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Jay-Jay Feeney Reflects on Radio Career & Retirement, The Best Stories from 30+ Years On Air

July 03, 2024 / 01:09:18

This episode features JJ's farewell from radio after 33 years, discussing her career, burnout, and future plans. Key topics include her experiences in the industry, the challenges of radio, and her thoughts on the changing media landscape.

JJ reflects on her long tenure at MediaWorks and the stress that has led to her decision to step away from music radio. She expresses uncertainty about retirement, noting that she may return to radio in the future, but currently feels burnt out and creatively exhausted.

The conversation touches on the evolution of radio, the impact of social media, and the need for authenticity in broadcasting. JJ emphasizes the importance of connecting with listeners and the challenges of maintaining that connection in a changing industry.

JJ shares memorable moments from her career, including her early days in radio, her creative stunts, and significant interactions with celebrities like Tom Cruise. She discusses the importance of hard work and the legacy she hopes to leave behind.

As the episode concludes, JJ expresses gratitude for her experiences and the support she has received, while acknowledging the emotional difficulty of her final show.

TLDR

JJ bids farewell to radio after 33 years, reflecting on burnout, memorable moments, and the future of broadcasting.

Episode

1:09:18
00:00:00
[Music] JJ welcome back to my podcast thanks for having me I really missed you I saw you just yesterday actually um
00:00:37
this because of the nature of podcasting it's hard to know when people are going
00:00:41
to be listening to this but it's coming out on a Thursday the day before that
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you have your final show on the air yes my final show on the air 33 years on the
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air and 30 years straight at media Works actually I've been at media works for 33
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years minus 4 months when I went to moved to Hamilton and worked on the breeze for four months it was initially
00:01:08
it was called radio works then it's been called can West and it's yeah a bunch of
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different names yeah um is this a retirement or a pause that is a hard one because I want
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to say retirement but and everyone keeps asking me but I mean I haven't even left yet so
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I don't know like I'm I'm tired so I guess I'll find out like maybe who's to
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say maybe in a 6 months a year 2 years 5 years I might go oh I really must being
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on the radio and that that could very well happen um but I just don't I don't know I don't I actually
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don't think I will go back to music radio if I get an opportunity and talk maybe but you know I've had no
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experience and talk back so I don't know I'm going to say retirement people come
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out of retirement all the time so J Jay-Z's retired about Jay-Z retired about five times Michael Jordan retired
00:02:04
a number of times yeah so many sports people didn't Tiger Woods retire then he
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came out of retirement um yeah so whatever yeah have you just stopped loving it um not really not really
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just I I'm so lucky it's such a fun job for the most part but it's a lot more
00:02:24
stressful than people think it is you know it looks fun from the outside it looks glamorous and all that but it's
00:02:29
hard hard work and I'm just I'm really really burnt out I really really just I
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can't think of any more creative ideas I've done them all I've just I I sort of get a bit sick of the
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uh the format so it's the same sort of routine of you know you you talk about
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something then you ask for callers to call in and then you know then you might do an interview and it's just for one
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Voice break and then the next Voice break you've got to do like a oneoff little chat about something and then the
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news is on like I sort of get a bit I'm a bit tired of this mundane kind of you
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know routine yeah CU people have that saying uh they talk about radio and they say oh no two days are the same but
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after 33 years there are a lot of days that I actually saw a Tik Tok um I wish I could credit her just some just some
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random and toonga yeah and it was her take on music radio in New Zealand and it was do you know the one I'm talking
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about yes it's hilarious yeah I wish I could I wish I could name her and she's
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um she's something like oh personalized plates saw a funny one of those today if
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you've seen a funny personalized plate text us on 9696 to win tickets to Despicable Me for had a curry last night
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for dinner but wa around the m k good morning Bay plenty I think you need to question your life choices if
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you've got a personalized plate really you know I think you really need to question
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yourself if you have dated your cousin give us a text on 3656 right now and uh we'll get you on the show get you some
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free passes to the latest Inside Out movie that is it's very funny the way she takes the piss out of radio is just
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spot on yeah but I mean no but I can't I can't diss radio CU I love radio but
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it's just for me I just feel like I've had my excitement and I've been a bit cruisy
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lately so yeah like running on sort of autopilot not creatively stimulated enough yeah not really and um you know
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part of that could be my fault but also part of it I just I just I just don't
00:04:41
have the energy like I don't have the energy I had the first 30 years of my career you know I was um I was talking
00:04:48
to um a mutual friend of us over the weekend who's also on on radio and he was asking about it because it does
00:04:56
seem [ __ ] crazy what you're doing like at the moment you are I would think
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the highest paid female in New Zealand radio oh oh oh oh first of all that's
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personal second of all I would not suggest that at all who would be better highest paid Ki KI woodam would she I
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don't know but people on newb would definitely get paid more money than me and also I'm offended that you think I'm
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the highest paid that makes me sound rich and we all know that's not the case
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no no we're talking highest highest paid in a poo industry yeah a poo industry
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like if you make 70k a year you'll be [ __ ] lucky yeah okay no but we're
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always going with that before you so rudely interrupt with well I don't know
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how much people earn no but the the um media landscape is changing at such an alarmingly quick rate yeah um there are
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so many like qualified and experienced people out there be it from [ __ ] newshub or TV andz or wherever um that
00:05:55
are scrambling for positions yeah and here you are just like willingly walking away which a lot of people can't
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understand I guess well I mean everyone's different why does everyone want to be the same
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um look I'm just I'm just tired I'm just tired like I need to walk away I do I
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need to I I could just keep doing this and what is what I've been doing the last few years I've been tired and I've
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just kept doing it and it just got to a point where I was like I actually stop stop stop think about what
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you were saying to yourself you're bloody exhausted and you need a break I can literally I'm barely getting through
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this week I barely am because I'm just like I'm so done um so you just got to
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listen to yourself I know we all need to make money but I think about I'm inspired by so many people who have
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shared these stories over the years with me about being made redundant or for some reason they can't work anymore
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suddenly or you know they lose a lot of money for some some reason and it's like
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devastating and people just don't know how they're going to pick themselves up
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but they pick themselves up like really quickly and most of them have no regrets
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they're like oh that was actually that was the best thing that happened to me
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so I'm relying on that for me I'm relying on the fact that my head will be
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clear and I can think of things I can do to make money cuz I don't need to make a
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lot of money I just need to make enough to get by I think I yeah I'm um I'm um
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incredibly proud of you oh no I um oh I'll get emotional talking about it no
