This is my final hour on Central Oregon’s Hot FM Q94. I had tendered my resignation 15 days earlier and was headed to do mornings at a station in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The new afternoon show would be hosted by Gregg Lenny. Gregg and I decided to have a little fun with the listeners.
As I begin my final hour on-the-air, Gregg enters the air studio. In order to gain my trust, he poses as a “guy off the street” who is interested in radio and wants to see the facilities. When I am forced to leave the studio in order to take a phone call on the “hotline”, Gregg informs the listeners that he is my replacement from Seattle.
Upon my return, Gregg tells me that he will be hosting afternoons on the Q, effective tomorrow. I express disbelief and an argument ensues. Program Director Kerry O’ Donnell then shows up at the station to convince me that Gregg is speaking the truth. My response to this is to lock myself in the studio and play Michael Sembello’s “Maniac” repeatedly until my demands for reinstatement are met! The drama ends when Gregg and Kerry are able to drill out the lock and force their way into the studio. At this time, I announce my future plans and bid farewell to Central Oregon radio listeners. Sounds like a bad soap opera plot, right?
Several people were convinced this was “real.” The Bend Police Department showed up after receiving numerous calls, telling them that KXIQ’s “Maniac” DJ was in some sort of trouble. You just gotta love the power of radio!
This is the unedited broadcast, taken off the studio monitor and aircheck skimmer exactly as it aired. File size is 13.8MB, so it may take a few minutes to load on slow connections. A portable Marantz Superscope monaural cassette unit and BASF normal bias 90 minute cassette was used to make the recording.
KXIQ_FM_Maniac’s_Final_Hour_August_16_1989