1 00:00:01,969 --> 00:00:11,212 ** 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:11,245 --> 00:00:13,547 ** 5 00:00:32,633 --> 00:00:35,136 - My name is Michael Scott Shannon. 6 00:00:35,169 --> 00:00:38,606 I'm a radio programmer and radio deejay. 7 00:00:38,639 --> 00:00:43,111 I'm standing in 333 Meadowlands Parkway 8 00:00:43,144 --> 00:00:46,647 in Secaucus, New Jersey. Why? 9 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:51,319 Because this is where the story began. 10 00:00:51,352 --> 00:00:53,387 - Serving the universe. 11 00:00:53,421 --> 00:00:55,022 - Good morning, everybody. 12 00:00:55,055 --> 00:00:58,192 - The top of the Empire State Building. 13 00:00:58,226 --> 00:00:59,560 - It's on the air everywhere. 14 00:00:59,593 --> 00:01:02,062 - WHTZ. 15 00:01:02,096 --> 00:01:04,465 We're going from worst to first. 16 00:01:04,498 --> 00:01:05,633 - Z100, babe. 17 00:01:09,570 --> 00:01:12,406 - Top hits. - Pop/rockin'. 18 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:14,074 - Z100! - They did it. 19 00:01:14,108 --> 00:01:15,109 - They've gone from worst to first. 20 00:01:15,143 --> 00:01:17,178 - They went from worst to first. - Worst to first. 21 00:01:17,211 --> 00:01:19,280 - The winning formula is wild and wacky. 22 00:01:19,313 --> 00:01:21,949 - Happy birthday. - You made my monkey weird. 23 00:01:21,982 --> 00:01:24,685 - Z100! 24 00:01:24,718 --> 00:01:27,921 - Z100, New York. 25 00:01:30,724 --> 00:01:35,396 [ "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi playing ] 26 00:01:35,429 --> 00:01:37,665 - * All right 27 00:01:37,698 --> 00:01:41,001 - Every kid dreams of being heard on the radio. 28 00:01:41,034 --> 00:01:43,171 I was driving across the Driscoll Bridge 29 00:01:43,204 --> 00:01:46,307 in New Jersey on my way back to my parents' house 30 00:01:46,340 --> 00:01:49,143 and I was alone and it came on 31 00:01:49,177 --> 00:01:51,612 and I started to drive fast and turned it up louder, 32 00:01:51,645 --> 00:01:53,414 hoping to really to get pulled over 33 00:01:53,447 --> 00:01:56,284 just so you could tell the cop, "That's me on the radio!" 34 00:01:56,317 --> 00:01:57,318 * Wanted 35 00:01:57,351 --> 00:01:59,420 - * Wanted 36 00:01:59,453 --> 00:02:06,227 - * Dead or alive 37 00:02:06,260 --> 00:02:16,136 ** 38 00:02:16,170 --> 00:02:18,406 - It was the summer of 1983. 39 00:02:18,439 --> 00:02:20,774 Back then, the radio ratings 40 00:02:20,808 --> 00:02:23,644 came in on the Associated Press Newswire. 41 00:02:23,677 --> 00:02:26,247 People would stand around the machine 42 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:27,348 waiting for it to come off. 43 00:02:27,381 --> 00:02:29,317 If we had taken this format, 44 00:02:29,350 --> 00:02:32,220 if we'd taken this show to Des Moines, Iowa 45 00:02:32,253 --> 00:02:35,155 or to someplace out in Kentucky, we would have had a great shot. 46 00:02:35,189 --> 00:02:39,660 I see the number one station, the R&B station, WRKS. 47 00:02:39,693 --> 00:02:42,129 I didn't expect to be in the top 10. 48 00:02:42,162 --> 00:02:45,366 So I look down in the next 10, no Z100. 49 00:02:45,399 --> 00:02:47,368 - But in New York, we're going against the best. 50 00:02:47,401 --> 00:02:50,771 - And I get down to like 40 and 45. 51 00:02:50,804 --> 00:02:54,308 - The biggest radio stations had a reputation that went back 52 00:02:54,342 --> 00:02:56,143 20, 30, 40, 50 years. 53 00:02:56,176 --> 00:02:59,079 - There are stations from Philadelphia 54 00:02:59,112 --> 00:03:01,081 that are leaking into New Jersey, 55 00:03:01,114 --> 00:03:03,651 but just had enough listeners to get in the ratings. 56 00:03:03,684 --> 00:03:06,620 - A good rating is somewhere like over five close to a 10. 57 00:03:06,654 --> 00:03:12,660 - And at number 51, W-H-T-Z. 58 00:03:12,693 --> 00:03:15,263 - We had a two. A two rating is lousy. 59 00:03:15,296 --> 00:03:18,299 - We were in last effing place. 60 00:03:18,332 --> 00:03:20,634 I went home that night. I couldn't sleep. 61 00:03:20,668 --> 00:03:24,104 My wife said, what's wrong? We suck. That's what's wrong. 62 00:03:24,137 --> 00:03:28,276 ** 63 00:03:28,309 --> 00:03:32,546 - In 1983, I was vice president of radio programming from 64 00:03:32,580 --> 00:03:36,116 Malrite Communications Group based in Cleveland, Ohio. 65 00:03:36,149 --> 00:03:39,820 Malrite's chairman and CEO was Milton Maltz. 66 00:03:39,853 --> 00:03:41,088 One day he popped his head in my office and said, 67 00:03:41,121 --> 00:03:44,725 "Jim, we're going to buy a new radio station for New York City. 68 00:03:44,758 --> 00:03:46,660 "Just outside the city limits 69 00:03:46,694 --> 00:03:49,597 just across the river in New Jersey." 70 00:03:49,630 --> 00:03:53,100 And that radio station had the approval of the FCC 71 00:03:53,133 --> 00:03:55,303 to move its tower and transmitter 72 00:03:55,336 --> 00:03:57,104 to the Empire State Building. 73 00:03:57,137 --> 00:04:00,341 Now it was time to go find just the right person 74 00:04:00,374 --> 00:04:02,276 to oversee the programming, 75 00:04:02,310 --> 00:04:05,846 the talent, and the marketing of the radio station. 76 00:04:05,879 --> 00:04:09,116 This person had to be just a little bit screwed up 77 00:04:09,149 --> 00:04:11,285 because they were going to take on the biggest 78 00:04:11,319 --> 00:04:13,621 broadcasting companies in the world, 79 00:04:13,654 --> 00:04:16,624 and that person was in Tampa, Florida. 80 00:04:16,657 --> 00:04:18,659 [ Static ] 81 00:04:18,692 --> 00:04:21,329 - General on the Q Zoo, final chapter. 82 00:04:21,362 --> 00:04:25,198 - Today, it was a time to cry. Scott Shannon was leaving. 83 00:04:25,232 --> 00:04:27,401 - Some may say goodbye and good riddance. 84 00:04:27,435 --> 00:04:28,602 - New York was calling. 85 00:04:28,636 --> 00:04:29,437 - Well, for thousands, others, 86 00:04:29,470 --> 00:04:32,172 it was an emotional, sad farewell. 87 00:04:32,205 --> 00:04:33,407 - I really think that... [ speaks indistinctly ] 88 00:04:33,441 --> 00:04:34,675 - Come on, ma'am, perk up. 89 00:04:34,708 --> 00:04:36,477 - As co-keeper of the Q Zoo, 90 00:04:36,510 --> 00:04:39,613 Scott Shannon bid final farewell to radio fans. 91 00:04:39,647 --> 00:04:40,914 - Well, let's laugh right now, okay? 92 00:04:40,948 --> 00:04:42,650 - He, indeed, will be missed. - And we'll miss him. 93 00:04:42,683 --> 00:04:44,918 - Boom, I'm out of here. 94 00:04:44,952 --> 00:04:49,323 - New York City was an impossibly saturated media market. 95 00:04:49,357 --> 00:04:52,460 It is the toughest market in the world to break into. 96 00:04:52,493 --> 00:04:54,762 If you want to be on radio in New York, 97 00:04:54,795 --> 00:04:56,930 particularly in that era, 98 00:04:56,964 --> 00:04:59,567 you were facing the giants of the business, 99 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:01,635 the Goliaths of the business. 100 00:05:01,669 --> 00:05:04,538 - This guy kept calling me from Cleveland 101 00:05:04,572 --> 00:05:05,673 and I had a stack of, you know, 102 00:05:05,706 --> 00:05:08,542 those pink callback pads, you know? 103 00:05:08,576 --> 00:05:10,678 So then I got a call from a buddy of mine 104 00:05:10,711 --> 00:05:13,947 who is a program director, and he says to me, 105 00:05:13,981 --> 00:05:16,784 "Why don't you call these people back in Cleveland? 106 00:05:16,817 --> 00:05:18,552 "I just interviewed up there. 107 00:05:18,586 --> 00:05:20,921 Then I realized that they kept asking me questions about you." 108 00:05:20,954 --> 00:05:23,691 I said why don't you just call him? 109 00:05:23,724 --> 00:05:26,660 And they said, "Well, we did, but he won't return our calls." 110 00:05:26,694 --> 00:05:28,729 - And to come from the south with, 111 00:05:28,762 --> 00:05:30,297 you know, kind of a funky accent. 112 00:05:30,330 --> 00:05:32,566 I don't even know what Scott's accent is. 113 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:36,236 It was really a daunting task, to say the least. 114 00:05:36,269 --> 00:05:37,505 - There are a lot of golden retrievers 115 00:05:37,538 --> 00:05:39,306 in New York in the early '80s. 116 00:05:39,339 --> 00:05:42,342 You had the traditional talk radio audience. 117 00:05:42,376 --> 00:05:45,446 Listen to John A. Gambling at W-O-R. 118 00:05:45,479 --> 00:05:49,216 And you still had WBLS and WKTU being very popular. 119 00:05:49,249 --> 00:05:50,250 You had WPLJ, 120 00:05:50,283 --> 00:05:53,954 which was a rock station with some pop tendencies. 121 00:05:53,987 --> 00:05:56,323 You are WNBC, which had Imus in the morning, 122 00:05:56,356 --> 00:05:57,625 Stern in the afternoon, 123 00:05:57,658 --> 00:05:59,927 and really Top 40 music in between. 124 00:05:59,960 --> 00:06:02,863 But those personalities were so powerful 125 00:06:02,896 --> 00:06:05,899 that they overwhelmed the image of the station. 126 00:06:05,933 --> 00:06:07,968 ** 127 00:06:08,001 --> 00:06:10,404 - Well, to understand what was going on in 1983, 128 00:06:10,438 --> 00:06:13,974 you really have to go back to the mid to late 1970s 129 00:06:14,007 --> 00:06:16,343 because a lot of very significant changes 130 00:06:16,376 --> 00:06:18,278 in the media marketplace took place. 131 00:06:18,311 --> 00:06:21,682 See, in 1974, when I started at WPLJ, 132 00:06:21,715 --> 00:06:25,853 which became New York's dominant rock station on FM, 133 00:06:25,886 --> 00:06:29,557 rock had a very broad definition. 134 00:06:29,590 --> 00:06:30,924 It encompassed Led Zeppelin, 135 00:06:30,958 --> 00:06:32,760 but also Carly Simon and Carole King 136 00:06:32,793 --> 00:06:36,263 and Joni Mitchell the great Motown catalog. 137 00:06:36,296 --> 00:06:38,666 Then came 1977. 138 00:06:38,699 --> 00:06:40,434 Then came disco. 139 00:06:40,468 --> 00:06:41,969 - * Oh, freak out 140 00:06:42,002 --> 00:06:45,305 - And the rock community fragment. 141 00:06:45,338 --> 00:06:48,308 - Basically, what wound up happening at radio 142 00:06:48,341 --> 00:06:52,513 from the way I saw it was they could extract one lane 143 00:06:52,546 --> 00:06:54,715 that they thought was really working, 144 00:06:54,748 --> 00:06:56,349 and they could just format 145 00:06:56,383 --> 00:06:59,753 a whole show or a station like that. 146 00:06:59,787 --> 00:07:01,855 - * About the new dance craze 147 00:07:01,889 --> 00:07:05,292 - I get out there and I got this really carefully 148 00:07:05,325 --> 00:07:07,628 prepared presentation, you know, 149 00:07:07,661 --> 00:07:10,664 so I could pass them out to all the goobers in the room. 150 00:07:10,698 --> 00:07:12,733 And I play a tape of our morning show. 151 00:07:12,766 --> 00:07:14,835 - * The Q Zoo in the morning 152 00:07:14,868 --> 00:07:17,471 - This is Elmer Smud Pucker. 153 00:07:17,505 --> 00:07:19,740 - * Shannon, Cleveland, Brooks, and Tedd Webb * 154 00:07:19,773 --> 00:07:22,710 * Billy Bob, Phil, and Johnson's the latest man * 155 00:07:22,743 --> 00:07:26,046 * Good morning from the Q morning Zoo * 156 00:07:26,079 --> 00:07:28,882 - And finally, there's one wiseacre and he says, 157 00:07:28,916 --> 00:07:31,685 "Well, what makes you think that you're ready 158 00:07:31,719 --> 00:07:34,321 for the biggest market in the country?" 159 00:07:34,354 --> 00:07:36,557 Then I just snapped, I don't need this job. 160 00:07:36,590 --> 00:07:38,659 And I threw my little booklet at him 161 00:07:38,692 --> 00:07:40,728 and I got up and I walked out. 162 00:07:40,761 --> 00:07:45,699 So I'm at the elevator bank and out comes Mr. Malrite. 163 00:07:45,733 --> 00:07:47,968 He's the guy who owns the company. 164 00:07:48,001 --> 00:07:49,236 And he said, "Where are you going?" 165 00:07:49,269 --> 00:07:51,872 I said, "I'm going home. I don't want to work for that idiot." 166 00:07:51,905 --> 00:07:54,942 So he said, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, you're our guy." 167 00:07:54,975 --> 00:07:57,077 And I said, "I got to make my plane back." 168 00:07:57,110 --> 00:07:59,880 He says, "Oh, but you're still going to take the job, right?" 169 00:07:59,913 --> 00:08:01,081 I said, "Yeah, yeah, I'll take the job." 170 00:08:01,114 --> 00:08:02,049 Then I realized... 171 00:08:02,082 --> 00:08:04,051 [ Horn honks ] 172 00:08:04,084 --> 00:08:06,787 ...I don't know anything about New York. 173 00:08:06,820 --> 00:08:08,021 - Serving middle Tennessee 174 00:08:08,055 --> 00:08:11,792 with 5,000 watts of fun power. 175 00:08:11,825 --> 00:08:13,493 This is 7:30 in the... [ speaks indistinctly ] 176 00:08:13,527 --> 00:08:14,695 Capital city! 177 00:08:14,728 --> 00:08:17,931 - I originally met Scott in 1972, 178 00:08:17,965 --> 00:08:20,433 when he was Super Shan at WMAK in Nashville. 