I Wanna Be A Disc-Jockey When I Grow Up

Last week I got a call from a young male listener on the request line who told me, "Hey Tony, I want to be a disc-jockey like you when I grow up!"...I thought about what he said for a few moments, and then I responded with, "Hey, you can't do both kid!!". That's right. You can't be a grown up and be a disc-jockey!. I started in radio when I was 18 years old, back in the year 19...ba-a-ba-bum...Here it is, the year 2010, and I'm still at it. All my close friends got real jobs as teachers, lawyers, and doctors. Great jobs that they could be proud of but somehow they always looked at me as the lucky one. A career where all I did was play music all day, made some silly comments, and got paid. Don't be fooled into thinking that's all there is to it. Speaking on behalf of all my colleagues, if you want to be a disc-jockey someday, you have to be intelligent. Let me re-phrase that. If you want to be a "good" disc-jockey, you have to be smart, well-read, witty, and quick on your feet. If you want to be "great", you need all those qualities, plus, you have to be different. Anybody can push buttons, handle a mouse, and give a quick weather report on the radio. In this business, we call them "time and temperture jocks". You don't need a college degree to do what I do. What you do need is to talk to people face to face. Be relate-able. Texters need not apply. You also need good hygiene, (inside joke). I've been in this business for so long, my co-workers call me "old school". I wear that moniker like a badge of honor. "Old school" in sports and business is revered because it means you've out-lasted the competition because you know the fundamentals and it's a time-honored superiority over the new way. O.K. it's time to get off the soap-box. Tony