Bon Jovi, Moody Blues, The Cars Thank Radio

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Those are two very successful Rock and Roll bands who, perhaps, may not have become so successful if not for radio. Both Jon Bon Jovi and members of The Moody Blues thanked radio as they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this past weekend. It’s something we’ve reported on many times. As some groups criticize radio for not paying artists directly for their music, artists continue to praise radio for helping make them stars

According to Variety, Bon Jovi credits the now defunct WAPP in New York City for giving him the break that record labels were unwilling to give him. “After sending that cassette to every label and manager I could think of, I thought, ‘Who is the loneliest person in the music business? … the DJ. There was a new station in NYC called WAPP. It was so new, that there wasn’t even a receptionist, so I was able to walk in and get the attention of John Lassman and the DJ Chip Hobart. I told them about the songs on the cassette and the frustration of not getting any label to listen to it. Chip did listen to it, and he told me he thought it should be included on their ‘Homegrown’ record of local original music.”

John Lodge and Justin Hayward from The Moody Blues also heaped praise on radio and spoke about some of the personalities that helped the band succeed. “I’d like to thank American radio for supporting us for five decades. And the belief in us has just been tremendous and has given us encouragement to keep going, and doing everything we love to do, and that’s make music. We’d like to thank also some of our friends at radio, Howard Stern. And the great Scott Muni (of WNEW and later, Q104.3) in New York. Hawyward said, “I would also just mention, like John and some of the radio personalities, Scott Muni and Howard, and Alison Steele (WNEW FM). She was a wonderful, wonderful DJ.”

Radio executives have touted for years that the free exposure artists receive when their songs are played on the radio is well worth the trade-off of not having to pay artists to air those songs. And time and time again artists have agreed with that by thanking the radio industry, DJ’s by name and specific radio stations. Despite this successful working relationship groups like The musicFIRST Coalition and The Content Creators Coalition continue to make a run at radio to get the industry to pay for every song it airs, which would certainly cripple many stations, especially those in small markets that struggle to survive.

And thanks to Jimmy Buff for letting us know that The Cars also thanked radio when they were inducted. The Cars thanked WBCN in Boston and Maxanne for discovering and playing “Just What I needed” in heavy rotation, before they even had an album. See and listen to their comments HERE.