Sa<strong>in</strong>t Judith Charters The Boardwalk Journal | April 2013 | 9
10 | The Boardwalk Journal | April 2013 hello my name is Diane Mitchell Hello, my name is Diane Mitchell, co-host of the Mike & Diane Morn<strong>in</strong>g Show on 95.1 WAYV. When I <strong>in</strong>troduce myself to people, many of them react <strong>with</strong> the same predictable responses. “Oh, are you the one on the back of the bus?”, “I listen to you every morn<strong>in</strong>g” or “What is Mike really like?” But the majority of listeners almost always ask, “What is it like to host <strong>your</strong> own radio show?” It’s probably not what you th<strong>in</strong>k… There’s really no such th<strong>in</strong>g as a “typical” day <strong>in</strong> radio—you never know what the morn<strong>in</strong>g will br<strong>in</strong>g. However, most of them start out the same way. I wake up to two alarms at 3:30AM (yes, I have a back-up, just <strong>in</strong> case.) In my younger years, that was about the time I was go<strong>in</strong>g to sleep! I splash water on my face and put on my “uniform”—yoga pants, a hoodie and UGGS (<strong>in</strong> the summer I wear flip flops, even though it’s aga<strong>in</strong>st company policy—the “Suit and Tie Boss” doesn’t like the clip-clop sound.) My hair goes up—forget about makeup at that hour of the morn<strong>in</strong>g. I justify this by say<strong>in</strong>g that go<strong>in</strong>g makeup free dur<strong>in</strong>g the week helps my sk<strong>in</strong>! I grab a granola bar….okay, that sounded good, but <strong>in</strong> reality it’s probably a Hershey bar to satisfy my <strong>in</strong>ner chocoholic. <strong>Plus</strong>, I need the caffe<strong>in</strong>e because I don’t dr<strong>in</strong>k coffee. I know, host<strong>in</strong>g a morn<strong>in</strong>g show <strong>with</strong>out coffee is unheard of! I warm up my voice <strong>in</strong> the privacy of my own car on the way to the radio station. Believe me; no one wants to hear me s<strong>in</strong>g. I walk <strong>in</strong>to the Bayport One Build<strong>in</strong>g and the first person I run <strong>in</strong>to <strong>in</strong> the hallway is our new 19-year-old <strong>in</strong>tern, Casey—bubbly, perky and ready for a new day. Did she put blush and mascara on this early? Then I rem<strong>in</strong>d myself, “no, Diane, that’s just what 19 year olds look like, naturally.” Casey <strong>in</strong>forms me of any celebrity <strong>in</strong>terviews that are scheduled and fills me <strong>in</strong> on hot news headl<strong>in</strong>es. She also tells me what’s happen<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> her life—it’s never a dull moment, which makes for good show material. The door to the studio is extremely heavy this morn<strong>in</strong>g—weird. Maybe I should work out more. Maybe it’s my perpetual sleep debt. Anyway, there’s Mike, well-dressed and well-caffe<strong>in</strong>ated as usual. He’s always organized and ready to run through the day’s show topics. He’s talk<strong>in</strong>g very fast. With a head nod he <strong>in</strong>vites my op<strong>in</strong>ion on the topics. Woman tattoos her 2 year old…Kim Kardashian’s poor choice of maternity fashion….good apps for <strong>your</strong> smart phone...why do women give cheat<strong>in</strong>g husbands a second chance… Anyth<strong>in</strong>g unusual or funny that happened the previous day has potential to be a show topic. This <strong>in</strong>cludes the details of our lives— whether it’s at home, the supermarket, the mall, a restaurant, etc. Everyth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> our day can be considered “show prep.” Sometimes it can be the littlest th<strong>in</strong>g, but it always has to be someth<strong>in</strong>g relatable to the listener. That’s why we take notes all day long. I even have a notepad <strong>in</strong> my car just <strong>in</strong> case. I do a “Celebrity Dirt” feature three times every morn<strong>in</strong>g. There was a lot of enterta<strong>in</strong>ment news overnight, so my “Celebrity Dirt” DIANE MITCHELL, co-host of the Mike & Diane Morn<strong>in</strong>g Show on 95.1 WAYV reports will be juicy! I’m proud to say that I know most of what there is to know about celebrities—yes, I’m obsessed! I can tell you their ages, who they’re married to and the names and ages of their kids. This is “research” for me, watch<strong>in</strong>g as many TV shows as I can, read<strong>in</strong>g every magaz<strong>in</strong>e I can get my hands on and see<strong>in</strong>g the most popular movies—it’s hard work, but somebody has to do it! 3…2…1…the ON AIR light is flash<strong>in</strong>g and Mike opens the show at 5:30AM. We take listener calls and play them back on the air while monitor<strong>in</strong>g social media. At the same time we execute prize giveaways and post most of what we discussed on Facebook and Twitter, while <strong>in</strong>terspers<strong>in</strong>g it all <strong>with</strong> Today’s Best Hits. After the show is wrapped, I hop <strong>in</strong>to the production studio to voice commercials and conduct celebrity <strong>in</strong>terviews that we’ve l<strong>in</strong>ed up. By 11am, I’m f<strong>in</strong>ally <strong>in</strong> the clear—or so I th<strong>in</strong>k. On this particular day I have headphones, purse and coat <strong>in</strong> hand and I try to sneak out the back door. But, “Suit and Tie Boss” sees me out of the corner of his eye and waves me over. He’s schmooz<strong>in</strong>g a new client and the m<strong>in</strong>ute I hear him, I know exactly what he’s talk<strong>in</strong>g about—the 1997 story of when he first hired Mike and I. His voice is gett<strong>in</strong>g louder as I walk closer. “I used to listen to Mike & Diane on a small station <strong>in</strong> Monmouth County <strong>in</strong> the mid 90s. In order to record them <strong>with</strong> my little cassette recorder, I’d have to pull over on the Garden State Parkway,” he drones on. “This was before the <strong>in</strong>ternet and before stream<strong>in</strong>g so I had to do record them before I lost the small signal they used to broadcast from. If I kept driv<strong>in</strong>g, I’d lose them. I was riveted by their chemistry, frivolity and mischievousness; and <strong>in</strong>toxicated by Diane’s laugh! They were just so spontaneous and enterta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g! I’d play these tapes over and over to our morn<strong>in</strong>g show at the time, Spider & Kelly—try<strong>in</strong>g to coerce them to sound more like Mike & Diane—but to no avail. So, <strong>in</strong>stead of try<strong>in</strong>g to teach our students, I decided to try to hire the professors. Sixty days later, the rest was <strong>history</strong>.” I smile, truthfully that story never gets old—although hear<strong>in</strong>g the boss retell it, does. This trip down memory lane is start<strong>in</strong>g to seriously cut <strong>in</strong>to my mani-pedi-salon time, so I must be go<strong>in</strong>g. <strong>Plus</strong>, <strong>in</strong> order to justify my chocolate and Cherry Cosmo habits, I need to get to the gym. The sooner I get there, the better. I’ve been known to talk myself out of the workout when I’m actually on my way to the workout. As I turn to leave, the client that the “Suit and Tie Boss” was talk<strong>in</strong>g to says to me, “You know, you look much better <strong>in</strong> person than you do on the back of the bus.” I smile, and suddenly I’m the one that doesn’t need blush. Did I mention that I love this job? Want more Diane? Check her out every morn<strong>in</strong>g on South Jersey’s Most Listened to Morn<strong>in</strong>g Show–The Mike & Diane Show on 95.1 WAYV, Monday–Friday, 5:30AM-9:00AM.
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