During my ego driven self described heyday as a radio disc jockey, gifted to the path were the artists who make up the background of why fifty one percent of us continue to depend on radio. While standing with the singer/songwriters and performers it was my constant push to not be like the rest that allowed opportunity to pull from the music makers answers not found in Rollingstone, People or Musician magazine.
How often do you find yourself sitting around an uncovered wooden table with Timothy B Schmidt and Joe Walsh of the Eagles and in walks Ringo Starr? Shaking hands and walking back to the dressing room with Gene Simmons before being covered with makeup. Being backstage with Macy Gray during the seconds that followed her hard road to get there performance or being invited into the infamous Green Room by Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 after his road manager felt it was his need to shove radio people to the side.
I got into these tough un-colorized corners of the world by using what I jokingly call The Obe One Kenobe approach to accessing real versus an act. If the world could see how I turn everything into an avenue of showmanship and prep I’d finally be given the single opportunity to perform on radio’s biggest stages. Until then…I keep practicing, every day, every night because once inside the vision of those helping to shape American culture…the right questions are required or the earned respect that got me there would be fed through a grinder then swiftly taken out with the rest of the trash.
Luck is the combination of preparation and opportunity. Charlie Gibson of ABC News put these words into action in 2007 when big wig decision makers announced he wouldn’t be replacing Peter Jennings. Being there for consideration can sometimes be the greatest moment of your life…a test of sorts to see how bad you want something. Through hard work and continued dedication his efforts were finally given the chance to breathe which gave him the opportunity to step in.
In Tae Kwon Do the journey to black belt is interrupted by a single stripe…you’ve proven your leadership qualities and loyalty to learn more about the art to fellow students but before anyone is invited to test for black belt…a six month waiting period must be observed…Bo-cha-dan. If living the life of a black belt is what you truly desire, you’re given half a year to fine tune the letters of the alphabet in hopes of creating a single word that belongs inside an unwritten sentence.
Success is no different. I meet and communicate with future radio talent every day with high hopes that one of them will be willing enough to step up the batters box and put me away. Joel Olsteen believes we’ve become the generation of mediocrity…the quality of performance and objects created through an act of creation are no longer expected to be the best anyone can do. So what are the real chances anyone that studies under me will experience the challenges I've faced for thirty years?
Eating at a restaurant with a 90% rating is great because there’s only a ten percent chance we’ll become sick.
There was once a day when those making music came with a college education…Hall and Oats, Tom Sholtz of Boston, Freddie Mercury of Queen and Pete Townsend of The Who didn’t pack up the touring van and hit the road until degrees were freshly printed with their names blaring off the page like a live concert at Wimbley Stadium.
Kobe Bryant proved to the world of professionalism and vigor that a college education can halt your continued growth of being recognized. In 1996 I wrote in speeches delivered to high schools that his decision to suddenly go pro invited the next two generations of students to drop out. Four NBA championship rings later I find myself locked between two thoughts: Through preparation and opportunity Kobe’s luck has turned him into this nation’s current Michael Jordon. Yet...Steph Curry from Davidson has also elected not to finish college. What message did Kobe really preach?
The most recent to pour his path of great study and often times horrid avenues of regret into the goblets of success is nearly crowned American Idol Adam Lambert who never stepped off the unexpected journeys without having black eyes and bones that ached. At twenty seven his background is caked with raw stage experiences that taught him the difference between knocking something out and brilliantly landscaping a well focused passion to be remembered tomorrow.
While backstage during those self hyped days of radio play creatively I came up with a simple way to ask, “Who the heck are you and why do you think you’re here?” Clay Aiken was the only one who had me removed from the interview. I’m ok with that because as much of a common man as he is, the years that have passed got me the answered I required…he isn’t the reincarnation of Elvis Presley.
Richard Marx called himself the Hunch Back of Notre dam. Seal has to pinch himself everyday as a way to remind himself how real all of this is. Famed artist Peter Max can perfectly draw a human face but finds it incredibly boring. Lenny Kravitz purchased the Beatles recording board because it still has a story to tell. Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane and Starship owes the majority of her success to the rise and fall of early day FM radio and to this day remains completely connected to its vibration.
Luck is the combination of preparation and opportunity.
I send these words to Sheran Hussain a senior in at Gaston Day high school whose current drive and passion in life is to take a single idea of helping to purify water for third world countries and make it known the world of science. At sixteen he’s been gifted with the knowledge to eliminate the elements that lead to blue baby disease. This fall he’s been invited to speak at MIT where he’ll compete with other college students to gain access to making this endeavor the planets next great discovery.
A young lad with a playful smile, can barely sit still in a chair but his focus on unmasking the walls that stand before him inspires the unwritten to be spoken. After taking twenty minutes of going into deep detail, speaking in a language that knocks a poet with large words and long travels off his chair Sheran returned to his kid state, “So…how can I get the word out?”
Through preparation and opportunity.
Who knows…he could be the single voice of invention President Obama is searching for when it comes to putting a thumb print on inexpensive bio fuels that send this country far away from our addiction to modern methods of gasoline and oil. Look how many prepared opportunities it took Edison to mastermind the lightbulb. Talk about good luck!
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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