5.10.2013

DETROIT DJ JIM HARPER: THE END OF THE WRIF DREW & MIKE SHOW


Shocking news this past week in Detroit Radio...Legendary morning team Drew & Mike are signing off the air with WRIF May 17th.  They were ratings monsters from the get go...made that station buckets o money and were not losing their audience.  So when Greater Media didn't renew their contracts everyone was talking about this shocker.

Jim Harper was the first big Detroit DJ to come out tonight with his take on this story.  It is just perfect and he is letting me share this with my readers...thanks JIM xK

 

From Jim Harper

Secrets about Drew and Mike you may not have known.

I worked in the same building with these guys for 10 years. Many, many listeners loved them, some did not. In the building, most of the staff feared them, (I always found that hilarious) but everyone respected their huge ratings and massive revenue generation. A lot of people who worked there made a good living from the advertising their show produced. This means paying mortgages and putting kids through school.



They were always nice to me and at the risk of "giving them away", I think it's important you know a couple of secrets about Drew and Mike:

1. They are the hardest working morning team I have ever met in the business (mine included). They were the first morning show in the place every morning, and the last to leave.



They worked for hours after their show ended, getting ready for the next day, and I saw Drew leave every day for years with an old editing machine from the 1990s that he took home to spend MORE hours editing interviews by himself. And they went out of their way to make the show sound like they were just "winging it" while on the air. That takes great talent to pull off.



2. For a couple of men who made a living out of being "smart asses" on the radio, locker room humor, making fun of anyone, they were actually two of the biggest hearted and generous local celebs in town. They had a private "fund" that was made up of their own money, earned from their CDs and other items, that they kept a bank account to help Detroiters they felt were in need.


Sometimes you heard about it...most of the time you didn't. if they saw a story on the news or in the papers about someone hit by a tragedy, and they were touched by it, they would just cut them a check. It was important to them to keep it low-key.

3. They cared more about their listeners and "the show" than they did about money, fame or privilege. Don't get me wrong...they were well paid, but they never made a big deal about money and they did not live large. Both drove average priced cars and dressed like anyone else in our town that doesn't have to wear a suit.



4. They are both very devoted and loving husbands. I've met their beautiful wives and saw them interact with them in private moments. You can't fake this stuff. Despite the way they sounded on the air, they didn't chase or surround themselves with bimbos.

5. I never saw them use their status to get special attention or treatment at restaurants, concerts or sporting events. That is rare.


I'm sure if they still want to work, they can get back on the air in an hour. But they will only do it if they don't have to sell-out or compromise their standards.

Not many of us have the courage to be that picky. In these days of satellite radio, internet music and personal devices, Drew and Mike were and are a unique, LOCAL morning radio show that we were lucky to have available, FOR FREE!

They drove off Howard Stern and every challenger that came along for 15 yrs! A big part of Detroit entertainment history, and I was lucky to work for the same company alongside them. They always made me laugh.


 Less than 24 hours after it was revealed that the “Drew and Mike” show would end on WRIF-FM (101.1) May 17, Drew Lane and Mike Clark led a show that looked back at the past, touched upon the present and hinted at the future.

 
DETROIT (WXYZ) - 7 Action News has learned that WRIF is replacing their longtime morning duo Drew & Mike. Greater Media, which owns WRIF, announced today that the morning show would be ending its run on the station after 22 years.
Their last day will be May 17th. “We would like to thank Drew, Mike, Trudi and the entire team for their many contributions to the station over the years in the Motor City,” Greater Media Detroit Market Manager Steve Chessare said in a news release. “They are true professionals and we are very grateful to them.”
Greater Media is not commenting on who will be replacing Drew & Mike. However,  Crain's Detroit is reporting that they will be replaced by Dave and Chuck The Freak. That duo left 89X in November.
“There will always be a cheaper show, a younger show,” Lane said on his show today. “But the last job? ... We’re done? I don’t think that’s true.”

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kimmie,

Great story about Drew and Mike. Bummer it happened the way it did!!
Jim Harper .... Right on Jim!

Always Great Stuff Kimmie.

The Best to you!

Jack xxoo

Anonymous said...

Who is Drew and Mike?

Retro Kimmer said...

they were the big rock morning team at WRIF rock radio station in Detroit... here is their wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drew_and_Mike

Whaler said...

Nice article Retrokimmer...Drew and Mike a total class act...We all know what has happened to Radio...Hope to re-appear somewhere...Thanks for your Blog..The Very Best...Whaler

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