Meanwhile, back in Virginia, my lawyer was still sparring verbally with the RKO attorneys. You'd think they would have been exhausted from their other legal troubles and ready to give in on any incomplete clause. But, there were still a few issues unresolved: I wanted to own the rights to anything I created, I wanted indemnity against lawsuits for content I had approved by the program director - a direct reaction to the lawsuit filed against me by the Virginia Beach judge - and my attorney wanted it to be a ”no cut” contract. In other words, they payed me whether I worked or not, per their choice.
It came down to minutes.
Literally.
Minutes before I was supposed to do my first air-shift, the final version of my contract was faxed to WFYR's offices and Dick Rakovan and I executed the deal.
I walked down the hall and went into the on-air studio. A blended mixture of female and male voices in the top-of-the-hour jingle sang, "WFYR, Chicago!!!” and I punched up the next song.
I was now a Chicago radio personality and I was petrified. But, at the same time I was exhilarated. I felt like Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Jack Dawson, in the movie Titanic when he stands on the bow of the doomed ocean liner and shouts out, “I’m king of the world.”
As my voice reverberated across every street and into every alley of the nation’s third largest radio market, I was not aware I was now broadcasting on a doomed ship that fate had already determined would soon sink.
But, the band played on a little longer.
On my first day, my immediate goal was simple: not to stumble over any words. Just as wild animals can sense fear in their prey, I was convinced any verbal misstep would leave me a marked man. I didn't even care if I wasn't very funny or entertaining that first day. I just didn't want to sound like I didn't belong in that city. College football coach Lou Holtz once said, “When you get to the end zone, act like you've been there before". I especially wanted whoever was listening to think I had been there before. Or at least that I belonged there.