179 00:08:20,467 --> 00:08:23,671 - * Super Shan, WMAK 180 00:08:23,704 --> 00:08:25,706 - I didn't know if it was him or Elvis 181 00:08:25,739 --> 00:08:28,141 because he tried to look exactly like Elvis Presley. 182 00:08:28,175 --> 00:08:33,380 He had big hair, that big chin, and he was bigger than life. 183 00:08:33,413 --> 00:08:37,651 Privately, Scott is very demure and very quiet. 184 00:08:37,685 --> 00:08:40,788 And as soon as that microphone goes on, he's on. 185 00:08:40,821 --> 00:08:44,692 - Scott's passion is being on the air. 186 00:08:44,725 --> 00:08:47,961 He will do anything to be on the air. 187 00:08:47,995 --> 00:08:49,529 Scott was hired to be program director 188 00:08:49,563 --> 00:08:51,732 of WPGC in Washington, D.C., 189 00:08:51,765 --> 00:08:54,034 the Marriotts own the radio station. 190 00:08:54,067 --> 00:08:56,704 No disrespect to the Marriotts, but there were Mormons. 191 00:08:56,737 --> 00:08:58,639 They are Mormons. They're still Mormons. 192 00:08:58,672 --> 00:09:00,407 The Marriotts didn't like him on the air. 193 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:02,876 You know, they basically said to him, 194 00:09:02,910 --> 00:09:04,077 we don't want you on the air. 195 00:09:04,111 --> 00:09:06,714 Scott was driven out of the WPGC 196 00:09:06,747 --> 00:09:09,783 because he wants to be on the air 197 00:09:09,817 --> 00:09:12,419 more than he wants to program a radio station. 198 00:09:12,452 --> 00:09:16,123 - WPGC FM and AM morningside. It's 12:01. 199 00:09:16,156 --> 00:09:18,692 Good afternoon! 200 00:09:18,726 --> 00:09:20,928 - The day he left to interview in Tampa, 201 00:09:20,961 --> 00:09:22,696 he drove his car 202 00:09:22,730 --> 00:09:24,531 to the Baltimore-Washington airport 203 00:09:24,564 --> 00:09:26,499 and he gets on a plane and he goes, has the interview. 204 00:09:26,533 --> 00:09:29,069 A few days later, he calls me and he said, 205 00:09:29,102 --> 00:09:30,771 "Hey." I go, "What's up?" 206 00:09:30,804 --> 00:09:34,207 "I think I left my car at the airport." 207 00:09:34,241 --> 00:09:36,810 I go, "Okay, like in short-term parking?" 208 00:09:36,844 --> 00:09:39,713 "No, I think I left it like up against the curb 209 00:09:39,747 --> 00:09:43,116 in front of the airport and if I did, the keys are in it." 210 00:09:43,150 --> 00:09:44,985 And he was hired for the morning show, 211 00:09:45,018 --> 00:09:48,656 which was his dream, and that's when he started the Zoo concept. 212 00:09:48,689 --> 00:09:51,759 - * Good morning from the Q Morning Zoo * 213 00:09:51,792 --> 00:09:54,762 * Rise and shine with folks like you * 214 00:09:54,795 --> 00:09:58,598 - So I teamed up with another guy by the name of Cleveland Wheeler 215 00:09:58,632 --> 00:10:02,235 and I told him I had this plan to do this show 216 00:10:02,269 --> 00:10:04,037 called The Morning Zoo, 217 00:10:04,071 --> 00:10:08,709 and it had deejay shenanigans, craziness, parody songs, 218 00:10:08,742 --> 00:10:12,813 crazy phone calls, just kind of a free-for-all morning show 219 00:10:12,846 --> 00:10:15,015 that sounded like nothing was planned. 220 00:10:15,048 --> 00:10:16,750 Two and a half years later, 221 00:10:16,784 --> 00:10:20,520 we had the highest morning show ratings in the country. 222 00:10:20,553 --> 00:10:22,522 - Shannon has taken Q 105 and made it 223 00:10:22,555 --> 00:10:24,725 the number one station in Tampa. 224 00:10:24,758 --> 00:10:28,028 He's won an award for being the top deejay in the country. 225 00:10:28,061 --> 00:10:30,530 - Scott and I were working in Tampa, Florida. 226 00:10:30,563 --> 00:10:32,866 He calls me into his office one day and he goes, 227 00:10:32,900 --> 00:10:34,201 Nobody can know this. 228 00:10:34,234 --> 00:10:35,903 And he proceeds to tell me 229 00:10:35,936 --> 00:10:37,137 that he's developing a brand-new station 230 00:10:37,170 --> 00:10:41,942 called Z100 in New York City and would I like to join him. 231 00:10:41,975 --> 00:10:44,812 - I go in and I tell my manager, I'm going to have to go. 232 00:10:44,845 --> 00:10:47,080 I got to go to New York. I signed a contract. 233 00:10:47,114 --> 00:10:50,050 What? What are you doing? You're number one. 234 00:10:50,083 --> 00:10:53,954 You're making good money and you just met a girl. 235 00:10:53,987 --> 00:10:55,789 I said, I'm a try to see if she'll go with me. 236 00:10:55,823 --> 00:10:57,157 - We weren't living together. 237 00:10:57,190 --> 00:10:59,292 We were dating maybe a year. 238 00:10:59,326 --> 00:11:01,895 I traveled to New York for business, which was great, 239 00:11:01,929 --> 00:11:03,296 and I love to come to New York and go shop. 240 00:11:03,330 --> 00:11:05,665 And I loved everything that New York City had to offer, 241 00:11:05,699 --> 00:11:08,902 but was not an aspiration to move there and live there. 242 00:11:08,936 --> 00:11:10,704 I was a southern girl, grew up in Louisville 243 00:11:10,738 --> 00:11:12,139 and then was living in Florida. 244 00:11:12,172 --> 00:11:14,908 - She did agree to go with me on my first trip 245 00:11:14,942 --> 00:11:16,844 to New York City, 246 00:11:16,877 --> 00:11:19,980 and that is another story. 247 00:11:20,013 --> 00:11:23,683 - We flew into Newark and Scott's so excited. 248 00:11:23,717 --> 00:11:25,919 There's tons of traffic and he's looking. 249 00:11:25,953 --> 00:11:27,721 It's nighttime and he looks up and he goes, 250 00:11:27,755 --> 00:11:29,122 "Oh, my gosh, look at that. 251 00:11:29,156 --> 00:11:30,557 I'm going to be talking, 252 00:11:30,590 --> 00:11:32,692 that city, that's New York City." 253 00:11:32,726 --> 00:11:35,829 And I said, "Honey, no, that's Newark." 254 00:11:35,863 --> 00:11:39,900 * I hate myself for loving you * 255 00:11:39,933 --> 00:11:42,870 I definitely remember hearing the Blackheart stuff 256 00:11:42,903 --> 00:11:44,805 and what it felt like 257 00:11:44,838 --> 00:11:48,675 to hear your song coming out of the radio. 258 00:11:48,708 --> 00:11:51,912 It's always -- I get a big kick out of it. 259 00:11:51,945 --> 00:11:55,048 It's like, hear one of our records come on, I crank it. 260 00:11:55,082 --> 00:11:58,685 ** 261 00:11:58,718 --> 00:12:01,021 Because that was the dream, you know, 262 00:12:01,054 --> 00:12:04,191 when you're kid is being able to be in a band, 263 00:12:04,224 --> 00:12:06,927 make music that other people want to hear 264 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:08,361 and actually get it played on the radio. 265 00:12:08,395 --> 00:12:13,333 * I hate myself for loving you 266 00:12:13,366 --> 00:12:15,969 - Serving the universe 267 00:12:16,003 --> 00:12:20,173 from the top of the Empire State Building. 268 00:12:20,207 --> 00:12:23,376 - When we made that transition on WPLJ 269 00:12:23,410 --> 00:12:28,215 from a pure rock station to a Top 40 station. 270 00:12:28,248 --> 00:12:31,084 - It's time to make a change, the people are changing. 271 00:12:31,118 --> 00:12:32,685 Let's do it. 272 00:12:32,719 --> 00:12:35,188 We were about to enter Top 40's 273 00:12:35,222 --> 00:12:40,393 second golden age in 1983 274 00:12:40,427 --> 00:12:44,965 and ready for our climb right to the top. 275 00:12:44,998 --> 00:12:50,103 And then out of nowhere came Scott Shannon. 276 00:12:50,137 --> 00:12:51,338 ** 277 00:12:51,371 --> 00:12:56,743 - Live from the penthouse studios of WWHTZ, the flame thrower, 278 00:12:56,776 --> 00:12:58,711 it's a nearly famous, highly outrageous, 279 00:12:58,745 --> 00:13:00,848 but never, ever contagious, 280 00:13:00,881 --> 00:13:03,917 Z Morning Zoo! - Yeah. 281 00:13:03,951 --> 00:13:10,924 ** 282 00:13:10,958 --> 00:13:13,693 - Along about the time I was 13 or 14, 283 00:13:13,726 --> 00:13:16,096 my dad was transferred to this place called 284 00:13:16,129 --> 00:13:19,332 Fort Benjamin Harrison just outside of Indianapolis. 285 00:13:19,366 --> 00:13:23,236 And I ran into two new friends down the block. Two brothers. 286 00:13:23,270 --> 00:13:27,174 And they had a big sister who loved music, 287 00:13:27,207 --> 00:13:28,842 and she had this little record box, 288 00:13:28,876 --> 00:13:31,912 had a handle on it and had 45s in there. 289 00:13:31,945 --> 00:13:33,280 And one day we just got into it and I said, 290 00:13:33,313 --> 00:13:35,748 "Holy crap, what is this?" 291 00:13:35,782 --> 00:13:37,784 And it was rock and roll music. 292 00:13:37,817 --> 00:13:41,121 It was love at first sight. 293 00:13:41,154 --> 00:13:42,455 Or listen. 294 00:13:42,489 --> 00:13:45,926 [ Record scratches ] 295 00:13:45,959 --> 00:13:49,796 So every week, I would pedal my little Schwinn bicycle 296 00:13:49,829 --> 00:13:52,765 down the road to this electronic store, 297 00:13:52,799 --> 00:13:54,267 and he had a little record section 298 00:13:54,301 --> 00:13:57,770 and I would go through there and pick out one or two songs 299 00:13:57,804 --> 00:14:00,040 every week that a guy could afford. 300 00:14:00,073 --> 00:14:02,775 I notice he got in some new radios and I said, 301 00:14:02,809 --> 00:14:04,044 "What's that right there?" 302 00:14:04,077 --> 00:14:05,278 He said, "That's a transistor radio" 303 00:14:05,312 --> 00:14:06,914 So I had in my hands. 304 00:14:06,947 --> 00:14:08,281 Oh, my God, I got to have it. 305 00:14:08,315 --> 00:14:10,050 "I'll put it on layaway for you." 306 00:14:10,083 --> 00:14:11,484 I said, "Really?" 307 00:14:11,518 --> 00:14:13,320 "Yeah. You give me a couple of bucks every week. 308 00:14:13,353 --> 00:14:15,222 When you get enough money, you can have it." 309 00:14:15,255 --> 00:14:18,225 Finally got that radio and I took it everywhere. 310 00:14:18,258 --> 00:14:21,028 I still have that radio. 311 00:14:21,061 --> 00:14:25,465 Then one day, one of my friends tells me about WIFE radio, 312 00:14:25,498 --> 00:14:28,401 the station we all listen to Top 40 for teenagers. 313 00:14:28,435 --> 00:14:30,770 - * Indianapolis 314 00:14:30,803 --> 00:14:32,339 * WIFE 315 00:14:32,372 --> 00:14:34,174 - They have a big window 316 00:14:34,207 --> 00:14:36,009 right on the street, on Meridian, 317 00:14:36,043 --> 00:14:38,211 when you're going into the city 318 00:14:38,245 --> 00:14:40,747 and you can stand out there and watch the deejay work. 319 00:14:40,780 --> 00:14:43,216 I'd stand there and look through that window 320 00:14:43,250 --> 00:14:45,752 and see the disc jockey with the headphones and microphone, 321 00:14:45,785 --> 00:14:47,287 the records, the turntable. 322 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:52,159 I said, "Holy crap, that's what I want to do." 323 00:14:52,192 --> 00:14:55,362 - Wait a second. Did Scott Shannon create Z100? 324 00:14:55,395 --> 00:14:57,030 - That's what I'm doing the movie about. Boom! 325 00:14:57,064 --> 00:14:58,831 And you're in it. - Holy shit. 326 00:14:58,865 --> 00:14:59,832 - So this is gonna be massive, dude. 327 00:14:59,866 --> 00:15:01,969 - I didn't even know that! 328 00:15:02,002 --> 00:15:06,539 - The station was basically designed and planned 329 00:15:06,573 --> 00:15:11,211 to be the successor to 77 WABC, 330 00:15:11,244 --> 00:15:15,215 which was the huge New York radio station, 331 00:15:15,248 --> 00:15:18,952 and it covered half the country from the '60s. 332 00:15:18,986 --> 00:15:23,423 I even had a jingle cut that brought back memories of WABC. 333 00:15:23,456 --> 00:15:28,128 Theirs was... * 77 WABC 334 00:15:28,161 --> 00:15:30,830 Whee! Had this little chime time at the end. 335 00:15:30,863 --> 00:15:31,831 And I had one made that went... 336 00:15:31,864 --> 00:15:33,933 * Z100 337 00:15:33,967 --> 00:15:36,436 * WHDZ 338 00:15:36,469 --> 00:15:38,171 Whee! 339 00:15:38,205 --> 00:15:39,506 I didn't sing it that good, did I? 340 00:15:39,539 --> 00:15:44,111 - * Z100 WHTZ 341 00:15:44,144 --> 00:15:47,414 ** 342 00:15:47,447 --> 00:15:51,951 - There was nobody doing Top 40 radio back in the day. 343 00:15:51,985 --> 00:15:55,055 WABC, which had been doing it for years and years and years, 344 00:15:55,088 --> 00:15:56,923 which is where I came from, 345 00:15:56,956 --> 00:16:00,560 was now all talk and played no music. 346 00:16:00,593 --> 00:16:03,196 - There were several attempts with a few stations 347 00:16:03,230 --> 00:16:08,135 WXLO 99X, WWDJ in New Jersey. 348 00:16:08,168 --> 00:16:11,071 They did not have the brainpower behind them. 349 00:16:11,104 --> 00:16:14,107 They were just playing records, so they failed. 350 00:16:14,141 --> 00:16:17,010 - There were openings for small -- well, at the time, 351 00:16:17,044 --> 00:16:19,412 they're small niches, Hispanic stations, for instance, 352 00:16:19,446 --> 00:16:21,014 niches that were not unimportant 353 00:16:21,048 --> 00:16:23,016 and would continue to grow as time went on. 354 00:16:23,050 --> 00:16:27,187 The odds of any mainstream format coming in to -- 355 00:16:27,220 --> 00:16:30,957 to become a major player in the market were minuscule. 