Posted on Wed, Nov. 29, 2006
UP FRONT | RICK SHAW
S. Florida radio legend Rick Shaw retiring after 46 yearsDJ Rick Shaw, a fixture on South Florida airwaves since 1960, surprised Majic 102.7 listeners Tuesday by announcing his retirement.
BY HOWARD COHEN

 Veteran Majic DJ Rick Shaw, a fixture on South Florida airwaves since 1960, surprised his listeners Tuesday morning by emotionally announcing his coming retirement midway through his broadcast on WMXJ-FM. His sign-off: Goodnight My Love (Pleasant Dreams), a 1959 Ray Peterson single Shaw originally used as his closing during his '60s reign at WQAM. No one in South Florida has outlasted Shaw as a constant presence in the notoriously fickle world of mainstream radio.



Veteran Majic DJ Rick Shaw, a fixture on South Florida airwaves since 1960, surprised his listeners Tuesday morning by emotionally announcing his coming retirement midway through his broadcast on WMXJ-FM. His sign-off: Goodnight My Love (Pleasant Dreams), a 1959 Ray Peterson single Shaw originally used as his closing during his '60s reign at WQAM. No one in South Florida has outlasted Shaw as a constant presence in the notoriously fickle world of mainstream radio.

''I'm sick and tired of getting up at 4 a.m. in the morning,'' Shaw, 68, said in a telephone interview from his Cooper City home. But he may be the only public persona who can say ''sick and tired'' in the same warm and friendly tone that he has used to introduce '60s favorites on four South Florida radio stations for generations of listeners.

The loss of Shaw is emblematic of the struggles facing mainstream radio. The personalities that once delighted the public are dwindling, formats are fragmenting and the competition for listeners -- already distracted by satellite's commercial-free and uncensored approach, car stereo-adaptable iPods and books-on-CD -- is at an all-time high.

Rick's retirement 'is like your grandpa saying `I am closing the family business,' '' said Adam Jacobson, a former editor with Radio & Records who is based in Miami. ``You don't have that one-to-one warmth that comes from a guy like Rick. In a market like South Florida that is always at the forefront of enormous change, one thing that has been a constant is Rick and his delivery, mannerism and style. That's a lost art.''

STAYING FOR AWHILE

But Shaw won't be going away immediately. Program director Bob Hamilton says he will remain on Majic until a suitable replacement is found. ''We'll take our time, long enough to find the right person. To replace an icon with someone new, [you] have to revitalize the show,'' he said.

Hamilton hopes to announce the replacement by January. Perfect timing, as Shaw and his wife Patricia have a cruise booked to Hawaii for a week in February, his first post-radio indulgence.

Shaw will continue to record public service announcements for the station and will remain president of the Majic Children's Fund, a charity for which he's raised some $3 million over the past decade and calls ``the most rewarding part of this whole experience.''

The charity work will go on. That morning grind will not.

''The older I get, the harder it becomes,'' he said. 'The body does not want to function at 4 in the morning. When [the late] Ralph Renick quit Channel 4, I had lunch with him and asked what caused him to quit. He said, `When it's time, you will know.' ''

Shaw recalled how radio has changed so much since his 1956 sign-on under his own name, Jim Hummel, at a small St. Louis radio station. He picked up the stage name Rick Shaw upon his arrival in Miami. ``When I started in radio, the sound effects library was on 78 rpm records. That's how far it goes. Now it's compact discs.''

Actually, now it's MP3 music files, a point that makes Shaw, who doesn't own an iPod, chuckle.

``Every time I turn around, it's a new format. I've seen it all come and go. I got into radio when I was a senior in high school, Elvis was coming on strong, rock was getting up and learning to walk, and here I was starting my career. Incredible.''

A FRUITFUL CAREER

Shaw brought the Beatles to South Florida listeners in 1964, spinning vinyl on WQAM when it was the pop music station of note. Meeting the Fab Four in Jacksonville that year, he said, remains one of his career highlights. Amusingly, he's now bowing out with the Beatles back on the charts with the new ''mash-up'' CD, LOVE.

Shaw once earned a record 54 share rating in the '60s rock 'n' roll heyday; in today's world with traditional and Sirius and XM satellite stations, a 4 share would be celebrated. Oldies stations like Majic face challenges as they try to define themselves in a way that won't scare away advertisers who champion the youth demographic. Even the term ''oldies'' is becoming taboo: Majic's tagline now is ''Greatest Hits of the '60s and '70s,'' and the station has largely moved its playlist forward into the disco era, alienating some boomers who favor the British Invasion era.

''It's another form of competition, the newest form of technology, the evolutionary process at work. Someone figuring out how to do something better,'' Shaw says. ``I got in and out at the best time.''

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