For seven months I did a daily two-hour radio show, “Primary Source,” on 910 AM, a 50,000 watt station in Southfield. Actually, it became a three-hour show for more than two months, after someone after me quit or got fired. The show was both immensely satisfying and a ton of work; I had to write the entire show and come up with and book the guests myself.
Kevin Adell, the station owner, repeatedly had asked me to do the show last spring. “Do whatever you want,” he told me. “Don’t worry about ratings; I would like you to finish your career here. You can have guests or no guests, take callers or don’t take them.”
I wanted, of course, to have lots of guests and callers. My intention was to give Detroit a daily audio magazine aimed at telling people interesting things they might not know, or giving them a new look at ones they did. I also welcomed the chance to allow people to be heard from whose voices weren’t normally part of the conversation.
Over the months, I attracted a fascinating stable of regular callers, and I presume, even more listeners. There was sweet Marcia, a black woman in 80s whose battle cry was “Medicare for all.” and who worshipped Bernie Sanders. There was Tim, a gravelly-voiced white guy straight out of central casting, who got apparently got all his news from Fox 2 and Rush Limbaugh. Jerry from Warren, a Chaldean gentleman with a deep voice who elaborately thanked me for taking each call. Gentle Wardell Montgomery, an urban folk poet, and many more. Different topics produced different callers, and there seemed to have been more of these all the time.
But what I really liked was the diversity of the programs; my goal was to mostly keep everyone guessing. I developed a stable of regular guests: Every month, Elliott Wilhelm, the brilliant director of the Detroit Film Festival, would join me to preview coming attractions.
John Lindstrom, the wise publisher of the Gongwer News Service, and Susan Demas, the editor-in-chief of the new Michigan Advance, provided insight into what was likely to happen in Lansing, or what Lansing was about to do to us. Oneita Jackson, author of “Nappy-Headed Negro Syndrome” gave us an irreverent look at life from street level.
Professor Charles Ballard, a brilliant economist at Michigan State University, provided insight into Michigan’s economic problems, and the sage Lynn Henning even weighed in on topic including whether baseball has lost its way, and Why The Lions Always Stink.
We looked at topics as diverse as autism and elder abuse; explored the possibilities and realities of urban agriculture, and spent two solid weeks at the auto show, looking at every aspect of the industry. The only feedback I ever got from the owner was once, when he put his head in the studio and said “your ratings are way up. If I tell you to do anything different, don’t listen.”
Alas, nothing lasts forever. In the afternoon of Feb. 7, as I worked on the next day’s show, the station manager, with whom I had an excellent relationship, called to tell me that the show had been canceled, effective immediately, and that I should come and get my stuff.
Why this happened remained mystifying to me and to devoted listeners, such as Greg Kowalski, the historian of Hamtramck, who said “they are crazy. You had the best show on not just that station but any station. You always had something interesting.”
Possibly I didn’t fit with the station’s format, but I am proud of what I was able to do, which was to educate some folks on interesting and important topics, which is what I have tried to do for virtually all my professional life. If you had a chance to hear me … thanks for listening.