356 00:16:30,990 --> 00:16:34,194 - There was a segment of New York radio that had gotten lazy. 357 00:16:34,227 --> 00:16:35,428 They just gotten kind of, 358 00:16:35,462 --> 00:16:37,964 you know, we're number one, so it's okay. 359 00:16:37,997 --> 00:16:39,299 There's enough money to go around for everyone, 360 00:16:39,332 --> 00:16:40,567 there's enough audience to go around. 361 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:42,602 - I didn't like New York radio at the time. 362 00:16:42,635 --> 00:16:44,904 There were no real sort of 363 00:16:44,937 --> 00:16:47,540 adult contemporary stations at the time. 364 00:16:47,574 --> 00:16:50,177 Obviously, the couple of the greatest R&B stations 365 00:16:50,210 --> 00:16:52,011 in America were here, 366 00:16:52,045 --> 00:16:56,383 but Larry Berger and PLJ were the the coup de grâce, 367 00:16:56,416 --> 00:16:58,185 if you will, but it was soulless, 368 00:16:58,218 --> 00:17:01,188 it was uninspiring, and it was ready for a takeover. 369 00:17:01,221 --> 00:17:05,425 - So I walk into the fifth floor of the Meadowlands Hilton 370 00:17:05,458 --> 00:17:07,894 and it was a beehive of activity. 371 00:17:07,927 --> 00:17:10,430 But what stopped me in the middle of the room 372 00:17:10,463 --> 00:17:12,099 there was this giant window 373 00:17:12,132 --> 00:17:13,966 facing the Empire State Building, 374 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,304 and there was this mountain of a man kind of walking back 375 00:17:17,337 --> 00:17:22,209 and forth matted hair, beard, khaki shorts, biting his nails, 376 00:17:22,242 --> 00:17:24,911 talking to no one in particular, writing notes, 377 00:17:24,944 --> 00:17:26,279 scribbling things furiously. 378 00:17:26,313 --> 00:17:29,549 And this was Scott Shannon 379 00:17:29,582 --> 00:17:33,253 planning out Z100 and the Z Morning Zoo. 380 00:17:33,286 --> 00:17:37,124 - He got not only the soul of New York, 381 00:17:37,157 --> 00:17:40,193 he got the beat of New York, but he also got New Jersey, 382 00:17:40,227 --> 00:17:42,195 got Long Island, got Connecticut, 383 00:17:42,229 --> 00:17:44,597 got all the surrounding areas, not just Manhattan. 384 00:17:44,631 --> 00:17:46,366 - So I come up with this plan 385 00:17:46,399 --> 00:17:48,968 because I really don't know the five boroughs. 386 00:17:49,001 --> 00:17:52,071 Well, that's good because there's about 10 million people 387 00:17:52,105 --> 00:17:55,142 in Long Island, another eight or nine in New Jersey, 388 00:17:55,175 --> 00:17:58,245 and two to four million in Westchester and Connecticut 389 00:17:58,278 --> 00:17:59,979 that picked up our signal. 390 00:18:00,012 --> 00:18:02,115 I said, "That's what I'm going to do." 391 00:18:02,149 --> 00:18:04,050 - He wanted to come up with music that he felt 392 00:18:04,083 --> 00:18:07,554 could come and thread rock and rhythm and pop, 393 00:18:07,587 --> 00:18:10,690 and the music was unlike any other mix at any 394 00:18:10,723 --> 00:18:12,459 Top 40 had ever done. 395 00:18:12,492 --> 00:18:15,995 It's at that point that I knew this was going to be something 396 00:18:16,028 --> 00:18:18,298 that New York radio had never seen before. 397 00:18:18,331 --> 00:18:21,100 - I'll tell you what, babe... [ speaks indistinctly ] 398 00:18:21,134 --> 00:18:22,202 ...hippest game in the city, baby doll. 399 00:18:22,235 --> 00:18:23,270 I'm looking for the 100th caller. 400 00:18:23,303 --> 00:18:24,671 I flew to New York City, 401 00:18:24,704 --> 00:18:27,707 brought me over to this hotel Meadowlands Hilton. 402 00:18:27,740 --> 00:18:30,042 It was a real dark room, and I couldn't figure out 403 00:18:30,076 --> 00:18:31,478 why am I sitting in a room that looked like 404 00:18:31,511 --> 00:18:33,045 it was just dark? 405 00:18:33,079 --> 00:18:35,615 So he walks over and he turns the chair 406 00:18:35,648 --> 00:18:39,519 against this big bay window and he goes, whoosh. 407 00:18:39,552 --> 00:18:41,588 And he opens up this big bay window. 408 00:18:41,621 --> 00:18:43,523 And it was the skyline of New York City 409 00:18:43,556 --> 00:18:46,493 and goes, "I'm going to give you a microphone to talk to that." 410 00:18:46,526 --> 00:18:49,196 Obviously, I knew Scott Shannon liked the song 411 00:18:49,229 --> 00:18:50,430 "Hate Myself For Loving You." 412 00:18:50,463 --> 00:18:52,199 I also knew there was a possibility 413 00:18:52,232 --> 00:18:55,235 he would play the record, and we get this idea 414 00:18:55,268 --> 00:18:57,570 to send a plane 415 00:18:57,604 --> 00:19:02,375 with a tail over Secaucus. 416 00:19:02,409 --> 00:19:06,613 And the plane says "Dear Scott play Joan Jett." 417 00:19:06,646 --> 00:19:11,117 First day, the guy flies over the wrong part of Secaucus, 418 00:19:11,150 --> 00:19:13,553 and Scott doesn't see the plane. 419 00:19:13,586 --> 00:19:15,355 I'm having a heart attack. 420 00:19:15,388 --> 00:19:18,057 - This is the room where it all started. 421 00:19:18,090 --> 00:19:21,394 It was -- I don't know, it was a magic place to me. 422 00:19:21,428 --> 00:19:26,098 I remember when we first were getting ready to go on the air. 423 00:19:26,132 --> 00:19:27,534 I remember one day I'm standing here 424 00:19:27,567 --> 00:19:30,169 and I'm just looking out the window 425 00:19:30,203 --> 00:19:33,172 and all of a sudden, something hit me in the feet. 426 00:19:33,206 --> 00:19:35,708 And it was our chief engineer, Frank Foti. 427 00:19:35,742 --> 00:19:37,644 Rolled that little dolly out and he's, 428 00:19:37,677 --> 00:19:39,579 "Huh, what are you doing?" 429 00:19:39,612 --> 00:19:42,549 I said, "I'm just kind of soaking up the atmosphere, man. 430 00:19:42,582 --> 00:19:44,784 I'm just -- I'm just feeling it." 431 00:19:44,817 --> 00:19:49,256 I said, "Frank, I truly believe that radio history 432 00:19:49,289 --> 00:19:52,124 is going to be made in this room." 433 00:19:52,158 --> 00:19:54,093 He's still on his back and he said, 434 00:19:54,126 --> 00:19:55,495 "Man, you just gave me goosebumps." 435 00:19:55,528 --> 00:19:56,696 He said, "Let me get up there 436 00:19:56,729 --> 00:19:58,531 and look out the history window." 437 00:19:58,565 --> 00:20:00,700 Before we ever even signed on the air, 438 00:20:00,733 --> 00:20:03,570 they were working on building a studio, 439 00:20:03,603 --> 00:20:08,074 and I was promised by Mr. Maltz, Mr. Malrite, 440 00:20:08,107 --> 00:20:12,512 that it would be a Rolls-Royce radio station. 441 00:20:12,545 --> 00:20:14,747 So I went over to take a look at it one day 442 00:20:14,781 --> 00:20:18,385 and I found out we weren't getting a Rolls-Royce. 443 00:20:18,418 --> 00:20:20,086 We were getting a Volkswagen. 444 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:22,755 They had this fella in there and he said, 445 00:20:22,789 --> 00:20:24,657 "You must be the new punk, Scott Shannon." 446 00:20:24,691 --> 00:20:26,726 And I go, "Yeah, yeah, who are you?" 447 00:20:26,759 --> 00:20:29,362 He said, "Well, I'm your boss. 448 00:20:29,396 --> 00:20:32,599 I'm the chief engineer." I went, oh, boy. 449 00:20:32,632 --> 00:20:34,133 And I got a hold of Jim, and I said, 450 00:20:34,166 --> 00:20:36,202 "Jim, we've got a problem here, 451 00:20:36,235 --> 00:20:38,305 "and unless I get another engineer in here, 452 00:20:38,338 --> 00:20:40,139 I'm going to have to go back to Tampa." 453 00:20:40,172 --> 00:20:42,875 I need somebody maybe a little hipper, 454 00:20:42,909 --> 00:20:46,679 a little younger, someone who understands my language. 455 00:20:46,713 --> 00:20:47,814 When he got through with the litany 456 00:20:47,847 --> 00:20:49,549 of different engineers 457 00:20:49,582 --> 00:20:52,251 that they had describing each one, I said, 458 00:20:52,285 --> 00:20:53,753 "Is that all you got?" 459 00:20:53,786 --> 00:20:57,357 And he says, "No, there is one more fellow, 460 00:20:57,390 --> 00:21:00,693 "I don't know, though he's -- he's very hard to deal with. 461 00:21:00,727 --> 00:21:02,829 "He sits in his office and cranks The Who up 462 00:21:02,862 --> 00:21:05,632 at full volume all day long." 463 00:21:05,665 --> 00:21:06,533 Well, is there another problem? 464 00:21:06,566 --> 00:21:09,469 He said, "Well, he's a little crazy." 465 00:21:09,502 --> 00:21:11,504 I said, "A little crazy?" 466 00:21:11,538 --> 00:21:13,840 He said, "No, he's a whole lot crazy." 467 00:21:13,873 --> 00:21:16,676 ** 468 00:21:16,709 --> 00:21:19,679 - I'd been told by some corporate folks, 469 00:21:19,712 --> 00:21:22,915 they said, you were lucky to have worked around 470 00:21:22,949 --> 00:21:26,519 some pretty intense people in Cleveland at WMMS, 471 00:21:26,553 --> 00:21:28,355 which was the station I grew up on. 472 00:21:28,388 --> 00:21:31,190 They said, Scott's like the people at MMS, 473 00:21:31,223 --> 00:21:32,725 but on steroids. 474 00:21:32,759 --> 00:21:35,862 - Next day, in comes Frank Foti. 475 00:21:35,895 --> 00:21:38,230 Oh, my God, what a mess. 476 00:21:38,264 --> 00:21:41,267 - And I hear this voice. So I go, "Is that Frank-o?" 477 00:21:41,300 --> 00:21:43,269 Yeah, he goes, "Hi, my name's Scott Shannon." 478 00:21:43,302 --> 00:21:47,173 - I told him, I want a radio station that pounds, 479 00:21:47,206 --> 00:21:48,341 that jumps out of the radio. 480 00:21:48,375 --> 00:21:49,476 [ Explosion ] 481 00:21:49,509 --> 00:21:51,444 I want a flame thrower. 482 00:21:51,478 --> 00:21:54,414 - * The flame thrower, Z100 483 00:21:54,447 --> 00:21:56,248 - He said, "I'm your guy." 484 00:21:56,282 --> 00:21:59,185 - The best way I could sum it up 485 00:21:59,218 --> 00:22:02,522 is if I may borrow a phrase from Roger Daltrey of The Who. 486 00:22:02,555 --> 00:22:04,724 You know, he's always talked about The Who's music 487 00:22:04,757 --> 00:22:06,693 as somebody's punching you in the nose 488 00:22:06,726 --> 00:22:07,827 and saying, I love you. 489 00:22:07,860 --> 00:22:10,663 - It's like songs sound different on this radio station. 490 00:22:10,697 --> 00:22:12,532 I don't understand how, but they sound different. 491 00:22:12,565 --> 00:22:13,766 There's like a magic there. 492 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:15,802 From a technical standpoint, 493 00:22:15,835 --> 00:22:19,606 the sound of the station was booming and loud, 494 00:22:19,639 --> 00:22:22,341 and from an engineering standpoint, it was compressed. 495 00:22:22,375 --> 00:22:24,911 It just sounded really, really cool. 496 00:22:24,944 --> 00:22:30,349 - * It was only in my dreams 497 00:22:30,383 --> 00:22:33,553 Well, my music started getting played, I was just like, 498 00:22:33,586 --> 00:22:35,922 "Oh, my God, if I'm hearing this in my car right now, 499 00:22:35,955 --> 00:22:37,590 like millions of people are hearing in their car, too, 500 00:22:37,624 --> 00:22:39,859 to or in their bedrooms or the... 501 00:22:39,892 --> 00:22:42,895 And it was really like this communal experience. 502 00:22:42,929 --> 00:22:46,533 And I guess that's why it was so magical to me. 503 00:22:46,566 --> 00:22:49,669 It just felt like a connectedness. 504 00:22:49,702 --> 00:22:55,374 And I really put everything behind that dream 505 00:22:55,408 --> 00:22:58,511 of being played on the radio. 506 00:22:58,545 --> 00:23:03,382 * It was only in my dream 507 00:23:03,416 --> 00:23:05,251 - I would stand right here 508 00:23:05,284 --> 00:23:06,919 and then Ross Britain would be over here 509 00:23:06,953 --> 00:23:09,989 and have the bells and the drums and all that stuff. 510 00:23:10,022 --> 00:23:12,792 Claire Stevens would be back in the newsroom over there 511 00:23:12,825 --> 00:23:14,994 and then she would move over here. 512 00:23:15,027 --> 00:23:18,931 Jonathan B. Bell would be there until the stars came in, 513 00:23:18,965 --> 00:23:21,434 and he had to move over next to Claire. 514 00:23:21,468 --> 00:23:22,735 One of those Professor Jonathan B. Bell reports. 515 00:23:22,769 --> 00:23:24,437 What's going on, professor? 516 00:23:24,471 --> 00:23:25,705 - Well, we got lots of things 517 00:23:25,738 --> 00:23:26,939 happening around town today, Scott. 518 00:23:26,973 --> 00:23:28,775 I had heard about Scott Shannon before I actually met him, 519 00:23:28,808 --> 00:23:30,777 and he had been described to me 520 00:23:30,810 --> 00:23:33,279 as a nut case from Tampa, Florida, 521 00:23:33,312 --> 00:23:36,315 who walked around wearing shorts all the time 522 00:23:36,348 --> 00:23:39,786 and was somehow going to revolutionize New York radio. 523 00:23:39,819 --> 00:23:42,589 And I thought, you got to be kidding. 524 00:23:42,622 --> 00:23:46,526 - Scott came in not knowing anything about New York City, 525 00:23:46,559 --> 00:23:48,528 and I think that gave him the edge. 526 00:23:48,561 --> 00:23:51,631 He wasn't frightened by the city and intimidated. 