Usually when you get into a career there’s a logical connection to your childhood.  Today as the snow arrived at my doorstep at 6 a.m. I was reminded of my first aspirations in life, to do EXACTLY what my dad did until I turned 14.  Excavating.  Hauling.  Fixing.  Using tractors.  Pushing snow for entire small towns.  That’s all I knew as a kid. 

First, I must explain that my dad is extremely gifted.  A purple heart veteran (although that proud fact is rarely talked about because my dad doesn’t like to hang on to some things), my dad grew up working on the farm, went to drafting school, and started his entrepreneurship with an agricultural spraying business.  He later started a coal yard hauling coal around Southern Illinois.  (I won’t get into all of the other successful business’ my folks started together including:  car washes, an amazing storage business using actual railroad cars – not on tracks!, and his diesel service company servicing Mack trucks). 

But when you observe someone with an unbelievable knowledge of tractors and “know how” in just about any situation involving mechanics (from drawing plans to actually welding the entire framework of their house), you aspire to be like that.   That’s all I wanted to do.  My “cooler” school memories are arriving in the drop off lane at the grade school and my dad blowing the air horn for the entire school to talk about.  Or, pushing snow for the drop off lane at school…AS WELL AS THE ENTIRE TOWN.  Not to mention, select elderly drive ways along the way as a stroke of courtesy.  Every winter (because in Illinois where I grew up it was snowy most winters), I’d use my snow days to tag along with my dad as he went pushing snow in his tractor all over small towns nearby where I grew up.

My wife makes fun of me when I speak about my dad’s “V-plow”… but it was similar to this:

These work great for pushing snow in 1 or 2 pushes down a street in a small town.

My dad not only did the snow thing, but he did everything excavating and having to do with “tractors”/excavation.  That was, until I turned 14.  It was then that he worked with a friend to create something totally different.  A chemical business!  Talk about devastating.  All I knew was tractors and thinking about how cool they were. 

Later I realized what a great decision it was for my family, as my dad created a very impressive business making industrial cleaning products and distributing them (using the old building where he stored his tractors as the headquarters/manuafacturing plant).

Around that same year my dad sold his excavating business, a program in conjunction with a local Christian Radio Station (WIBI-FM) called something like “pray at the pole” was started at my school.  It was just a simple prayer day (I think to start off the new year) where Christians pray together beneath the flag pole at their local high schools.  One of the advisors (Mrs. Burge) encouraged me to call the local radio station to give a report of how many kids participated and how it went.  That’s it.  But hearing myself on the radio was all it took.  This combined with my upbringing around full-service AM radio in my dad’s pick-ups all the time, and my parents and both sets of grandparents reliance on local station WSMI AM/FM was all it took. 

Everyone I was around listened to local small town news on the radio, music, and St. Louis Cardinal baseball with Jack Buck on KMOX-AM St. Louis. The ironic twist of fate is that WSMI-FM is now the Flagship Illinois station for Cardinal baseball since KMOX lost the Cardinal broadcast there.  (****By the way, coming up in 2009 you can hear Cardinal on WKQK sister station ESPN 680 WSMB).

All of that said, it all came together in a campus visit to college radio station WONC-FM in Naperville, Illinois.  And…to my families good fortune, my dad’s new business basically paid for that experience!   The year after I started working for WSMI AM/FM doing everything from play-by-play sports, to news, to DJing, to shuffling snow off the drive.  Funny how life works. 

-Brad

STEAK!!!!!!

Hanger Steak with Shallot and Red Wine Reduction
2 steaks, 7oz (200gr) each
3 large shallots
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs Balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup (4oz, 125ml) red wine

Peel and thickly slice shallots. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add shallots and sauté until starting to brown and caramelize, about 15 minutes. Remove shallots to a plate and cover to keep warm.
Increase heat to medium-high and add steak. Quickly cook steaks for 2 – 4 minutes per side depending on type and thickness. When done, remove and cover to keep warm.
Add red wine to pan and scrape up all the yummy brown bits on the bottom.  Add the shallots, sugar and vinegar. Cook, stirring over high heat, until sauce is reduced and starting to thicken. Spoon a bit over the each steak and serve.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Hanger/Skirt Steak au Poivre

INGREDIENTS

The weather is cold, that means it is winter in the mid south.

