WHOoPLA: Chapters 16, 17 & 18

Chapter Sixteen: The Ledge

A lot of dope was going to be smoked out on “the ledge” Monday night. The “Ledge” was the thinking place at QFM. It was a 3′ wide walkway between the news room window and a 3′ high jagged stone facade that topped off the building. QFM was in the penthouse on the 21st floor. Above it was the roof upon which sat a 20′ high steel sculpture that was thought to be a blimp dock but had never been used for such. The large metal double hung newsroom window opened wide and was low to the floor so it was easy to step out onto the ledge and survey the cityscape. Aside from up on the roof sitting beneath the blimp dock, the ledge was the best place in the city to smoke dope. The 70’s progressive rock jocks had called the newsroom “the crystal palace” because there was a double glass sliding door that separated it from the on-air studio. With that door open and the window open, you could even smoke dope while sitting at the control board in the studio, blow it out toward the open “palace” patio door and it would make a hard right and zoom straight out the window and over the ledge edge. The ledge was a truly magical place that laid waste to any heavy shit that may have been burdening you. It cleared your mind’s hard drive and refreshed your psyche.

Tim The Rock N Roll Animal was a beer drinker. No doubt that night as the response to Lee Arnold’s bold on-air pronouncements began to mushroom, he spent a little time out there himself, contemplating what his action should be. By the next day, he and Arnold had decided what they were going to do.

Chapter Seventeen: The Reveal

As Tuesday morning came it was clear that Arnold’s “We’re not gonna take it anymore” editorial message had struck a chord with the listeners. It resonated deeply with the long suffering Milwaukee rocker and calls to the station offering to help in the cause were streaming in. A petition drive sprang up spontaneously that we jumped on with on-air encouragement and supported by printing up “Official Petition Forms” and distributing them all over town.

A hastily arranged staff meeting/pep rally was called for Tuesday afternoon. There Arnold was at his carnival barker best with Tim at his side as he introduced his wild plan to the rest of us. He had that manic glow that caused his bloodshot eyes to bulge out and his mouth and face to be Muppet Puppet flexible. He emphasized the importance of supporting the petition drive on the air and then he paused for a moment to let anticipation build. He and Tim had a secret. The silence caused the rest of us to say “What? What?” to their inside joke with each other. Then he dropped the bomb. Tim was going to be going out onto the ledge, he said, and he would be staying there, living there, until The Who agreed to come to Milwaukee.

What? Say that again?

Tim is going out on the ledge? To stay?

“What if they don’t come?”

We only thought it. Nobody had the balls to say it. The atmosphere was so thick with testosterone and Vince Lombardi “Winning isn’t everything it’s the only thing” hype that all we could do was sit quiet and take it in. It was shocking. Everybody was left awestruck with either enthusiasm or fear. Arnold whipped into one of his “We can do this!” speeches for the pep rallies dynamic conclusion. I remember coming out of the meeting just plain dizzy. I’d never seen anything like it before. I thought,

“This guy is completely off his fucking rocker.”

Today, I’m still awestruck by the thought that at that meeting, as he sat before us painting a dynamic picture of all the national attention Tim was going to get and how it was going to be the most important thing to happen to Milwaukee in years, he had yet to even talk to ANYONE from the band.

The pure strangeness of the day was augmented by news that Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco had died from the stroke she had while driving her car along a narrow stretch of country highway.

Gene Mueller came away from the meeting with a lot to consider. Gene was the news director/sidekick half of the Rodeo & Mueller team that had finally put QFM’s morning drive on the map. They had a loyal and growing following that was winning. Gene’s style was to act as though he was being dragged into Rodeo’s immature comedic bits against his will. It fit him well because these were two very different types of mammal. Gene being the blue collar, beer drinker, serious newsman and Rodeo the coke loving, irresponsible, silly boy. It was a great mix that competitors wanted badly to bust up. Top 40 WKTI had recently hired former QFM nighttime progressive hipster Bob Reitman for mornings. As a solo he sounded awkward and out of place and struggled to find an identity, so they were looking for someone with whom he could team. Dallas Cole, Mueller’s one time roommate when they worked together at WSPT in Stevens Point had the helm and was attempting to lure Mueller away from QFM.

After the trippy staff meeting, Arnold took Gene aside and began to fill him in on what the strategy was going to be for the upcoming onslaught of press and calls and how crucial his role as news director was going to be through it all. Gene listened carefully and decided to sleep on it.

That night adversary LPX aired a “Pete Townsend Special Interview.” They had found an old recorded syndicated show and had edited it in a very creative manner to the degree that it sounded like it was new. It had their own afternoon drive jock, Jim McBean, in what sounded like he was talking to Townsend live who was saying that there was no way they were going to be coming to Milwaukee. It infuriated Arnold and The Animal and was passed around the station for all to hear. The underhandedness of it helped to bring those of us who were on the fence into the fold. This was going to be a great fight. Arnold:

“The only way LPX was going to come out with anything in this was for it not to happen…because then we’d be these schmucks who made a big hoopla and didn’t pull it off.”

Chapter Eighteen: Morning Malaise.

That first small, but ever important move by LPX, was a massive misstep. It gave Lee Arnold great fodder that could be used to ratchet up the argument. His response was swift and heavy. Arnold created a new editorial that busted LPX explaining in detail that they had changed the script of an old open ended recording and saying that WLPX,

“…appears to be against The Who coming to Milwaukee!”

He pounded this new editorial in the air relentlessly in an effort to rebrand LPX as “the station who doesn’t care about rock n roll. The station who doesn’t care about Milwaukee.”

For the time being LPX’s PD, RJ Harris, wasn’t taking the bait. He was staying out of the fray in the hopes QFM would self destruct.

The next day, Wednesday, I was in the studio running the control board for a midday remote broadcast from Radio Doctors Records. Having just wrapped up their morning show and gotten things straightened up, Gene popped his head from the newsroom into the studio, smiled and said,

“Wish me luck!”

Then he disappeared into Arnold’s office to have a long talk.

Few of us were privy to the details of what Gene’s KTI offer had been. Rumors had a $50 weekly increase in salary over QFM but, more importantly, KTI was the sister station of WTMJ, the “real news” AM Milwaukee powerhouse and a promise for Gene to “become a journalist” and jump over in the future may have also been a part of it. No one considered he would be seriously thinking of leaving. KTI was gay. QFM was cool.

After what seemed to be a millennium, he returned with his head hanging low. He methodically gathered his things into a box, gazed one last time out the big newsroom window looking over the ledge to the cityscape beyond and quietly turned and made his way out the front door. Gene was gone.

Not two seconds later, Arnold burst into the studio and said,

“Gene’s going to KTI. Take his name off the liner notes. From now on we refer to the morning show as “Rodeo and Abdul.”

Abdul was the nickname for Keith Harmon, the recently added part time sportscaster son of legendary Milwaukee Brewers play-by-play announcer Merle Harmon. He likely heard of his new promotion on the air as Arnold had a host of more important things to attend to.

Mueller would take a week off before he would begin his new job and is remembered by The Animal as,

“…a class act. He kept his mouth shut. With what he knew he could’ve played dirty, but he didn’t.”

Gene Mueller spent nearly 25 years on that morning show and recently got his long held wish to be a newsman on WTMJ. He’s a Milwaukee fixture, and likely thousands, would describe him the same way.

~ by Scott on December 6, 2007.