My relationship with Lee Abrams has always been a little odd. As a PD, I never had a consultant. As a consultant in the early years, I found myself competing against Lee and his group for many years. As he gravitated to Z-Rock, and eventually XM, we have stayed in touch.
Lee has been kind enough to participate in our Summits, as well as contribute to JacobsMedia.com. I always find it interesting that many radio people have negative feelings about him, either because he "defected" to satellite or because they believe he’s all talk and no action. Others continue to respect him for what he did for radio back in the ’70s, and what he’s doing today.
I fall in that latter group. While I think Lee is personally more interesting than XM at times, I believe his observations are always worthy of attention. Terrestrial radio continues to crib ideas from the "Abrams Playbook" three decades later.
From an even greater distance, Lee’s views about radio and radio programming are very salient today. With a little help from Bill Jacobs, we have compiled some of "Lee’s Greatest Hits" from his blog (and there’s a lot there). Like Cliff’s Notes, we’ve saved you a lot of time because Lee is always a vociferous writer. If you’d like to read the "album version," journey over to https://leeabrams.blogspot.com as Lee has new material every few days.
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AFDI: (Actually Fucking Doing It)
The battle call. The center of our programming universe. Instead of researching EVERYthing, committees and "we can’t do that"…the idea is to actually EXECUTE on the ideas that are created. -
SWAGGER:
The way we carry ourselves on and off the air. An air of confidence based on AFDI and collective ego. Radio has been beaten up by other media – time to fight back. -
MINUTE BY MINUTE:
The musical bottom line. Forget Depth. Forget Tight. If you, at any given point in time (minute by minute) are playing a cool song, you will win the music battle. -
ARTIST OWNERSHIP:
Re-claiming artists. Bringing them back to radio. XM Radio.
Radio has given up on trying to own artists…given up to MTV, Print and Cable. XM must bring artists back to radio. -
SONICS:
It’s the evolution of "Imaging"…it’s the SOUND of your channel. Don’t think bumpers & promos. Think beyond that…..it’s all about a whole sonic environment you create. -
SUPRISE ATTACKING:
Wanna mess up the competitor’s mind: Run a Top 500 three weeks BEFORE Memorial Day. You will screw up their system… -
24 HOUR MORNING SHOW:
There is no morning. We don’t shut down at 10am. We are always on. -
JUST DO IT!:
No bragging…no cheezy claims . No "Most Music" "Best Mix" "Never a Bad Song"… Those claims have no credibility. Just deliver the goods and our fans will know. -
FANS:
To Sales, they’re listeners… To Marketing, they’re customers… To us: They’re Fans. Treat listeners like Fans. Think like a Fan. This is show business. Relating to listeners as numbers is fine – for the sales people. -
BIBLE OF MUSIC:
Your station is the center of your music’s’ universe. You have the chart. You have the answers. You are in command. You must deliver. You must deliver. You must deliver. MTV, Rolling Stone, Spin… Fine entities, but YOU must own the charts, the info, etc… Listeners must come to YOU to know what’s going on musically. -
CINEMATIC RADIO:
The sound of your station is more like a wide screen movie soundtrack than a radio station. You should close your eyes and your sonics ignite with cinematic brilliance. Even News….Even Classical…no format is exempt from creating cinematic magic between the songs. -
ER:
Bigg-ER… Badd-ER… Intense-ER. Think like Walt Disney did in the 50’s… "ER." Rides were fastER, parks were cleanER, etc… -
OTT: Over-the-Top.
Subtle sucks. Want to cut through the Internet, AM/FM, print, TV, etc….well, you ain’t gonna do it unless you do everything OTT -
CREATIVE BATTING AVERAGE:
% of ideas you come up with that work. 300 Average is All-Star. Ya gotta take some swings to get hits. -
CLICHE BUZZER:
Three buzzes and sayonara. But the real cliché buzzer is in your head. -
SONIC DIVERSITY:
Using the World of Sound. Not some damn production package or pre-cut promo factory CD. USE SOUND! Thunderstorms… static… busy streets… short wave radio tuning….sample a TV Newscaster and repeat "In Todays News… In Todays News… over and over. Discover the world of sound. Use it. -
CONVENIENCE HIRES:
It’s only natural, and often correct to bring in people you know and trust. But, it’s also natural to bring in people who are convenient. We must hire only the brilliant. -
MOOD/RELIABLE: Mood listeners tune you in when they’re in the mood…Reliable listeners never tune you out. That’s the secret to rating success (or satisfaction in our case). The only way to achieve this balance is to never compromise….stay pure….play "your" hits…don’t fear tune out. In other words: Do your thing, but do it brilliantly and consistently.
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THE LETTERMAN FACTOR:
Disco Demolition, Hit This Plane & Win $5,000, Snow Sharks, and other stunts are pure America. People love it. The more radio versions of "Stupid Pet Tricks" we create, the better we’ll be… on the RIGHT channel of course… -
YELLOW PAD: Everyone should be filling these up with ideas. Document your dreams.
