Where’d they all go?
Whatever happened to all those morning babes shouting out news, weather, traffic and fun on the radio? Shorty, Tanna, Murphy, Frankie, Glo, Darcie, Michelle, Katey – the list goes on.
Over the past 10 years local radio has lost most of the voices of its most colorful hotties. The Rock 98.9‘s Murphy Wells was unraveled about seven years ago, the same for Frankie from 101 The Fox three years back. Shorty who was the morning star on three different stations over 15 years took a bullet three weeks ago at Alice 102.1 and last week Tanna Guthrie of The Point, was discharged by Entercom.
There are others.
Others like Carrie Coogan just decided to stop doing radio. Most got fired, some quit and others were dropped basically because radio has changed. Less talk, more music is today’s battle cry.
The so-called radio experts feel that too much chatter leads to channel surfing, so today they hire less expensive DJ’s to just play music, hit buttons and give out traffic, news and weather.
How boring.
Sadly this is basically today’s new radio format. And me, I don’t like it.
Here’s why.
While many of the morning talk shows weren’t that great, a few remained both funny and informative and Kansas City is a little different than many other cities with live DJ’s.
First off we have always liked our local guys best. We are loyal.
Look at the support two bad sports franchises – the Royals and the Chiefs – get here. They pack ’em in the stadium even with poor quality teams. Sporting KC and T Bones are full with two no show sports teams on the national scene (i.e. ESPN).
We are a loyal bunch. And the T Bones are not even minor league.
Another example of being loyal and local: Neither Howard Stern nor Bob and Tom could make it here in the morning talk/rock format. Bob and Tom tried twice. Even our own Eric Mancow Muller tried about three times.
They all got run over by Johnny Dare and the Mix.
Dare went heads up with Mancow and Bob and Tom and it was no contest. We just stay with our KC voices.
I know, I know. There are a few who did well with national shows here but not many – Rush Limbaugh and Jim Rome. But now even Rome is gone.
So I guess KC radio stations feel that the morning shows need to be male driven as far as the hosts anyway. That’s now the case with Dare, Mike Kennedy, Sports talk and Political talk. All the big boys here are now men.
Only Teresa with the Mix and Nikki with Jack FM do morning music and talk and matter.
Local radio is now in a battle for its very survival.
Smartphones have taken another entertainment medium down several pegs.
Will radio survive? YES. Why? We need a few local on-air hero’s voices, mostly to feel our city’s heart beat.
And I feel there is a place for women in local radio as well.
Local radio will never be what it was, that’s true, but I think it will stick around. You have to have some form of local touch and reality daily just to feel human. And local radio and on-air personalities can provide that important emotion for all of us.
P.S. I worked with all the above mentioned female DJ’s and I enjoyed our time together.
They were all very kind to me and I am still friends with most of them to this day. Shorty is a wonderful mom (and has her own pod cast out of LA), Tanna is a great KC personality and works hard for local charities. I see Nikki at Jack FM, and have spoken to Frankie a few times since she left 101 The Fox.
I miss working with these ladies and so does our city.
96.5 the buzz has a female AM drive time DJ running the show over there. Afentra.
I don’t think “our city” misses working with these ladies. No one seems to be shedding any tears or protesting outside the stations. It’s business, not personal. If you can’t pull big numbers and create a point of difference for yourself in the marketplace your ta-ta’s are on the chopping block. In my opinion Tracy Wilde was the only female broadcaster in this market that really had a voice, attitude and POV that cut through the clutter. She walked the walk and talked the talk.
The number one radio station among female listeners in KC is KLOVE! The message of Jesus! The number one radio guy of all time.
When you carve out all the prim, proper, respectable females listening to KLOVE, there’s not much of a female audience left demanding or wanting to listen to female voices on radio. According to research conducted by the NAB in 2010 men prefer listening to men, in all genres of radio by almost 4 to 1. Kim Komando, may be the lone exception to that rule since she DOMINATES computer tech talk. But she’s also extremely good at what she does; very intelligent and informative. Those are two qualities I find lacking in most women on the radio. In the same survey women preferred listening to men by a margin of 2-1.