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no no cuz I was um yeah I was telling this friend over the weekend like you you are a force to be reckoned with
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when when you've got a project that you're passionate about and and you can
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have complete control uh in complete say over over what you're doing you're
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[ __ ] Unstoppable and it's um it's not just a radio thing it's just what when
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you've got a project whether it's I don't know organizing a [ __ ] wedding which I had absolutely nothing
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to do with and you had everything to do with whatever it is um you're just an
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Unstoppable Force so whatever whatever you do next I'm just I'm really excited
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because I think um a I've got no doubt you'll be good at it and B um it'll just
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be good to see that fire in your belly again and see and see you see you passionate about something and come up
00:08:34
when we so I you and I you were at the edge and I started working um at the edge
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with you in 2001 Y and later in 2001 we moved to Oakland back then bear in mind this was there may have been in terms of
00:08:51
social media there may have been mypace and bbo I can't even might may have this
00:08:55
may have even been pre- social media we only just got the internet around 99 I think and and and you you had your own
00:09:02
your own website so you were a like a brand or an identity yeah way before anyone else was doing this um you had
00:09:09
radio.co NZ and we moved to Orland and we were living together and You' spend
00:09:15
every single Sunday night um with rolls of paper uh and um like GS out on the lounge floor and you'd spend hours
00:09:24
rapping them and you were just so passionate about it and I feel like I haven't seen that JJ in a long time you
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know you're really driven about something and well radio check was uh that just grew
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legs like I won awards and uh you know I had advertisers and then I ended up having staff it was crazy and it just
00:09:44
got a little bit too much for me to handle because you know having full-time radio job at the same time it was a lot
00:09:49
so unfortunately I just something had to give and I gave up what I love doing I love doing the website but I love radio
00:09:56
more and the website was just fun it was just like gave me something to focus on
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it gave me a hobby outside of radio it gave me I don't know I just I just really loved it and repping everyone's
00:10:08
prizes and sending them out from me to them was just a really cool thing that I love doing I love connecting with people
00:10:14
on a personal level so I don't want someone else to pretend to be me you know oh this this is from JJ when it's
00:10:21
not you know um I don't know I just that's why as passate about it but yeah
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there is that's another thing that that no no one would know about you but you're um in of radio like you're a
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you're a you're a fighter for The Listener So like um there'll be a lot of
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people uh like like at Mor FM where you work down that probably happy to see the
00:10:41
back of you oh there is if someone says hey great news JJ um every caller this week goes in the draw to win a pink
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ticket you'll be like [ __ ] off we're not doing that uh every caller that gets on
00:10:53
needs to win a double pass and you'll you'll fight whereas most people like
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I'm I'm probably the same as fny who is your current cooworker I'll be like H
00:11:02
I'm getting paid it's not my problem you want to you want to put everyone in the
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drawer for one ticket fine look I haven't I've I have been fighting and I've lost a lot of fights due to the
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financial situations of the media but um like no because I don't want people to
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have a [ __ ] experience I want people to have a great experience I want people to
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feel something they listen to the show they win something they just you know they just have a good time and what are
00:11:26
they going to do they're gonna [ __ ] come back the next day well they're
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going to tell their friends and that's important to me because that's that was
00:11:33
that's my living that's my life so it's important to me that I care about the
00:11:40
people listening you know I mean I'm sure well if you're on the ear and you
00:11:45
don't care about your listeners that much you're a [ __ ] fake fake fraud
00:11:50
you need to reconsider your career choice I get real angry about it so yeah because what was the big battle you had
00:11:58
last year like to do with Santa pictures or something there was a thing oh no I don't oh no no I did upset someone in
00:12:06
the um promotions Department this this isn't about throwing anyone else under
00:12:11
the bway this is just going going going to show the the the length that you go to about you know pouring your heart
00:12:18
into the audience oh I don't actually want oh okay well we we took Santa on tour and
00:12:26
everyone was going to get free Santa photos and and I was like oh cool how we you know how are we going to print them
00:12:32
out what's the frame going to look like blah blah blah and I was told there's no
00:12:35
money you know everyone's going to get a digital picture on their phone or whatever and I was like no no no no no
00:12:41
no no no no no that's not going to happen not everyone has email but leave it or not and we did find this out by
00:12:46
doing the tour it's amazing how many people do not have email or even uh a smartphone to send a digital photo to um
00:12:55
and I just thought if you're going to go get your photo with Santa you're a kid
00:12:59
you want to take something tangible away from that you get your photo then you hop in the car and you've got nothing so
00:13:04
I just knew that would make the experience a little bit better and kids take it home it's a souvenir they put on
00:13:09
the wall there JJ and fenny's name on there Mor F blah blah blah so um when I
00:13:14
found out there was no money or not not that there was no money I just heard that we weren't doing it so I pulled my
00:13:19
chair up next to um someone who was in charge of that and I said listen we are getting printed fot
00:13:30
photos and she just looked at me and said no we're not we can't afford that
00:13:35
and I was like no we are getting printed photos such an [ __ ] did you get did you get printed photos no this is what
00:13:43
happen she goes we can't we've got no money she was really upset and I had to
00:13:46
go and apologize to her later for being a diva but um I I said well we can't afford okay so
00:13:52
why organize with Epson we were going to get a printer and we're just going to
00:13:57
organize all that problem was it was such late notice we couldn't get the turnaround in time but you know Epson
00:14:03
were pretty Keen to help us out and I just thought if you just had a bit more time and just asked around you might not
00:14:09
even have to pay for it you could just get a sponsor or whatever um yeah so anyway we didn't get the printed photos
00:14:14
and I'm just like I know it sounds like such a small thing but to me it's a big
00:14:19
deal it Mak it just makes the experience that much better yeah um and I am sorry to that
00:14:26
person she knows who she is and I have apologized to her and apologize to her again before um well one of my one of my
00:14:33
favorite podcasts actually one of the most successful podcasts in the world is won by a guy called Steven Bartle called
00:14:37
Diary of a CEO yeah fastest growing podcast in the world and he talks about 1 percenters so his team's growing so
00:14:44
big now they their attention to detail is um to the extent that when the guest arrives they've looked into what the
00:14:51
guest favorite music has and they'll have that piping through the ceiling wow
00:14:54
okay so immediately so say for you you walk in here today and it's Wham playing
00:14:58
oh okay I've evolved from where okay no no but I suppose my my point is there's parallels
00:15:06
between what you've done and what and what he does and I know that it's come
00:15:10
at a great cost over the years like people calling you a diva calling you a [ __ ] you're calling you hard difficult
00:15:16
hard work do you know it's only people it's it's not anyone I actually work
00:15:21
with everyone loves me everyone I deal with loves me it's just like the people
00:15:26
that like the people that uh make the decisions can find that about me because I will fight against the decision if I
00:15:36
don't believe in it if I don't agree with it so that's why but management as
00:15:41
well like I come I run into management all the time because we disagree on things but at the end of the day we
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still have huge respect for each other man management loves me because they know that I'm
00:15:54
passionate I'm not doing it for selfish reasons I do nothing for myself I do
00:15:58
everything thing for other people yeah that's true and that's why um I don't
00:16:02
know I feel like this would have been water a Ducks back to you but this really annoyed me last week so you made
00:16:05
the announcement on the year that you're finishing yeah and uh it was everywhere
00:16:10
it was on newshub it was on one news uh staff and New Zealand Herald and after about an hour of the story going up uh
00:16:19
New Zealand Herald had to disable their comments on Facebook I I didn't see what
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the what the comments were prior to the disabling yeah um but how did that make you feel
00:16:29
well I didn't even know about it till you sent me the screenshot so thanks yeah um well I F I felt really bothered
00:16:36
by it piss me oh really um but I I feel like even if you saw the comments whatever they were before they were
00:16:41
disabled you wouldn't have you do have quite a good um I don't know what's the word I'm
00:16:47
looking for quite a good yeah like a thick skin or just yeah I mean I had Paul Henry run for a podcast last week I
00:16:53