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AS ACCESSIBLE AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT LOSING LISTENER CONFIDENCE:
The goal shouldn’t be how "deep" can I go. It should be how "far" can I go WITHOUT LOSING listener confidence. It’s a magic zone where you reach the most listeners and satisfy them all simultaneously. Too commercial and there goes satisfaction…too deep and there goes the volume of fans. -
WHACK FACTOR: "Where in hell did these guys come up with that!"….that’s what listeners should often think.
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EMPATHY: Walking the halls, I’ll often hear how "Stairway to Heaven" and Creed really suck. Well, if those aren’t part of your potential playlist…cool..they suck. BUT—if these belong on your list, you need to learn empathy, because these are major. In 1970, I was a hard core Prog Rock fan, but worked at an early FM Top 40 where we "celebrated" Donny Osmond. I learned there, the importance of empathy. I hated that shit, but learned how and why it worked, and never whined about a song again.
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THE RECORD BUSINESS & MUSIC PRESS ARE LOST:
There are some smart people and there are some clueless people. That’s why I constantly impress the need for you to study the genre you serve….know your genre beyond passion. Passion is easy… but balance that with knowledge and that’s what makes you dangerous. The reason college radio has never been a factor is because it’s all passion….but find a college radio person who balances passion with understanding–and there’s a positively dangerous person–that we should hire! We must continue to absorb REALITY and not simply feed off the industry and press. -
SPECTACULARS:
They enhance your image…recycle listeners and create buzz.
Run them prime time (NOT 11pm Sunday Nights). Build them. Think about them.
Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly. Go OTT. (Over-the-top) Repeat them. The classic cliché is taking a cool program and burying it because it varies from the song/dj/song format. -
CAMP:
XM must celebrate life in North America. The good, the bad and the ugly. That’s why we love TV themes, old commercials, homeless guys doing promos, heavily accented people doing IDs, bagpipes in bumpers. Celebrate America by DELIVERING THE SOUND OF NORTH AMERICA. -
ANTICIPATION:
There is ALWAYS something coming up on XM. We program forward. -
SELLING:
Sell the Music…sell the programming…sell the specials, etc…Selling is a lost art.
I’m not talking about selling Used Cars…I’m talking about ridding ourselves of the Radio Inferiority Complex and selling the shit out of the cool stuff we’re doing. This isn’t bragging, because bragging is generic, bordering on lying. Selling is talkin’ it up and DELIVERING. If we sell AND deliver, credibility will occur! -
This is a mission…not a gig.
We participate in many monitors and brainstorms with stations, and I believe that Lee provides us with a template or yardstick by which to judge our progress, especially as the media world moves at an increasingly faster pace. I would love to hear your comments and feedback about this blog entry (just click the "comments" link below), and I thank Lee for having the balls to speak his mind and still provide leadership and creativity from his desk at XM.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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I worked for a Z-Rock affliate in the early 90s – my first prod gig.
Day one I was handed a stack of green papers – worn and tattered – they were photo copies of photo copies of photo copies of Lee Abrams memos to personalities and production people at Z-Rock Dallas.
They read as his blog does (but more bullet pointy) – same tone – same conviction – same battle cry. It heavily informed my concept for how great radio CAN be done.
The people who condemn Lee miss the point. Lee continuously articulates the ideal state for this medium – better than any one else I’ve ever heard, read or met.
He views the medium of radio as an artist would – the airwaves a canvas on which to CREATE. I’m surprised so many “radio” people miss that about Lee.
People say he created the very thing he now cries out against, failing to realize that that was 20 years ago – that Lee has moved on – and they (mostly) have not.
I greatly admire how Lee has been able to do that. To avoid being stuck in the WAY it’s always been done – even if it was a way HE devised. That takes courage few people have or exhibit in this business or any other.
Tell me Radio couldn’t really use a few more people who view and talk about the medium as he does.
I cannot say enough about Abrams and his impact upon me.
Long before I knew who Fred Jacobs and Jeff Pollack
were…I knew about Lee from listening to his bold
experiment on WQDR in Raleigh. Bill Hard of FMQB and
later “The Hard Sheet” fame (what ever became of him,
anyway??) was in my English class UNC-Chapel Hill.
Bill comes to school in 1973 and tells me, “Well, this
is it. I’m dropping out of UNC to be the PD of WQDR”.
I nearly dropped my blue book! “You mean you’re not
even going to finish college??” It was a Bill Gates,
very gutsy sorta move. I was noon-4/MD on WCHL-AM in
Chapel Hill…commercial, but not half as cool as QDR!
All these terrific record promo guys like Mike Bone and
Dave Dannheiser and Jay Hart and Heavy Lenny, etc.
would come through and just MARVEL at how smooth QDR
sounded. “You’re listening to a Radio Revolution…
WQDR…FM…Raleigh…pass it on”. They drilled that
sweeper into the listener’s cranium. Clean, airy radio.
