I lost a good friend today. You've probably heard him without ever knowing his name. Our friends who listen on KDKA will soon notice the change as Brian James was their voiceover talent...the guy you hear on station promos as "The Voice." Brian and I have been good friends since we worked together at WFLA / WFLZ radio in Tampa where he was the Creative Services Director and I was a talk show producer. Eventually our paths would become much closer as he took over the evening talk show that I was producing. We worked on the show together for a little over a year, and every day was a blast. He's one of the most talented guys it's ever been my pleasure to know, and he'll be sorely missed by all whose lives he touched. Much more than a talent with a big voice, Brian was a generous and kind human being with a wonderful soul. He also had an incredibly sharp wit and a wonderful sense of humor and was very quick and easy with a laugh, so it's no surprise that he was part of one of the most fun afternoons of my life.
It was late in 1994 and the OJ Simpson case was burning up the news cycle. Updates were constant and the story was all the talk on the afternoon show, which at the time was hosted by one Al Gardner. So one afternoon between the three of us (Brian, me, and our boss Sue Treccase) we got this bright idea for a promotion leading up to the show. We'd get one of the local car dealerships to loan us a white, Ford Bronco and put OJ (orange juice) in the back. Then I'd drive the station van, this huge, red monstrosity, behind Brian in the Bronco and we'd reenact the slow-speed chase down I-275 through Tampa. We'd stop at several places along the way and make calls back to the radio station...Brian would tell Al where we were, and we'd give free OJ to whomever 'caught' us first.
One of our scheduled stops was at West Shore Plaza, a shopping mall in South Tampa. Sue and I were in the van talking and following closely as Brian drifted the Bronco to the right and onto the exit ramp for West Shore Blvd...and that's when we saw the puff of white feathers spray into the air from the Bronco's driver's side fender. Now keep in mind this was a brand-new, pristine Bronco that was on loan to us, and Brian had just dispatched a seagull with it. We were horrified. All Sue and I could think of was having to explain to the dealership why we had scratched their truck and who was going to have to pay for it.
That was also the very moment that Brian was scheduled for his next call-in since we were just a few blocks from the mall. So Sue turned the radio up to see if Brian was going to say anything about the poor creature who had just given its life for our little stunt. We heard Al introduce Brian (whom he kept calling A.C. in deference to the real Bronco driver, A.C. Cowlings) and ask where we were headed. Then Brian intoned with that famous radio voice of his, "Al...it's been confirmed...there's blood on the Bronco."
I don't think I ever laughed longer or harder.
Good bye Brian, I miss you already.
