On air:  5:30am - 10am
Call:   (651) 989-9797

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Email:  bt@cities97.com

Have you ever seen the movie "Good Morning, Viet Nam" starring Robin Williams? The character he plays in the film is a broadcaster in the US Air Force. That's how I got my professional start in the radio business. But, unlike the character in the movie, my overseas duty was on the sunny, tourist-filled Greek island of Crete. About 180-degrees from the war in SE Asia, that's for sure. Yes, the gods were smiling upon me! Later, I transferred into the Air Force Reserves and moved back to the Twin Cities, which is my hometown area (grew up in Robbinsdale), and nabbed my first commercial radio gig in 1980, working for one of the first "Smooth Jazz" stations in the country, KTWN-FM. The pay was $5 an hour, no benefits and all the records you could eat. The studios were in a crappy cinderblock building in Anoka. Ahhh, the glamour! Where were the gods now? In 1984 I signed on with the original team that brought Cities 97 on the air, and worked here as Assistant Program Director, Music Director, and Announcer until 1987. I got canned for a lot of reasons - all of them good ones. The gods were teaching me a lesson. Throughout the late 80's and early 90's I helped to create some new broadcast formats and programs, among them the kids station 'Radio Aahs', and then in 1992 my buddy Jim and I put together a production and syndication company that grew into a radio group - Cargill Communications, Inc. The fondly remembered REV 105 was the baby that we birthed. Some of my current co-workers worked on that project, too: Brian Oake, Thorn and Shelley Miller. I came back to Cities 97 in 1996 when the afternoon host slot opened up. Lee Valsvik and I have now been doing the Morning Show together for "I can't remember how many" years. She is one of my best friends, by the way. We ain't faking it on-the-air. There's nothing I wouldn't do for her. 1998 brought a huge life-changing experience, as I was diagnosed with Stage IV kidney cancer. It was most certainly a bad thing, but also one of the most positive episodes of my life. I know that sounds ironic, but something like that helps you remember how precious every breath is. My business vibe keeps moving forward, as my wife and I (and our family) are in the commercial food production business. Scope out our efforts at www.elle-tee.com We keep our home in New Hope. Our two kids are at still home with us, as are two dogs, a cat, a very loud parrot and a backyard pond full of fish. Playing guitar and cooking are two of my favorite things that I never seem to find enough time to do. That said, the gods are smiling on me every day.