527 00:23:51,664 --> 00:23:54,467 You could tell he wasn't from these parts. 528 00:23:54,501 --> 00:23:55,868 And I think that's what made him stand out. 529 00:23:55,902 --> 00:23:58,505 He surrounded himself with a lot of caring, 530 00:23:58,538 --> 00:24:00,973 trusting people who not only communicated well 531 00:24:01,007 --> 00:24:03,342 with the audience, but they elevated him. 532 00:24:03,375 --> 00:24:07,814 - 6:27 in the morning it's time for Claire Stevens. 533 00:24:07,847 --> 00:24:10,382 - Good morning, it's 35 degrees at this hour. 534 00:24:10,416 --> 00:24:11,450 - Well, I must tell you, 535 00:24:11,484 --> 00:24:13,653 Scott Shannon meant nothing to me. 536 00:24:13,686 --> 00:24:17,724 I was so new in radio and I was so naive 537 00:24:17,757 --> 00:24:20,627 and I was working at this little tiny station 538 00:24:20,660 --> 00:24:21,761 that was kind of isolated. 539 00:24:21,794 --> 00:24:25,031 I got a call and they said, 540 00:24:25,064 --> 00:24:28,701 "We were not able to get you in Scott's office, 541 00:24:28,735 --> 00:24:32,572 "but my wife got you on our home radio 542 00:24:32,605 --> 00:24:34,006 "and played it over the speakerphone 543 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,375 "to Scott Shannon. 544 00:24:36,408 --> 00:24:38,678 How soon can you get out here?" 545 00:24:38,711 --> 00:24:40,747 I sat in Scott's office and he's saying, 546 00:24:40,780 --> 00:24:44,116 Well, you'll say this and you'll do that and bah, bah, bah. 547 00:24:44,150 --> 00:24:46,819 And I'm going, "Time out." 548 00:24:46,853 --> 00:24:49,388 I said, "Don't you want to interview anybody else?" 549 00:24:49,421 --> 00:24:51,423 And he said, no. 550 00:24:51,457 --> 00:24:53,926 "When I hear what I want, I know it." 551 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,663 - Yes, Ross Britton and Scott is going to be a rotten day. 552 00:24:56,696 --> 00:24:59,932 Thank you very much. - I was a talk jock at WABC. 553 00:24:59,966 --> 00:25:01,968 I started there when they were still music, 554 00:25:02,001 --> 00:25:06,405 and then I was fired pretty much the week 555 00:25:06,438 --> 00:25:07,940 that Z100 went on the air. 556 00:25:07,974 --> 00:25:11,443 So I went over to Scott a couple of weeks later and I said, 557 00:25:11,477 --> 00:25:14,747 "Hey, you know, good to see you. I'm looking for a job. 558 00:25:14,781 --> 00:25:16,683 I know you have an afternoon opening." 559 00:25:16,716 --> 00:25:18,651 And he said, "Nah, you're a morning jock. 560 00:25:18,685 --> 00:25:20,587 No, I want you to work with me." 561 00:25:20,620 --> 00:25:23,455 - So I get to the Meadowlands Hilton and I'm dressed up 562 00:25:23,489 --> 00:25:26,559 like the former Madison Avenue person that I was. 563 00:25:26,593 --> 00:25:28,427 And there he is with the big voice, 564 00:25:28,460 --> 00:25:29,896 and he's Scott Shannon. 565 00:25:29,929 --> 00:25:33,399 - And I said to myself, "This is a nut house. 566 00:25:33,432 --> 00:25:35,568 "And the guy that's running the place is wearing 567 00:25:35,602 --> 00:25:37,469 a Hawaiian shirt and shorts." 568 00:25:37,503 --> 00:25:39,772 - Oh, my God, what have I got myself into? 569 00:25:39,806 --> 00:25:43,475 - He was able to create deliberately 570 00:25:43,509 --> 00:25:46,412 and hilariously dysfunctional family. 571 00:25:46,445 --> 00:25:48,615 At the same time, it was an endearing family. 572 00:25:48,648 --> 00:25:49,982 - Eddie Grant was a lead singer of a group -- 573 00:25:50,016 --> 00:25:53,720 - The Supremes. - Not the Supremes, you nitwit. 574 00:25:53,753 --> 00:25:54,721 Let me take you to the production office 575 00:25:54,754 --> 00:25:55,722 right here. 576 00:25:55,755 --> 00:25:58,424 This used to be the home of the late J.R. Nelson. 577 00:25:58,457 --> 00:26:00,993 J.R. would be here. He was a big guy. 578 00:26:01,027 --> 00:26:03,562 He didn't take any crap from anybody, especially me. 579 00:26:03,596 --> 00:26:05,798 And he had a little like a table here. 580 00:26:05,832 --> 00:26:06,666 And then I would come back from lunch, 581 00:26:06,699 --> 00:26:08,635 I have a bunch of notes on the napkin 582 00:26:08,668 --> 00:26:10,737 that I came up with 583 00:26:10,770 --> 00:26:13,740 while we were having lunch and maybe a cocktail or two. 584 00:26:13,773 --> 00:26:15,842 And -- and I would say, turn the mic on, J.R. 585 00:26:15,875 --> 00:26:21,013 Z100 wants you to help us go from worst to first. 586 00:26:21,047 --> 00:26:22,715 We need your help. 587 00:26:22,749 --> 00:26:24,216 And then he would put it to music 588 00:26:24,250 --> 00:26:25,985 and sound effects and all that. 589 00:26:26,018 --> 00:26:29,021 And then within 30 minutes, it would be on the air. 590 00:26:29,055 --> 00:26:31,758 - Any broadcast or duplication of this material 591 00:26:31,791 --> 00:26:33,492 without the expressed written consent 592 00:26:33,525 --> 00:26:37,730 of J.R. Nelson Productions will cost you a fortune. 593 00:26:37,764 --> 00:26:40,633 - With J.R. Nelson in sports the lion's mug, the Steelers, 594 00:26:40,667 --> 00:26:41,901 the Cowboys beat the Cardinals. 595 00:26:41,934 --> 00:26:44,036 The Giants are going to a one back offense 596 00:26:44,070 --> 00:26:46,839 for the Raiders' game on Sunday, and Marvis Frazier doesn't have 597 00:26:46,873 --> 00:26:48,507 much of a chance to beat Larry Holmes tonight. 598 00:26:48,540 --> 00:26:49,742 So say the experts. 599 00:26:49,776 --> 00:26:51,577 Z100 weather looks like this. 600 00:26:51,610 --> 00:26:53,212 - Now in addition to the Morning Zoo, 601 00:26:53,245 --> 00:26:55,547 which was crazy enough... 602 00:26:55,581 --> 00:26:57,817 - The deejays here at the Z Morning Zoo are up 603 00:26:57,850 --> 00:26:59,852 and getting ready to entertain you. 604 00:26:59,886 --> 00:27:00,787 - * Heigh-ho! 605 00:27:00,820 --> 00:27:03,756 - We also had deejays named Jack the Wack. 606 00:27:03,790 --> 00:27:06,793 - Oh, Jack the Wack here getting ready to go commercial for... 607 00:27:06,826 --> 00:27:08,027 - Hollywood Hamilton. 608 00:27:08,060 --> 00:27:09,095 - At Radio Z100 with Hollywood Hamilton. 609 00:27:09,128 --> 00:27:13,800 - Dr. Christopher Reid, Janet from another planet, 610 00:27:13,833 --> 00:27:16,703 and one of the most incredible deejays I've ever heard, 611 00:27:16,736 --> 00:27:17,937 Shadow Steel. 612 00:27:17,970 --> 00:27:20,873 - [ Speaks indistinctly ] ...just about 5:00. 613 00:27:20,907 --> 00:27:23,609 It's been a long, hot, nasty week. 614 00:27:23,642 --> 00:27:25,111 I think it's time we kick this sucker 615 00:27:25,144 --> 00:27:26,779 in the head and get out of here. 616 00:27:26,813 --> 00:27:29,682 - But there was one other character who was very popular. 617 00:27:29,716 --> 00:27:32,618 His name was Mr. Leonard. 618 00:27:32,651 --> 00:27:35,788 - Mr. Leonard is sicker than a dog this morning. 619 00:27:35,822 --> 00:27:38,557 - I apologize for trying to call up and guess 620 00:27:38,590 --> 00:27:42,729 that I know I'm unintelligible, but I'm a desperate, Scott. 621 00:27:42,762 --> 00:27:45,097 - He drove a lime green pinto. 622 00:27:45,131 --> 00:27:48,300 He had a matching lime green leisure suit, 623 00:27:48,334 --> 00:27:50,569 complete with cherry red shoes. 624 00:27:50,602 --> 00:27:52,538 - What in the hell is Mr. Leonard doing? Leonard! 625 00:27:52,571 --> 00:27:54,606 - Back there, weaseling around. 626 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:55,875 - The guy comes to work. 627 00:27:55,908 --> 00:27:57,576 He's been in the control room one time since he's been here. 628 00:27:57,609 --> 00:27:59,712 - And he was like the common man, 629 00:27:59,746 --> 00:28:00,747 well, he was below the common man. 630 00:28:00,780 --> 00:28:04,751 - Well, what about 8-3-7-5 on the telephone line? 631 00:28:04,784 --> 00:28:08,821 - No, that's Tommy Tutone. - That was Tommy Tutone. 632 00:28:08,855 --> 00:28:09,822 - Well, who the hell is this Tommy? 633 00:28:09,856 --> 00:28:11,891 [ Laughter ] 634 00:28:11,924 --> 00:28:15,161 - The problem was he had trouble waking up in the morning 635 00:28:15,194 --> 00:28:18,264 and many times didn't even show up for work. 636 00:28:18,297 --> 00:28:21,000 - Where in the world are you? Everybody's here. 637 00:28:21,033 --> 00:28:26,205 - * Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday! * 638 00:28:26,238 --> 00:28:29,008 - Hey, stop, stop all that. Where are you? 639 00:28:29,041 --> 00:28:30,977 - What do you mean where am I? 640 00:28:31,010 --> 00:28:33,312 I thought this was a holiday. It's our birthday. 641 00:28:33,345 --> 00:28:35,647 - Scott was known to use the hotline. 642 00:28:35,681 --> 00:28:37,984 He called me one day and he said, "Magic Matt, 643 00:28:38,017 --> 00:28:39,819 "there was some dead air between commercial number three 644 00:28:39,852 --> 00:28:42,254 and commercial number four." 645 00:28:42,288 --> 00:28:43,956 And I said, "Not on this show. There wasn't." 646 00:28:43,990 --> 00:28:45,257 I said, "You must have been listening to 647 00:28:45,291 --> 00:28:47,994 our competition, WPLJ." 648 00:28:48,027 --> 00:28:48,995 - He said, "Well, let me look at my digital. 649 00:28:49,028 --> 00:28:53,265 No, says 100.3." 650 00:28:53,299 --> 00:28:54,767 He said, "No, that's my --" 651 00:28:54,801 --> 00:28:57,303 I said, "Absolutely not on this station." 652 00:28:57,336 --> 00:29:01,240 I said, "I would never, ever commit a felony, 653 00:29:01,273 --> 00:29:03,075 "such as dead air on Z100, 654 00:29:03,109 --> 00:29:05,277 the biggest station in the world." 655 00:29:05,311 --> 00:29:08,948 And he said, "Yeah, looked again. It says 1-0 -- 656 00:29:08,981 --> 00:29:12,684 That's Z100. Don't you [bleep] up my radio station." 657 00:29:12,718 --> 00:29:14,153 Click. 658 00:29:21,093 --> 00:29:23,996 [ Radio stations changing ] 659 00:29:31,703 --> 00:29:34,740 - It's eight minutes after 6:00 a.m., 660 00:29:34,773 --> 00:29:36,175 August the 2nd, 1983. 661 00:29:36,208 --> 00:29:38,878 [ Ring tone ] 662 00:29:38,911 --> 00:29:41,848 Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, radio station 663 00:29:41,881 --> 00:29:46,018 WHTZ signs on the air. 664 00:29:46,052 --> 00:29:48,720 WHTZ is owned and operated 665 00:29:48,754 --> 00:29:51,790 by Malrite Communications Cleveland 666 00:29:51,824 --> 00:29:54,260 and operates on an assigned frequency 667 00:29:54,293 --> 00:29:56,929 of 100.3 megahertz, 668 00:29:56,963 --> 00:30:00,766 with studios and offices in Secaucus, New Jersey. 669 00:30:00,799 --> 00:30:02,668 Signing on the air, 670 00:30:02,701 --> 00:30:05,271 this is WHTZ, the Newark, 671 00:30:05,304 --> 00:30:08,908 the new Z100. 672 00:30:08,941 --> 00:30:12,311 ** 673 00:30:12,344 --> 00:30:17,716 New York, it's time to wake up. 674 00:30:17,749 --> 00:30:20,186 - The kids are telling everybody about this great new station 675 00:30:20,219 --> 00:30:22,021 that was broadcasting from the top 676 00:30:22,054 --> 00:30:23,689 of the Empire State Building. 677 00:30:23,722 --> 00:30:25,324 - Serving the universe 678 00:30:25,357 --> 00:30:28,160 from the top of the Empire State Building, 679 00:30:28,194 --> 00:30:31,163 WHTZ. 680 00:30:31,197 --> 00:30:33,099 - Live from the top of the Empire State Building, 681 00:30:33,132 --> 00:30:35,767 the flame-throwing hot rocking Z100. 682 00:30:35,801 --> 00:30:37,703 - Everybody broadcasts from the top 683 00:30:37,736 --> 00:30:39,338 of the Empire State Building. 684 00:30:39,371 --> 00:30:42,841 There's a master antenna on top of the Empire State Building 685 00:30:42,875 --> 00:30:45,978 that all the stations share the rental on. 686 00:30:46,012 --> 00:30:47,146 We're all there. 687 00:30:47,179 --> 00:30:51,250 There was nothing unique about what he was really doing, 688 00:30:51,283 --> 00:30:56,188 but everything unique about the way he was describing 689 00:30:56,222 --> 00:30:57,423 what he was doing. 690 00:30:57,456 --> 00:30:58,958 - Serving the universe from the top 691 00:30:58,991 --> 00:31:00,893 of the Empire State Building. - Well, it's true. 692 00:31:00,927 --> 00:31:02,728 - Every radio station comes from the top 693 00:31:02,761 --> 00:31:04,830 of the Empire State Building. 694 00:31:04,863 --> 00:31:06,865 - They give you the impression that they were broadcasting 695 00:31:06,899 --> 00:31:09,335 from high on top of the Empire State Building. 696 00:31:09,368 --> 00:31:11,237 But in truth, it was across the way. 697 00:31:11,270 --> 00:31:15,007 But that is the plight of New Jersey, right, everybody? 