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Celeb Chats & Show Highlights | More Chats - Cosby Interview / April Fools Promo | All Access 10 Questions
Classic Chats
Shania Twain is very active these days. She often plays Vegas and recently hosted the People’s Choice Country Awards, but for a few years she thought her career might be over. How did she pull through?
Let's dive into the archives for my chat with Shania to hear her explain it all.
They said what? From the archives - revealing quick chats with a dozen celebs, including Blake Shelton, Ed Asner, Carrie Underwood, Garth Brooks, Phil Vassar, Taylor Swift, Johnny Van Zant, Gretchen Wilson, Craig Morgan, Tyler Perry, Heidi Klum, Garth Brooks, and John McCaine.
February 6th, 2024: Today we received the very sad news that Toby has passed away. Recently, he had resumed performing, even as he continued to courageously battle cancer. When we spoke last, his biggest fight was over an accusation that he ripped off a song. His reaction at the time was unexpected, but today’s news is far more shocking. Rest in peace, Toby Keith.
Now in her 30's, Taylor Swift is on fire. She swept the 2023 MTV VMA's and in 2024 became the first person to win a fourth Grammy for Album of the Year. Taylor was green and 16 when my radio morning show co-host Verna McKay and I welcomed her to our studios to talk about her hopes for the future.
She had talent and loads of confidence - despite feeling disrespected by her schoolmates - but not even she had a clue that she would become a global force to be reckoned with. OK, maybe a tiny one.
Listen to our chats with Taylor & decide for yourself.
This is the second interview with Taylor conducted by me and my radio show co-host Verna McKay. This time, Taylor had just finished celebrating her birthday, was done with high school, and was preparing to open for George Strait. She
claimed to have no time for romantic pursuits at this stage of the game. So, what inspired her song writing? Listen to find out.
Each Sept. 11th marks the anniversary of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in NYC.
In 2012, while hosting his international Westwood One radio show, Jeff spoke with Genelle Guzman-McMillan, author of "Angel in the Rubble", about the 27 hours she spent trapped in a WTC building that collapsed with her inside of it. She was the last survivor to be rescued. Buried under tons of concrete, Genelle prayed for a sign from God that he was there and would give her a second chance to live her life more in line with His will for her. Suddenly, she was grabbed by the hand - in pitch darkness. A man who called himself Paul spoke to her and assured her she would be OK. Nobody saw Paul before that day or since. Draw your own conclusions.
Jeff has interviewed hundreds of celebrities. Nobody has moved him the way Genelle did.
Genelle talks with Jeff
For deeper insight into what happened: Genelle on CBN
It was a very nice morning... (:60)
Take the stairs... (1:21)
A day of reckoning... (1:17)
(Same content as a video further up the page). For years, Jeff and Verna McKay welcomed thousands of guests to their morning show mics on the Westwood One Radio Network. Sampled immediately below are chats with Blake Shelton, Ed Asner, Carrie Underwood, Garth Brooks, Phil Vassar, Taylor Swift, Johnny Van Zant, Gretchen Wilson, Craig Morgan, Tyler Perry, Heidi Klum, and John McCain. There's much more further down the page.
Radio Show Samples
More Celebrity Chats, including Bill Cosby & an April Fool's Promo
JY chat w/ Carlos Alazraqi on being an ex-Taco Bell Chihuahua. (:42)
JY chat w/ A's Mgr. Tony LaRussa about the '89 World Series Quake (1:08)
JY chat w/ Brad Paisley on SNL parody of song with LL Cool J. (1:17)
JY chat w/ Kenny Chesney on early influences. (1:36)
Young & Verna -
:28 seconds with John McCain.
JY chat with Taylor Swift in 2007
on her career goals. (2:04)
JY chat with Toby Keith on his popularity vs. Taylor Swift. (:55)
JY chat w/ John Leguizamo on
his early career and growth.
JY chat w/ Steve Azar on his Delta roots and new venture. (25:47)
JY discusses neck beards with
Chris Young. (:45)
SEPT 2018 - With Bill Cosby back in the news as a criminal suspect, Jeff dug up this '02 chat about the motivation behind Cosby's book Cosbyology: Essays and Observations from the Doctor of Comedy. At 64, Cosby had developed an interesting perspective on life. Knowing what we know now, it's a real head scratcher.
APRIL FOOLS 1994 - At age 10, Jeff read about holograms for the first time. It hit him then that someone would eventually use VR technology to revive deceased celebrities for entertainment. Before holograms went main stream, Jeff produced a mock promo for a virtual Jimi Hendrix show.
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Started at KXFM in Santa Maria, CA, playing what passed for Triple A rock then. Jumped to Top 40 at KRIZ in Phoenix a couple of years later, then on to Detroit and L.A. before getting into programming. PD at a few stations then to morning drive for a few years at rock and pop stations from Houston to New York. Finally landed at Westwood One in the mid-90's, since acquired by Dial-Global. Worked 70's, Groovin' Oldies, and Hot AC formats before settling at Hot Country a few years ago.
