Q:
Suddenly, it's 1961 and you're back at WDRC but this time
you're off the air with a desk in Mike Boudreau's sales department.
Tell us about him.
A: He described
himself as "Harvard's token Catholic". He was a Harvard graduate.
Wore expensive Italian-made shoes. Mike lived in New Britain. He
had worked for a credit company setting up floor plan financing
for car dealerships. When he was fired he answered a newspaper ad
for an account executive position at DRC. He had never been
in a radio station before. He told us he had little or no training,
was given a rate card and told to hit the street. Mike told us he
had to figure radio sales out for himself. And he did.
He called on
all the car dealers who were his former customers. His pitch was
the same to each: "buy 100 announcements a week, 52 weeks a year."
That was the order. In each case the dealer asked if this would
work and Mike, using common sense, could safely say, "yes."
Mike was not much at writing continuity so he'd bring his orders
back to Charlie Parker
and me. Charlie would create the campaigns for each of his car dealers.
I remember three. Jones Ford, East Harford (campaign featured the
1954 song "Cross Over The Bridge"); Williams Ford, West Hartford
(I created this campaign and wrote the copy, recording each commercial
for years at WDRC, then at WCCC where I created a budget
which had heretofore not existed. I did the voice of the non-existent
Mr. Williams using an imitation of the evil Wisconsin senator Joe
McCarthy); and Charlie wrote Capitol Motors, downtown Hartford.
Witness the math; three dealers X 300 announcements per week X 52
weeks = 15,600 announcements per year. Using his car connections
Mike had created a year's income which turned into a long-term source
for revenues for himself by making those three sales.
When they closed
the TV-18 sales department I called WDRC on behalf of a middle
aged insurance man who had left his insurance career to enter broadcasting.
He had a family and I feared for him.
I was very surprised
when Mike Boudreau called me and asked why I hadn't called on behalf
of myself. I reminded him I had called Bill Crawford before I went
into sales to ask for a job in sales at Big D. Bill responded
something like, "I had to fire you once as news director. I wouldn't
like to have to fire you again." Mike said he wanted me to come
to work for him. Wanted to take me to lunch. I demanded that Crawford
be at the table. Mike showed up with Bill and we got together.
Mike hired me
in spite of what I did to him when I was news director in 1960.
I had dropped in his office to tell him about our great election
coverage plans and urged him to sell this special programming. He
told me he would not sell it. I immediately drafted a memo to New
York detailing our news plans and urging sale of the special programming,
going over Mike's head. The word came back to Mike that, indeed,
this must be sold. Mike sold it. And I wondered how much of an enemy
I had made. I learned later he was too big a man to be vindictive.
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