I had listened to WQDR from its very first day, as GM Carl Ventors had given Lee the green light in ’72 for what became the “Superstars” format. QDR was IT, with
David Sousa, brought up from Zeta 4 in Miami to
interject vital, KSAN and WBCN-esque newscasts with
a very high hipness quotient. Entire album sides at
once, dead-air between tracks included. “Fantasy Park”
concert weekends. The BBC Rock Hour. King Biscuit.
The first time I ever heard Zepp’s “Over the Hills
and Far Away”, it was a Saturday and I had already
done my midday show on WCHL. Out washing and waxing
my forest green 1975 BMW 2002-Ti (that I adored), I
hear the opening guitar notes from Page…with that
Blaupunkt Radio CRANKED. Aural nervana! When Jim
Heavner of Village Broadcasting dispatched me out to
PD/MD and midday his WKQQ-FM (Double Q) in Lexington
Kentucky in August of 1976, again it was Abrams who
by now had the Taft stations on-board. WLVQ, WKLS,
WGRQ, etc. I put Terry Meiners in as morning maniac,
borrowed heavily from what Lee Masters (later of WNBC
and the “E” channel) was doing at WLRS, Louisville
and also Denton Marr at WEBN, Cincinnati and Lee and I
turned WKQQ into a 100,000-watt monster. Then came W-4.
In Detroit, I remember sitting in a room on the very top
floor of the Detroit Plaza Hotel at the Renn Cen with
Lee…discussing programming concepts in his visual
way while we looked down at the Detroit River and Windsor, Ontario. That and other trippy conversations
always reminded me of George Lucas early-on at
Industrial Light and Magic. We covered the gamut of
new ideas…like stuff for me to pitch to Stern for
his morning show on W-4 and how to cut into WRIF,
WABX and Doubleday’s new competitor WLLZ (Wheels). A
“4-Way Street” of rockers, to use the CSNY title. Wow.
Very tough sledding in a bad 1980 recession. Many
Remi-and-Pepsi-chasers and a thousand juicy ideas
later, I end up passed-out on a bed in Abrams room.
How embarrassing the next morning…but what fun just talking programming with him! Then came the WYSP
thing after W-4 switched to country. Again, there
were Abrams and I up against legendary calls and
talent. Charlie Kendall was PD of WMMR and Alex
DeMers ran WIOQ. No slouches! And that is when
the classic rock concept was born in the offices
of One Bala Plaza…out City Line Avenue in Bala
Cynwyd, PA (outside Philly). I remember he took the metal file boxes of song cards and at the end of the box was all this “fuzz”. Abrams goes, “Uh, gross… card dust!” What a funny, throwaway, typical Abrams
comment that made me chuckle. So we tossed out all the Lena Lovich and Ian Dury and the Blockheads and
all that new wave CRAP on “Stiff Records”, etc. and
left in the bullet-proof, 24-carat songs such as
the “Golden Slumbers Melody” on Abbey Road and “Lodi”
by CCR. It was January 1981…and “Classic Rock…94
YSP” was born with billboards and bus cards all over
Philly. The late, great Steve Feinstein was our MD,
Randy Kotz was there with me (now on WMMR), Gary
Bridges, Michael Picozzi of WHCN in Hartford, news
was done by Bill Fantini, we had Denny Somach. I
did middays and was PD/MD. But the thing I want to
stress again, the one thread that runs through all these
one-on-one working relationships I had with Lee is
how he “sees” sound colors as being in a paintbox.
He hears the station in Panavision, Technicolor and
Cinemascope…very much with rich acrylics and oils and watercolors. It’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” applied to the airwaves (how about that Kubrick time travel scene, huh?) I’ll never forget begin invited down to Abrams’
Atlanta home one time and he said, “Let’s go check out
my music room”. So I follow him down and he opens
the door to this place with amps, keyboards, a Strat
and everything. I’m sitting there eating a ham
sandwich in Buckhead or Alpharetta or wherever it
was and watching Abrams strum along perfectly…I
mean NOTE-FOR-NOTE to every lick Steve Howe is
doing on “Starship Trooper” by Yes. It was amazing
to watch! Lee Abrams thinks and programs not so much
as PD or consultant, but as a consumate rock radio fan.
And that is probably the biggest compliment one could
pay the guy. He is that “P-1” whose interest and
enthusiasm for your station, its rock, and all the
proguction elements that add “icing” and “magic” between
songs you wish you could replicate a thousand times.
Honestly—the most genuine passion and least cynicism
for our industry that I ever encountered came during my
direct programming dealings with Lee. He’s about my
age (54) but still intimidates me he’s so sharp. I
think that to work alongside him today as, for example,
Sonny Fox…the former morning nut and PD of WYSP
(whom Pollack and I had a tough time against, at least
at first, when Jeff accepted the WMMR PD job in 1978)
gets to on XM would be remarkable fun…enviable.
Thak you for your good work, nice site!