Salon.com has posted a three-part article called "The making of Glenn Beck".
I am familiar with Part 2 of this story: at that time, I was working at Y95...
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And I agree with Bruce Kelly: "...In Phoenix, Beck became known for an outsize and mischievous ego..."
I avoided Glenn...I tried to never: look into his eyes, and speak to him. I never had a problem with other members of the on-air staff; Tim Hattrick was a cool dude...I imagine he still is. But the pompasity around Glenn was deep and heavy.
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(Per the story in Salon.com)
...Beck called Hattrick into his office and laid down the law. "I remember Beck sat me down and pulled out a notepad on which he had drawn a planet being orbited by satellites," says Hattrick. "On the big planet, Glenn wrote 'Me.' Then he pointed to the orbiting satellites and wrote names on them, such as 'Tim,' 'News,' and 'Clydie Clyde.' I'll never forget Beck telling me I was a satellite..."
Beck never grew close to Hattrick, who thought his new partner was talented but full of himself and incapable of thinking of anything but radio and ratings. "Beck lived, ate, drank and breathed radio," says Hattrick, who still works as a DJ in Phoenix. "It was impossible to talk to him about anything without reference to how to bring it into the show. I never once saw any evidence that he could turn it off. In that sense he was a one-dimensional person. But he was great at being a grandstanding, pompous idiot and shaking the brushes for attention."
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In radio, some of us are "jocks"...and we want to be "jocks"! We want to have fun, relate to our audience, and serve our community. Tim is a "jock"...I am a "jock". It's what we've enjoyed, and what we're good at. What's wrong with that?
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Of the following event to be described, I was one of the "agents"...IT REALLY WAS TOO FUNNY TO WATCH!
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(From the Salon.com article)
...KZZP sponsored a free Richard Marx concert at the Tempe El Diablo stadium in downtown Phoenix...(Beck) and Hattrick arrived at the stadium early on the night of the show and gave the sound technician $500 to play a prerecorded Y95 promo moments before KZZP's Bruce Kelly was scheduled to announce the show. As an audience of nearly 10,000 waited for the show to begin, the KZZP mics were cut and Beck's voice suddenly boomed out of the stadium's sound system: "The Y95 Zoo team is proud to present … Richard Marx!" As soon as he heard his name, an oblivious Marx walked onto the stage and began to play. As the KZZP crew stood stunned offstage, scattered Y95 agents popped up and began throwing "Y95 Zoo" T-shirts in every direction to a cheering crowd.
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The following I don't have fond memories of, because...in the very short time I knew her...I found her to be a very nice person. She was naive, and she was (again) used...
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(From Salon.com)
...In September 1988, Beck and Hattrick invited Jessica Hahn onto the show. That month Playboy was featuring a pictorial of the former church secretary, who had become famous when televangelist Jim Bakker admitted to his affair with her.
"That evening, we took Jessica out to dinner," remembers Mike Horne. "I got up to go to the men's room and quickly found myself surrounded at the urinal by Glenn and Tim, who began lobbying me to hire Jessica as a permanent fixture of the morning show. They negotiated the deal, which was a rental car, an apartment and $2,000 a month."
...The hiring of Hahn as the zoo team's "prize-and-weather bunny" became an international story. Johnny Carson and David Letterman joked about it, editorial writers debated it, and as a result Y95 received a much-needed ratings jolt. When People magazine visited the station looking for a quote, Beck described Hahn's radio debut as "awesome" and explained that she filled the void of a "prize bunny for our zoo." The trio was short-lived, however. After a few weeks on the job, Hahn asked to be transferred to a nighttime slot.
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Her feelings were hurt. She REALLY thought that she would be given a chance in radio. After a few days, I realized what was going on and that she would not get a serious opportunity to build a career. I was pissed-off because I knew her feelings were going to be, and had been, hurt. She was a very nice person, and nice to me. I left Y95 to go to a radio station in Milwaukee, and after I left she had moved to nights. I tried to contact her to see if I might be able to help, but was never able to reach her. We haven't been in contact since. After getting to know Jess, I realized how Bakker was able to do what he did: she is one of those people who wants to trust others, and she will. (I still miss ya, Jess.)
