Radio folks, for VO do you use your radio name or real name?

[Lee Gordon]

my father-in-law's name is Tom Collins.

But what was his air name?

Actually, that reminds me of a story about the station I alluded to earlier where the jocks had goofy names. The PD's real name was Vic Pryles but he decided he needed a sufficiently odd monicker that fit in with the Tom Foolerys and Hap Hazards, etc.

Vic's then wife had worked as a flight attendant for Bar Harbor Airlines and one of their pilots was named Penrod Rideout. Vic thought that was a perfectly suitable personna, so he adopted it. One day, when he was relating this story to a bunch of us, I asked him, since the original Penrod Rideout had been a pilot, if that was his "air name."

By the way, when Vic was PD he occasionally had to assign air names to guys based upon the jingles or name shouts that were already cut and ready to go. That's how one guy ended up with the air name "Mike Harrison" when his real name would have been pretty suitable for on-air use: Cliff Blake.

[Colin Campbell]

For a short time around '03, I did my last on-air stint on our tiny pee-shooter AM oldies station here as "Coyote McCloud." A name stolen from a folk hero jock of the 70's. I believe the guy still does mornings somewhere.

[JohnWeeks]

I worked at a station that named me Kris O'Kelly (jingle shout), they also had jocks named Bud McGuire and Bill Donovan. When we hired a guy to do overnights he wanted to use his real name (Paul Mulligan) and the manager told him it sounded "too Irish"!

Last I heard Coyote McCloud was in Nashville, but that's been several years ago.

We had another guy at our active rock station who called himself "Special Ed" (they wouldn't go for "Sex Ed")

Didn't David Letterman start out in radio too?

[Lee Gordon]

I know a guy named Jim Shannahan who thought his name sounded too Irish so he changed it to Jim Shannon. No idiot program director ordered him to do it; he did it on his own.

[Paul Plack]

There were lots of guys working in radio as "Tom Collins" years ago, probably because it was also the name of a popular cocktail.

My first job in radio in '75 was at a Beautiful Music station in Buffalo, #1 station in the city at the time, and I used my real name, Paul Plack. I was offered full-time midday slot at a tiny suburban AM daytimer, and wanted to do both jobs. The PD in Buffalo agreed to let me moonlight if I used a different name at the little AM. I adopted my middle name as last, and was "Paul Warren" when I worked out in the sticks.

For some reason, "Paul Warren" always went over better. In about 1978, I sent two nearly-identical audition tapes to WDAE/Tampa, one under each name. Paul Plack got the standard kiss-off letter, "not what we're looking for right now." Paul Warren got a letter informing me I'd made the short list. Go figure!

I don't care. I'm the real me these days, and out of radio, so no big deal.

There was a station in south Georgia a few years ago which brokered its entire daytime schedule out to a group of factory outlet stores at one particular exit along I-75. It was a pretty funny parody of a real radio station, with a traffic reporter named Helena Handbasket. I almost drove off the road laughing. "And now, for traffic, we're going to..."

[connieterwilliger]

Always was on air as Connie Terwilliger - one PD wanted me to try Connie T, but ultimately didn't have to...although there are times when I had a hard time saying my name...

[chucktaylor]

I actually started out using my real name, but was stalked early in my career. (real crazy lady...remind me to tell you the story sometime!) That incident turned me off of using my real last name, so for everything I do professionally (radio or vo) I use my nom de plume...Chuck Taylor...the name kind of fit like a shoe! (converse chuck taylor's)

ct

btw Chuck is my real first name, it's only the last that I changed.

[Scott Selva]

I actually started out using my real name, but was stalked early in my career. (real crazy lady...remind me to tell you the story sometime!) That incident turned me off of using my real last name, so for everything I do professionally (radio or vo) I use my nom de plume...Chuck Taylor...the name kind of fit like a shoe! (converse chuck taylor's)

ct

btw Chuck is my real first name, it's only the last that I changed.

At the risk of asking a dumb question...What name are your VO paychecks made out to? Can you cash checks made out to Chuck Taylor?

[chucktaylor]

I usually have things made out to Taylor Made Productions and deposit them in my business account

[Lee Gordon]

You can cash checks made out to anyone. You just have to endorse them once the way they are writen and a second time with your actual name.

I do some work for a guy who used to have a mental block about my name and half the time would write "Lee Howard" on the check. On the back I would sign "Lee Howard" and below that I would write "Lee Gordon" and they always went through just fine.