Aircheck: Life in Music Radio

Imagine being on the radio and hanging out with some of the biggest music stars of the day while you're still in high school. Think how it might be to work with the entertainment industry people you had admired the most, before your 21st birthday. Picture going on the air in major five major cities, including Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, before age 24. In "Aircheck: Life in Music Radio," J.J. Johnson takes the reader into the radio stations, the recording studios, the parties and the Hollywood industry hangouts where top radio, TV and movie personalities, recording artists, promotion people and executives all came to mingle. J.J. Johnson lived the Hollywood glamour life that most people, even other radio people, only dreamed of. In this book, he takes you behind the scenes and makes clear as to how pre-deregulation radio worked and why it worked that way. And, sometimes, why it didn't work. He'll guide you into face-to-face encounters with some of the iconic artists and seminal events of the time; from the landmark network music special, "Motown 25," where Michael Jackson made his transition from star to superstar, to the 1992 Los Angeles riots. He was there for all of that and much more. If you were ever curious as to what was really going on with that guy behind the speakers in your car, this is the book! One industry veteran stated, "You can learn more from these pages than any broadcast school in the country." Said another; "If you've ever wondered what it is like to be on the air playing music and chatting with the hottest entertainers in music, TV, the movies, or stage, then read this book. It's funny, informative, and insightful." So, prepare to meet the famous and the extraordinary; a cast of characters in a world of entertainment that seems too outlandish to have been real. Except it was.