At a very young age I told my mother that I wanted to be a radio DJ… and I’m sure she thought that dream would fade away. Well, somehow or another I managed to get my first part time radio job at the age of 17. By the young age of 20 I landed my first full time job on 107.5 KZL, a Top 40 station in the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point market (Triad). Getting this job at such a young age was a huge deal as there are very few jobs to go around, and a lot of talent to choose from. I hosted the night show as “JJ McCain” for six years and loved every minute of it.
I decided to create this page because my radio background always seems to be of interest to folks. Oh, and to save you the breath, there is no question more annoying than, “Ryan, will you talk in your DJ voice?”
From a demographic standpoint I targeted females 18 – 34 and the content could get racy (depending on who you ask) at times, but the rule of thumb was that if you could read about it in Cosmo or see it on network TV, then I could talk about it. This segment is a good example. The show was very interactive and provided a great platform to talk about everything under the sun, especially my own life – the good and the bad.
I’ll put up more audio in the future, but here’s another short clip for you to listen to. And if you have a moment you might get a kick out of this video of me interviewing rapper 50 Cent in the studio. Speaking of 50, take a look at the photo below. I was 20-years old and had been full-time on the air for about a week. You might say I was a bit green. And, let’s not discuss the fashion. Or the hair.
Now, as a disclaimer I have to remind you that my show was very light-hearted and almost everything I did was for entertainment… of some sort.
“JJ McCain” was simply a personality.
PS – Yes, I loved working in radio and miss it daily.