In the beginning, WWL was owned by Loyola University - the Catholic Church. When the management at WWL made the decision to flip the format of the FM station from “elevator music” to contemporary Top-40 format - they should have imagined that there could be conflicts between the teachings of the Catholic Church and the station’s new need to play current hits and relate to pop culture. But it was obvious that was not on their radar.
The scandal!
When a picture of Capt. Humble and I appeared on the cover of Figaro - the predecessor to Gambit - with the winner of the “Miss Wet T-shirt Contest” in Fat city - the Church forced the station’s management to fire us both.
I convinced management to hire Capt. Humble, the afternoon personality on WRNO, a competing rock station. Capt. Humble was well-known in the market and had a following. His on-air persona was that of a crazy character who had the talent to say nothing meaningful while saying something. Like Dr. John, Capt. Humble made up words that became acceptable lingo. And the good Capt. may have given the slightest impression that he was stoned on the air.
Management put me on in the morning because FM stations had no audience in the morning, and they felt safe hiding me in that time slot. They had no idea that my goal was to do a personality-driven show that would attract an audience.
The picture on the cover of the weekly newspaper was of Capt.
Humble, me, and the extremely well-built winner, with her breasts transparent under a wet T-shirt. The upper management of Loyola University, which included priests, was appalled that two on-air personalities from their new FM adventure were standing next to this young woman wearing a dripping wet T-shirt. The management of WWL was forced to fire us.
One day I had gotten off the air and had a message to go to the office of the program director, John Pela. I had no clue what the meeting was about. When I entered John’s office I saw the general sales manager, Ray Muro seated next to John’s desk. The looks on their faces seemed more fitting for a funeral than a meeting with the morning personality who was now generating ratings and revenue.
Thankfully, they wasted no time and got right to the point. Both John and Ray told me that they fought hard against doing what they were being forced to do, which was fire me. They even showed the results of a new survey showing that I had one of the most recognizable names in the media in the entire market. But the picture of Capt. Humble and I was too much for the Catholic Church to tolerate; and that morning after my show, about a week after the “Miss Wet T-shirt Contest,” I was fired.
John and Ray both said they were so sorry for what they were forced to do and thanked me for my service to the company. This was a shocking moment in my young career. This was my first full-time job in radio, and I was newly married. It was a scary time for me.
I recently learned from Ray Muro’s daughter, Loren, that her dad came home and was irate over being forced to fire us and said the whole thing was “Bull****!”
The one factor that may never have been considered was the fact that the radio station ran an on-air schedule promoting the “Miss Wet T-shirt Contest” in Fat City. Capt. Humble was the emcee of the event and my wife and I decided to go. It seemed like a fun event. Shortly after the event began, some people in the crowd noticed me in the audience and began chanting my name and literally lifted me up on the stage. At that point, I became a reluctant co-emcee. With respect for Captain Humble, I did not want to appear to be infringing on his role as emcee, but Cap immediately embraced me on stage, and we emceed the rest of the event together.
The fact that the radio station ran a schedule promoting the event gave me the impression that there was nothing wrong with going to the contest, and it was almost as if it was a station sanctioned event. Imagine my surprise when I was fired for attending an event the station made money promoting.
I had just lost my job and had no money. I hired an attorney who accurately pointed out the radio station approved advertising for the event.
Related
Because I was attracting an audience in the morning on an FM station, it wasn’t long before I was offered the morning show on the more established WRNO-FM. As it turned out - WWL was forced to pay me my salary from the time I was fired until the time I started in the morning on WRNO.
Life is most interesting when you learn profound lessons about life from the challenges you face. Being fired from my first full-time job as a newlywed was devastating, but the publicity that surrounded me for being fired for going to a “Miss Wet T-shirt Contest” proved to be better than any advertising campaign promoting Scoot.
I have carried that lesson through my entire career, and there were other times when something challenging happened and I thought this is the worst thing that could happen - only to realize again that sometimes the worst thing that happens may actually be the best thing that happens.
Life is unpredictable - no matter how hard we try to control it. We don’t always choose our challenges - but we do choose how to react to those challenges. In the “Miss Wet T-shirt Contest” I didn’t choose the challenge of being fired - but I did choose to stand up for myself and what I thought was right and won in the end.
Eventually, Loyola University sold WWL Radio. After 2 years of doing a morning show on KTSO in San Antonio, I had an offer to return to New Orleans to do the morning show on WWL-FM - which was Magic 101.9. But I had an epiphany - I realized that my future was in talk radio.
The past is the past, and WWL and Diane Newman embraced me when I returned to the city over 10 years ago. This is my 3rd time on WWL with no end in sight. Collectively, I have been on WWL Radio for over 20 years of my career.
In the next edition of my series on celebrating 100 years of WWL, I’ll talk about my first day as a talk show host on WWL in 1991 and I’ll share some things you may not know about doing a talk show on WWL today.