Milton Metz, RIP

There are many unsung radio hosts who should have national exposure but choose to remain in their local markets. Two who come to mind in my experience were David Allen Kram of station KJOY in Stockton, CA during my formative years of the 1960's, and Thomas Mischke of station KSTP in Saint Paul, Minnesota around fifteen years ago when I resided there.

Kram was just plain nuts, playing music that probably wasn't approved by management (but at two a.m. who was listening?) and his schtick was running a microphone outside the booth, which faced the street, and talking to the early morning locals wandering the streets.

Mischke's thing was free form, stream of consciousness broadcasting. He was well known for cold calling businesses that advertised on the program or people mentioned in the news and grilling them about their business. When his call was answered by a machine he would respond with non-sense answers. I learned after I left the Twin Cities that he had riled management and was let go for doing the phone calls.

Radio will never die!

"Jim Cooke and The Captain" (Q106/WQXA, York, Pennsylvania, circa 1980) was the most insanely hilarious morning-commute radio duo ever. Howard Stern could never hope to hold a candle to these two. (Stern benefitted greatly due to superior marketing in a much more lucrative market.)