Big Rig: 36 Years of 98 Rock, Radio & Rock Stars

Big Rig Ron Michaels has spent more than three decades behind the microphone at Tampa Bay's legendary 98ROCK — and he's got the stories to prove it. Big Rig joins me for a long-overdue conversation about growing up obsessed with radio, building his own pirate radio station as a kid, breaking into the business and eventually landing in Tampa at 98ROCK — where he's somehow managed to survive the insanity of the radio business for more than 30 years. And then we get into the good stuff. We talk about the legendary 98ROCK Livestock shows and why an event like that probably couldn't happen today. Big Rig shares stories about interviewing and hanging out with artists including Paul McCartney, Glenn Danzig, David Coverdale, Dennis DeYoung, Henry Rollins, Steven Pearcy and Winger — including one live Winger interview that went exactly as badly as he feared it would. We also get into what happened to rock radio, whether radio can still break bands in the age of Spotify, TikTok and YouTube, and why personalities still matter. Big Rig makes an interesting point: despite how fragmented music consumption has become, 98ROCK listeners still spend nearly an hour and a half a day with the station because of the combination of music, personalities and the connection they've built with Tampa Bay. This isn't really an interview as much as two radio guys sitting around swapping stories about rock & roll, radio, musicians and the completely ridiculous business we somehow ended up in. Grab a drink and hang out. I’m Leaving Right After This Drink: Rock & Roll, Whiskey and Other Stories Like the show? Like, subscribe, share it with a friend — and stick around for another round. Donate to the podcast: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... Purchase podcast shirts and more here https://www.teepublic.com/user/im-lea... https://www.bryanshaw.com #98ROCK #BigRig #TampaRadio #RockRadio #PaulMcCartney #GlennDanzig #RockAndRoll #RadioDJ #Livestock #TampaBay