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| Jimmy and Maggie |
WTKK in Boston used to have IMUS IN THE MORNING-- which despite what you might think was once a hilarious show. Imus is often confused with other shock jocks and this is not the case-- his show back in the early 00's had wit, politics, humor-- I loved his Sonny and Cher skit with Bill Clinton and Al Gore singing I HATE YOU BABE during the 2000 presidential campaign-- and it was IMUS who first reported the World Trade Center had been attacked. After some comments that were insensitive (and I hate political correctness) Imus left the air only to return a year later with a kinder, gentler, more diverse and less funny version of his old show.
Enter Jim and Margerie to the coveted 6am to 10am drive time morning slot.
I've been with WTKK since they first started broadcasting in 1999/2000-- I loved Jay Severin when he talked political analysis, hated him when he talked about his womanizing and abject devotion to Mitt Romney-- whom I happen to like but I believe in blind following to no politician.
Jimmy and the Magster started with the afternoon slot-- 1-3 and it was about two hours too long. Their show seemed unprepared and unsure of itself. Subjects were, to put it nicely, about as interesting as listening to your Mom's ancient sisters discuss the benefits of Wheatena over Fiber One. Jim particularly came across as an obnoxious political leftist out of the People's Republic of Cambridge. Still, in comparison to Mike Barnacle's "I'm Mike and You're Lucky I'm Here" show which followed Imus, it had potential. I'd usually listen until I couldn't take it anymore-- often making it all the way to 1:15 before I'd switch it off.
But when Jimbo and Magoo moved to the morning slot something happened-- the show got good. And not just good-- it got interesting. Moving at a brisk pace they jump from subject to subject so quickly that if you happen to call in you better pay attention because the thing you called about may be long over by the time they get to you.
Jim is respectful of his callers, and listens to the other side. He accepts that about 90% of his audience disagrees with him and takes it with great humor. He also unleashed the Braude wit which is formidable and cutting and Margerie stepped up as well, no longer acting as Jim's sounding board she argues and calls him on things she disagrees with.
Coincidently, I came across a blog post about Jim the day before he discussed it on the air-- this writer from the Boston Herald has a book about Fat Kids becoming Slim Adults and wanted J&M to discuss it on their Friday segment called FAT FRIDAYS-- said writer sent in copies, dropped emails, left voicemails and even accosted Braude at his natural habitat-- the hot bar at Whole Foods in Cambridge. The writer took offense that his book has been ignored and wrote about his frustration in his blog.
As an internationally published writer and artist I can tell you myself that it is not uncommon to have people come up to you and expect you to stop everything you're doing to recognize their genius, and they are often offended when you don't have the time or the interest to do so.
Recently I had a talented young man (I'm being polite) send me a FULL SCRIPT of his latest graphic novel, asking me to illustrate it (200pages) on the condition of payment via royalties-- when we sell millions I'll be rich, but meanwhile I've got 200 pages of work to do for free. When I passed he was outraged that I didn't want to do it and insisted I provide him with a list of artists who would be suitable for the project AND the emails of editors from the major publishers I've worked for.
I'm not making this up.
I told him I would provide him with a list of possible student artists who might be interested in working on the project for about $2K up front with back door royalties AND I wanted $500 for my time to provide said list of recommended artists. He told me he didn't have that kind of money and I told him that if he believed so strongly in his project it shouldn't be hard to get a business proposal together and take it to the bank for a small business loan.
I won't hear from this guy again.
As Harlan Ellison has said-- it's the amateurs who make it hard for the professionals.
Back to the show; Give the Jim and Margerie show a chance. You won't be sorry.