feel like there's elements of um you know him and you where you literally don't give a flying f
00:17:00
like you could waste so much energy and time on what strangers write about you on
00:17:08
Facebook like why I this is one thing I always come back to why do you care what
00:17:13
they say you don't know them you don't know them they don't actually know you they think they know
00:17:19
you and so I don't care what they think and I'm not here to please everyone I
00:17:23
don't I don't expect every person in New Zealand to think I'm the greatest radio
00:17:27
person in the world I know there's only a couple hundred thousand people who
00:17:31
think that because that's how many listeners we have so I don't expect everyone to like me what I find rude is
00:17:37
that if you've got anything nasty to say about someone why would you say it publicly why would you put it on social
00:17:43
media what sort of person are you to do that like all of my friends all the decent people I know no none of us would
00:17:48
do something like that so you've got to think about the type of person that would do that I just don't have time for
00:17:53
them I don't care you don't like me who gives a [ __ ] I don't like you either go
00:17:58
away you're not wasting wasting your energy going online talking [ __ ] about them
00:18:02
yeah exactly just [ __ ] off already sorry for my swearing but I am in such a sassy
00:18:07
mood at the moment just really do you feel you actually you do seem to be like a like lighter in spirit since um you've
00:18:15
made this announcement oh look it's a weight off my shoulder I have to say yeah it's just a huge weight I mean
00:18:24
I'm really sad and on Friday is going to be hard it's going to be hard um
00:18:34
but I've made the decision now so it's happening I can't stop it yes so this
00:18:40
podcast is going out on on a Thursday like 24 hours um before you're going to
00:18:45
make your fwell speech have you put much thought into what you're going to say
00:18:49
yes I have actually I've written already oh damn I should have brought them with
00:18:52
me Mo most people will probably hear this after the fact yeah have you got it on your phone no
00:18:59
no to my car what's the gist of it uh I can't even remember yeah bloody hell
00:19:04
it's just you g to go out with the bang to O'Brien style what did she say [ __ ] us I
00:19:10
actually okay this is what I really want to do I'm not going to do this I'm not
00:19:14
going to do this but I wrote my speech and this is what I really want to do at the end of my speech this is what I was
00:19:20
going to say so I'll tell you because it's not going to happen there's
00:19:24
something I've always wanted to say on the radio and I've never had a chance
00:19:28
peace out [Laughter] [ __ ] but anyway I know if I say that it' be funny but then the way
00:19:36
people that just go it's really unclassy you could potentially undo a lot of work
00:19:40
a lot of good work you've done over and it cost the company money from people
00:19:44
complaining to the broadcasting standards Authority so I don't actually want to do that I don't want to leave a
00:19:49
mess in my work you know I just I don't know what I'm going to say at the end of
00:19:53
my speech I'll probably be blubbering me so I'll probably be like thanks for
00:19:57
listening yeah yeah I I think realistically you will I think it's going to be a more
00:20:02
emotional day than what you're anticipating that's why I wrote some notes down because I thought oh there's
00:20:07
no way I'm going to be able to EDB this but I don't know it's going to be hard
00:20:10
because I know how hard it's going to be for fenny and Dave and even pledge tomy's been a bit upset this weekend
00:20:17
those are my two producers Dave and pledge they they're just so upset they really they really don't want
00:20:25
our team to break up because we've been such a good team and I don't want that
00:20:28
either but you know I have to I have to do this I just can't keep going at the moment
00:20:35
yeah but um it does demonstrate just how good you are the fact that you've been
00:20:41
like on autopilot the last few years and you still your ratings are still good you it's a very tough category you're in
00:20:47
in the radio awards and you're in the finals or you win every year that's um
00:20:52
like is it just too easy for you I was maybe and that's maybe why I'm sort of a
00:20:56
bit bored it's too easy I don't know a friend of mine that's a real good golfer
00:21:00
he was saying why the [ __ ] is JJ quitting I I I don't know if this is a good analogy or not but I said imagine
00:21:05
Lydia Co right one of the world's best golfers imagine if she gets told by the
00:21:10
boss of the golf course hey in future we only want you to do the pting nothing else yeah so she's just not being pushed
00:21:18
yeah yeah it is a bit like that yeah I think like working at the edge uh ruined me in terms of you know we could just be
00:21:27
so creative and we were encouraged to do the craziest stuff and just do what you want
00:21:33
to do and at Mory is way different it's more conservative very conservative and
00:21:39
they don't want you know to push boundaries and you know they everything's got to be family friendly
00:21:44
and even though I uh adapted to the role pretty quick um I just I just don't
00:21:52
can't express yourself I'm just kind of yeah I just feel like yeah there's Tes
00:21:56
of things I want to say and do sometimes and I'm always like no told by the producer or the boss no you can't do
00:22:02
that you can't do that and I'm like come on I was seeing you through like a an
00:22:06
idea you like no couldn't do that couldn't do that just can't so um yeah I
00:22:11
guess I guess I just aren't being challenged enough but I do appreciate that I've been able to work in the
00:22:16
afternoons which you know what I was like doing mornings oh so hard getting up in the
00:22:22
morning but um I'm always tired so even in the afternoon I'm tired but I've got
00:22:26
way more energy yeah well you you me mentioned you mentioned the edge so I was there for 20 years most of that time
00:22:32
was with you and Mike P you were there how many years in total uh since 94 to 2017 no not 94 yes 94 like 25 20 anyway
00:22:44
um I feel like I feel like that there was there was a no no 27 years oh I can't count I feel like there was a very
00:22:51
special like moment in time uh because no one in radio is um like pushing boundaries or doing anything really
00:22:57
creative these days it's harder now though because social media has made it harder because everyone's got a bloody
00:23:04
microphone so whenever someone is unhappy with something instead of doing the oldfashioned way of writing a letter
00:23:10
to complain to the boss they just [ __ ] go on social media and and spt their opinion so uh you've got to be you
00:23:18
can't upset people because but this is all you just can't you're not even
00:23:22
allowed to have an opinion anymore because it might upset people so but all this is doing is accelerating the demise
00:23:27
of radio as an industry yeah and I just think that the boss should be a little bit more Brave and go [ __ ] it let's just
00:23:34
if you don't like it people exactly you've got so many choices you don't
00:23:38
like it listen to The Breeze or magic for God's sake yeah okay come on um you
00:23:44
don't have to pay for radio it's free and you can choose all right um okay let's go way
00:23:51
back uh so you've been doing this since you were 16 years old hey you it was
00:23:55
before your 17th birthday you were still at school and T where you started working at um energy FM yeah I started
00:24:02
doing work experience when I was 15 and just on my 17th birthday because my birthday fell around Easter and Easter's
00:24:08
when I started on air yeah so I was called up for the overnight show because the back in those days and then in then
00:24:16
in 1991 there was no computers or anything like CDs had just come out when could
00:24:22
just recently switch from records um so there was had to be someone in the station 24/7 there was no just you
00:24:28
couldn't just roll music non-stop overnight so there was an overnight host and she didn't show up and like who are
00:24:34
you going to get to work at 1: in the morning none of your day hosts are going to do it you know um and it's the last
00:24:41
minute so Steven Joyce who was the boss at the time he was obviously desperate so he called me and he said how would
00:24:48
you like to go on here and I was like yes please so yes so you would have been the only person in the building all by
00:24:54
yourself there was yeah yeah it's crazy to think now cuz it's first of all
00:24:57
there's no overnight shift now cuz it's all automated all with computers um but
00:25:01
to have like a a 16-year- old girl there you'd want to have like a chaperon or
00:25:06
security or you know just how times have changed what are what are your Recollections of your first voice break
00:25:12
or your first show oh my God oh God I must see if I can find the tape this week cassette um yeah that's another
00:25:19
thing that people wouldn't know about JJ you are a mad archiver I know I used to
00:25:25
be I'm not now I've kept like everything that nothing's in an order I just
00:25:29
haven't had time to I mean my photo gallery in album is an absolute mess now but it used to be
00:25:36
organized but um yeah I mean I've got heaps of cassettes and stuff from a che
00:25:41
but you know nothing from the last 15 years cuz since it's been computerized I
00:25:47
it stuff gets wiped every 3 months so and I don't have copies of anything so
00:25:51
it's a bit of a bummer actually but yeah it's quite sad that is that's one thing
00:25:55
I really enjoy about the podcasting it's just more sort of permanent radio whether you do something really good or
00:26:01
really terrible it's just sort of gone it's gone and that's and then your 33e
00:26:05
career like a lot of people won't even remember specifics of what you did they'll just remember how you made them
00:26:09
feel yeah and that that is exactly what I love doing the most it's making me
00:26:14
feel something okay so were you good early on CU I I was um I think I was like a year year or two ahead of you
00:26:20
maybe I was doing breakfast Shan palas North and in the radio industry like there was a there was a hum about you
00:26:26
real early on really like about you being next big thing wow it's really nice you must have felt it like you were
00:26:32
nominated for awards early on and straight away straight away um I don't but I don't know I don't
00:26:39
know I don't know I just I just put myself out there I just wanted to do well you know I was
00:26:46
starting my career I needed to make sure this was going to be a long thing longterm thing um yeah and you you were
00:26:52
really driven back then energetic enthusiastic annoyed rubbed people up the wrong way I was very annoying just
