96 Rocks. Ron Ph.D Hummer
96 ROCKS
An Ozzie Rivera Murder Mystery
BY
Ron Hummer
Copyright 2012 Ron Hummer,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0695-4
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This story is not a reflection on the radio industry, the book publishing industry, or the banking industry. It’s a reflection on companies that use non compete agreements.
Chapter 1
Diane Crawford
Friday May 14, 2010 11:14 PM
WKRX is a rectangular pile of red bricks that is 3 stories high with windows that never grow dark. A chimney held a navy blue sign that said 96 Rocks; a blonde-haired man who was the security guard was stationed inside the door on the first floor.
Behind the lights on the third floor is where the DJ and the engineer were, rock and roll music from the 60’s and 70’s with hits of today being piped out to the fans that listened to the station on a daily basis.
“All right, this is Diane Crawford at 96 Rocks and we’re back at 11:14pm. Outside it’s 78 degrees in Dallas Texas, and we’re going to start off another set of rock and roll music with Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb at 96 Rocks FM.”
The music kicked in and the voice of Rodger Waters singing hello is there anybody out there came on as Diane leaned back in her blue swivel chair and stared at the white ceiling. “I’m gonna take a break,” Gina said through her headphones as Diane turned and watched her stand up, running her hand through her curly blond hair as she left the studio.
Diane took a deep breath, slipped the headphones off her ears. Her mind wandered back to the press release earlier today that Bob Wolfe would be the new morning drive person. Not like anyone cared to say anything to me, she thought to herself. After all, I’ve only been here for 7 years now and I’m still on the graveyard shift.
Yes, Wolfe finished out his non-compete after 3 years when he worked at WRSP in Denver,Colorado. That was also after finishing another rehab stint since he was an alcoholic. Of course, he had high ratings at the station in the morning drive before he was fired for being drunk on the air and making sexual jokes about Governor Theresa Palmer.
Wonder if Wolfe would have gotten away with that 20 years ago, Diane mused. My mother took pride in her work. She would never be drunk on the air.
The first time Diane saw her mother, Annie Crawford, on the air live was when she was 8 years old. February, 18, 1984. Cleveland, Ohio. Her mother been famous as a DJ and conducted interviews with many of the rock and roll greats such as Mick Jagger and David Bowie. She still remembered the first song she played by Huey Lewis and the News. It was I Want A New Drug. She saw her mother in front of two turntables as she pushed back stray wisps of brown hair into place with her fingertips, her other hand holding the record in place until the song ended. She spun the label back just enough so that the label was off to the right, ready to be released when she said “Here’s Huey Lewis and the News at WLNT FM.
Diane knew at that moment that that’s what she wanted to do. She had the voice, low, deep, sultry, just like her mother. She knew that she wanted to be in radio and would go to school for it and graduate with her communications degree from Suny Buffalo.
The red dot on the phone came on and Diane grabbed the receiver, put it to her ear. “96 Rocks.”
“Hey Diane. Great tunes tonight.”
Diane smiled, recognizing the voice of Rick Holman from Albany, New York. “Are you listening to me through your TV again?”
“Of course. You’re streaming through my playstation.”
“That is so crazy.”
“You don’t sound that great tonight.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Yep.”
“Guess you heard the news.”
“Oh yeah. They talked about it on CNN Headline News. Bob Wolfe taking over the morning drive.”
“Yep.”
“I’m sure they didn’t give you a heads up.”
She screwed her face into a grimace, crossed her legs. “No, they didn’t.”
Comfortably Numb would come to an end soon. She looked at her console, typed in Jackson Brown, saw the songs that came back. She chose The Pretender and that song went right under Comfortably Numb. Doesn’t get any easier than that.
“That’s the way it is when you’re on a non-compete,” Rick said. “They don’t care how you feel. If you don’t like it, you can leave. Just remember ” - he coughed - “that you can’t work in the industry for 2 years.”
“I know.”
“Of course in your case, it’s 3 years and you can’t work at another station within 200 miles. But since your station owns 15 other stations in different parts of the country, the only place you can work is in California.”
“We’ve talked about this before Rick.”
“So, let’s talk about it again. Diane, take it from me, the years pile up before you know it. I’m going into my 12th year on my non-compete. They laid off over 200 people in my company already. I could go at anytime and I still can’t work in the industry for 2 years.”
“I know.”
“I mean, I live in Albany and my company is headquartered in Ohio. So I had to go down to Ohio to talk to a lawyer.”
“I remember that you mentioned that.”
“My lawyer said that this should be illegal and it’s up to the state government to do something about it.”
“Mine said the same thing.”
“Look, I’m just trying to help you. You deserve a lot more than this. You can be free in California.”
Diane leaned back in her chair, looked at her laptop computer that was off to her left. “I know that but It’s just not that easy to pick up and leave.”
“Diane, I don’t have industry experience in other jobs. I’ve been looking for over 3 years for a new job. Not getting anywhere.”
“I know.”
“Don’t wait until they fire you. A lot of people in my company were looking and they still don’t have jobs.”
Diane shook her head. “And the government continues to pay them unemployment even though they can work but they can’t work in their industry.”
“It isn’t right Diane. Think about it. Don’t end up like the people in my company. Or me. Get out before it’s too late. You’ll be free in California.”
“I have to say that I’m thinking about it.”
“I hope you are.”
“I am. So, what do you want to hear?”
“Just play some Zappa, Dead, Riders of the Purple Sage, and Little Feat.”
“Tell you what.” She went back to the console, typed in Frank Zappa, came back with results, chose Dirty Love. “I’ll do that and I’ll throw in some Hot Tuna, Tull, and Commander Cody as well.”
“Sounds great. Thanks.”
“Take