Yesterday, outgoing Seattle morning star Bob Rivers talked about his career path and his three families in what’s turned out to be a revealaing exit interview. Bob’s career exemplifies all those old school values – hard work, a belief in the team, a commitment to the community, and an understanding of what’s important.
Of course, it wasn’t easy, and in today’s post, Bob talks about some of his career hallmarks, from his famous on-air marathon in Baltimore to his Twisted Tunes franchise. And of course, there’s the question about what’s next for Bob Rivers.
FJ: Tell us how the parody song format started for you and why has it been so successful? And what’s your favorite Twisted Tune?
BR: I’ve always wanted to be a musician. When I was 5 years-old, my grandfather gave me a transistor radio and an unlimited supply of batteries. He also taught me how to use the phone. I loved hit records and DJs right away, go figure. I started calling request lines and even won a contest! I was on the air live at 5 years-old.
Like many, I got into radio partly to be closer to the music scene. I took a few piano lessons in grade school, and tried to play in a band when I was about 21, but I did suck. Radio was my first love, and musicians need to get their 10,000 hours of practice. So making song parodies for my morning show was a way for me to meet and hire great musicians and record and produce perfect copies of hit records. Truthfully, that was my motivation for recording them so authentically. I could have a radio product that was better than anyone else, and follow my other passion: music.
Song parodies were a great way for a morning show to have impact. People talked about them; eventually we made videos, record albums, syndicated them, and shared with the whole country.
I started with a 4-track, then 8, 16, 24, and Pro Tools. I got my 10,000 hours times three making sounds just like the original and working with musicians. Now, stepping away from the mic for a while, I will be on the road with a band. It’s a great story in itself. Heart By Heart features the original rhythm section from Heart – Mike Derosier on drums (a guy they call the American John Bonham) and Steve Fossen on Bass (cross Paul McCartney with John Paul Jones and you get Steve- melodic punchy rock and roll).
Do I have a favorite? No! I have maybe 100 favorites out of 1,000.
But if you do a Google search on Bob Rivers’ Twisted Tunes, one song comes up first. “What If God Smoked Cannabis?” (Bob’s “twist” on Joan Osborne’s “What If God Was One Of Us?”)
Something I never could have anticipated. Some of our songs have mashups and videos all over the world. We interviewed a girl in the Ukraine who posted a cover of the tune she sang in her bedroom.
There are hundreds of listener-made Twisted Tunes videos from all over the world on YouTube and “Twisted Christmas” is an RIAA Certified gold record on Atlantic, and all told, we’ve sold almost 2 million records with all of the albums combined.
FJ: Your time at 98Rock in Baltimore was punctuated by an on-air marathon that coincided with the Orioles starting the season by losing all those games (11 days?). How big a contributor was that event in your career and why don’t we see more of those moments in radio?
BR: Hmm. I did bring up the nose candy earlier, but that was just a sidebar.
The truth is this was a kind of risk-taking promotion that you just don’t see much of today. This is both good and bad. It’s good because when these things go bad, they can go really bad. Doing something like this today might be considered dangerous. What if the DJ developed a health problem?
Who doesn’t feel empathetic to the Sacramento DJs who thought of the water drinking contest! In Seattle, we did a cheese eating contest on KISW. Yikes. That could have been us. Water is safer than cheese, isn’t it?
On the other hand, in the name of not taking chances, not offending anyone, and not being stupid, we may risk losing something of greater long term value.
Spontaneity.
That Baltimore promotion took all of ten seconds to get approval. Chris Emery, the afternoon guy, suggested it. Chuck DuCoty, the GM, said, “That sounds like fun!” We did it.
FJ: Please talk about the importance of the team. How big a role have they played in your success?
BR: Chemistry is one of those intangibles. You can’t research it. You can only feel it.
Don’t get me wrong, I love research. I happen to think some radio research is very useful. But research is by its nature just a sample, not the whole meal. And when it comes to human emotion, our sample sizes are generally tiny compared to the amount of variables. A team, no matter how it looks on paper, whether it is a musical group, basketball, or radio show can only be great if there is the right combination of love and luck. And this luck usually happens because someone feels it in their “gut” and takes a risk.
I started this business very insecure, wanting to be liked. Like a lot of radio folks I’ve met. I was the facilitator.
At KZOK, I was finally mature enough to embrace and collaborate with all of the talented people in our circle. Guided by the vision of Lisa Decker and the Carey Curelop, the entire radio station was in sync.
Spike and Joe were the devil and angel that sat on my shoulders.
If we were The Wizard of Oz… I was the Scarecrow, Spike was the Lion, and Joe was the Tin Man
Joe cried and we needed the Oil Can on the last day at KJR FM.
Our VP/Programming Keith Cunningham, and Market President Kent Hael, not to mention everyone up the ladder at Clear Channel trusted us for two weeks saying farewell in improv mode. That’s not common these days, but it was made possible by the chemistry of the group we had put together.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without (talent agent) Paul Anderson. Funny story. He and I became friends through a chance meeting when he was a lawyer… and running a dot com startup. I was struck by his limitless optimism and superhuman situational awareness.
I had never used an agent. Didn’t trust them. But my friend BJ Shea needed help doing a deal with Entercom, so I thought “Maybe Paul can help BJ”. Obviously that worked out OK. Little did I know Paul would end up with a Google-like market share of Seattle media talent. Every time I leave a radio station, he brings them a great replacement. You’re welcome Danny Bonaduce. 😉
FJ: A true career highlight? Proudest accomplishment? Maybe something that would surprise people.
BR: Our proudest accomplishment is happening off-air.
Working with World Vision, one relationship at a time, we and our audience have sponsored more than 5,000 children in Africa, Bangladesh, India, and all over the world. At about a dollar a day, and over the course of 8 years, that’s many millions of dollars. It’s education, medicine, community building, well drilling, and real change. Human beings empowered to improve their communities for generations to come.
When you look at mortality rates in the countries we visited, we know statistically that there are at least a few hundred children who didn’t die because of us.
Now I feel less guilty about the nose candy and the cheese eating contest!
FJ: I saw you keynote at Boot Camp back in 2009 and you urged the other personalities in the room to embrace social media to extend their reach and their brands. You were earlier than most. How do you view the digital tools that radio personalities have at their disposal?
BR: A mixed blessing. There’s a lot of dreck out there, and broadcasters haven’t figured out how to separate the clutter and spam from the meaningful, because it’s all changing so fast.
But I see tremendous potential. Eventually, original curated content that emotionally entertains and connects us will create new stars who rise to the top. That’s unstoppable. It’s human nature. We want that.
Also, and you said this at Boot Camp, each one of our listeners has their own following. They are mini broadcasters who can amplify our reach, if we move them to.
Our platforms and what’s on them are still in their infancy. Cable television was around doing mostly reruns or nothing for decades before great programming like the Sopranos and Breaking Bad redefined what a hit drama could be. New digital media, the Internet, or whatever you want to call it, is still in disruption mode. Give it time. Netflix makes TV shows. The Internet will make Radio Stars. Look 
at what Marc Maron has done. Podcasts are kind of like Siberia for radio right now, but just you wait.
What’s good about now is that it’s providing fertile ground for experimentation. Everybody gets to be a broadcaster, even your audience. When something hits, it goes viral and gets big fast.
In the meantime, I’m not really that interested in seeing what you ate for dinner and the latest cute thing a cat did. Or knowing that you’re checking in at a store you shop at.
FJ: Last week, you got the chance to say goodbye to your broadcast radio audience. Many great personalities have moved to Internet radio, satellite radio, podcasting and the like. You’re heading off in a different direction. How come?
BR: I love radio. And I never said I was retiring, but I knew the media would. I’m sure I will do more radio. Someday.
I’m a new grandfather. (Above: Bob and Lisa with Hazel Ray Rivers.) My wife and I are celebrating 33 years together. That’s the exact amount of time I’ve been on morning radio. She deserves a lot of the credit for everything good that has happened, and she deserves more of my time, as do my boys Keith and Andrew.
I’m taking a break, doing music. It’s the second career love of my life. I couldn’t do this and the five day a week talk show without it feeling unhealthy. It’s fun. It’s team building. Playing keys is a skill I can now work on. It’s also about producing music that sounds just like the original, just like Twisted Tunes. Only now my job is to respect these great hits and reproduce them faithfully. Ironically, I’ve spent over 30 years practicing for this. I just didn’t know it.
These guys (Mike Derosier and Steve Fossen) are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was a bummer when early Heart broke up. Ann and Nancy (Wilson) still tour and are at the top of their game, but today there are so many casinos and fairs looking for great acts that we can all have fun and play for good crowds. And Lisa wants to come with me!
I’d dearly love any of my radio brethren to hear the band: www.heartbyheart.com. There is a Soundcloud player, and a video section (password: heart). All of the music has been recorded at my house, where I’m no longer “twisting tunes.”
FJ: What’s your best piece of advice for fledgling radio personalities?
BR: Think outside of the transmitter. Notice I didn’t say box. If you get why that was clever, you can do anything.
And to give you an idea of how well-respected Bob Rivers is – especially in Seattle – check out the tribute that his former station, KISW, put together on their website. It includes a great interview with B.J. Shea, who we’ll be highlighting in this blog tomorrow.
We wish Bob nothing but success and great times in his new endeavors – both as a musician and a grandfather.
And thanks to former Jacobs Media consultant and Clear Channel VP/Programming, Keith Cunningham, for reconnecting Bob and me.
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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