SMELL

I had finally finished my late night / early morning production work and decided to do a quick check with Jockey John Steel to see if he needed anything before I left him alone in the building for the night. The KONO control room door was open and he greeted me with his usual “What’s goin’ on?” We had just started chatting, when the new hire sales guy appeared in the doorway with a young lady whom he was obviously attempting to impress with his newfound employment. John’s record was just about to end.

“Hang on,” John said as he quickly spun around and faced the console while simultaneously cranking up the monitor speaker volume with one hand and turning on the microphone switch (which muted the monitor speaker) with the other. He flawlessly went through his progression, which included a mention of the KONO Sales Department working overtime. As soon as John stopped talking, he immediately turned the microphone switch back off as the first part of the record vocal played through the monitor speaker. The new sales guy immediately noticed that John had just “hit the vocal” on the record without using headphones or a digital back-timing device. So he asked John, “How did you do that without headphones?”

John looked directly at him and said, “Smell…I can smell when the vocal is going to start.” The new guy was extremely impressed and after a few minutes went on to explore other regions of the building with his girlfriend.

As soon as I made sure the new guy and his girl were down the hall and out of earshot, John and I laughed until we couldn’t laugh any more. I didn’t think about the incident again until a few nights later, when John motioned me into the KONO control room and told me to close the door.

It seems that the new guy had approached Chris Cooper, while he was on the air, wanting to know why Chris couldn’t work without headphones and just use his sense of smell like Jockey John. Chris mumbled something about allergy problems and called John on the phone as soon as he got the chance.

We both laughed again until we were in much pain.

A few weeks later, the new guy was no longer an employee. So, we never did find out if he learned how John was able to “smell” up to the vocal.

Paul Kirby

Editors Note: I know...I know...You want to know how John could "smell" up to a vocal. We "twisted" his arm. So, here it is, directly from "The Jockey's" mouth: "It's really simple. Know the exact length of the record intro. While watching the clock, talk for that length of time. Shut up."

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