Get that calendar going, you better know when Valentines Day is …..February 14^th!! 

 It’s on a Saturday this year, so no getting out of it guys!! At least do a breakfast in bed, which would get you off the hook for the rest of the day. 

Then on Sunday, February 22^nd,  Steve and I invite you to Soup Sunday to benefit Youth Villages. This will be our first Soup Sunday because it was always sponsored by the radio stations across town…..well, now we are part of those stations! J  More info to come on our website, but know it’s 2/22/09 from 11-2 at FedEx Forum, with free parking in the attached garage.

Speaking of soup, one of my favorite soups is the Hot and Sour from Formosa on Quince at Kirby. I love it. It is perfect in everyway.  Perfect when you are sick, speaking of which, lots of folks are getting sick this time of year. Poor Brad who works here, his whole family is sick. It’s never fun when you or your spouse is sick, but throw in a sick kid or two and it makes even worse.  Remember, especially this time of year, wash those hands!  That‘s my public service message for the day. J

Have a great day,

Karen

Karen

I know you don’t clean your screen very often and it is hard to do the inside, so here.

Here I am after a pretty long blog writing drought…so much for that resolution to blog more!

As I write this it is a Friday and this is one of those Friday’s that is very deserved. While you are online today, be sure to sign up for a spot at our Conley and Karen Chef’s Table Class. If you got to my blog on our website, click on the contest bar that you can see. If not, go to www.941kqk.com/  and enter! You can also check out the music on this Class Reunion Weekend on our audio stream, check out Brad’s tour of our upcoming new studio, and see footage from our free lunch day at Sole Restaurant downtown. (FYI…Sole is also our Discount Dining Deal partner and you can get a 1/2 price gift certificate to dine there.) Take advantage of all the cool things on our site.

So, I, like many of you, am looking forward to a relaxing weekend. I’ll spend some time with my kids, grocery shop (the pantry is near empty so it will be a full cart shopping trip) and maybe I’ll even…..gulp……clean the house! UGH!!
Okay, maybe not.

Have a great day,

Karen

I’m not a Democrat.  I’m also not a Republican.  Which is probably why I’ve never voted in a primary….just general elections.  I am, however, an American. 

I’m very excited about Barack.  Acquaintances of mine from Southern Illinois who used to work in the Capitol of Illinois, and many who have worked closely or come into contact with Barack in Chicago say, “He’s just a normal sort of guy.”  With the exception of his exemplary eduction at Occidental, oh yeah…also at Columbia and Harvard.  He’s also been a community organizer in Chicago, and done several other pretty amazing things (the least of which is having a nice family).    He’s obviously a brilliant speaker and, uh….politician.

You also may think based on this piece of blog that I voted for him.  I didn’t…. well, I won’t say.  But that’s not really the point.  The point is, it doesn’t matter.  It’s all part of “the process.”  The process of politics now, unfortunately involves “marketing”.  I mean, that’s what politics is.  As James Carville said last night on CNN (paraphrasing), if Barack Obama can take the energy and vigor from trying to win an election to actually doing the job (which Carville thinks he will) that bodes well for our country.

I agree.  What I already like is Barack acknowledges the difference.  Marketing experts and communication/pr folks have learned major lessons from Barack Obama’s campaign.  My wife laughed when I made one of my many “blanket statements” that the President of the United States is now a marketing position.  In some way, if you think about it, it always has been.

But I’m happy that President Obama is now moving from talking about his “campaign” (the marketing) to predictions that his change will take years (even beyond his time in office).  He’s right.  I’m proud of his pointing out the difference.   But, I will always support him as an American.  I’m also proud to be an American during this historic time.   God Bless America.

-bc

important free info numbers you can use   ONe Eight Hundred TELL ME.

800- 555- TELL  (8355)

GOOG 411 is a great FREE service to get most business numbers.  Incredible voice recognition. 

888 – 466-4411.    Have FUN!!!    and thanks for listening.!!      call my cell if you need any more help.

I have a small problem.  Most of the important celebrities and stars that I would like to meet, are already gone.  My top 5 are:  Johnny Carson, Johnny Cash, Elvis, Cardinal Baseball Announcer Jack Buck, and Ronald Reagan.

Then there’s the flip side….”quasi celebrities”.  I’m the first to go crazy at the off chance of just meeting ANY celebrity.  For example, when my wife Stacy and I were on vacation 3 years ago, we went to Chicago.  Of course I’ve got my “celebrity” scope on.  As we’re walking down Michigan Avenue I notice this tall african american man (no, it wasn’t an athlete), and I immediately start telling her, “Gosh, he looks so familiar.”  This type of stuff went on for a good city block before I finally drew it from my memory bank…it was STEADMAN!!!! Yes, the Steadman.  Oprah’s dude!

So I, of course, approach Mr. Steadman….(who is famous for being with someone famous).  “Hi Steadman, I’m Brad.”  “I love what you do and was wondering if I could get my picture with you?”  He declined very nicely as he entered a hotel in front of us saying, “I’ve got a meeting.”    That was just funny.

The weirdest one, that may get me a call (again), happened when I had a so-so meeting with Ex-Grizzlies Coach Mike Fratello at a Peabody Hotel Rooftop Party. 

Mike actually called me because I posted a negative blog about how he wasn’t that nice.  Of course I was only telling my side of the encounter on-line.  I still thought it was cool for him to somehow get my personal cell number (still haven’t figured out how he got it) and have him tell his side of the story after he referenced the blog a friend of his (young girlfriend) told him about.  (p.s.- I hate internet haters as much as the next guy….  I like Mike now.  Still wish he would have taken a picture with me at the Peabody, though.)

Being in radio is cool to me because on a semi-regular basis I get to, at the very least, meet quasi and sometimes big time celebs and get a quick picture with them. 

The funniest one was when I brought my 4 month old son, Jake, to a Miss America event at the Wolfchase Galleria.  Here my wife and I are introducing our son to Miss America.  Getting set for a quick picture.  And the boy times out a perfectly orchestrated load in his pants.

There’s many others…so random and strange they just add to my own personal weirdness.  A conference room meeting in Atlantic City at a radio station where all of the sudden a man walks in and just randomly introduces himself as…..(drum roll please) Benny Mardones. 

Benny Mardones!  The one hit wonder behind “Into the Night”.  He sits down and starts talking to everyone in an executive level radio meeting…. Very funny.  I kept mocking the situation by giving him reoccuring introductions.  “Hey guys…it’s Benny Mardones!”

I almost forgot the random one, meeting David Gest on the rooftop of the Peabody.  (Again, proving I’ll always introduce myself…beer in hand, camera phone for friend in the other) 

No, I’m not sitting on his lap.  It’s the chair!

There have been weird behind the scenes and planned moments as well.  The morning show I worked with in Atlantic City recorded an interview with Sting upside down on a masseus table while I held the microphone.

Sting was one of the biggest, and coolest celebrities I’ve ever met…. On the flip side, 4 years ago I saw Huey Lewis yelling and cursing at a sound guy at the Beale Street Music Festival poking his head out of audience view to do so while opening a show singing “Jacob’s Ladder.”  I used to like him….but not any more.

The latest extremely cool Memphian Celeb was Jerry Lawler a couple weeks ago.  Very cool dude!

There’s quite a few more from my past I’ll probably share sometime with you, but hopefully there are many more “interesting and random ones” to come!

-bc

One of the things many people say to me as soon as they find out that I work in radio is, “Why do things change all the time in radio?”  Well, up until the mid 90’s radio stations didn’t change personnel as much because they didn’t change ownership as much.  Back in 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act, which deregulated broadcasting.  This gave an opportunity for companies to own larger clusters of radio stations that offer a larger amount of choices to listeners.  The key, making sure that each of those radio choices has a large (massive) amount of listeners.  Which is why we ask you to “tell a friend” about this wonderful new station… Classic Hits 94.1 KQK.

With all of the changes that have gone on in the background with putting on Classic Hits 94.1 KQK, we’re very close to moving into a brand new facility for our station as well as our 5 sister radio stations.  We’re building it in a super secret location that’s sure to be the hottest new zip code in town!  Here’s a sneak peak of what it looks like as we build!

  New Classic Hits 94.1 KQK Studio 

  Huge Lobby for Prize Winners and Performances

  New Classic Hits Cafe

   Steve Conley’s Expensive Office