where my talent would take me. While there, I began my own family, with my first son, Aaron. (Remember that name from earlier in the story?) Another short stay in Eden, N.C. at WCBX with Ray and Bertha Childers, the LUCY and RICKY
of radio! You just never knew what they would throw at each other. One
day, I dodged a wooden eagle! 'Bea' Childers gave me my first shot at
being a Program Director of a rock 'n roll radio station and the
opportunity to stretch my wings as a morning personality. For that, I
will always be grateful. I place a high value on women in broadcasting,
and Bertha's job wasn't an easy one. Remember, it was the 1970's and
she was a female in a male dominated business. All things considered
'Bea', you did just fine! On to Blacksburg, Va. and WQBX where I picked up two more sons, Sam and Andy, while
making 175.00 dollars per week. Since the twins were a 'surprise', and I
had no insurance, I went to the hospital administrator and worked out a
payment plan. (Just try to do that today! They'll laugh you right out of
the office and throw rocks at you!) I wish you could have been there
for the big celebration two years later when I finally paid them off! I
made extra money by playing music at
high school and college dances and because of the great distances I
would have to travel, sometimes I didn't get home until dawn. I
remember very clearly stopping by streams, splashing cold
water on my face to stay awake with only the moon as my constant
companion.(I'm not trying to be artsy fartsy here. It's just my way of
telling you the radio in the van was broken!) Many of the dances I
did were in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia. I was their
major source of entertainment (such as it was), and was always
treated like a star. Every time I did a dance for them, these
people sent me on my way with hugs, handshakes and food for
my family. When I think of them now, I smile. I smile because of
their incredible sweetness. These small
communities I visited obviously would hold a car wash or a
bake sale to bring me to their town. I knew this because five
times out of ten I would return with a shoe box full of nickles,
dimes and quarters. My boss at that time, always got half of
what I made, (it was his van and equipment) and no matter what time I
showed up back at the station, he would be there with a grin and his
hand out. I did enjoy counting the change and
giving it to him!(I always made sure the miser got most of the
pennies!) I'm still waiting for a call from the big time, and I
did get one, a one thousand watt a.m. radio station that kicked
some serious butt and changed my life. That story is next!
WCBX/Eden, North Carolina