00:26:58
ambitious yeah my boss Steven Joyce pulled me into the office one day at energ FM so I was about 17 and a half
00:27:04
and he goes uh look um we've just had a few people run the office say that you
00:27:10
maybe your ego is getting a bit out of control oh my God oh my God I was like what what I can't believe
00:27:21
this like I'm just me like I'm this is bouncy stepen T but that's the thing I
00:27:25
must have come across that way I would so annoying but I was just confident yeah I'm not that now far out not that
00:27:31
confident um what is that saying that youth is wasted on the young yeah that's
00:27:35
the thing it's but I looked back now and I think far out what a pain in the ass I
00:27:38
must have been but hey whatever whatever I'm here now and um my first voice break
00:27:43
was awful I was like my voice was so high I was scared as how my heart was racing I wrote down everything I said
00:27:51
for about the first six weeks on here you know and um it was just like energy FM taranaki's best music the most
00:28:01
fun I don't know it was just anyway JJ FY keeping you company till 1 a.m. or
00:28:06
here Brian Adams Summer of 69 oh my God new music on energy FM t something like that so close in Ste you still got have
00:28:16
you got a tape of it somewhere yeah I'm going to I I'll have a look and see if I
00:28:19
can drag it out before the end of the week wonder will it still play I was going to ask you uh have you
00:28:24
still got that um boom box that converts to USB I do yeah bought a tape player where you can convert them to USB oh
00:28:32
yeah okay well I'll borrow that off you I'll try and get it maybe I could get on
00:28:35
a time for you to put this podcast up if I get in the next day or two yeah that'
00:28:39
be amazing and you can insert here first voice break ever on energy FM 1991 17 years
00:28:48
old no experience taranaki's best music 93.2 G FM the station that's live and local 24
00:29:00
hours every day with the Escape Club and call it poison it's 10 1 on a dark Saturday morning I'm JJ feny and we're
00:29:08
rolling through more than half an hour of continuous stereo music along the way Stevie Nicks ice house and Madonna but
00:29:15
he's sting and all this time on energy FM no future yeah it's pretty awful but um
00:29:25
Steven Joyce would have me in his office and and he would listen to the tape it's
00:29:29
called an ear check they ear check you they listen to you and he he was giving me tips and they weren't just about what
00:29:35
I'm saying CU back then I basically had to read liners and stuff it was more he
00:29:40
go add light and shade in your voice smile here pause here and he would just give me all these kind of technical tips
00:29:46
and i' would put a sign on the um in front of me that said smile so when I'm
00:29:50
talking I'll be like energ him you know so I listened to everything he said I still I think I've still got
00:29:58
his notes somewhere but yeah yeah cuz I had the same sort of coaching and the the big saying at the time in radio was
00:30:04
tight bright and real so you had to keep it tight be upbeat and but also be real
00:30:10
have fun be relaxed but it's like you got to be relaxed within those constraints yeah yeah um first and last
00:30:16
time and you got your boobs out oh jeez I feel like this was um yeah this was like sort of a big part
00:30:23
of your career really oh unfortunately I don't know like uh um I always had quite great quite great birds
00:30:32
right they're even okay now I've had a Brit reduction and I'm 50 so they're you
00:30:36
know they're not bad now but not like the hey day and I I was you're not going
00:30:40
to get them out on your pH show for all time sake do you want to see them now I just ask your
00:30:47
girlfriend can I flash on my um first time when did you first nudity was like quite a big thing when
00:30:55
we were at the edge and I think it um it got to the point a lot of people like oh
00:30:59
[ __ ] oh the just love taking their kid off but from from our perspective I may
00:31:04
have this wrong correct me if I wrong but it's like some of people's biggest most
00:31:09
people's biggest fears of public speaking which we were doing yeah and getting naked in public oh God yeah so
00:31:14
to do that it's like crossing a couple of boundaries immediately that no one
00:31:18
would ever do it always pulled a crowd getting nude was always always getting hits always getting ratings so it was
00:31:24
just one of those things that you just did cuz you knew it was going to work like after a while it becomes like
00:31:29
diminishing returns but when was the first time where did that start oh God I think I think I can't I don't know I
00:31:39
can't really remember it might have been the roundabout are the body painted
00:31:42
tenners no before that there's this big roundabout in Hamilton cuz uh Founders
00:31:49
Founders theater roundabout the statue of the sheep yeah and um I think I did like strip honking
00:31:58
oh yeah so car cars drive past they're listening to the radio CU it's live and
00:32:02
for every toot you take off an item of clothing yeah I think that was that then you get a truck driver that toots 10
00:32:08
times and ruins it yeah and I was down to my G string like very quick but the busiest roundabout ever like there's a
00:32:15
traffic jam guys in bloody um fluo vests and hard hats bloody trying to get I mean this is remember this is like
00:32:25
early '90s the internet was just new there wasn't a lot of places to see nude
00:32:28
women this is like free porn and I had a good rig back then I mean I've always
00:32:34
thought I was fat but I wasn't I look back now and I'm like wow what I do for
00:32:37
that body again and then we did yeah nude tennis was probably the most one of the most famous things we did at the
00:32:44
time um in terms of in the industry as well so me and bad ugly Bob who was my H co-host at the time he's since passed
00:32:51
away which it's a bit sad cuz he's very he was very [ __ ] cool but um when the
00:32:56
Davis Cup was in New Zealand uh New Zealand against Switzerland I think we're playing so we decided to
00:33:02
have a tennis match in the middle of the main street of Victoria Street Hamilton
00:33:06
so we basically stopped traffic and he was Bob was body painted in New Zealand colors and I was body body painted in
00:33:13
the Swiss so I had a g string on but otherwise you know and the paint was just some [ __ ]
00:33:20
cheap paint from the Art Shop that was cracking as soon as it dried just got crack painel over me and we were just
00:33:26
playing tennis like not not to any rules or anything just whacking the ball back
00:33:30
and forth basically and this huge crowd there and you know people just started cheing in
00:33:37
and yeah that was that yeah people just tuned in because they wanted to know what hell what the hell's going on and
00:33:42
this is the age just started getting bigger and bigger and bigger from doing stunts like that like in public and
00:33:48
stuff that no one else had the gut guts to do yeah cuz it was all about like creating noise eh so if you hear enough
00:33:55
about something it's like a TV show now or someone on Instagram or Tik Tok if you
00:33:59
hear enough about someone you'll end up giving them a follow yeah and it was the
00:34:02
same sort of thing with radio back then I feel like they would still apply now but no one's got the sort of courage to
00:34:07
do anything really sort of yeah Dearing or interesting oh what um what about Jason
00:34:13
dero was that the most oh Jason D memorable taned my verbs oh my God I just still can't believe that
00:34:22
happened because I can't believe that Jason Derulo or his publicist or whatever let him do that to me so I took
00:34:29
my top off in the studio like absolutely like it's on YouTube you can Google it
00:34:35
if you like um and he put He put these Ms on these tanning Ms that we' just been sent and was like rubbing my just
00:34:43
like he was there in the time of his life and I'm like yes this is amazing yeah you remember um cuz we we we talked
00:34:50
about the idea CU this was you me and Mike we talked about the idea and we thought oh maybe Dera will be pulled out
00:34:55
of the interview or he'll walk out but either way that's a good outcome but he
00:35:00
was into it and it it was called secret glow and as he was putting it on he was like it's not a secret
00:35:05
anymore the magic Jason okay JJ this is awesome hands away JJ hands away amazing they feels so
00:35:19
good that's what I'm saying and you know the weird thing is like after that interview about 10
00:35:27
minutes after he left I started getting I started burning so I actually was allergic to the tan so I had to go and I
00:35:35
didn't have a towel or anything but I to try and find one a scratchy old towel at
00:35:38
work and um go and have a shower and wash it all off that's amazing um are there any moments that
00:35:46
make you cringe thinking about that come to mind I'm sure if you had if I gave
00:35:49
you five minutes to think about it I'm sure you could come up with the list but
00:35:52
anything that Springs toor oh God oh my my memory is so [ __ ] there just so many
00:35:56
things in it you know um God I there's a lot of things that make you cringe I
00:36:01
think I I generally forget straight away um you can you think of anything oh I don't know oh I don't know
00:36:09
I was really bummed out this is one of the best things we did maybe on your final year at the edge um where we did a
00:36:15
prank called a Simon banet and Gary MCC on um um yeah we won an award for that but they they they end up taking it
00:36:22
really badly and I learned that day a a prank is only really good if the person you're pranking finds it good yeah only
00:36:30
it's like any joke it's only funny if the person you're telling it to thinks
00:36:34
it's funny otherwise we no way no way of knowing yeah I thought they'd take it in
00:36:39
good fun but they they didn't you I think we just they were embarrassed and that's the problem when when you're
00:36:45
embarrassed when you've got egg on your face you know it's that's the problem is
00:36:51
we embarrass them so much and I I you know I feel bad about that but also we won like the best bit of the year on
00:36:58
radio for the prank and there was so much work that went into that prank um Tom Cruz impersonator it was I'm just it
00:37:07
was genius actually it genius so I don't really regret the prank but I do regret upsetting people
00:37:14
yeah but it really puts a like we won the award like eight months after the call happened and it's like oh it just
00:37:21
felt like a hollow Victory because it's like you don't want to upset anyone also
00:37:24
I had started at Mory fam already so I'm sitting at the table at the radio awards
00:37:30
with Simon bnet and Gary McCormack and Sam backer their producer who had burst into tears and told me to get a life and
00:37:38
