At the 13th Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame ceremonies, M. Dung and Jude Heller were among the honorees. The ceremony went pretty badly, but it was gratifying to see Mike and Jude recognized for their excellent work.
A wise Buddhist (is there any other kind?) once told me, "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all."
If I believed that nonsense, I wouldn't be able to report on the 13th Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame induction luncheon at all.
Actually, the food was good at the Basque Cultural Center in South San Francisco; so was the weather. And there were plenty of opportunities for schmoozing.
That's it. Drive carefully!
The event, hosted Oct. 13 by the Broadcast Legends, welcomed 10 broadcasters into the Hall of Fame, along with a Legendary Station of the Year (KDIA). And it did not enshrine, but honored KSFO's Brian Sussman for winning the popular vote, if not the electoral college, for a Don Sherwood Award.
Now, I am close to the Legends, the hall of fame (for whatever reason, I was inducted in 2010) and its affiliate, the California Historical Radio Society. So I'll be as gentle as possible.
It was a hot mess.
It began with a microphone malfunction and the wrong inductee being called up, throwing two parties into confusion: the inductee expecting to go up first, and the presenter who thought she was far later in the program.
It ended, nearly two hours later, with KDIA, the powerful R&B station of the '60s, being represented by ... no one. I heard that BARHOF tried hard to get one former staffer to show up, without success. So the station got a reading of a truncated history. It deserved much better. So did the late Gene Burns and Scott Beach, who had no one accepting for them.
At least their enshrining didn't go overtime, as several inductees and presenters of honorees did. Speakers talking over their time limits is the norm. People will be people. But professional broadcasters should act professionally. As one attendee said, "You would think that a hundred broadcasters with a thousand years of experience could make a microphone work."
Besides those glitches, there were typos on the video screen, so that Bill Wattenberg and Patricia Krock (wife of inductee Fred Krock), being noted in an "In Memoriam" segment, had their names botched.
But the worst mistakes were the most obvious. Several videos failed to play. Greg Papa, inducted in the sportscaster category, was out of town and sent a video. He chose, as his presenter, former radio executive Tony Salvadore, who also made a video. Neither one played properly, and MC Terry McGovern had to improvise, lip-syncing over the silent Salvadore: "I'm happy to miss this lunch. Last year the pasta gave me heartburn." McGovern was hilarious, but the snafu was a disgrace.
And for the induction of KYA star Chris Edwards, his widow, Cynthia Edwards Reinholtz, a devoted volunteer to CHRS since his death in 2014, had a special audio-video montage to accompany her speech. It never materialized. She soldiered through her tribute and won praise from her table, which included three KYA alumni, Steve Rood, Tom Saunders and, flying in from Washington, D.C., "Tall" Tom Campbell. Despite the support, she was crushed.
On the flip side, there were nice inductions for South Bay pioneer Floyd Farr (KEEN) and Sonoma's Gordon Zlot, owner of Redwood Empire Stereocasters. But Zlot was no empire builder. As his VP/GM Tom Skinner said, unlike most station owners, "he chose to be successful in just one market." And Zlot recalled humble beginnings, as a 9-year old with a low-power station. "I had one listener: the girl next door."
The inductions of KFOG promotions wizard Jude Heller and the late DJ "M. Dung " (Mike Slavko) drew numerous supporters, including Wes "Scoop" Nisker, Kim Wonderley, Peter Finch, engineer Bill Ruck, programmer Dave Benson and music director Haley Jones, and Heller's partner in promotion, Wendy Pearson Campbell.
Heller declared herself not nostalgic for the KFOG that is no more. "I'm excited about the next evolution," she said. "All we need is for the corporations to stay out of the way and let us do our work."
Slavko's widow, Judy Crum, worked through another audio-video snafu and recalled, with affection, having to get used to how loud the DJ was, recording shows from a room in their home. Once, a concerned neighbor came by and asked, "Is there some domestic abuse going on?" "I laughed and said, 'No, it's just Dung.' "
When McGovern asked her why he called himself "Dung," Crum said, "He couldn't say 's–' on the radio."
Another revelation: Jon Bristow of KCBS, inducted as a newscaster, is a killer karaoke singer. So said his colleague Scott Lettieri — also a crooner.
Sussman, morning host on KSFO, the conservative talk station, was the most casually dressed of the honorees, in a sharp blue (blue!) shirt, no tie, no jacket. Noting the unpredictability of the business, he said that, if and when he loses his gig, he'll simply say, "It was a hell of a great ride!"
Too bad the Hall of Fame's own ride this year was such a bumpy one.
Photos
Honorees at the 2018 Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame ceremonies included Jon Bristow (left), Fred Krock, Brian Sussman, Jude Heller and Gordon Zlot. Photo: Mike Adams
Inductee Chris Edwards was honored at the 2018 Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame ceremonies by his widow, Cynthia, and fellow former KYA DJ Tom Saunders. Photo: Ben Fong-Torres