and suddenly I'm on the air. I leave the station
at 10:00. I answer my phone calls."
Because she is also a songwriter, O'Day's
morning and early afternoon are often
booked with writing appointments or demo
recording sessions.
POINTERS FOR THE JOB SEARCH
"In radio, you're going to have to work cheap,
and have bad hours in the begin-
ning. Go in as an assistant. Listen to every
great radio personality you possibly can
and find that person you can best emulate, then
develop your own style. I read adver-
tising copy every night of my life before I
went to bed. I read books out loud so that
my cold reading skills were top notch. I've
been doing that for 20 years. Get books
you don't even understand and try to make them
sound interesting. Get a medical
magazine; read the back of a Lysol can. Pretend
it's an advertisement. You need to be
able to read anything when you're on live
radio. You've got to always pay attention to
what you're reading, too. In radio, something
always breaks down and you've got to
be prepared to cover. All of a sudden the CD
player doesn't work, and you've got to
keep talking. My advice is: listen, read,
practice, and hone your craft. Realize that
every single person you meet might be the one
who is able to unlock the door that
gets you an interview or a job."
THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS
JOB:
"What I like least is getting up at 3:30 in the
morning and having to
go to bed early."
THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS JOB:
"I am passionate about the country music
format. I love talking to
incredibly intelligent listeners. Gerry [House]
can ask anything on the
radio--`What is the Hebrew word for
cracker?'--and a dozen people
will call in with the answer. Our listeners are
smart and they are also
very caring. A lady called in and said, `I'm
adopting a girl from
Romania, but I can't afford to fly us there to
get her, and back.' She
asked if anyone could donate frequent flyer
miles. Before we went off
the air at 10:00, she had the miles she
needed."
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