I'm sitting there at this none of them are looking at me when they say the Tom
00:37:42
Cruz prank and the award you know goes to JJ Mike and Dom or whoever it was JJ Dom Rand can't remember now JJ Dom Rand
00:37:48
obviously and um I I it was so it was awkward it was so awkward so it was a hollow Victory I felt so embarrassed and
00:37:57
actually is that why you're leaving now cuz it's just been recently announced
00:38:00
that Simon bannet is returning to Mor FM protest it might have been in his contract that he refuses to work with
00:38:07
me and so I'm like okay no I'm joking um 2014 would you say that's your that's
00:38:14
your best year or most memorable year in radio 2014 yeah what happened that year
00:38:19
the the radio WS that year you were hosting with K Water um and it was also the first year that there was there was
00:38:25
a couple of new categories introduced the kin black award and the S homes award and we we cleaned up that year oh
00:38:32
right that was a good year yeah I mean but the thing about radio awards is you know it looks good on your CV not
00:38:42
that you need your CV for anything because there's only two radio companies but um you know you win the award and
00:38:47
you feel really good about yourself but then the next day it's never mentioned
00:38:51
again ever you know is the only time it's ever mentioned is when Mike Hoskins
00:38:56
wins it because you know the herald owns yeah so of course everything he does like in the news but it's basically
00:39:05
just forgotten and and then the next year someone else wins it so it's like whatever yeah that's one thing um I
00:39:12
found I was quite um it it'll be interest to see what your take is in 3 months 6 months 12 months from now CU I
00:39:18
found that you you you and you and me our past were very similar I was in radio for a very long time yeah um and
00:39:24
then you get out and you realize you've worked so [ __ ] hard in this industry
00:39:29
that you're so passionate about and no one else gives a flying [ __ ] um I don't
00:39:33
even know when the radio ratings come out now I I never know what the results are unless I get a popup as you say from
00:39:38
New Zealand Herald saying how good their radio stations have done yeah and they never mention us it's just if you're if
00:39:43
you're out of that um that sort of orbit it's it's just not even a thing and um
00:39:50
what what made me upset about that is like I put so much of myself into this and you realize oh I could have put this
00:39:57
energy into far more valuable things yeah I know in a way that's how I feel too this is how I feel I feel like okay
00:40:04
I've done 33 years and what am I going to get nothing you know I'm going to get a shared lunch on
00:40:12
Friday and you know a speech and that's it it's good memories and you yeah and
00:40:20
that's the thing is like you can't rely on other people to make it good for you
00:40:24
you have got to make it good for yourself yeah yeah how how has the radio industry
00:40:30
evolved since you first started for better and For Worse oh God that was a j GPT question by the way
00:40:37
was it yeah I thought it was quite good I was going to say it sounds a bit wordy
00:40:40
for you um well obviously technology has evolved so um you know there's a lot of
00:40:46
Automation and and being like when I started on radio you no one knew what you looked like there was no your face
00:40:53
was nowhere you were Anonymous you could walk down the street and no one knew you
00:40:57
but now your face is everywhere because of social media and um all that sort of stuff so you're you forget like when
00:41:03
you're on the air you're being filmed as well I always forget that cuz the
00:41:06
cameras are just on the wall and I I forget they're there and every time I see a video I'm like oh my God bad angle
00:41:11
bad angle bad angle whatever oh why did I dress up for work well I can't be bothered but um so yeah technology has
00:41:18
evolved um and you know we it goes from Cycles like it it was very um straight you know you just do fun fun fun promos
00:41:27
and and PE and and you talk about fun promos like going down the beach with the free Coke on the weekends and stuff
00:41:33
to people who are out the beach the coke Patrol yeah and then it evolved into all
00:41:36
the stunty stuff that we did like at the edge and then now it's come back around
00:41:39
again and it's a bit more sensible and you know try not to piss people off so
00:41:44
it's evolved in that way and I don't know like all through my entire career
00:41:50
people always go oh something news come up it's going to kill radio you know oh
00:41:55
CDs are going to kill radio kill radio V music videos are going to kill radio didn't kill radio I remember we when the
00:42:02
when the iPod first came out everyone was like w you're going to hold like a
00:42:05
thousand songs on this radio is dead your radio has always been very resilient he and very good at evolving
00:42:11
and um facing up to the challenges yeah what do you what do you think is the future of radio except I do think that
00:42:17
what's going to kill radio is podcasts I do think that um so radio's really got to take a good look at itself
00:42:26
right now and I think like we've lost a lot of the connection um with radio the reason people like listening
00:42:40
to us is they feel like they know us they can connect with us but if we can't
00:42:44
be honest and have our opinions why are people connecting with us not because I'm talking about um oh the this the oil
00:42:53
light's been on on in my car for 2 weeks give us a call and tell us what you know what light's been on in your
00:42:59
car forever like no one's going to connect anymore so why aren't they letting us be us and just say what we
00:43:06
want to say they hire us because we're personalities but then I feel like we're
00:43:11
being controlled now and like you can't say this and you can't say that and you
00:43:16
can't be you like I don't want to be a puppet and I think that's the problem is
00:43:23
they've got to let us like be personalities again and connect with people well you look at look at the most
00:43:29
successful people in the country um say Paul Henry Mike hosking um they are UNAM
00:43:35
themselves yeah and you like or hate Mike hosking right yeah so polarizing people hate him but they're still
00:43:41
listening to him what do you think he cares about the haters no he doesn't cuz
00:43:46
he's he's so good at what he does he doesn't even care and that's that's
00:43:49
awesome I love people who don't give a [ __ ] yeah I don't know Argan sometimes
00:43:53
when he gets out of the shower he probably cries into his V oh he probably does I mean I hear new talkless can be a
00:43:58
bit brutal you know with their with the comments like we get some brutal texts and stuff but nothing like that would
00:44:04
get um yeah it's it's interesting yeah I I tend to agree I feel like the future's
00:44:08
probably um more micro audiences on podcast than the big audiences of radio stations so instead of having Mor FM
00:44:16
with half a million listeners or ZB with a million listeners or whatever it just
00:44:20
be a bunch of podcast with 50,000 listeners or 20,000 listeners or maybe well you look at on social media micro
00:44:26
influencers so if you've only got 10,000 followers you can be making a good living selling you know pimping products
00:44:34
yeah you don't have to have 100,000 followers or whatever because because companies want to get people who are
00:44:40
targeting Their audience specifically so micro audiences are a yeah big thing yeah and and podcasting is such an
00:44:48
intimate experience like I think most of it's probably done alone or with airpods
00:44:52
in or whatever um what what advice would you give to someone that's thinking
00:44:57
about getting into radio now oh um Run for the hills no I wouldn't like no it's been
00:45:05
it's been very good to you and to me yeah no I'm not I'm not yeah there's
00:45:09
still a lot of life left in the old dog yet is hell yeah there is Radio is still
00:45:13
despite what I said before about podcast it's going to take a while because radio
00:45:17
is still the number one consumed audio in the world by a long shot and especially like with our generation we
00:45:26
grew up listening to the radio so it's in our habits to listen to the radio younger ones they're not really growing
00:45:31
up with the radio in their room so much so it may change a little bit well no one has a radio in there I mean I'm the
00:45:37
exception but most people don't have a radio in their house anymore like an actual an actual unit do they yeah I
00:45:43
don't even have one but um I think like for new people I would just say like first of all it's
00:45:52
going to be hard work it is going to be hard work and you if you want to succeed you really have
00:45:59
to put yourself out there as much as possible like really find out where the boundaries are and push as far as you
00:46:07
can and just um you know you have to do a lot of self marketing because there's
00:46:12
never any money to Market your show ever but it's it's never been easier to do
00:46:17
that than what it is now though with say you know Tech various platforms you know
00:46:20
TK Tok Instagram all that and i' also say there's like so many different jobs
00:46:24
in radio not just being on the air you could be a producer you could be a writer like someone who writes ads you
00:46:29
could be in the promo department and you set up like the big station events or you you set up you sell to clients to
00:46:36
get the great promos on the air like trips to give away and stuff or you could be a salesperson or you could be
00:46:41
the receptionist or you know you could be in the podcast section of work or this you could be a programmer a
00:46:47
contentor there's so many jobs so if you're getting into radio like I'd spend
00:46:51
a bit of time really working out which one of those is going to be your most passionate what are you going to be the
00:46:55
best at and just and just go for it and just have fun just have fun as someone who is uh again I'm
00:47:04
biased here but I'd say I'd say you're the goat you know that that term gets
00:47:07
thrown around but um this is so weird yes but in terms of um in terms of like everything you've done longevity success
00:47:16
money that you've earned impact you've made whatever measure you want to take
00:47:19
it on I'd say you're the you're the goat when it comes to female New Zealand
00:47:23
broadcasters and music radio uh what qualities do you think are essential for success in
00:47:28
broadcasting you can't take yourself too seriously you have to be willing to do things you don't want to do and
00:47:40
share more of yourself than you want to share you have to be vulnerable and open
00:47:44
and honest those those are hard for a lot of people to do a lot of people don't want to talk about what's really
00:47:50
