Why My Mother Got Mad At Me...

[PicturesForYourEars]

John Sykes suggested a thread about where on-air names came from:

Chuck Mitchell, given to me by new Program Director Mike Rutledge (ex of CHUM), after HIS favorite jocks Johnny Mitchell and Chuck McCoy. The station manager phoned in, furious, wanting to know who was just on the air...lol

I also was given Johnny Walker, because that was the next fictious name that was available in the station's pre-recorded jingle package when I arrived at rocker CFBC!
After they ran out , they started to come up with new jocks names by splicing together first names from one jingle with somebody else's last name from another jingle!!!

Radio!

The mike is open, NEXT?

[Big Voice]

Was it only Top 40 Rock stations that change your name?
I worked "middle of the road" stations all my career, and was never asked to change my name?
MOR jocks seemed to get away with their own names? True or not?
I think of Daryl B. Instead of Burlingham. Doc Harris instead of whatever his real name was. Stevie Wonder instead of Steve Grossman, etc.
MOR guys were Morris Foisie, Jack Cullen, Bob Hutton, Jack Kyle, Jim Fraser, Elmer Tippe, (country)
Right or wrong?

[Neumann Sennheiser]

In the early 70's CFUN, there was David Tait (lately of CFR in Calgary) on news as "Michael Taylor" so when Randy Taylor joined the team he was obliged to take on the name RandyJackson.
Randy is now again "Taylor" (many years with BCIT) and Tait, I presume, is still and again "Tait".
So much simpler if both had just been allowed to use their real names in the first place each of which was perfectly suitable for on-air

[Jack Bennest]

I wasin radio for 15 years - on air, d.j., news reader, beater etc - I kept asking to change my name to lulu or sexy sassy but the beancounters always said that Jack Bennest was easy to spell and pronounce... now that is a joke.

Names like Doc and Darryl B were wonderful - like Frosty. But Fred L. did well - The real Roy - Lumpy, Belle, George, even Jim Robson was a dee jay.

[johnsykes]

Thanks for falling into my trap. I could never understand why people had to change names....there was no need for so many....my favourite guy, Mr. Cool on air....Fred Latrimouille.....(maybe sp) many simply typed Latrimo....no big deal.
Phil Toombs had to change to Phil Roberts for some reason....yet others were totally successful as Dean Hagopian....Brian Forst, etc. No one ever questioned my name, John Sykes.....oh yes, they pronounced it like there was no tomorrow....Si-kus....Sicks....you name it. Obviously they'd never been into the literary world of Dickens....Sikes the burgler.


I remember one day, I way at CJOR.....preparing to do the noon sports....I thought I'd throw in something different....knowing Vancouver had some famous names already.....I did the intro.....Good afternoon, J. Robson Sykes with the noon sports report....or something like that. When the sports report was done and I was out of the studio, my dear General Manager, Don Wall, called me in and asked me never to do that again. I explained that I was using my correct name....John Robson Sykes.
He believed I was mocking Jim Robson and/or J. Paul McConnell. It took a few minutes for me to cue him in, and all was forgotten. I'd never mock Jim Robson, never. He's the best and forever will be. I also had a great belief in J. Paul's work too. I will always consider those two guys as men I have the greatest respect for. Mr. Wall calmed down and accepted my word. Don Wall was my idol as a boss. I worked for him in Montreal and again in Vancouver. I could never have a better person to work for. Never.

Hope you get a chuckle out of the above. Trying to keep things light. We all need that sort of feeling these days!

Sykes

[radiofan]

If I remember the Phil Toombs story the name change came because he was suddenly be called The Toomber on the air .. so he became Phillip Robert Toombs for a few weeks and then one day
the Toombs was gone and he was simply Phil Roberts. The Roberts name was used for years on his mobile DJ service and his advertising agency material.

Phil has attended several of Red Robinson's RPM lunches in the past few years.

[Karen]

My mother was horrified the first time I used the name John Sykes on the air!

[Big Voice]

My mother was horrified the first time I used the name John Sykes on the air!

Did you call yourself Si-kus....Sicks....or Karen Sikes the burgler?

[johnsykes]

Are you the Karen from Frosty The Snowman?

[Howaboutthat]

Are you the Karen from Frosty The Snowman?

Hah Ha... you fell into my trap!
Hey, are you the John that ran CKVN into the ground in less than a year? (A feat not matched by even Rogers with 104.9)

[johnsykes]

That kind of comment is totally uncalled for. To me, that just shows why you hide behind your avatar.

[Russ_Byth]

An interesting situation popped up when I was anchoring news at SBN in Vancouver.
I'd decided to use my first and middle name just for a change - so I was signing on and off using "Russell Scott"

Unbeknownst to me at the time, there was a guy doing local news and sports in Vernon, which was an affiliate, and he would come on after me by introducting himself and then going into the local.... so it went something like this:

"And that's the news to this hour... I'm Russell Scott. And I'm Scott Russell with CJIB news..." (or something like that)