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Thanks For Everything, Rush

Michael Reagan on

Rush’s success in the 1990s made it possible for many of us to get jobs in talk radio and allow our voices also to compete with the liberal TV networks and major print media.

When he burst upon the national scene in 1989 I was living in L.A. and commuting 262 miles roundtrip every day to do a local talk-show in San Diego.

I was on the verge of signing a new three-year contract when I arrived one Monday to do my show and was told I had been replaced by Rush.

Suddenly I found myself trying to figure out how to make a living and support my wife and two young kids. I didn’t want to become a bagger at a Ralph’s supermarket.

I took some guest gigs in Seattle and was offered a talk show job in Milwaukee. But being a California-born kid, moving to Milwaukee with my family was out of the question.

Anyway, in the dog-eat-dog world of radio, in three months I could just as easily be replaced by Rush again.

 

Realizing I had to do unto others before they did it unto me again, in 1990 I began putting together my own national talk show.

Our “national” talk show struggled to get off the launch pad, to say the least.

We had so little money, my first paycheck bounced and my “pay” ended up being a Green Bay Packer’s cap, which I still have.

To make the show sound bigger than it was, we faked calls from listeners.

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Copyright 2021 Michael Reagan, All Rights Reserved. Credit: Cagle.com

 

 

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