happening in their life but you you really just have to uh you have to just connect with people and be just remember
00:47:57
your listeners if they if they're not there you don't have a job so look after
00:48:03
them don't take them for granted make them love you that's just and then everything else
00:48:12
is sweet not even r at work has to love you like the checking the promotion had a fight over the S you
00:48:20
don't not everyone has to love you but um your listeners have to love you yeah
00:48:25
yeah and I just appreciate your one thing I've found doing this um podcast for like two and a bit years now is um
00:48:31
um vulnerability is sexy as [ __ ] is it yeah like everyone everyone has everyone
00:48:36
has flaws everyone has demons everyone has [ __ ] going on and uh if you can embrace it it just makes people lean
00:48:44
into you yeah it's really awkward though it is it's embarrassing it's hard it's
00:48:48
hard yeah even I find it hard you and I have given like you pretty much no bloody everything about us you do it's
00:48:55
always like we have to either tell you or someone else tells you but it's it is
00:49:00
embarrassing it is hard at times but it's just part of the job yeah no you know over the years you know I've
00:49:09
reflected on that about and there's once you give stuff away you can't take it
00:49:12
back yeah um yes once I feel like in some ways we maybe gave too too much of ourselves away we just wanted wanted to
00:49:19
win at all cost also like in real life you and I are open people we we we we do share too much like I'm not I'm not
00:49:28
someone who has too many secrets and I don't like lying or hiding things so I
00:49:34
will I wear my heart on my sleeve I will this is me like you can get all of it the sort of person I am the sort of
00:49:42
person you are too we do overshare accidentally lying lying's too hard oh lying then you just got the [ __ ] to
00:49:50
remember um I was going to wrap it up should we do some just sort of um quick fire or throw some names at you how are
00:49:56
you going for time oh I'm all right I probably got about another 15 minutes comfortably okay
00:50:01
we'll just see how it goes 2008 shaving your head Reflections on that I loved
00:50:06
that okay so I shaved my head I raised $111,000 for the leukemia and blood foundation and so we said if we if I
00:50:14
raise 5,000 I'd shave my head we got Monty beam and to shave my head for me I
00:50:19
saw a photo of this the other day so this is 2008 he looks exactly the same now I loved I loved it like I was scared
00:50:27
but yeah you were petrified a lot of people are real fussy with their hair but I'm not so I was just like well
00:50:32
it'll grow back but I was worried like what will I look like but then you know
00:50:36
you can always get a WG or a hash and I just thought it looked kind of fierce I did I did get treated differently for a
00:50:43
while like when you go places you can just like same as when I had dreadlocks when I was bored and had dreadlocks I
00:50:49
got treated differently by people that's right the white dreadlocks in the '90s
00:50:53
early 2000s I was dating you so it was like you were it was like 999 yeah it was around 99 2000 probably
00:51:01
about the time of like Limp Biscuit even Ence I don't know I got talked into the
00:51:06
dreads but look either way people do judge you I feel like now now you'd be canceled for cultural misappropriation
00:51:14
probably would wouldn't I probably it's a bit weird see people take things too
00:51:18
far though come on yeah are you if I get dreadlocks does it make me like racist or something no but anyway um but there
00:51:26
was a big called that's what I'm saying before about you being the goat I mean
00:51:28
um yeah poly GIS also had a phenomenal career but I couldn't imagine her shaving her head um Carrie woodam I
00:51:34
couldn't imagine her ever ever doing it well they would have all been offered
00:51:37
the opportunity cuz I've been asked a few times to save it but I thought I've
00:51:40
already done it once I don't want to do it again but um like whatever didn't
00:51:45
matter I I I really I'm really proud that I did that I wish I'd rais more
00:51:49
money actually but I at the time I thought that was a shitload of money yeah it was it was cool it cool Clark
00:51:54
gford what about him well just like his story that Springs to mind when I say that name CL G he was um he's just into
00:52:02
aan husband yeah so yeah well I went with him on the edge breakfast show I think I took his job no we overleap for
00:52:09
a little bit I think no you didn't take his job he cuz he he started doing like
00:52:14
cow TV or something in the South Island chist I think and then um or denen then he came to work with us and he was like
00:52:22
really I really enjoyed working with Clark he was such a great guy and we got got on really well and like we were
00:52:28
young so we'd get up to a bit of Mischief together nothing naughty like no nothing um sexual not me and him but
00:52:35
you know just like hanging out with go get drunk and yeah and do and do pranks and things like we just yeah we had fun
00:52:42
time oh here's a blast from the past um Chingy Chingy oh Chingy oh my God come
00:52:50
on one more boob story oh Chingy okay he what was his song um right there right I
00:52:56
like it when you put him right there right there yeah I don't know why I he said something like oh that's right we
00:53:02
came in he came in for an interview and his name's Howard Howard is his name not chy but
00:53:07
anyway we were talking to him I was like um I I can't remember what happened
00:53:11
anyway he go I said what what do I call you or what what happens if I see you at
00:53:15
you know Edge Fest and he goes you say what's good Howard okay and uh and then
00:53:20
he said something like put him on a glass or something I I don't know anyway
00:53:24
I thought this would be hilarious I wrote what's good how across my chest and went and press
00:53:31
my on the back of his picom boobs on his window of his P come and he and all his
00:53:38
bandmates were loving it hilarious um Tom Cruz Tom Cruz best celebrity experience ever you will you will attest
00:53:46
to this um look people say Tom Cruz is crazy and I think after our experience with him you could probably say maybe he
00:53:54
is but look he he's just like such a long story look we Tom Cruz was in town we we had a
00:54:07
bounty $5,000 Bounty this is before the this is where we got the this when Simon Bonnet decided to do
00:54:13
a $5,000 Bounty this is why we got a Tom Cruz impersonated because we were pissed
00:54:17
off that he had stolen our idea from years ago yes this is the early 2000s when Tom Cruz was in taneki filming the
00:54:22
movie Last Mur and not he he did like a I think there was a poty on a Ral yeah and then maybe a press conference and no
00:54:28
other media I was at the press conference and I did ask ask him a question my question at the press
00:54:33
conference was what are you doing later so he remembered me from that but um we'd put a $5,000 Bounty out there if
00:54:41
you get Tom Cruz to call us for 5 minutes we'll give you $5,000 people just went nuts trying to get Tom Cruz to
00:54:46
call us like they were leaving messages in the letter box of the house he was staying at and trying to get people on
00:54:50
set to uh you know talk to them so in the end um his sister called us and she said
00:54:57
we will get Tom to call you we need to put a stop to this but there's a school
00:55:02
in uroi and they want to get a sunshelter for the the kids and it's $144,000 how about you up your 5,000 to
00:55:08
7 and Tom will pay the other seven and you can go halves and giving uroi School the sun shelter and we unbelievable P
00:55:16
hell yes yeah so Tom Cruz calls us it's meant to be five minutes live on the air
00:55:22
20 minutes later we're chatting to him 20 minutes it was amazing and then had
00:55:26
just finished a night shoot it was like4 to 700 in the morning yeah and he called
00:55:30
us and he was just so great and he was telling a story about getting fish and chips and Ur Beach and blah blah all the
00:55:34
stuff um anyway so we next minute you know the news is all over it and we go to urano school and give them the this
00:55:42
giant check from us and Tom Cruz Tom wasn't there and that got gets on the news and everything and we were like
00:55:48
that is so cool we want to thank you Tom so we um got thousands of people in tanaki to show up at the bowl of
00:55:55
Brooklyns we're Black And We spelled out tomaki on the grass so we renamed taranaki Tomi and the Daily News flew
00:56:06
over took this amazing photo it was Front Page News by the way for under the age of 35 The Daily News is a newspaper
00:56:14
ask you ask your parents and and um Tom saw it he bloody loved it okay he loved it and he um first of all he sent us
00:56:25
like this giant bunch of flowers like never seen a bigger bunch of flowers right must have cost him 500 bucks um
00:56:32
and he invited us to the set of The Last Samurai and we weren't allowed to tell
00:56:37
anyone and it could only be me you Jason Reeves and our promotions person and newth at the time Becks and we had to go
00:56:45
in secret and we were Charter flight got a charter flight there and we arrived at
00:56:51
the set and Tom Cruz was doing one of the scenes and it was just surreal standing there watching him bloody
00:56:56
filming this Hollywood movie and um he met with us and we gave him some gifts and we got photos with him and he um he
00:57:05
you know he was just really really passionate talking to us really just really Thanking us for you know making
00:57:11
his time there awesome bloody blah blah blah for the Tomi thing and um he and he
00:57:16
goes how about you guys go and have some lunch over there so we went over to this
00:57:20
big mess tent where all the actors are bloody Tom cruzers Doppel gang is there and there's just all these food truck
00:57:27
sort of things and we had this lunch and we were all sitting there going wow we just met Tom Cruz like how Buzzy is this
00:57:33
what the [ __ ] just happened and then and then this guy comes over and he goes uh
00:57:37
Tom Cruz wants to see you in his trailer so when you finish your lunch can you go
00:57:42
over to his trailer and we were like um okay so we go over to his trailer which is this big white Caravan thing and it's
00:57:50
surrounded by this little white picket fence there's no security nobody around
00:57:55
just us for and we step up and there's Tom just like doing these stretches from the ceiling
00:58:02
of the correct me if I'm wrong about any of us and we're like looking around we
00:58:06
step into his trailer goes come on in and there's like nobody else there just
00:58:10
us and Tom Cruz and everything is monogrammed with the TC logo he's got this cream leather couch he's got this
00:58:17
[ __ ] off massive TV that's bigger than this and um you know you can see down
00:58:22