Radio has always been a man’s game and most chickies got hired because they had a nice rack or were banging the GM or PD. Then you have women like Darla Jaye and Dana Wright for whom there is seemingly no explanation for how they got hired.
Darla has suction like a Hoover, that’s how.
oh great…a guy who deal with diseased/disgusting/feces covered used
hot tubs now is telling us about rado.
Smarmyman aint got a brain..he’s just full of crap (like his hot tubs)..
since when does a hot tub repairman get to think he knows so much
about radio or tv….he’s just a wanna be…another person on here
who plagarizes stuff and wants to make people think he’s somebody;
Petrsonally i’m sick of these kinds of know nothing guys trying to
impress people with his b.s…
smarmyman…go back to your job ….but just don’t evern shake anyones
hand….you are gross mf!
So what qualifies you as enough of an expert to judge the expertise of everyone else on here? You seem to have no shortage of opinions on every subject on here. What makes YOU an expert? Smartman or anyone else has every bit as much right to stae their opinion on here as you do and don’t need your permission to do it. You acuse other of stalking you but you bring it on yourself by acting like an egotistical jackass. Also before you are going to try to be pedantic, learn how to spell and punctuate first and it might be more effective.
Yes you are right, The Buzz has a female lead on the morning show still…missed that one…I did work with her years ago when she was at the old station for the Buzz in Westwood…like five years ago..she does a nice job, she doesn’t care for me, nor does Lozlo…but we have worked together a few times…they have a good show…
Radio is a dying format, they want to pay people peanuts to punch buttons.
Frankie is still living kind of a wild life out in Shawnee now.
Back in the 80’s she was the hottest chick in the city.
Funny as hell too.
She is still pretty funny.
🙂
Good for her! A buddy of mine dated her briefly back in the early 80’s. She had her pick of the litter back in the day. She was sweet, never pretentious and always gracious.
Too bad, that like Roseanne Barr, she married a white trash coke head who turned out to be not so good of a husband.
She and Maas had that garagantuan house out by Unity. I havn’t been by there in a long time, it was kinda cool.
Things never turn out like ya think they will.
🙂
Frankie has been Frankie since the 7th grade. Built like the proverbial brick shit-house. Ahhhhhh, and that remarkable mouth.
The Buzz also has a midday female DJ, Jeremy. She works very hard helping local bands get noticed.
Your blatherings are not credible. AT ALL. You do not even do minimal research. You take your own opinions as a barometer of public opinion. Too often you state that this is how I feel so most of my audience must also. You are a sham and a caricture.
Skeptic, gee thanks for the nice comment….I made it clear this was morning females, most of whom are gone, as stated…so I missed out on one that matters…The Buzz girl..there are others who do mid-day, didn’t address that issue..though they are on the down low as well…so you need to see some comedy and chill baby…just chill.
Who still listens to commercial radio stations anyway?
101 the fox is down to a what….a 30 song playlist? 98.9 plays the same shit over, and over. I’d rather listen to myself fart than hear Bob Seeger, Journey, or Boston again.
Get rid of corporate playlists, and let the DJ’s pick their own music, THEN get back to me on the numbers.
Well, Glazed, the headline states “Female Jocks” not just a certain segment of said jocks so it is only clear to your addled mind. You also mentioned Murphy & Coogen without acknowledging Double J. None were/are DJs per say. More of Johnny’s sidekicks.
You are a hack when it comes to scribbling with your crayon. Lame, lame, lame.
Maybe I am a hack fake name boy, but at least I am a popular one, huh….thats why I do this column and am on all those radio shows…very funny guy…like you aren’t…I give classes on Tues. Nights at Stanfords…how to be cool as Glazer in just one short year…you can come join Skeptic…costs just 500 bucks a month…do you wonders…you might even get laid once.
Your on all those shows because you appear for free. Not because we the listeners want to hear you. But there just as many if not more shows you are not on.
Take away the comics, there would be no need for Glazer on those shows.
Plus, Glazer why in the name of God can you not find the “reply” button? Hearne upgraded his site, and the comments section so it would flow better. It cannot flow if you are making a rebuttal to a comment 10 comments from the original.
But, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot get its head out of its ass to drink
+10
Hate to burst your hate bubble…I’ve been doing KC radio for 20 years as a regular guest on every major show, at times…including sports back with 810 and 610 with NO COMIC many times…yes the comics being on is important…but there are a couple hundred comedy clubs in America…I’m the only club/theatre personality on radio…I have done a few other things besides Stanfords…I get compliments by the score daily, weekly, “hey man you are so damn funny…love when you and Dare fight….we listen on Fridays to Q just to hear what you are going to say or do…we listen to Mix on Fridays just to…well you get the photo…In fact I just heard that from Stu Stram the other day…so maybe you don’t like me, who cares…many listeners do…if you ain’t funny or interesting, trust me you ain’t gonna talk on air much…air time is precious…
Everybody enjoys pissing on Craig (partly because he is a good sport about it, he could delete your comments now that we are wordpress).
But he is right. The rote-standard bone-stock-white AM DJ package used to be one or two male DJs, a “cool chick” DJ that could play with the boys, and a sound guy to do drops/handle the board.
This has changed over the last 20 years to a more male-dominated field, unlike most everything else in the world.
I think it has to do with money. The best stations can really only afford to pay one big DJ now and the rest are entry level sidekicks hoping to jump to larger markets or just the DJs buddies.
True that, everything always has to do with money, right….
Hearne giving you a forum to spew your drivel does not make you popular. Hogging the mic while a comic tries to drum up sales at an on-air promo does not make you popular. I’ve heard the listeners light you up on The Rock.
Your tired 3rd grade replies reveal your shortcomings and lack of intellect. I laid out my premise and backed it up. Your response is “na-na-na-na-boo-boo”. You have proved my point once again.
Craig Glazer = glory hound
Most of us are, or want to be I suppose
Testosterone T-A-L-K-S!!!
Is it the end of the line for female jocks?
(Stay tuned and whatever you do, don’t touch that dial!)
I think all rock jocks are a dying breed, not just female. Johnny Dare is a notable exception but is really more of a talk show host than a rock jock. When I was coming up, DJs were a really big deal. You had WHB, then Super Q, then KY102. Their DJs were household names in Kansas City and if they showed up somewhere for a remote, it would draw a huge crowd. They had power over what became a hit by what they chose to play. Now most people on the street would have a hard time naming any of them with the exception of Dare.
+1
next story by the glaze is going to be how to be cool. first get said bond. next get a lotus. then you must get a leatheer bomber jackett. some lifts in shoes. most important and vital to be coool is a dealer that works 24 7 for said 8 ball for girls
Super shmuck, weak come back, really I’m on because its free, not because I’m funny…sure you’re right…
The shmuck is you and how you get pissy about the truth. Ever notice you revert to childish behavor and start name calling when you are either exposed or out of your area of knowledge.
Jess is right about everything he said, you prove time and time again your clueless and a true shmuck.
Scribe-
How about doing a “where are they now” follow up piece? I too am/was a fan of the KC ladies. A post above mentioned Frankie living in Shawnee, and I thought I heard Dare say Coogan was back in town the other day. I always wanted to know the real deal with Murphy as well. I think Valerie Knight went to St Louis, didn’t she?
I agree, The split of Johnny and Murphy was always a little weird for me. I remember Johnny saying she was not there anymore and then it was the Johnny dare morning show. I have always wondered if Johnny pushed her out, because he wanted all of the spotlight. I have had friends that interned at the rock and they said that Johnny was a little bit diva about just about everything. But he has that right, without him the rock would not be 1 or 2 in the ratings. So that is one story I would love to hear.
I think his format is much like Howard Stern and does not need a cohost but needs sidekicks which is what it naturally evvolved into.
Lots of good comments here, good ideas…like where are they now…hey people NOTHING lasts forever…it just doesn’t….we are learning that applies to TV shows and Movies…damn…everythng is for the moment in time…I give Johnny Dare a ton of credit, he and Bob Edwards did enough updated moves to keep them on top for the last five or years, and likely they will hold that spot for years to come…there is no heir apparent today…Dare is no even being chased by any other DJ or talk show host…again give credit where its due.