698 00:31:15,041 --> 00:31:16,475 We do all the heavy lifting 699 00:31:16,508 --> 00:31:18,077 and get none of the credit for it. 700 00:31:18,110 --> 00:31:22,514 They made of that nothing defy its geographic reality 701 00:31:22,548 --> 00:31:25,117 and instead, transfer the whole ethos 702 00:31:25,151 --> 00:31:26,986 to Manhattan, to the heart of Manhattan, 703 00:31:27,019 --> 00:31:28,887 and then not only to Manhattan, 704 00:31:28,921 --> 00:31:31,157 but to the -- to the gorilla building, 705 00:31:31,190 --> 00:31:33,225 to the -- to the top of the top. 706 00:31:33,259 --> 00:31:35,327 - We claimed the Empire State Building 707 00:31:35,361 --> 00:31:38,464 and everything that emanated from the Empire State Building 708 00:31:38,497 --> 00:31:41,800 over 27 counties in the New York metro area. 709 00:31:41,833 --> 00:31:43,902 Our goal was to be larger than life. 710 00:31:43,936 --> 00:31:47,073 - Serving the universe from the top of 711 00:31:47,106 --> 00:31:48,540 the Empire State Building. 712 00:31:48,574 --> 00:31:52,178 This is the new Z100. 713 00:31:52,211 --> 00:31:54,280 And then there was a little pause 714 00:31:54,313 --> 00:31:56,482 and then it was Scott's way of telling other radio stations 715 00:31:56,515 --> 00:31:58,917 we were in town. 716 00:31:58,951 --> 00:32:01,353 - Get out of our way. 717 00:32:01,387 --> 00:32:04,490 - I couldn't believe it. This guy is crazy. 718 00:32:04,523 --> 00:32:07,026 He's going after other radio stations in town. 719 00:32:07,059 --> 00:32:09,228 He's literally calling them out 720 00:32:09,261 --> 00:32:12,164 and telling them to get out of the way. 721 00:32:12,198 --> 00:32:13,165 And here we come. 722 00:32:13,199 --> 00:32:15,367 - Z100 was the rebirth 723 00:32:15,401 --> 00:32:18,170 of that Top 40 mentality. 724 00:32:18,204 --> 00:32:20,906 It existed on some of the AM stations, 725 00:32:20,939 --> 00:32:23,342 but to have an FM radio station playing all the hits, 726 00:32:23,375 --> 00:32:24,977 that was a novel concept at the time. 727 00:32:25,011 --> 00:32:27,379 And PLJ and Z100 both basically did it 728 00:32:27,413 --> 00:32:30,316 at the same time and created the ultimate radio war, 729 00:32:30,349 --> 00:32:33,185 which for those of us who are students of it, 730 00:32:33,219 --> 00:32:35,254 we were all about that. 731 00:32:35,287 --> 00:32:36,955 - What station did we rescue you from? 732 00:32:36,989 --> 00:32:39,858 - CBSFM. - Oh, my God. 733 00:32:39,891 --> 00:32:43,295 - New York radio stations had indirectly referenced 734 00:32:43,329 --> 00:32:44,997 other radio stations in the past. 735 00:32:45,031 --> 00:32:48,834 In the '60s, famously WMCA and WABC, the good guys. 736 00:32:48,867 --> 00:32:51,837 - * Ringing with the good guys 737 00:32:51,870 --> 00:32:54,373 * WMCA 738 00:32:54,406 --> 00:32:56,342 - They had a great rivalry going on, 739 00:32:56,375 --> 00:32:58,177 but they never directly referenced each other. 740 00:32:58,210 --> 00:33:00,612 When Scott started calling out other radio stations on the air, 741 00:33:00,646 --> 00:33:02,581 particularly WPLJ, 742 00:33:02,614 --> 00:33:03,882 he got phone calls from people saying, 743 00:33:03,915 --> 00:33:05,384 "You can't do that, that's illegal. 744 00:33:05,417 --> 00:33:07,853 Won't the FCC fine you for doing that?" 745 00:33:07,886 --> 00:33:09,988 Said, of course they won't. It's not illegal. 746 00:33:10,022 --> 00:33:12,491 - We always like to take personalities from the market, 747 00:33:12,524 --> 00:33:15,594 not just radio, but, you know, everybody and make fun of them. 748 00:33:15,627 --> 00:33:17,096 - Could you do us a favor? - Sure. 749 00:33:17,129 --> 00:33:19,398 - Could you tell Roger Grimsby something for us? 750 00:33:19,431 --> 00:33:20,432 - All right. As long as it doesn't get me fired. 751 00:33:20,466 --> 00:33:22,868 - [ Blows raspberry ] 752 00:33:22,901 --> 00:33:24,603 - When one of the ratings came out 753 00:33:24,636 --> 00:33:27,573 and Imus had fallen in the ratings, 754 00:33:27,606 --> 00:33:31,143 Scott offered to start a fundraising campaign 755 00:33:31,177 --> 00:33:33,579 to bail Imus out of his -- of his problems. 756 00:33:33,612 --> 00:33:36,582 - My friend Don Imus. - Yeah. 757 00:33:36,615 --> 00:33:38,450 - Hey, watch this. Aah! 758 00:33:38,484 --> 00:33:42,588 - Basically Scott is the ultimate radio attack dog. 759 00:33:42,621 --> 00:33:47,426 He does his best work when he had a target and WPLJ 760 00:33:47,459 --> 00:33:49,595 saw what was happening at Z100. 761 00:33:49,628 --> 00:33:51,130 They changed the Top 40. 762 00:33:51,163 --> 00:33:52,631 But it was a wimpier, 763 00:33:52,664 --> 00:33:55,134 more corporate version of Top 40. 764 00:33:55,167 --> 00:33:59,138 And so Scott called them what they were -- wimpy radio. 765 00:33:59,171 --> 00:34:00,439 - What we suddenly faced 766 00:34:00,472 --> 00:34:05,144 was like nothing I had ever experienced before. 767 00:34:05,177 --> 00:34:07,113 - We have a radio station here. 768 00:34:07,146 --> 00:34:08,580 They used to be album rock and roll station. 769 00:34:08,614 --> 00:34:10,048 - Mm-hmm. 770 00:34:10,082 --> 00:34:12,651 - And they changed their format recently 771 00:34:12,684 --> 00:34:15,554 and their program director, Larry Booger has a song out. 772 00:34:15,587 --> 00:34:17,489 It's called, "We're Going Wimpy." 773 00:34:17,523 --> 00:34:18,490 It's their new call letters WIMPY. 774 00:34:18,524 --> 00:34:20,926 We'll get that on right now. 775 00:34:20,959 --> 00:34:23,695 Here's Larry and the Wimps and we're going wimpy on Z100. 776 00:34:23,729 --> 00:34:27,633 - We did a skit about the program director of WPLJ, 777 00:34:27,666 --> 00:34:31,503 and Scott said, "Make it Larry Booger." 778 00:34:31,537 --> 00:34:34,340 And then it just went wild. 779 00:34:34,373 --> 00:34:37,509 - They start their tape recorder just like Larry Booger at 5:59 780 00:34:37,543 --> 00:34:40,112 so they don't miss a single second of the Z100 Morning Zoo. 781 00:34:40,146 --> 00:34:43,115 - The name became so stuck to poor Larry Berger 782 00:34:43,149 --> 00:34:45,117 that all around New York, 783 00:34:45,151 --> 00:34:47,219 people were calling him Larry Booger. 784 00:34:47,253 --> 00:34:51,123 - The audience loved it. The clients? Not so much. 785 00:34:51,157 --> 00:34:53,959 - This television station has refused to accept 786 00:34:53,992 --> 00:34:56,128 your commercial advertising for Z100. 787 00:34:56,162 --> 00:34:58,397 - And it's breaking my heart. - Is it really? 788 00:34:58,430 --> 00:35:03,269 Now there is a federal law that limits how much level 789 00:35:03,302 --> 00:35:05,371 you can put into the transmitter. 790 00:35:05,404 --> 00:35:08,240 And I know for a fact because I measured it myself 791 00:35:08,274 --> 00:35:12,344 that our competition, WPLJ, that they would break that law. 792 00:35:12,378 --> 00:35:13,445 It's called over modulation. 793 00:35:13,479 --> 00:35:15,381 It would be like, you know, 794 00:35:15,414 --> 00:35:17,516 speed limit's 55 miles an hour 795 00:35:17,549 --> 00:35:20,719 and they want to drive 75. 796 00:35:20,752 --> 00:35:25,191 Okay, you guys want to drive 75? We'll drive 75. 797 00:35:25,224 --> 00:35:28,360 Well, Larry Berger was so competitive himself, 798 00:35:28,394 --> 00:35:32,464 he had the technical measuring device on his desk 799 00:35:32,498 --> 00:35:35,167 that would -- where he could look at Z100 and PLJ. 800 00:35:35,201 --> 00:35:38,770 Well, one time he would -- he was looking at his monitor, 801 00:35:38,804 --> 00:35:42,073 thinking we were breaking the law and he called me. 802 00:35:42,107 --> 00:35:45,744 I had my assistant, Steve Pepe, go and flip some switches 803 00:35:45,777 --> 00:35:48,547 so that his monitor would look all crazy. 804 00:35:48,580 --> 00:35:50,349 He was like, "Frank, I got to call you back. 805 00:35:50,382 --> 00:35:52,251 Something's not right here." 806 00:35:52,284 --> 00:35:53,652 "Yeah, Larry, you're a dumb ass." And I hung up on him. 807 00:35:53,685 --> 00:35:55,554 So there was a writer for "The Daily News" 808 00:35:55,587 --> 00:35:58,524 in those days named George Maksian 809 00:35:58,557 --> 00:36:01,760 and for whatever reason, he just wasn't a believer in Z100. 810 00:36:01,793 --> 00:36:04,796 - George was a great guy, but he was old school 811 00:36:04,830 --> 00:36:06,097 in his radio taste. 812 00:36:06,131 --> 00:36:07,499 He loved John Gamblings. 813 00:36:07,533 --> 00:36:10,636 So when when Scott started, he wrote a column about it 814 00:36:10,669 --> 00:36:13,605 in which he pronounced the new Z100 to be vulgar. 815 00:36:13,639 --> 00:36:16,542 - Coming home one day and opening up "The Daily News" 816 00:36:16,575 --> 00:36:19,345 and seeing this article by George Maksian 817 00:36:19,378 --> 00:36:23,415 saying I hope he has a roundtrip ticket back to Tampa 818 00:36:23,449 --> 00:36:25,217 because this guy's the worst. 819 00:36:25,251 --> 00:36:28,454 - My first comment says this product hillbilly from Florida. 820 00:36:28,487 --> 00:36:30,188 Remember that? - Yeah. 821 00:36:30,222 --> 00:36:33,459 - And he would write all of these negative articles on Z100, 822 00:36:33,492 --> 00:36:34,793 and it would drive Scott crazy. 823 00:36:34,826 --> 00:36:38,063 - Take his ways back to Florida. 824 00:36:38,096 --> 00:36:38,964 - Yes, there's hope he's got a one-way ticket -- 825 00:36:38,997 --> 00:36:40,832 - Roundtrip ticket. - A roundtrip ticket. 826 00:36:40,866 --> 00:36:44,270 - Go home. - Boy, I was broken down. 827 00:36:44,303 --> 00:36:47,273 If you ask most experts or self-proclaimed experts, 828 00:36:47,306 --> 00:36:50,509 it was destined to fail this hillbilly from Tampa 829 00:36:50,542 --> 00:36:53,279 going to launch a concept that had worked in Tampa, 830 00:36:53,312 --> 00:36:54,813 but hadn't worked anywhere else. 831 00:36:54,846 --> 00:36:56,448 - And finally, I just got mad and said, I'll tell you, 832 00:36:56,482 --> 00:36:58,617 I'll just show that idiot. 833 00:36:58,650 --> 00:37:02,354 And he's still that. An idiot. 834 00:37:02,388 --> 00:37:04,723 - So Scott made up these stickers that said, 835 00:37:04,756 --> 00:37:06,592 "I break for George Maksian!" 836 00:37:06,625 --> 00:37:08,594 So I hear it. Kenny Lane, get in here. 837 00:37:08,627 --> 00:37:10,562 Go to the office. Sit down, close the door. 838 00:37:10,596 --> 00:37:12,731 "I need you to do something with these. Go figure it out. 839 00:37:12,764 --> 00:37:13,732 Earn while you learn. Figure it out." 840 00:37:13,765 --> 00:37:15,334 - In a way it was -- 841 00:37:15,367 --> 00:37:17,436 It was kind of cool to have so many people 842 00:37:17,469 --> 00:37:19,538 talking about you, even if it was bad. 843 00:37:19,571 --> 00:37:21,273 - So I figure maybe I can go 844 00:37:21,307 --> 00:37:22,207 put the stickers all over "The Daily News" 845 00:37:22,240 --> 00:37:23,375 delivery trucks. 846 00:37:23,409 --> 00:37:24,743 - The newspapers hated it. 847 00:37:24,776 --> 00:37:26,578 - I see a guy who's sitting 848 00:37:26,612 --> 00:37:28,280 by one of the trucks having a cigarette and I said, 849 00:37:28,314 --> 00:37:29,348 "Excuse me, I've got some stickers here 850 00:37:29,381 --> 00:37:30,882 for George Maksian." 851 00:37:30,916 --> 00:37:32,684 - That guy's terrible. 852 00:37:32,718 --> 00:37:33,785 - Do you think I can put them on some of the trucks? 853 00:37:33,819 --> 00:37:36,154 - Other program directors hated us. 854 00:37:36,187 --> 00:37:38,557 - I must've hit 20, 25 trucks. 855 00:37:38,590 --> 00:37:39,891 - He's a horrible disc jockey. 856 00:37:39,925 --> 00:37:42,528 - Now I see the door wide open 857 00:37:42,561 --> 00:37:44,596 and I go in and it's a security guy sitting there 858 00:37:44,630 --> 00:37:46,498 and I said, "I've got a package for George Maksian. 859 00:37:46,532 --> 00:37:47,666 Can I drop it off?" 860 00:37:47,699 --> 00:37:49,901 - The ad agencies hated us. - I go up to the third floor. 861 00:37:49,935 --> 00:37:52,538 I find a couple of people who are up there working, 862 00:37:52,571 --> 00:37:54,172 and I said, "Hey, I've got a package here 863 00:37:54,205 --> 00:37:55,641 for George Maksian." 864 00:37:55,674 --> 00:37:57,543 - He doesn't sound like New York. 865 00:37:57,576 --> 00:37:59,244 - Would you mind pointing out his desk? 866 00:37:59,277 --> 00:38:02,147 - Other deejays hated us. - First, I was thinking, 867 00:38:02,180 --> 00:38:04,650 I'm going to put one sticker down, and then I thought, 868 00:38:04,683 --> 00:38:06,718 Why do one? I've got a box of stickers here. 869 00:38:06,752 --> 00:38:08,153 I don't want to come back with them. 870 00:38:08,186 --> 00:38:09,588 - Everybody made fun. 871 00:38:09,621 --> 00:38:11,723 - And I start putting them all over. 872 00:38:11,757 --> 00:38:14,292 And I know when he comes to work in the morning, 873 00:38:14,326 --> 00:38:16,728 he's going to see I break for George Maksian stickers 874 00:38:16,762 --> 00:38:17,563 all over the office. 