the hall to his bed and photos on the wall of Penelope and and his kids and he had this Scientology chart and just it
00:58:29
was Buzzy man and he goes guys guys I want to show you something I want to show you know we've just cut the first
00:58:35
trailer to The Last Samurai and we want you to I want you to be the first to see
00:58:39
it and we're like um okay none of us are speaking basically we just don't know
00:58:45
what to say we're sitting on this couch he turns Up the Volume real loud and
00:58:49
he's playing this trailer from The Last Samurai which goes for about 2 and a
00:58:52
half 3 minutes and we're just like staring at it Tom Cruz is standing right here
00:58:59
and it finishes and we all just sitting there in silence and he goes so what do you
00:59:07
think we just were like uh it's good yeah it's good it's good like what else
00:59:13
do you say like I don't know I mean it's no mission impossible for me but it's
00:59:18
okay anyway this is so weird anyway and then we're just chatting a bit more and
00:59:22
I'm thinking I don't want to be that person that overstays her welcome and
00:59:25
Tom check us out so I decided to call it so I was like okay well we'll let you go
00:59:31
okay Tom thanks for having us and we just W out we get into the car and we're
00:59:36
all driving down the road like it's about a minute into the sh no one says is a word and about a minute into it we
00:59:42
all just burst out laughing we were like what just happened it was insane it was
00:59:49
crazy and then um I think a couple of weeks after that they finished up the shirot and he phoned us on the morning
00:59:54
that he was leaving just to say hey goodbye New Zealand so we were sort of like the the the platform um that he
01:00:02
chose to like say hello and say goodby to New Zealand it was [ __ ] amazing and but it just demonstrated the power
01:00:07
of the radio platform at the time if you do the right thing yeah that's so cool
01:00:12
um and then he invited us to the um opening of his movie Collateral Damage in the States oh collateral yeah with
01:00:19
Jamie Fox yeah yeah so he goes oh come to the pre premiere of this and we're
01:00:22
like oh okay so we go to La but sadly it was just a media Premiere and he wasn't
01:00:28
there Jo was all dressed up all dressed up in the best Michael K's shoes it was
01:00:32
just like just a PO evening I was just like wishing I wasn't married to you at
01:00:35
the time because I thought I bet you Tom Cruz would definitely leave Penelope for
01:00:38
me yeah it was Penelope Cruz um [ __ ] we we're going to run out of time but
01:00:44
there's there um well people can turn off if they want okay you can have I'm
01:00:48
mindful of you getting being somewhere else what out Lady Lady G I've got to be
01:00:51
on ear today do you think I'm going to get fired no but this like so many celebrity
01:00:57
names with amazing Stories attached to them what are we talking about kissing Dan Carter oh no I don't want to talk
01:01:04
about that poor Dan he'll be embarrassed I did I did kiss him um on the lips not
01:01:08
nothing no tongue it was for charity Grant K saving life about it but I enjoyed it Grant Kama did look here's
01:01:15
the thing just get this book it's called life on the edge you actually can't buy
01:01:19
it in stores anymore but you can probably get an e copy of it online um it's even got pictures in the air maybe
01:01:26
even a couple pictures of me like half node who knows um but some great stories and still this is a good book this one I
01:01:33
must do a sequel but maybe when I have a bit of time in my hands after this what
01:01:37
would the sequel be called you want more yeah but wait there's more like like our friend um Suzanne Paul
01:01:45
holes Paul holes oh God no no don't want to go there okay I I pulled an amazing
01:01:51
legendary prank on Paul Holmes but um and he threatened to sue me for impersonating his uh then girlfriend
01:02:00
look I just I can't I don't want to talk about it because it's just a long story and
01:02:05
also his think girlfriend was um I don't know I don't even want to say her name
01:02:09
cuz she's embarrassed and I I wrote a chapter about it for my book but I ran
01:02:13
it past to her she wasn't she didn't want to be reminded so I pulled the
01:02:18
chapter would you say that's the closest you've got to being fired in your 33
01:02:22
years um when Paul so this is in the late 9 and he was the biggest [ __ ] star in New Zealand and I rang him got
01:02:32
into into got him on the phone yeah and pretended to be his girlfriend um at the time telling him
01:02:41
that I was being harest by media and he look cuz it was in the news I don't want to go into all the details
01:02:48
anyway he thought I was her and he was telling me to uh change Donuts the phone blah blah anyway I hang up from there
01:02:58
and he he hung up thinking that he'd been talking to his girlfriend but he'd
01:03:01
been talking to me I can't believe he fell for it I can't even believe I got
01:03:04
through on the phone but next minute the boss comes in he's like [ __ ] do not
01:03:08
Replay that call and then next minute the newspapers calling and everything and then I get a letter from Paul
01:03:14
Holmes's lawyers saying that I could be imprisoned or finded up to $10,000 for
01:03:22
impersonation uh so it was like oh my God I was terrified cuz it was only like 22 or something but in the end it was
01:03:30
just it was just a it blows up he was he was embarrassed and it was a yeah and he
01:03:33
played so many pranks on people he was so famous for it so in the end he was cool and we you know I met I've met him
01:03:40
so many times and he was fine with it it just at the time was just a bit awkward
01:03:44
yeah and also um your boss at the time Steven Joyce who later went on to be like was he Deputy Prime Minister he was
01:03:49
the the minister of everything um he would have been [ __ ] scared cuz he was just like a start starting his own radio
01:03:56
and Paul holes was the most powerful man in media at the time it's crazy you'd
01:04:00
never do it it's funny you do grow up and there's things that you do back then
01:04:04
that you'd never dream of doing now no but it wasn't I honestly didn't even
01:04:07
think it would happen I didn't think he was going to answer the phone it was
01:04:10
just a joke like let's ring up and pretend to be his girlfriend and oh my God he bloody answered and then oh my
01:04:16
God I had to go through with it I don't even know what she sounded like or anything I just sounded panicked and he
01:04:21
believed it to be her so all my pranks get me in trouble you don't really do pranks any I don't
01:04:30
think you would now like if the co-host said to you hey uh we should do a prank on Mike hosing about this you'd be like
01:04:35
no no no oh no I wouldn't do it now no it's cuz I'm mature now I'm old I'm 50
01:04:40
yeah um what Legacy do you hope to leave behind in the broadcasting world how what would you like people to
01:04:47
say about you or how would you like people to remember your career um I don't know I'm just happy that I've
01:04:55
been able to inspire lots of other broadcasters so many people come to me and say oh you said you know listen to
01:05:00
you and I wrote you a letter and you wrote back to me and to gave me some tips on how to get into radio and blah
01:05:05
blah blah blah just I got into radio because of you like I love that and I just want people to know that I really
01:05:14
do care about the audience and that's all that matters to me that's cool are are you are you
01:05:23
getting emotional no no no no I'm not going to cry your eyes look a little glazy are you are you uh are you proud
01:05:30
of yourself um yeah I suppose yep yep what do you mean that doesn't sound very
01:05:38
convincing um I I'm just tired I don't know like of course of course of course but I just do I just I
01:05:50
just did what I did I just did what I did and I just am me so some of it I is just just a
01:05:57
Flo you know I know some of it's hard work and then some of it's a Flo so I'm
01:06:02
just grateful for the whole experience oh no one thing one thing I've found I've had like a lot of um very different
01:06:09
people on the podcast including a lot of like real high Achievers and one thing I've learned is that um like hard work
01:06:15
is the only check code there is like you can you can say you've had a lot of luck
01:06:19
or whatever but it all comes down to hard work and I think you've worked harder than anyone else no I haven't
01:06:24
worked harder than anyone else but I work hard yeah and I'm just passionate and I just want everyone to enjoy
01:06:32
themselves and have a good time and have fun listening to the radio what what about three words if if people could
01:06:39
have like three words to describe you what would you like those three words to be like honesty
01:06:48
Integrity fun fun generous and authentic fun generous authentic can't disagree with
01:07:06
that you can add funny as well sometimes but people never get JJ's thing was always no one ever gets my
01:07:14
humor if they don't get the humor the problem is you and your jokes not them
01:07:18
Paul Holmes doesn't get my humor all I tend to I just try to be funny and some
01:07:23
people don't get it but I mean what can I do yeah Simon bunny doesn't get my
01:07:28
jokes no no oh Simon I'm sorry yeah hey um congratulations um it's been a hell of a
01:07:37
career as I said at the beginning I'm um I'm really proud of you and I honestly
01:07:41
can't wait to see what you do next cuz um I can't imagine how terrifying it is
01:07:46
for you oh boy Friday's going to be hard that's for sure it was definitely
01:07:51
sinking H home then and I think what's going to happen is I'm going on holiday
01:07:55
3 weeks when I get back I think that's when I'm going to be it's going to hit
01:08:00
me and I'm going to be like [ __ ] what do I do where do I go [ __ ] how am I going to get paid so I
01:08:09
think I think uh it's all fun and games right this minute but maybe talk to me
01:08:13
in a month's time and we'll see uh you might get some tears out of me then see
01:08:18
see where you pop up all right hey congratulations hell of a career the goat the greatest of all time and and
01:08:26
music and music radio at least you are so biased though like no one's going to
01:08:31
take your opinion seriously no it's going to piss a lot of people off Sharon
01:08:35
I'm sorry oh Sharon love him no you're great um enjoy by the time this comes
01:08:43
out most people would have would have heard your final show I guess but enjoy enjoy your last moments on the a maybe
01:08:48
forever maybe just for now yeah thank you so much oh my God I'm try to feel sick now
01:08:56
all right over and out oh no wait peace out [ __ ] [Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 70
    Most emotional
  • 70
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  • 70
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  • 65
    Most heartwarming

