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ace & tj
Charlotte
WNKS
interviewed by Steve Harmon
Ace
and TJ are in Charlotte, North Carolina. I met them in New Orleans at BOOT CAMP
in 1996, I think. Ace had long hair and I thought for a moment he wanted to kick
my ass! TJ was a little thinner, I thought, this guy is keeping up with Jeff and
Kidd on the funniest lines I have ever heard. I actually remember thinking
good-god they are gonna be stars.
Harmon:
Single? Married? Kids?
ACE:
Wife - Shonnette.
Daughter - Payton 2 ½ years old.
Second baby due in October
TJ:
Wife - Jodi.
Daughter - Lanie 20 months.
Harmon: First
radio job?
ACE:
KLSU at Louisiana State University.
“The Steel Circus” Midnight to 3am Saturday nights.
TJ:
KVCL – Winnfield, LA, 3000 Watt AM/FM combo, New Country in the
morning, Classic Country in the midday, and Hair Bands at night!
Harmon: Worst
moment in your life you can think of ?
TJ:
When I was 8 my older brother and I had been visiting family friends for
a week when they brought us back to my grandparents house. All of our
stuff was there and my mom said, “Boys, I’ve hired a private
investigator…..”
Harmon: Other
jobs outside of radio?
ACE:
Yes.
TJ:
Yes.
Harmon: Who
did you listen to growing up for inspiration?
ACE
& TJ:
Scott Shannon, Shadow Steele, Mason Dixon.
Kidd and Jeff & Jer and other Bitboarders after we were grown to the
present.
Our local DJ’s in Alexandria, LA Hollywood Harrison, Uncle Larry, Steve
Casey, and Too Smooth Tony Grove.
Harmon: Would
you ever consider another market?
ACE:
We would consider just about anything.
Harmon: Best
part of the show?
TJ:
Bein’ famous.
Harmon: Best
Bit from Bitboard you wish you had thunk up yourself?
ACE
& TJ:
The Misfits Trip.
Harmon: What’s
wrong with Radio today?
ACE:
. Too much bureaucracy, not enough fun.
TJ:
I only get to listen to myself four measly hours out of the day.
Harmon: Best
radio show noBODY knows about yet?
TJ:
The Ace & TJ Show
Harmon: How
did you two get together?
TJ:
We grew up an hour apart but both ended up working for the cool station
in the area. The station didn’t
pay us enough to live but they put us in a trade apartment together.
After getting to know each other we decided that we wanted to be a
morning team. We begged the owners
of the station to give us a chance, but they thought we were only night jocks
and would never do well in the mornings. Every
other member of the staff quit and they had no other choice but to let us do
mornings.
Harmon: What
part does your producer play in your show?
ACE:
Always there to bring us down. Delivers
the bad news first. Manages to find
the black cloud in the silver lining.
TJ:
Basically, keeps things fun and upbeat.
Harmon: Any
other shows you love listening to?
TJ:
All other shows. You can always find something entertaining and something
educational from every show no matter who they are.
Whether it is something that you hear them do that you want to steal or
something you hear them do that is so bad you want to stay completely away from
it.
Harmon: Are
you playing more or less music these days?
TJ:
Less music from artists more music from ourselves.
Because I can play the spoons pretty well, and Ace is a big time singer.
From national recording artists, we play about one song an hour.
Harmon: How
has your show changed since 9/11?
TJ:
It hasn’t changed at all, because if it changed that would mean that
the terrorist have won.
Harmon: What
are you best known for in your market?
ACE:
Helpin’ people.
Harmon: How
do you decide what topics and bits get on the air?
TJ:
That all depends on how much time is left in the song.
Harmon:
Name
the magazines you use most in prepping your show and why.
ACE:
People, Cosmo, Men’s Health, Maxim, US Weekly – they are all pop
culture related
TJ:
The Limbaugh Letter, National Review, Human Events, and The Dr. Laura
perspective – because all those other ones are communist/socialist rags.
Harmon:
What’s
your biggest challenge?
ACE:
Beating the traffic home.
TJ:
Staying fresh and not becoming too predictable.
Harmon: Do
you use “characters” on your show?
If so, describe.
TJ:
No.
Harmon: How
do you feel about “benchmarks” these days?
TJ:
Benchmarks are good, scheduled bits don’t work for us.
ACE:
For example, we do “Stupid News” every day, but it floats, it’s not
at the same time everyday.
TJ:
That way if someBODY is on the road from 7:00-7:20 they don’t think
that all we ever do is Stupid News.
Harmon: What’s
your best contract perk and what contract perk will you go for next time?
ACE
& TJ:
It stipulates that our entire show gets to go to BFD and Boot Camp every
year.
For
all the hype its no surprise that most of us know a good producer is
essential to today's morning shows ... a GREAT producer can get you an extra
point and press you can't buy. Ace and TJ have a great one:
Producer "Yankee Pete" Herrick was doing afternoons at KQID in
Alexandria when Ace & TJ were doing mornings in '94. In 1995, they all
went their separate ways, but when Ace & TJ finally got a job where the
budget let them hire a producer, they brought Pete on board in late 1997.
previous spotlight shows:
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