1) Hi Jeff-currently you are doing mornings on the Hot Country format at Dial Global as a solo player, after working many years with partners. What do you prefer?
Solo. Teams and ensembles sound great if the chemistry is right, but test tubes do explode. That's usually because management throws talent together without knowing whether they'll actually be able to co-exist in a small room for several hours a day without killing each other. Pros make it work anyway, but it can be miserable. I've had three bad and only one good team experience.
2) You are in the studio from 2:30 to 9:30! First of all what time do you go to bed and then wake up?
Show prep never ends. I'm usually still online researching and fine-tuning until about 9pm, then up at 1:30a. I keep saying "I'm going to bed at 7:30 no matter what. Ok, maybe 8." Never happens. Sundays are for sleeping.
3) Give us a snapshot of that time in the studio-how many hours of that are you on the air and then the rest is production time?
I'm on-air for 4 hours, and then interviews and promos, etc. afterwards.
4) How many markets are you in and how do the local stations customize and localize your show?
Dial-Global Hot Country is probably on about 100 stations, but in some markets they have their own morning talent. I don't know the exact number. I'm apparently on in enough places to justify my paycheck. As long as that keeps coming and my key fits in the back door at 2:30 every morning, I'm good!
As far as the way the affiliates weave DG talent into the local scene, we all cut liners and weather, etc., to keep it sounding local and timely.
5) You have been with the network since 1994-what kinds of changes have you seen?
Liners were still being mailed to affiliates when I came on board. It's all digital now, with nary a roll of recording tape, CD, cart, razor blade, or grease pencil in sight. Come to think of it, we even had to go outside back then to grab copies of USA Today from in front of the door. I recall fighting off the occasional Stegosaurus to get to the paper.
6) Before joining the network, you worked many formats at local radio stations. Do you prefer being at a network, and why?
I love network radio because I used to have to actually move to a town if I wanted to work there. Now I'm everywhere at once. I do miss meeting locals at hardware store and car dealer remotes, though, and telling them "sorry, I'm all out of t-shirts." I actually meet more listeners on Facebook than I ever did in person anyway, and learn a lot more about them. It's amazing what people reveal online - without being asked!
7) You've done a lot of formats-why do you love Country?
Country today is what Top 40 was when I was growing up. There's a great deal of variety in the music. When I punch up a pop station, it's hard to tell the difference between many of the artists. What amazes me is the number of young people we have listening. Aside from the cliché drinking songs that seem to hang on, there are plenty of love and lovin' life songs, too, with superb writing from the likes of Sara Buxton, Chris DuBois, Taylor Swift, etc. And unlike some pop songs, you rarely think you're hearing a munchkin sing.
8) Do you interview many artists on your show, and do you do them 'live' or 'recorded' and again, do you have a preference?
A ton of 'em. Country superstars are available and love to talk. Ronnie Dunn was on recently. I said to him "thanks for being on the show - we both know you don't need the PR and you'll get played no matter what", and he responded "I DON'T know that. You're talking to the most afraid guy in show biz right now." Most are very down to earth and grateful for their fans and their success. I never go live in case one of them feels the need to say a bad word that day. It's rare, but it happens
.
9) Do you talk to a lot of air personalities at the local level who want to work for the network? What do you recommend they do?
As far as the application process, nothing out of the ordinary. Send demos to whomever you want to work for. Once you're on the network, you have to have a "big picture" mentality, keeping in mind that some listeners will be in the middle of their daily routine, while others may be starting or ending their day. You don't want to give away the ending of a TV show that hasn't aired in some places yet. No specific weather references allowed. You can't always be sure that an affiliate is carrying your next hour, so you can never tease anything in that hour. I don't do a four hour show; I do four one hour shows.
10) How do you interact with your all-star PD Johnny Paul? We imagine he yells a lot.
Boy have I worked for the "yellers!" John Paul is not one of those. He's proof that nice guys don't finish last.
It's interesting because he is in Denver and some of us are in L.A. He listens to us on any number of affiliates that stream the format. He'll drop a note with a suggestion whenever he feels the need, does an aircheck review every few weeks, and keeps us up to date with daily memos. We have jock meetings via Skype when the need arises and he visits L.A. every so often.
Bonus Questions
1) You are a real 'radio guy!' Are there hobbies that you have outside of radio?
Photography and 3 Card Poker.
2) What are some of your favorite new Country artists right now?
Jason Aldean, Eric Church, and Ashton Shepard come to mind. Many others. Reba's not new, but just keeps getting better.
3) If you are getting up at the crazy time of like 1am what time do you eat breakfast?
About 12 hours later. Too busy to eat, but still getting fat. Haven't figured that one out yet.
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In studio with Lonestar
Cover of
Knoxville Lifestyle
Taylor signs our studio door
Opening Day Broadcast - Disney's CA Adventure