875 00:38:17,596 --> 00:38:18,664 - You know how bumper stickers are. 876 00:38:18,697 --> 00:38:21,199 You don't get them off as easy as you get them on. 877 00:38:21,232 --> 00:38:22,734 - * Tell it to my heart 878 00:38:22,768 --> 00:38:25,203 * Tell me I'm the only one 879 00:38:25,236 --> 00:38:29,375 * Is this really love or just a game? * 880 00:38:29,408 --> 00:38:31,176 I'll never forget when Z100 hit, 881 00:38:31,209 --> 00:38:33,745 because there was this moment that I said, who is this? 882 00:38:33,779 --> 00:38:35,647 And it was Whitney Houston. Who is this? 883 00:38:35,681 --> 00:38:36,782 And it was Aretha Franklin. 884 00:38:36,815 --> 00:38:40,419 They started playing pop music like I remember WABC, 885 00:38:40,452 --> 00:38:41,453 but it was more than that. 886 00:38:41,487 --> 00:38:44,523 It was polished. It was pure. 887 00:38:44,556 --> 00:38:49,194 * Tell it to my heart, tell me I'm the only one * 888 00:38:49,227 --> 00:38:51,262 - I wanted it to be about the music, 889 00:38:51,296 --> 00:38:53,932 the music was the most important part of it. 890 00:38:53,965 --> 00:38:58,470 And we were the conduit from the people to the music. 891 00:38:58,504 --> 00:39:01,306 I wanted to have the people who made the music on the radio 892 00:39:01,339 --> 00:39:03,241 talking about the music, 893 00:39:03,274 --> 00:39:06,712 and I wanted our disc jockeys to know what they were playing. 894 00:39:06,745 --> 00:39:09,748 Very few record promotion guys would bring us records. 895 00:39:09,781 --> 00:39:12,718 We had to go buy our own records at Tower Records. 896 00:39:12,751 --> 00:39:15,654 We couldn't get any celebrity guest on The Morning Show. 897 00:39:15,687 --> 00:39:17,489 They didn't want to come to Secaucus. 898 00:39:17,523 --> 00:39:19,825 They didn't know where Secaucus was, 899 00:39:19,858 --> 00:39:23,395 and we had an intern by the name of William Brownstein. 900 00:39:23,429 --> 00:39:25,330 William heard me complaining 901 00:39:25,363 --> 00:39:28,333 about not having any famous people on the show. 902 00:39:28,366 --> 00:39:31,470 He said, I can get you a guest, a famous guest. 903 00:39:31,503 --> 00:39:32,738 I said, "William, 904 00:39:32,771 --> 00:39:36,241 who do you know that could possibly be famous?" 905 00:39:36,274 --> 00:39:38,410 He said, "Well, because every year 906 00:39:38,444 --> 00:39:41,580 "I volunteer for the Jerry Lewis Telethon. 907 00:39:41,613 --> 00:39:44,983 And here in New York, Tony hosts that and he likes me." 908 00:39:45,016 --> 00:39:49,788 - * Whoa, tie a yellow ribbon 'round the ole oak tree * 909 00:39:49,821 --> 00:39:53,459 - So Tony Orlando comes by. 910 00:39:53,492 --> 00:39:56,027 He's our very first guest on Z100. 911 00:39:56,061 --> 00:39:59,931 - I walk in and there's this energetic, 912 00:39:59,965 --> 00:40:03,334 unbelievable young man 913 00:40:03,368 --> 00:40:06,772 introducing me to someone who I already knew. 914 00:40:06,805 --> 00:40:10,542 I knew Scott from being on the road when I had Candida out, 915 00:40:10,576 --> 00:40:13,845 he was the first person to ever play a Dawn record. 916 00:40:13,879 --> 00:40:14,980 Oh, my God, Scott. Well, come on. 917 00:40:15,013 --> 00:40:16,114 Let's do the interview. 918 00:40:16,147 --> 00:40:19,585 - Whether it was an artist or an author or an athlete, 919 00:40:19,618 --> 00:40:21,520 they would stop at MTV. 920 00:40:21,553 --> 00:40:23,689 They would stop at the "Today Show." 921 00:40:23,722 --> 00:40:25,290 They would stop at "Good Morning America." 922 00:40:25,323 --> 00:40:27,893 He and I sat down and we decided that Z100 923 00:40:27,926 --> 00:40:32,864 has to become a destination for all things music. 924 00:40:32,898 --> 00:40:36,468 - Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome, Mr. James Brown. 925 00:40:36,502 --> 00:40:38,436 Good morning, Mr. Brown. - Ow! 926 00:40:38,470 --> 00:40:43,041 - Z100 really was a major factor in what was 927 00:40:43,074 --> 00:40:44,543 a really a renaissance 928 00:40:44,576 --> 00:40:47,378 in a sense of a musical culture in the city. 929 00:40:47,412 --> 00:40:49,014 '83, '84, '85 in the mid-'80s, then. 930 00:40:49,047 --> 00:40:50,882 It was a catalyst. 931 00:40:50,916 --> 00:40:53,451 You had this great music going on, 932 00:40:53,485 --> 00:40:57,689 but Z100 brought it together in a way and a form 933 00:40:57,723 --> 00:41:01,560 in a -- in a package that others had not. 934 00:41:01,593 --> 00:41:04,896 - I have met a number of radio guys in my career 935 00:41:04,930 --> 00:41:09,968 who -- their attitude was I don't care. 936 00:41:10,001 --> 00:41:12,671 Is it a hit? Is it not a hit? 937 00:41:12,704 --> 00:41:15,807 Is my listener going to care? Because I don't care. 938 00:41:15,841 --> 00:41:17,442 You know, and that would break your heart 939 00:41:17,475 --> 00:41:18,710 because you worked so hard to write a song, 940 00:41:18,744 --> 00:41:20,111 record a song, promote a song, 941 00:41:20,145 --> 00:41:23,114 and you go out there and the attitude was like, 942 00:41:23,148 --> 00:41:25,483 what does it matter to me? It's all widgets. 943 00:41:25,517 --> 00:41:27,485 So you needed guys that loves music. 944 00:41:27,519 --> 00:41:29,588 You know, he loves the music, 945 00:41:29,621 --> 00:41:31,990 and it doesn't have to be rock and roll. 946 00:41:32,023 --> 00:41:34,726 But he also -- he gets the rock and roll thing. 947 00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:38,363 He played new music, he played hit music, 948 00:41:38,396 --> 00:41:40,932 and he would fall in love with songs 949 00:41:40,966 --> 00:41:43,569 and play them no matter what the chart position was 950 00:41:43,602 --> 00:41:46,705 at any given time, which was unique. 951 00:41:46,738 --> 00:41:52,911 When you're really using the phrase to be a great 952 00:41:52,944 --> 00:41:57,716 radio person, love of music allows you to be different 953 00:41:57,749 --> 00:42:00,719 to not be totally predictable. 954 00:42:00,752 --> 00:42:03,722 And for that contagious spirit to come through. 955 00:42:03,755 --> 00:42:08,860 - One of the most amazing things for me is to remember the people 956 00:42:08,894 --> 00:42:10,762 that walk through our hallways 957 00:42:10,796 --> 00:42:13,398 and these people got up really early in the morning 958 00:42:13,431 --> 00:42:15,000 and they came to Secaucus. 959 00:42:15,033 --> 00:42:17,402 And I was promoting "Johnny Dangerously" 960 00:42:17,435 --> 00:42:18,837 or "Wise Guys" one of the films, 961 00:42:18,870 --> 00:42:20,772 "Would you go on The Morning Zoo? 962 00:42:20,806 --> 00:42:21,907 Would you go on with Scott Shannon?" 963 00:42:21,940 --> 00:42:23,942 I said, "Are you kidding me?" This guy wrote the book. 964 00:42:23,975 --> 00:42:28,113 - Oh, my God, I got through finally, my first time. 965 00:42:28,146 --> 00:42:29,748 - Oh, how do you like that? 966 00:42:29,781 --> 00:42:31,983 Oh, it's your first time, I'm so excited. 967 00:42:32,017 --> 00:42:35,453 - Stations like Z100 made me feel like 968 00:42:35,486 --> 00:42:39,858 I had the freedom to do really experimental projects, 969 00:42:39,891 --> 00:42:44,763 and if we somehow nailed it, that it would wind up on Z100. 970 00:42:44,796 --> 00:42:47,565 We didn't -- we didn't -- we didn't try to say, 971 00:42:47,599 --> 00:42:49,167 "Oh, let's make a Z100 record, 972 00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:51,202 "let's make a record from our hearts 973 00:42:51,236 --> 00:42:53,171 "that we think is really cool. 974 00:42:53,204 --> 00:42:56,975 "And if they think it's cool, home free." 975 00:42:57,008 --> 00:42:59,611 - When Z100, when those deejays, and they got behind it 976 00:42:59,645 --> 00:43:01,913 and when people were pulling for you and pushing and -- 977 00:43:01,947 --> 00:43:03,915 and the radio was on fire for you, 978 00:43:03,949 --> 00:43:05,150 you just never got higher. 979 00:43:05,183 --> 00:43:07,986 Everybody was in it together. It was a beautiful feeling. 980 00:43:08,019 --> 00:43:09,755 It took Top 40, Top 20 music, 981 00:43:09,788 --> 00:43:13,091 and and turned it into a lifestyle. 982 00:43:13,124 --> 00:43:15,827 You know, it became a brand. It was really interesting. 983 00:43:15,861 --> 00:43:19,530 It was a marvelous time to be on radio and to break. 984 00:43:19,564 --> 00:43:21,232 - You know, you're looking for signs. 985 00:43:21,266 --> 00:43:23,835 Do I have a hit record? 986 00:43:23,869 --> 00:43:27,639 Do I have a record that is not 987 00:43:27,673 --> 00:43:30,175 just going to be a local or regional hit, 988 00:43:30,208 --> 00:43:35,080 but do I have a record that's a national hit 989 00:43:35,113 --> 00:43:38,083 that likely couldn't go -- 990 00:43:38,116 --> 00:43:41,586 let's say to the Top 10 of the charts. 991 00:43:41,619 --> 00:43:44,522 So that in memory, 992 00:43:44,555 --> 00:43:47,158 it's hard to think of a more important ad 993 00:43:47,192 --> 00:43:50,128 than Z100, which says to you, 994 00:43:50,161 --> 00:43:53,064 okay, you have a hit record. 995 00:43:53,098 --> 00:43:55,767 When it came to my career, 996 00:43:55,801 --> 00:43:58,603 you know, when I started to pay attention, 997 00:43:58,636 --> 00:44:02,674 in essence, when I was born in 1983, 998 00:44:02,708 --> 00:44:03,909 that's when I would pay attention to -- 999 00:44:03,942 --> 00:44:08,914 to what a radio station meant from a business standpoint, 1000 00:44:08,947 --> 00:44:11,683 not just, you know, a kid with his ear to the speaker. 1001 00:44:11,717 --> 00:44:15,821 And so the reach of Z100 was felt from coast to coast. 1002 00:44:15,854 --> 00:44:17,789 - It was a tough ad to get. 1003 00:44:17,823 --> 00:44:20,992 But if you got it and it went on the radio and it worked, 1004 00:44:21,026 --> 00:44:24,062 it was exciting and it was more exciting 1005 00:44:24,095 --> 00:44:27,733 because it wasn't cookie cutter, all of the same sound. 1006 00:44:27,766 --> 00:44:31,202 It wasn't all rock or pop/rock or dance. 1007 00:44:31,236 --> 00:44:33,972 It was the best of the best. 1008 00:44:34,005 --> 00:44:36,041 - If you were an artist and you know 1009 00:44:36,074 --> 00:44:39,210 that you wound up on the Z100 playlist 1010 00:44:39,244 --> 00:44:41,179 because that's what we all wanted to do. 1011 00:44:41,212 --> 00:44:46,017 We want to crossover because crossover means that the person 1012 00:44:46,051 --> 00:44:50,756 that you don't expect to love your music, loves your music, 1013 00:44:50,789 --> 00:44:52,323 and I don't care what people say. 1014 00:44:52,357 --> 00:44:56,294 If they tell you something other than this, they are lying. 1015 00:44:56,327 --> 00:45:00,298 They are lying. They are lying. 1016 00:45:00,331 --> 00:45:04,836 One of my fondest memories of going up to visit 1017 00:45:04,870 --> 00:45:08,073 with The Morning Crew was a Christmas special, 1018 00:45:08,106 --> 00:45:10,675 and I was in a sweater and a scarf. 1019 00:45:10,708 --> 00:45:13,278 And Michael Damien, who's still a friend to this day, 1020 00:45:13,311 --> 00:45:18,884 was up there and he was wearing a hat, a black round bowler hat. 1021 00:45:18,917 --> 00:45:23,254 And I said, "Oh, I love hats. Can I try that on?" 1022 00:45:23,288 --> 00:45:26,224 And took the hat off his head, put it on, walked out with it. 1023 00:45:26,257 --> 00:45:29,761 That was the black hat 1024 00:45:29,795 --> 00:45:32,931 that you've seen throughout my entire career. 1025 00:45:32,964 --> 00:45:36,234 It was given to me by Michael Damien on The Z100 1026 00:45:36,267 --> 00:45:38,904 Morning Show with Scott and the crew. 1027 00:45:38,937 --> 00:45:40,071 - We signed on the air in New York, 1028 00:45:40,105 --> 00:45:43,274 a brand-new radio station, a little mini radio station 1029 00:45:43,308 --> 00:45:45,777 that wanted to go from worst to first. 1030 00:45:45,811 --> 00:45:48,246 - So the next morning I get up, I go to work. 1031 00:45:48,279 --> 00:45:49,815 - He just went nuts. 1032 00:45:49,848 --> 00:45:53,819 - I don't say a word to the members of the Zoo. 1033 00:45:53,852 --> 00:45:57,823 Long about 8:00 I pull out that Associated Press 1034 00:45:57,856 --> 00:46:00,291 list of radio stations just rolled up. 1035 00:46:00,325 --> 00:46:03,128 I unroll it like this all the way down to the ground 1036 00:46:03,161 --> 00:46:04,863 and I'm gonna read them on the air. 1037 00:46:04,896 --> 00:46:07,132 - He was reaming out the entire team. 1038 00:46:07,165 --> 00:46:08,867 You know, this is not working. 1039 00:46:08,900 --> 00:46:11,136 You know, we got to raise our game. 1040 00:46:11,169 --> 00:46:12,971 We might as well just pack up our things and leave 1041 00:46:13,004 --> 00:46:14,739 and let the station go to dead air. 1042 00:46:14,772 --> 00:46:16,875 - I started reading from number one 1043 00:46:16,908 --> 00:46:18,376 and I get down to 20. 