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Thanks for the welcome, and no worries. I probably could have been a bit more diplomatic in my phrasing of my question, especially for a new member. I’ve been a LONG-TIME lurker here, and this thread finally motivated me to join. If I may, I would like to contribute my memory of how things started at the beginning of Dale and Rush’s relationship.

Mr. Account Exec was indeed a former musician. He had, however, previously left the music business and worked in sales for a year before moving to Sacramento. He did have an old friend in the radio business in Sacramento, whom he had kept in touch with since their days as friends in high school. His friend did not at KFBK. Dissatisfied with his current employment, and hearing of both the fun and profitability of working in radio, the former musician set up an exploratory trip from his home out-of-state to visit his old friend. A few job interviews were set up for the former musician. The Future “Mr. AE” ended up taking a sales job with a small pop/rock station, which was neither KFBK nor the one at which his friend worked (now we’re up to 3 stations LOL). Again, he did NOT start at KFBK – few if any people do. It was and is a huge station with a serious, professional sales staff.

It was while at the pop station that Mr. AE first started calling on Dale Carlson, founder and owner of the original Sleep Train. It WAS in a pretty tough neighborhood, exactly where you describe. After many calls and much persistence, he eventually “got the business” with The Sleep Train. This was the 1st time Dale had advertised on radio, something he had steadfastly refused to do up to that point. The initial campaign achieved a modicum of success, so Dale continued to devote a small amount of money from the small advertising budget for his small store to the small radio station.

it was shortly thereafter that Mr. AE interviewed at KFBK. He was eventually hired. The process had nothing to do with his “friend”, who was still an account executive at the 3rd station.

At that time, KFBK was the dominant station in the market. Their “new” morning talk-show host Rush Limbaugh was already putting up VERY strong numbers. If I remember correctly, he may have been #1 overall for his time period, but at the very least he was in the top 2 or 3. And I distinctly remember seeing his Arbitron numbers and being stunned - his #2 or #3 rating in the 18-34 male and 18-49 male demos meant he was holding his own against the music stations... in the STRENGTH of THEIR market!!! It was something generally unheard of at that time. Rush really was a trailblazer in the business, and it all started for him at KFBK – we all know the story.

Rush DID live in a small place. It might have been in Rio Linda, which, of course, would explain a lot LOL. He didn’t buy his 1st home in Sacramento until he signed his 1st good contract with KFBK (for I think $60K/year, good money in that market in those days), which is not surprising either. Rush was a veteran of the radio business by this time, and knew the fleeting nature of stardom for “on-air talent” (here today, fired tomorrow). So this was the situation that MR AE walked into

Mr. AE brought Dale with him to KFBK and convinced Dale to increase his radio budget, necessitated by KFBK’s higher rates. Dale did not start with Rush right away, but spent a couple months in less expensive time periods and also participated in a few “special deals”. He started seeing better results from “The 50,000-watt blow-torch”. Soon thereafter, Mr. AE approached Dale about running spots during Rush’s show… with a bit of a twist. The original idea was NOT for Rush to read his spot live, nor for Sleep Train to have KFBK produce a spot in-house. Rather, Rush would PERSONALLY ENDORSE THE BUSINESS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. This was something Rush was already doing, with success, for a number of local companies. I distinctly remember Rush doing such spots for Accutune and South City Honda around then. The original deal between Dale and Rush was a free top-of-the-line, king-sized bed for Rush’s new home... and a $500.00 fee for 6 months (if you can believe it - how times have changed)!!! Things went VERY well for Dale and a long-term partnership was formed.

Oh, and regarding Mr. AE… despite a few successes like The Sleep Train, he was simply not able to produce at the level KFBK required and was fired after 6 months. After a period of soul searching, he realized he was simply not cut-out for sales. He returned home to go back to college.

So that’s how I remember it. I’ll try to post some thoughts on the current brouhaha tomorrow… if I have the time. If not, I will ASAP. It’s VERY busy at work this week.