In my 25 years and seeing hundreds of urban jocks in the industry. I have maybe seen 5 that were Billboard instead of America’s Most Wanted material. Usually the great voices don’t match the faces and the reverse. I worked with one of the BEST female jocks in one market whose nose was so big, all conversation would stop when she walked into a room. Her nose looked like a boxing glove but it had razor slits instead of holes. When she caught a cold her ears would be running and she would keep dabbing her ears with tissues. She had a condition where she could breathe through her ears too and on those days she would come to work with her iPod connected to her nose.
Everybody at the station was used to it, I mean we pretty much accepted it, you know, but listeners at remotes were cruel and they would stare at her. One day she got frustrated at everyone in the room and she overheard one blind woman ask “Did you see her nose? What in de FOOK is Dat?” …and she screamed… (Snorting first) “I am a MAN, I am not an aneemal” (quote from Elephant Man). I never knew she was a dude too. Damn.
In all fairness, most white jocks are not easy on the eyes either. howard stern looks like he’s in constant pain and several of the female jocks look transgendered.
Anyway, I was talking to a radio vet yesterday about a recent situation where a jock may be replaced by someone who looks like a model. This is not the first case, there is another situation coming that is almost identical. Is urban radio looking for people they can effectively market now? Get mad if you want, looks and sex will always outsell a great voice. The vet asked me “How do you explain Tom Joyner?” I told him the new Kevin doesn’t address that…. don’t ask me that shit again or I may be tempted to answer it… let’s just say there are exceptions to every rule. If Donnie Simpson is out at 55 and a with the other situations that have recently taken place, is this a sign that the industry is looking for younger, good looking talent? I ran the piece today on writers suing the studios for discrimination at 40 plus… so nobody is going to admit it but is radio wrong for this or is it a good move?