1044 00:46:18,409 --> 00:46:22,080 I said, "No Z100 and guess what? We're number 51." 1045 00:46:22,113 --> 00:46:26,885 I came here from Tampa, Florida, to build a great radio station. 1046 00:46:26,918 --> 00:46:28,386 And guess what? We suck! 1047 00:46:28,419 --> 00:46:29,354 - In the background, 1048 00:46:29,387 --> 00:46:31,923 you hear the little "Saturday Night Live" 1049 00:46:31,957 --> 00:46:34,993 Debbie Downer sound effects. 1050 00:46:35,026 --> 00:46:38,864 - I almost fell out of my chair. No one ever says that. 1051 00:46:38,897 --> 00:46:40,866 No one ever says you're doing poorly in radio. 1052 00:46:40,899 --> 00:46:44,669 - We are going to build a great radio station 1053 00:46:44,702 --> 00:46:46,737 and I'm talking to you, the listeners. 1054 00:46:46,771 --> 00:46:49,340 You have to get on board and help us. 1055 00:46:49,374 --> 00:46:52,978 - He recruited the audience to build our audience. 1056 00:46:53,011 --> 00:46:55,146 - You know, that's a genius. 1057 00:46:55,180 --> 00:46:58,917 - Scott said, send in your name and the name 1058 00:46:58,950 --> 00:47:03,054 of 25 of your friends that you have turned on to Z100. 1059 00:47:03,088 --> 00:47:06,691 - Let people know that this station is on. 1060 00:47:06,724 --> 00:47:08,193 Take out an old sheet, get a magic marker, 1061 00:47:08,226 --> 00:47:10,896 write Z100 on it 1062 00:47:10,929 --> 00:47:13,764 and a hanging out your window in Brooklyn, the Bronx, 1063 00:47:13,798 --> 00:47:15,333 Staten Island, Long Island, wherever you are. 1064 00:47:15,366 --> 00:47:17,735 We need your help. 1065 00:47:17,768 --> 00:47:20,972 - People would hang signs out their windows 1066 00:47:21,006 --> 00:47:23,942 and people were wearing their Z shirts. 1067 00:47:23,975 --> 00:47:25,977 If they had jackets, they had pins on them, 1068 00:47:26,011 --> 00:47:27,745 you know, for the station. 1069 00:47:27,778 --> 00:47:30,081 - They became our advertising agency. 1070 00:47:30,115 --> 00:47:33,218 - Take a piece of paper, make a homemade bumper sticker. 1071 00:47:33,251 --> 00:47:37,388 Put it in the rear window. "I listen to Z100." 1072 00:47:37,422 --> 00:47:41,092 I want our listeners to be a part of our trip. 1073 00:47:41,126 --> 00:47:43,328 We're going to play more music. We're going to play better. 1074 00:47:43,361 --> 00:47:44,963 We're going to give away the most money. 1075 00:47:44,996 --> 00:47:46,731 - You could win $20,000. 1076 00:47:46,764 --> 00:47:47,832 $25,000. 1077 00:47:47,865 --> 00:47:49,968 $30,000. 1078 00:47:50,001 --> 00:47:52,904 We will build a great radio station. 1079 00:47:52,938 --> 00:47:56,908 I promise you, I guarantee you it's going to happen. 1080 00:47:56,942 --> 00:47:59,010 - Then you hear the little "Rocky" music coming up. 1081 00:47:59,044 --> 00:48:00,778 - We're going from worst to first. 1082 00:48:00,811 --> 00:48:03,281 Nothing's going to stop us. 1083 00:48:03,314 --> 00:48:05,150 - So he got the audience on our side, made us the underdog. 1084 00:48:05,183 --> 00:48:07,018 - And long by that time, 1085 00:48:07,052 --> 00:48:09,854 I noticed Claire had already evacuated the room. 1086 00:48:09,887 --> 00:48:10,956 She was scared. 1087 00:48:10,989 --> 00:48:13,224 She thought I was having a heart attack or something. 1088 00:48:13,258 --> 00:48:16,861 John Bell says, "Your muscles in your neck are all stuck out. 1089 00:48:16,894 --> 00:48:19,430 You're okay? You need me to call a doctor?" 1090 00:48:19,464 --> 00:48:20,865 I said, "We're going to be fine. 1091 00:48:20,898 --> 00:48:23,401 We just have to go from worst to first." 1092 00:48:23,434 --> 00:48:26,871 - We're going from worst to first. 1093 00:48:26,904 --> 00:48:29,140 - And then he told all of us, 1094 00:48:29,174 --> 00:48:31,142 take a case of Z100 t-shirts, 1095 00:48:31,176 --> 00:48:34,179 put it in the trunk of your car, and every time you see somebody 1096 00:48:34,212 --> 00:48:35,413 walking by with one of those worst to first signs, 1097 00:48:35,446 --> 00:48:37,382 give him a t-shirt. 1098 00:48:37,415 --> 00:48:39,117 I drove through the streets of New York 1099 00:48:39,150 --> 00:48:43,021 and saw people hanging sheets out of office buildings. 1100 00:48:43,054 --> 00:48:44,522 "Z100 worst to first." 1101 00:48:44,555 --> 00:48:50,228 - We built that up step by step by running contests. 1102 00:48:50,261 --> 00:48:51,562 - [ Speaks indistinctly ] 1103 00:48:51,596 --> 00:48:54,065 $1,000 all day long, you're the second one today. 1104 00:48:54,099 --> 00:48:58,803 - And being at everything that went on in New York City, 1105 00:48:58,836 --> 00:49:00,271 you saw the Z100 can. 1106 00:49:00,305 --> 00:49:02,473 - We're at 51st at Avenue of the Americas. 1107 00:49:02,507 --> 00:49:04,109 It has tons and tons of t-shirts, 1108 00:49:04,142 --> 00:49:06,077 hats, buttons, and more. 1109 00:49:06,111 --> 00:49:11,482 - The fact that it was -- that it grew at this lightning pace 1110 00:49:11,516 --> 00:49:14,852 was a remarkable tribute to, you know, 1111 00:49:14,885 --> 00:49:17,288 viral growth at the time when there was no viral. 1112 00:49:17,322 --> 00:49:22,360 - This could have been the first viral campaign 1113 00:49:22,393 --> 00:49:25,430 10 years before the Internet even was invented. 1114 00:49:25,463 --> 00:49:28,099 - It showed a sense of determination, 1115 00:49:28,133 --> 00:49:29,600 a sense of ambition, 1116 00:49:29,634 --> 00:49:31,569 and people always root for the little guy. 1117 00:49:31,602 --> 00:49:33,238 It's just human nature. 1118 00:49:33,271 --> 00:49:36,441 It's the "Rocky" movie. That's exactly what Z100 was. 1119 00:49:36,474 --> 00:49:37,975 - Here is this new station 1120 00:49:38,009 --> 00:49:39,610 and we were doing something nobody else was doing. 1121 00:49:39,644 --> 00:49:43,548 This hodgepodge of people and personalities 1122 00:49:43,581 --> 00:49:46,517 that nobody had ever heard of who were suddenly challenging 1123 00:49:46,551 --> 00:49:49,220 the monsters of New York radio. 1124 00:49:49,254 --> 00:49:51,922 - And it wasn't just us. 1125 00:49:51,956 --> 00:49:56,194 It was the power of the people who love that radio station. 1126 00:49:56,227 --> 00:50:00,098 A great radio station has emotion, it has a soul. 1127 00:50:00,131 --> 00:50:04,969 And that day that radio station got that effing soul. 1128 00:50:05,002 --> 00:50:06,371 - It was a rant. 1129 00:50:06,404 --> 00:50:09,507 It was, and I'm sure, a calculated rant, of course. 1130 00:50:09,540 --> 00:50:12,143 - And next time, the book came out... 1131 00:50:12,177 --> 00:50:15,213 - What I have here are the advanced ratings, 1132 00:50:15,246 --> 00:50:17,882 and this envelope hot off the presses 1133 00:50:17,915 --> 00:50:19,250 has been hermetically sealed 1134 00:50:19,284 --> 00:50:21,186 in a mayonnaise jar 1135 00:50:21,219 --> 00:50:24,222 on Funk & Wagnalls' front porch. 1136 00:50:24,255 --> 00:50:26,424 Okay, here's the scoop. 1137 00:50:28,659 --> 00:50:31,262 [ Laughs ] They did it. They went from worst to first. 1138 00:50:31,296 --> 00:50:32,397 - Scott Shannon's next up. 1139 00:50:32,430 --> 00:50:34,165 - That's right, he's going to tell us how his station 1140 00:50:34,199 --> 00:50:36,534 went from worst to first. 1141 00:50:36,567 --> 00:50:38,103 - Scott Shannon's Morning Zoo took the station 1142 00:50:38,136 --> 00:50:41,539 from worst to first in 74 days. 1143 00:50:41,572 --> 00:50:43,108 - And in that short time 1144 00:50:43,141 --> 00:50:46,144 lived up to its slogan from worst to first. 1145 00:50:46,177 --> 00:50:48,413 - And took the station from worst to first. 1146 00:50:48,446 --> 00:50:52,350 - After the 74 days, we had caught the market flatfooted. 1147 00:50:52,383 --> 00:50:54,552 We had run over everybody. 1148 00:50:54,585 --> 00:50:56,354 These were wonderful radio companies. 1149 00:50:56,387 --> 00:50:57,688 This was Infinity. 1150 00:50:57,722 --> 00:51:00,558 This was Doubleday, this was CBS, ABC, NBC, 1151 00:51:00,591 --> 00:51:02,927 Westinghouse. 1152 00:51:02,960 --> 00:51:05,396 - I had a test. I call it the Ray's pizza test. 1153 00:51:05,430 --> 00:51:06,931 There was an Old Ray's pizza, 1154 00:51:06,964 --> 00:51:10,135 which is now closed on 6th Avenue and 11th Street. 1155 00:51:10,168 --> 00:51:13,971 They always had WKTU on. 1156 00:51:14,004 --> 00:51:16,307 All of a sudden, sure enough, 1157 00:51:16,341 --> 00:51:19,510 I went into Ray's pizza and I heard Z100, 1158 00:51:19,544 --> 00:51:21,612 and I knew that was an indicator. 1159 00:51:21,646 --> 00:51:23,548 They found us that we were -- 1160 00:51:23,581 --> 00:51:24,515 we were passing the Ray's pizza test. 1161 00:51:24,549 --> 00:51:25,516 We were on our way. 1162 00:51:25,550 --> 00:51:30,321 - They started at the very bottom of the barrel 1163 00:51:30,355 --> 00:51:32,990 and it was like lightning. 1164 00:51:33,023 --> 00:51:35,460 Z100 became the biggest thing in New York radio 1165 00:51:35,493 --> 00:51:37,228 and therefore, around the world. 1166 00:51:37,262 --> 00:51:39,997 - That is Scott's marketing genius. 1167 00:51:40,030 --> 00:51:44,669 - I obviously was popular in Tampa and was on TV 1168 00:51:44,702 --> 00:51:46,737 and in the newspaper and all that, 1169 00:51:46,771 --> 00:51:51,309 but nothing could have prepared me for what hit me 1170 00:51:51,342 --> 00:51:53,711 when we got to first place in New York. 1171 00:51:53,744 --> 00:51:56,614 - They're the hottest duo on your radio dial. 1172 00:51:56,647 --> 00:51:59,450 - Joining us now with the wizards of the hit radio. 1173 00:51:59,484 --> 00:52:03,288 - A relative newcomer is the king of morning drive. 1174 00:52:03,321 --> 00:52:04,422 - Helping bring this music our way 1175 00:52:04,455 --> 00:52:07,024 is Z Morning Zoo deejay Scott Shannon. 1176 00:52:07,057 --> 00:52:10,395 - The wizard of Z100 program director 1177 00:52:10,428 --> 00:52:11,696 and disc jockey, Scott Shannon. 1178 00:52:11,729 --> 00:52:13,598 - It was all a blur to me. 1179 00:52:13,631 --> 00:52:15,700 I mean, one minute I'm flying into Chicago 1180 00:52:15,733 --> 00:52:19,204 to be on Oprah, and the next minute I got 1181 00:52:19,237 --> 00:52:20,638 "Good Morning America" 1182 00:52:20,671 --> 00:52:24,041 in the studio with us, cameras everywhere. 1183 00:52:24,074 --> 00:52:26,043 - The Zoo is a Molotov cocktail 1184 00:52:26,076 --> 00:52:28,579 of call-ins, characters, contests. 1185 00:52:28,613 --> 00:52:29,514 A lot of clowning. 1186 00:52:29,547 --> 00:52:31,782 And, of course, the Top 40 chart busters. 1187 00:52:31,816 --> 00:52:34,252 It is the number one radio show in the nation, 1188 00:52:34,285 --> 00:52:37,154 and we join zoo crew deejay Scott Shannon and Ross Britton 1189 00:52:37,188 --> 00:52:39,657 in the Z100 control room 1190 00:52:39,690 --> 00:52:41,058 and live on the air. 1191 00:52:41,091 --> 00:52:42,627 Hi, guys. 1192 00:52:42,660 --> 00:52:43,594 - 10 minutes after 8:00 in the morning. 1193 00:52:43,628 --> 00:52:45,696 Good morning, how are you? - I'm just fine. 1194 00:52:45,730 --> 00:52:47,532 How are you guys? 1195 00:52:47,565 --> 00:52:49,334 - I did Regis's show probably 10 times 1196 00:52:49,367 --> 00:52:52,403 I was on with Geraldo Rivera. 1197 00:52:52,437 --> 00:52:54,739 I was absolutely blindsided by all that. 1198 00:52:54,772 --> 00:52:57,375 I mean, it was on the cover of "New York Magazine." 1199 00:52:57,408 --> 00:53:00,545 The guy sat me down and did like five pages on me. 1200 00:53:00,578 --> 00:53:04,114 There's not five pages in me. That's not why I got into radio. 1201 00:53:04,148 --> 00:53:07,752 I got into radio because I love turning the microphone on. 1202 00:53:07,785 --> 00:53:11,422 I love putting the headphones on and talking to people. 1203 00:53:11,456 --> 00:53:14,759 Wait a minute. Good morning, Z100. Guess what? 1204 00:53:14,792 --> 00:53:17,061 You got $1,000. 1205 00:53:17,094 --> 00:53:20,398 [ Cheering ] 1206 00:53:20,431 --> 00:53:22,833 - I can't believe it. 1207 00:53:22,867 --> 00:53:25,336 - It's our birthday, but you got the present. 1208 00:53:25,370 --> 00:53:28,773 I love that part of it. That kid is still there in me. 1209 00:53:28,806 --> 00:53:31,309 I still feel that way when I get up in the morning. 1210 00:53:31,342 --> 00:53:33,210 I can't wait to get to work. 1211 00:53:33,244 --> 00:53:36,647 - I love Scott. He's always been really wonderful to me 1212 00:53:36,681 --> 00:53:40,184 and very friendly to me and, you know, 1213 00:53:40,217 --> 00:53:43,488 but always wanted me to do that shtick stuff. 1214 00:53:43,521 --> 00:53:47,825 But, you know, Scott, I like my rock and roll serious. 