Dr. Johnny fever is a better name that John Caravella.
I would think some is how much easier it is to remember most DJ names as opposed to actual names. If you are from the Midwest and I say “Bob and Tom” you probably got it pegged in your brain but the last names (even though they are given a fair amount of the time) are a mystery to most people.
Thanks, Siam Sam. I wonder if they have a class on anti-stalker tactics in broadcasting school?
He had a coffee cupwith each of his previous names printed on it and crossed off.
Don’t know why those women stalked them. Ever heard the phrase “A face for radio”? I recently shot a reunion for all the DJs for KY-102 in Kansas City, MO. Lots of faces fit for radio.
When I got my first job on a top-40 station in the '60s our station manager took me aside and said, “Kid we’ve got to get you another name.” My last name had far too many consonants and my first was too long apparently. He reversed my first two initials and I became “TV on the Radio” and my show became “TV Time.” My patter improved and I worked a number of different formats (changing my name for each). One thing I never got used to was when I was working a dance or a personal appearance, the comment, “You know, you’re much taller on the radio.”
Although Chick Mcgee and Kristi Lee are stage names.
Good answers, everyone. Thanks, all.
Anonymity has its value. If you have a face made for radio, you get all the insufficient pay, but nobody hassling you outside of work. I personally have known two bay area radio personalities (and one retired TV news guy, who has by far the best voice). Both of them use(d) on air stage names, one was an especially hot looking lady back in the 70s (Melissa McConnell anyone?) and she could go anywhere and just be normal. The other is Ron Woodson, who is actually a quiet shy and mild sports analyst. He can go anywhere and even though he is on TV some, as long as he brings Gary Radnich, everyone leaves him alone. And yes, Radnich is every bit as over the top when he is not working.
But Dean is Dean and with him that’s no act. That’s pretty much him 24/7 from what I’ve seen.
Bruce Morrow adopted the “Cousin Brucie” handle from something that happened early in his DJ career. One station he worked at (Miami, I think) had a policy of letting members of the public in the building to watch announcers as they broadcasted. One day a black woman came in. After awhile, while a record was playing, she asked Morrow if he thought all people were cousins underneath the skin. When he said yes, she said “in that case, cousin, can you lend me a quarter?”.
Morrow decided that the word “cousin” automatically brought good feelings to people-seeing relatives again, perhaps a special dinner, a chance to catch up on what had happened since the last
meeting. So calling himself “Cousin Brucie” would automatically instill good feelings in listeners.
It also allows them to get away with things they wouldn’t risk doing under their real names.
When I was in high school I spent a lot of time home sick/ recovering from surgeries. After the back surgery ( 3 disks removed, fused 4 vertebrae, rods) I wasn’t allowed to roll over or sit up unassisted for two months. Any time I got out of bed I had to wear a two sided plastic brace that went form shoulders to hips. My “friends” wanted no part of that mess and disappeared. I was bored, depressed, and lonely. I was also awake at odd hours because it didn’t matter when I slept. I kept a radio on my bed to listen to when there was nothing on TV. Late one night, I had nothing better to do, so I called to request a song.
The DJ who answered my call was started asking me questions. He said he was bored and that it was rare to get calls during the overnight hours. He asked me my age, 14 at that time, and he asked what I was doing awake. I told him about myself and he seemed to be honestly interested in my life. It was exactly what I wanted to hear. We talked for a couple of hours with him putting the phone down to do station ID stuff between songs. Things went on that way, one or twice a week for about a year.
He would ask me the usual friend questions but every now and then something weird would come up. What do you look like? What kind of clothes do you like to wear? Nothing alarming but just a little off. The whole 40-something man having long convos with a 14 year old girl thing was weird enough so I just let it go. Just before I turned 15 he asked about meeting me in person. I went by the station where he worked (that’s its own weird tale) and just missed him so I left him a note. Not long after that he disappeared from radio for a while. Then I saw on the news that he had been arrested for rape and child molestation. I dodged a bullet there.
The oddest part of this story is that he was one of the few DJ’s on that station who did work under his real name. Maybe if he had used a fake name he could have gotten away with what he was doing longer. It’s probably for the best that he wasn’t smart enough to separate his normal life from his “hobby”.