Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday, Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Friday on Chuck69.com.
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ALL THIS WEEK, CHUCK69.COM WILL HONOR THE HEROES OF 2012 WITH A SPECIAL HEROES WEEK IN PLACE OF THE USUAL BEE-OTCH OF THE DAY.
Name: Suzy Cole
Age: 33
Occupation: works for Beats by Dr. Dre; former DJ, WKLQ/WGRD Grand Rapids and WRIF Detroit
Last Seen: Los Angeles
Awarded For: making my world a little brighter
Age: 33
Occupation: works for Beats by Dr. Dre; former DJ, WKLQ/WGRD Grand Rapids and WRIF Detroit
Last Seen: Los Angeles
Awarded For: making my world a little brighter
For the final original Bee-otch/Hero of the Day article for 2012, I decided to make it kinda personal.
In the world of radio, there's change, and lots of it. Sadly, most of it seems to be bad thanks to the fact that most radio stations these days are owned by corporate jackasses who put the bottom line ahead of what matters most: their customers, their listeners and their employees.
But in the world of sadness, there's joy.
A few months ago, Suzy Cole made the announcement that after many years at Detroit heritage rock station WRIF, where she served as assistant programming director and music director, she was moving to Los Angeles where she found a position with speaker maker Beats by Dr. Dre. Not too shabby for a girl whose career started here in Grand Rapids many years ago at WKLQ.
In around 2002, Cole went to WGRD and shortly after that, headed to WRIF where she also programmed Riff 2, their internet-only active rock station.
One reason why I think Suzy's a hero was that four years ago, she gave me some of the best advice ever given to me by any successful radio person. It was October 18, 2008 and several bands played the Intersection with Electric Six leading the bill (and I didn't know this until recently that Electric Six is actually bigger in England than they are here in Michigan). Also playing that night was Local H (of "Bound For the Floor" fame), or should I say 1/2 of Local H since the band only consisted of lead singer Scott Lucas and a new drummer at the time. As a matter of fact, Lucas was selling his own merchandise instead of having people sell it for them.
Anyway, Suzy invited any of her Grand Rapids peeps via MySpace to come over to the Intersection if they wanted to see her. So, I did. I spotted her in front of the merchandise stands and introduced myself. She was very nice and kind, and we entered a small conversation about a nasty post I saw about her on an internet message board. The poster claimed that Suzy was fired from KLQ for being drunk and stupid at The Intersection. Well, Suzy set the record straight: she was kicked out of the OLD Intersection (whose stage is now part of Mulligan's in Eastown) because she was just a minor and washed the Xs off of her hands. I told her that the same asshole who made that post about her was spewing shit and lies about me also because he was a loser with no real job or life. Basically put, Suzy told me that these people need to get a fucking life and to just shut the fuck up.
Later on after the concert, Suzy invited me and a few other folks over to the front bar for a few shots of Jameson with one of the guys from Electric Six who was a personal friend of hers. Scott Lucas was also there and had a little conversation with him, too, asking him why he didn't do "Bound For the Floor" and told me that he wanted to "mix it up" each show. Even the big poobah of Grand Rapids rock radio himself, Aris Hampers was there and chatted with him as well, even though I wasn't the nicest towards him in years past over his hatred towards Howard Stern.
Thanks to Suzy and her invitation, it was the best night out I had in a long time. I was a part of that message board for years and somehow, the idiots turned their backs against me for no good reason. But as time passed, I learned more and more of the truth. Turned out that one of the posters was the former PD of The Bear in northern Michigan who "optimized" their format and turned that station into a trainwreck. Needless to say, he ended up having a vendetta against me and the other posters followed. Now, that dumbass is working at some small hick station in Indiana.
It's been five years since I posted on that board, and I kinda do miss it, but I've moved on. The fat fuck who made up lies about me and Suzy claimed that I suffered from "arrested development". So? Most people my age did thanks to the asshole Republicans who worried more about Janet Jackson's tit over creating jobs and now in this day in age, stopping gun nuts.
Guess what? A lot has changed in five years. I'm now in the process of dating a woman (and I didn't get her from my long-defunct "Date King Chuck" page) and my asshole boss - who hasn't given ANYBODY a raise in years - just announced that he's retiring. Finally, thanks to that, plus the hard work of President Obama, arrested development is no longer a term that applies to me. I'm moving up, Suzy's moving up, but these no-life jerks are stuck working in small market radio eating ramen noodles.
Thanks, but I take advice from winners, not cuckold jerks who work for listener-supported oldies stations that segue The Beatles into Mrs. Miller. Sitting in front of a computer 80 hours a week hurling insults at individuals doesn't make you cool, especially now that bullying is now considered an epidemic. Thankfully, that fat bastard paid the price when his wife left him a few years ago.
So there you have it. There's still a lot of good people who work or worked in radio. It's sad that Suzy's angelic voice has disappeared from the airwaves, but it's for the best. I wish her the best of luck in the City of Angels, because she is one.
Oh, and to her replacement at WRIF, "Stoner" Andy Green, it's "Facebook", not "Faceyspace". ;)
Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!
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