1215 00:53:47,858 --> 00:53:50,395 - There's a reason people are switching to Z100 because... 1216 00:53:50,428 --> 00:53:54,765 we're serious. - We're serious. 1217 00:53:54,799 --> 00:53:56,801 - My mother will never, ever speak to me this is... 1218 00:53:56,834 --> 00:53:58,303 - Hello. 1219 00:53:58,336 --> 00:54:02,172 [ Explosion ] 1220 00:54:02,206 --> 00:54:03,574 - One of the brilliant things 1221 00:54:03,608 --> 00:54:05,410 about Scott Shannon and the Morning Zoo 1222 00:54:05,443 --> 00:54:08,546 was his ability to ferret out a pop culture. 1223 00:54:08,579 --> 00:54:10,114 What was the hippest thing happening? 1224 00:54:10,147 --> 00:54:11,416 He saw where the trends were. 1225 00:54:11,449 --> 00:54:13,884 - One day our music director came in and said, 1226 00:54:13,918 --> 00:54:17,755 "There's a lady out front who won't go away. 1227 00:54:17,788 --> 00:54:19,724 "She comes every Tuesday, 1228 00:54:19,757 --> 00:54:22,293 and she insists that we have to play her record." 1229 00:54:22,327 --> 00:54:25,229 - * Borderline 1230 00:54:25,262 --> 00:54:29,800 * Feels like I'm going to lost my mind * 1231 00:54:29,834 --> 00:54:32,703 - Madonna used to call us on a regular basis. 1232 00:54:32,737 --> 00:54:34,339 She was not Madonna then. 1233 00:54:34,372 --> 00:54:36,707 She was just a woman 1234 00:54:36,741 --> 00:54:39,143 who was trying to get her record played. 1235 00:54:39,176 --> 00:54:42,547 So I quizzed him, I said, "Is anybody else playing it?" 1236 00:54:42,580 --> 00:54:45,683 "No, no. But she says it's big in the clubs." 1237 00:54:45,716 --> 00:54:48,886 I said, "Well, this isn't a club, it's a radio station." 1238 00:54:48,919 --> 00:54:52,156 He said, "She's very insistent she wants to see you now." 1239 00:54:52,189 --> 00:54:57,161 She would say to Scott, "That if you play my music now, 1240 00:54:57,194 --> 00:55:01,599 I will do something special for Z100 when I'm a star." 1241 00:55:01,632 --> 00:55:04,869 - So I said to her, I said, "If we play your record at night 1242 00:55:04,902 --> 00:55:07,905 "a couple of times, will you stay home next week? 1243 00:55:07,938 --> 00:55:09,574 You don't have to come back, right?" 1244 00:55:09,607 --> 00:55:10,808 She said, "Right." 1245 00:55:10,841 --> 00:55:13,478 And she said, "I promise I'll make it up to you." 1246 00:55:13,511 --> 00:55:16,914 Now that particular song was called "Holiday." 1247 00:55:16,947 --> 00:55:20,284 We put it on at night, it got a couple of phone calls, 1248 00:55:20,317 --> 00:55:22,252 I think it was her calling. 1249 00:55:22,286 --> 00:55:24,789 And -- and so we moved it to daytime 1250 00:55:24,822 --> 00:55:26,924 and it became a pretty big hit for us. 1251 00:55:26,957 --> 00:55:29,326 - Madonna decided to be a movie star 1252 00:55:29,360 --> 00:55:30,294 with a soundtrack, obviously. 1253 00:55:30,327 --> 00:55:31,762 The name of the movie, 1254 00:55:31,796 --> 00:55:34,331 and the name of the single was "Who's That Girl?" 1255 00:55:34,365 --> 00:55:37,602 We make a deal with Madonna that the world premiere of the movie 1256 00:55:37,635 --> 00:55:41,606 in Times Square will air on Z100 live. 1257 00:55:41,639 --> 00:55:43,841 - On the way to the Madonna appearance at Times Square 1258 00:55:43,874 --> 00:55:47,545 with a rabid audience of about 15, 20,000 people. 1259 00:55:47,578 --> 00:55:48,879 I'm sitting there with Scott Shannon 1260 00:55:48,913 --> 00:55:50,415 and just him and I in the limo. 1261 00:55:50,448 --> 00:55:52,450 He insists on wearing a Z100 t-shirt. 1262 00:55:52,483 --> 00:55:54,619 I was all dressed up. 1263 00:55:54,652 --> 00:55:57,254 I had the blazer. I thought I was looking pretty good. 1264 00:55:57,287 --> 00:56:01,892 We fought all the way there. I ended up wearing his shirt. 1265 00:56:01,926 --> 00:56:06,363 - We had like 10, 12,000 people gathered together 1266 00:56:06,397 --> 00:56:08,899 in Times Square. They built a big stage up there. 1267 00:56:08,933 --> 00:56:12,570 They had like 50 or 60 photographers 1268 00:56:12,603 --> 00:56:15,873 and videographers down in the bullpen in front. 1269 00:56:15,906 --> 00:56:19,577 People hanging out of windows all up and down the street. 1270 00:56:19,610 --> 00:56:21,946 Madonna fans as far as you could see. 1271 00:56:21,979 --> 00:56:23,614 She arrived in a limousine, 1272 00:56:23,648 --> 00:56:27,017 jumped up on stage in a beautiful gown 1273 00:56:27,051 --> 00:56:27,918 and welcomed everybody. 1274 00:56:27,952 --> 00:56:29,954 Told the whole story 1275 00:56:29,987 --> 00:56:33,357 of how she arrived in New York for the very first time. 1276 00:57:07,792 --> 00:57:10,695 It was one of the best days in the history of the station. 1277 00:57:13,564 --> 00:57:15,600 - You started broadcasting from the top 1278 00:57:15,633 --> 00:57:17,702 of the Empire State Building, 1279 00:57:17,735 --> 00:57:20,871 and now Z100 heard all around the world. 1280 00:57:20,905 --> 00:57:22,607 That's something. 1281 00:57:22,640 --> 00:57:25,943 - It's just what I do. I mean, that's my job. 1282 00:57:25,976 --> 00:57:29,780 My job is to build radio stations and to do radio, 1283 00:57:29,814 --> 00:57:32,416 and ever since I was a kid, that's what I wanted to do. 1284 00:57:32,449 --> 00:57:38,355 And, you know, it just comes with the territory. 1285 00:57:38,388 --> 00:57:42,527 - The Z100 New York Morning Zoo 1286 00:57:42,560 --> 00:57:45,730 with Scott and Ross 1287 00:57:45,763 --> 00:57:48,699 the last time around. 1288 00:57:48,733 --> 00:57:58,442 ** 1289 00:57:58,475 --> 00:58:05,015 ** 1290 00:58:05,049 --> 00:58:07,618 - It's the 2019 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball, 1291 00:58:07,652 --> 00:58:10,755 the biggest holiday music event of the year. 1292 00:58:10,788 --> 00:58:13,858 - * Alarm clocks ring in my head * 1293 00:58:13,891 --> 00:58:16,126 * My body's still screaming, it's dead * 1294 00:58:16,160 --> 00:58:19,096 The legacy of Z100 from inception 1295 00:58:19,129 --> 00:58:20,898 was David and Goliath. 1296 00:58:20,931 --> 00:58:23,601 - Scott set a tone. 1297 00:58:23,634 --> 00:58:27,471 He set an image that transcended hipness, 1298 00:58:27,504 --> 00:58:28,573 and he was just by himself. 1299 00:58:28,606 --> 00:58:31,909 - Scott Shannon is probably the best program director 1300 00:58:31,942 --> 00:58:34,845 in the United States of America, as well as being 1301 00:58:34,879 --> 00:58:37,615 one of the finest air personalities in the world. 1302 00:58:37,648 --> 00:58:43,120 - New York is a place where radio personalities are bigger 1303 00:58:43,153 --> 00:58:44,922 than the music they're playing. 1304 00:58:44,955 --> 00:58:49,960 For me, you know, he'll always be one of those guys. Giant. 1305 00:58:49,994 --> 00:58:54,064 - Scott had these incredible personal relationships. 1306 00:58:54,098 --> 00:58:55,866 He made it a point. 1307 00:58:55,900 --> 00:58:58,636 Don't just play the song. Get to know the person. 1308 00:58:58,669 --> 00:59:00,805 You know? What's making that person tick? 1309 00:59:00,838 --> 00:59:04,675 It really sets the tone for the radio world. 1310 00:59:04,709 --> 00:59:06,711 - He created something that could keep going, 1311 00:59:06,744 --> 00:59:10,047 that Elvis could come and continue that legacy 1312 00:59:10,080 --> 00:59:11,916 and create something a little different 1313 00:59:11,949 --> 00:59:13,651 and continue that. 1314 00:59:13,684 --> 00:59:16,153 We've all seen those whether it's shows, 1315 00:59:16,186 --> 00:59:18,723 whether it's radio or television or whatever, 1316 00:59:18,756 --> 00:59:20,925 that has a quick rise and a quick fall. 1317 00:59:20,958 --> 00:59:23,160 Didn't happen with Z100. 1318 00:59:23,193 --> 00:59:25,495 You're talking about almost 40 years. 1319 00:59:25,529 --> 00:59:28,699 - Scott was -- was a renegade, 1320 00:59:28,733 --> 00:59:31,535 an outlier who just had it right here in his gut. 1321 00:59:31,568 --> 00:59:33,570 - How do we hold hands and win together? 1322 00:59:33,604 --> 00:59:35,740 And that was what Scott solicited from everybody. 1323 00:59:35,773 --> 00:59:38,008 - We may not have agreed on everything, 1324 00:59:38,042 --> 00:59:41,578 but at the end of the day, the amazing thing that happened 1325 00:59:41,612 --> 00:59:44,048 was that the right thing came out of the center. 1326 00:59:44,081 --> 00:59:47,551 - Z100 was more than just a radio station. 1327 00:59:47,584 --> 00:59:50,921 There was something about what was being broadcast 1328 00:59:50,955 --> 00:59:54,759 over that radio frequency that united millions of people. 1329 00:59:54,792 --> 00:59:57,762 - When I walked down the hall and look in the window 1330 00:59:57,795 --> 01:00:00,965 at the radio station that used to be my dreaded enemy 1331 01:00:00,998 --> 01:00:05,569 and is now among my best friends and I see that group of people, 1332 01:00:05,602 --> 01:00:08,005 I understand that Scott Shannon's influence 1333 01:00:08,038 --> 01:00:09,807 is still very much there. 1334 01:00:09,840 --> 01:00:12,176 Understanding your audience, who's listening? 1335 01:00:12,209 --> 01:00:14,178 What do they want to hear? What do they not want to hear? 1336 01:00:14,211 --> 01:00:16,046 And that was always the importance with Scott 1337 01:00:16,080 --> 01:00:17,648 and his reign at Z100, 1338 01:00:17,682 --> 01:00:18,883 and it's definitely the importance with us. 1339 01:00:18,916 --> 01:00:21,151 We've got to keep an eye on where we're going. 1340 01:00:21,185 --> 01:00:22,619 We have to listen. We have to learn. 1341 01:00:22,653 --> 01:00:25,723 Z100 is New York City. 1342 01:00:25,756 --> 01:00:29,026 It just always has been, and it always will be. 1343 01:00:29,059 --> 01:00:31,561 - Surveying the universe 1344 01:00:31,595 --> 01:00:36,100 From the top of the Empire State Building. 1345 01:00:36,133 --> 01:00:40,805 Z100 -- the flame thrower. 1346 01:00:40,838 --> 01:00:48,746 ** 1347 01:00:48,779 --> 01:00:51,816 - * The alarm clock's ring in my head * 1348 01:00:51,849 --> 01:00:55,085 * My body's still screaming it's dead * 1349 01:00:55,119 --> 01:00:58,222 * When you can't get to sleep it's so rough * 1350 01:00:58,255 --> 01:01:01,892 * Getting up in the morning's so tough * 1351 01:01:01,926 --> 01:01:05,295 * Zoo 1352 01:01:05,329 --> 01:01:08,532 * Aah, aah 1353 01:01:08,565 --> 01:01:11,035 * When I cut myself when I shave * 1354 01:01:11,068 --> 01:01:14,671 * And my hair won't even behave * 1355 01:01:14,705 --> 01:01:17,742 * There's only one thing left for me to do * 1356 01:01:17,775 --> 01:01:19,977 * Crank it up to the Z Morning Zoo * 1357 01:01:20,010 --> 01:01:24,081 * Good morning on the Z Morning Zoo * 1358 01:01:24,114 --> 01:01:27,251 * Rise and shine with folks like you * 1359 01:01:27,284 --> 01:01:30,755 * Get up with the Morning Z Zoo * 1360 01:01:30,788 --> 01:01:33,758 * Well, I'm ready to give up the ghost * 1361 01:01:33,791 --> 01:01:37,094 * 'Cause I'm burning my coffee and toast * 1362 01:01:37,127 --> 01:01:40,264 * But I'm doing the best I can do * 1363 01:01:40,297 --> 01:01:42,833 * Getting up with the Z Morning Zoo * 1364 01:01:42,867 --> 01:01:46,837 * Good morning on the Z Morning Zoo * 1365 01:01:46,871 --> 01:01:51,976 * The Z Morning Zoo 1366 01:01:52,009 --> 01:01:55,179 * Aah, aah 1367 01:01:55,212 --> 01:01:59,649 * Good morning from the Z Morning Zoo * 1368 01:01:59,683 --> 01:02:02,352 * Rise and shine with folks like you * 1369 01:02:02,386 --> 01:02:06,123 * Good morning from the Z Morning Zoo * 1370 01:02:06,156 --> 01:02:10,260 * Get up with the Morning Z Zoo * 1371 01:02:10,294 --> 01:02:12,596 * Get up with the morning, get up with the morning * 1372 01:02:12,629 --> 01:02:15,665 * Get up with the Morning Z Zoo * 1373 01:02:15,699 --> 01:02:22,339 - * Something in your eyes is making such a fool of me * 1374 01:02:22,372 --> 01:02:25,776 * When you hold me in your arms and love me * 1375 01:02:25,810 --> 01:02:30,747 * Till I just can't see 1376 01:02:30,781 --> 01:02:35,219 * But then you let me down when I look around * 1377 01:02:35,252 --> 01:02:38,889 * Baby, it just can't be found 1378 01:02:38,923 --> 01:02:42,960 * Stop driving me away I just wanna stay * 1379 01:02:42,993 --> 01:02:47,697 * It's something I just got to say * 1380 01:02:47,731 --> 01:02:52,302 * Just try to understand 1381 01:02:52,336 --> 01:02:56,373 * I'll give it all I can 1382 01:02:56,406 --> 01:03:00,811 * 'Cause you got the best of me * 1383 01:03:00,845 --> 01:03:03,113 * Yeah 1384 01:03:03,147 --> 01:03:06,183 * Borderline 1385 01:03:06,216 --> 01:03:10,420 * Feels like I'm going to lose my mind * 1386 01:03:10,454 --> 01:03:14,291 * You just keep on pushing my love * 1387 01:03:14,324 --> 01:03:16,760 * Over the borderline 1388 01:03:16,793 --> 01:03:18,362 Good job, dad.