This has become my week for sharing rare, early radio airchecks of a couple of great jocks who — at least temporarily — hung up their headphones on Friday.
One was John Landecker.
The other was Ross Brittain (Z93/Atlanta, WABC/New York, Z-100/New York, WOGL/Philadelphia — and 1/2 of the ’80s defining Z Morning Zoo with Scott Shannon.
Here’s a brief, extremely rare recording from Ross’s first radio job, at WIIN/Atlanta…a job he landed while still attending college.
This aircheck is extraordinary for two reasons:
1. It includes what probably is the best “station sign-off” in radio history.
2. It was his first radio job, he still was in college…yet Ross already was a great air personality. Compare his voice, style and delivery on this recording to what he did roughly a decade later at Z-100…or to what he did until last Friday at WOGL.
All the other great radio talents I know sounded not-so-good during the first couple of years of their careers.
Perhaps they sounded better than many other beginners, but it took even the great ones a while to discover how to crack a mic and simply allow their genuine personalities to travel across the airwaves.
When you hear an early aircheck of any of those other guys the common reaction is, “Oh, my god. I can’t believe he ever sounded like that.”
With this recording, however, the reaction of people who know his work is, “Sure, that’s Ross Brittain.”
The way he identified the station’s effective radiated power? Even at the beginning, he knew how to present “the basics” without sacrificing his show’s entertainment value.
He came out of the chute sounding not like a “DJ” but instead like someone who was totally comfortable and at home behind a radio microphone.
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I’d expect nothing less. 😉 Good luck Ross!