Episode Highlights

  • Final Show Announcement
    After 33 years in radio, JJ discusses her upcoming final show and reflects on her career.
    “I want to say retirement but...”
    @ 01m 17s
    July 03, 2024
  • The Weight of Decision
    JJ shares how making the decision to leave radio has lifted a weight off her shoulders.
    “It's just a huge weight off my shoulder.”
    @ 18m 19s
    July 03, 2024
  • The Emotional Farewell
    A heartfelt reflection on leaving a beloved team, filled with nostalgia and uncertainty.
    “I just can’t keep going at the moment.”
    @ 20m 33s
    July 03, 2024
  • Radio's Changing Landscape
    Discussion on how social media has transformed radio, making it harder to push boundaries.
    “You can’t upset people anymore.”
    @ 23m 27s
    July 03, 2024
  • First Voice Break Memories
    A humorous recount of the nerves and excitement during the first on-air experience.
    “My first voice break was awful.”
    @ 27m 43s
    July 03, 2024
  • Nudity and Radio Stunts
    Exploring the daring stunts that defined their radio career, including nude tennis.
    “Getting nude was always getting ratings.”
    @ 31m 22s
    July 03, 2024
  • The Prank That Backfired
    A reflection on a prank that won an award but upset the recipients.
    “A prank is only really good if the person you’re pranking finds it good.”
    @ 36m 25s
    July 03, 2024
  • The Evolution of Radio
    The radio industry has changed dramatically, with technology reshaping how we connect with audiences.
    “Radio's always been resilient and good at evolving.”
    @ 42m 09s
    July 03, 2024
  • Vulnerability in Broadcasting
    Being open and vulnerable can enhance connection with listeners, making them feel engaged.
    “Vulnerability is sexy as [ __ ]!”
    @ 48m 31s
    July 03, 2024
  • Tom Cruise Experience
    A memorable encounter with Tom Cruise led to a charitable collaboration and unforgettable moments.
    “We renamed Taranaki to Tomi and it was Front Page News!”
    @ 56m 01s
    July 03, 2024
  • The Last Samurai Trailer
    Tom Cruise invites fans to watch the first trailer of his new movie.
    “I want you to be the first to see it!”
    @ 58m 32s
    July 03, 2024
  • Reflecting on a Career
    A heartfelt discussion about legacy and the impact on future broadcasters.
    “I’ve been able to inspire lots of other broadcasters.”
    @ 01h 04m 55s
    July 03, 2024

Episode Quotes

  • I'm just tired, I need to walk away.
    Jay-Jay Feeney Reflects on Radio Career & Retirement, The Best Stories from 30+ Years On Air
  • I just can’t keep going at the moment.
    Jay-Jay Feeney Reflects on Radio Career & Retirement, The Best Stories from 30+ Years On Air
  • It’s like crossing a couple of boundaries immediately that no one would ever do.
    Jay-Jay Feeney Reflects on Radio Career & Retirement, The Best Stories from 30+ Years On Air
  • You can’t rely on other people to make it good for you.
    Jay-Jay Feeney Reflects on Radio Career & Retirement, The Best Stories from 30+ Years On Air
  • Once you give stuff away, you can’t take it back.
    Jay-Jay Feeney Reflects on Radio Career & Retirement, The Best Stories from 30+ Years On Air
  • I just want people to know that I really do care about the audience.
    Jay-Jay Feeney Reflects on Radio Career & Retirement, The Best Stories from 30+ Years On Air

Key Moments

  • Retirement Talk01:17
  • Final Speech Plans18:47
  • Social Media Impact23:27
  • Nude Radio Stunts31:22
  • Memorable Year38:15
  • Radio Awards38:30
  • Tom Cruise Encounter54:07
  • Trailer Reveal58:32

Tension Over Time

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown