"Always be consistent."
"Basically, radio hasn't changed over the years. Despite all the technical improvements, it still boils down to a man or a woman and a microphone, playing music, sharing stories, talking about issues - communicating with an audience."
"For the most part, that message hasn't changed a lot over the years - love is still love, and heartbreak is still heartbreak."
"For years everyone looked toward the demise of radio when television came along. Before that, they thought talking movies might eliminate radio as well. But radio just keeps getting stronger."
"I like the storytelling and reading the letters, the long-distance dedications. Anytime in radio that you can reach somebody on an emotional level, you're really connecting."
"I started radio in 1950 on the Lone Ranger radio program, a dramatic show that emanated from Detroit when I was 18 years old and just beginning college. I did that for a couple of years."
"I was drafted and went to Korea where I had an opportunity to create a production team that did dramatic and comedy shows. I had also done a little disc jockeying."
"I'd like to feel that an advertiser gets something extra when they advertise with us - a certain humanity that comes from upbeat and positive human interest letters and success stories."
"It's been amazing, the number of commercials that I've done, starting back in 1968. It must be 8,000."
"Songs used to be short, then they became longer, and now they're getting shorter. But otherwise, music is about a beat and a message. If the beat gets to the audience, and the message touches them, you've got a hit."
"The first syndicating I tried was when two partners and I created a production company in 1952. We wanted to syndicate famous Bible stories and sell them for $25 a show."
"We gave the show away and in return, we received a certain number of minutes per hour for the three-hour show that we could sell to Madison Avenue. One of the first sponsors was MGM Records."
"We tell stories. We talk about statistics. And in 1978, we added an element of the show that gave it its heartbeat: the long distance dedication."
"The stories are success stories. The letters from listeners often touch the heart and can be inspiring."
"That something extra, I believe, is a certain humanity that comes from upbeat and positive human interest letters and success stories. Advertisers like to be associated with those qualities."
"My first commercial was for Miller High Life beer."
"My agent said that I was one of the top three busiest people in the country."
"Interestingly, songs used to be short, then they became longer, and now they're getting shorter."
"If the beat gets to the audience, and the message touches them, you've got a hit."
"I probably would be continuing to do voice-overs, continuing to do cartoon shows, and at the same time I'd probably be on a sitcom or a dramatic television show."
"I must have done about 25,000 promos."
"I like the storytelling and reading the letters, the long-distance dedications."
"I had also done a little disc jockeying."
"Despite all the technical improvements, it still boils down to a man or a woman and a microphone, playing music, sharing stories, talking about issues - communicating with an audience."
"But otherwise, music is about a beat and a message."
