The end of Drew and Mike (audio)
April 23, 2008June 2009 Update: Drew and Mike are back!
The Detroit Free Press is reporting Drew Lane’s 16 year relationship with WRIF is now over. Drew is said to be looking for a nationally syndicated show.
It’s very said day for us fans of the Drew and Mike show. I have listened to Drew and Mike almost every day since I was a freshman in High School, back in 1996. I was lucky enough to work with them for a few months in 2000 when I was an intern at WRIF while I was at school at Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts.
Mike talks Drew’s Departure on the air today
Today, Mike W. Clark addressed Drew’s end at WRIF and also the tragic event’s surrounding the death of their good friend and WRIF general sales manger person Bob Kozaitis. The segament is over 40 minutes long and explains a lot.
(download MP3 if link above is down)
Drew’s Response to the above audio of Mike Clark
Drew called and spoke with the Free Press and had this to say:
“I understand them trying to have their success, and I wish them well but why do they want to make me look like a jackass after what I’ve been through?”
“I have been telling Mike Clark since 2004 that I wanted to move to afternoon drive. In January, I made one final request to move, thinking the pressure of the current situation” — doing the show without Lane — “might have changed his mind. He thought it would be more work.”
“In 2004, Clark and I agreed we were going to move to afternoons in 2005. He changed his mind after I spent thousands recording our material and getting it out of the building. To suggest this is such a shock is mind-boggling. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, I worked without a contract to try to keep the show together, thinking that was more important than the day part.”
“I have expressed that to two members who are in the show right now and expressed it to multiple Greater Media executives,” said Lane. “I desperately tried to get them to make this announcement in January” but encountered delays. “They kept trying to say they wanted to find me a new job or something new to do. I kept asking them to make the announcement, and it was ludicrous.”
“I find it very sad. I worked there a long time. I fought for raises for everyone on the show on their behalf … I offered to go on the show (today) to challenge what they were saying and they never called back,” Lane said. “If nothing else, if would have made great radio. Who would tune that out?”
“It is so sad after 16 years of such great success that your life changes when your fiancee gets cancer, which forced me to make some major life changes and you get a big boot … as you go out the door.
“I can’t wait to get in front of a microphone and start talking again about the things Detroit people want to hear about. I just want to thank all the listeners who enjoyed what I did and the rest of the show did,” Lane said. “I thought the four people on the show with me were the best in the market in what they did. And there are a lot of talented salespeople who worked hard to sell a show that was controversial.”
My Time at the WRIF
I have nothing but good things to say about Drew and Mike as well as the producers, Marc and Mike. I was hired on the spot by Marc after only one meeting with him. I would get to the station every morning at around four o’clock in the morning to start working on TV clips from the night before. Back before tivo, we all came in with a tapes to edit the funny drops you heard each morning on the show.
Drew was always the first person in each morning and he would give me a list of all the clips he wanted pulled from his tape and I would go and edit them out and place them in WRIF’s computer system for them to use during the show.
Drew was one of the nicest and funniest guys I’ve ever met. I never once saw him raise his voice or get mad when something he wanted messed up or didn’t go as planned (much different then other radio guys I’ve worked with like Ed Tyll for example). Mike Clark was the exact same way. What impressed me most about him was his ability to take an interest in us interns. He may come off as a real scatter brain sometimes but he’s nothing like that in actuality.
Future of the Show
The future of the Drew and Mike Show has a lot of possibilities. Mike Clark is funny and talented enough to keep tucking on as the new leader of the show. My guess would be either Mike and Marc stay on as co-hosts or perhaps just Marc. I can very easily see it becoming the Mike and Marc show. They have wonderful chemistry and it would make a seamless transition (with Mike Walters moving on as the sole producer).
The Drew Lane Show
I have the same feelings about Drew. He will be a success in whatever he does – he’s extremely gifted and could be very popular at a sports station, perhaps it could be the shot in the arm WDFN needs right now – that is if they ever choose to move to FM (which has been long rumored).
Thanks for posting the article. I’m glad Drew got his side of the story told.
I want to thank you for this audio. Due to me being on the road this morning and not living in the Michigan area, I was unable to listen this morning. So thank you again from an avid listener who lives in Canada.
I’m sure more and more will come out about this in the coming days, but a lot of what Drew said was pretty weak. “Why do they want to make me look like a jackass after what I’ve been through?” – damn, want a crying towel or something? “What you’ve been through?” What, your girlfriend had a cancer scare, recovered, and then you sat around for months telling your bosses that you’d be back if you felt like it? Wow, how tough. M/M/M were nothing but complimentary towards Drew this morning and it could have been a hell of a lot worse.
Drew hasn’t “talked about things the people of Detroit want to hear about” in YEARS. If he thinks he’s going to just pack up and go somewhere else and then watch Survivor and read from the tabloids – which has essentially been all he has done for years now – that’s not going to fly. People have short memories, he won’t be able to ride off his rep forever.
I understand his frustration over the debacle regarding moving to afternoons, but hey, if the other guys didn’t want to do it, which appears to be the case, then I guess it’s his perrogative to leave. Regardless, even if he didn’t want to say goodbye on the air he should have had the sack to at least let Mike know what’s going on in person.
The show hasn’t exactly dropped off in quality much since Drew left…some people think it’s actually better due to the toning down of reality TV talk and sports talk. I don’t know if that’s the case, but it’s certainly a crappy way to end what is (despite the lackluster past 4 or 5 years) probably the best morning show in Detroit’s history.
This is why I respect you guys! You tell the truth!
You have always made my husband and I laugh,and truthfully you still do!
I’m sooo sorry about the tradegy! I too was struck with that wuth my husband and his buddy this past 4th of July week.They were the two guys missing in Lake St. Clair.2 boaters missing,and yet found…the worst 5 daze of my children and my lives!However,I hope “BOB”,Danny,and Doug are doing something together! We loved ya’s and just keep on keepin on!
Respect Always,Leiah Rozenski and family
Way to go DREW! What a way to leave the show. They gave you as much time as you needed with Tess and her fight against cancer, then this is the way you say thank you? You’re one arrogant person that thinks you’re better than everyone else.
I understand that you wanted afternoons, but man why don’t you try working a job where you have to work twelve plus hours a day in a factory where you don’t have perks. Drew you’re a cry baby and probably always got your way and this time you didn’t.
That’s not really fair Jeff, because a lot of times Drew would work 12 hour days. I know it seems a lot harder working on the line or other blue collar jobs, and I’m sure Drew will be the first one to tell you that he loves what he does. But working in radio is a lot harder then it seems. Espaisally everything that was on Drew’s plate. He came up with 75% of the show’s content. Which may not seem a lot, but think about it – he has four and maybe five hours of talking every day. And that’s just when he is on the air, not talking about all the stuff they do off.
Mike Clark said great things about Drew. He never made him look like a jackass. Mike Clark also said that he has been playing phone tag with Drew and the article in the paper is totally wrong. Only time will tell the truth. We need to hear from Drew himself and not secondhand info. IMO, To put the Drew & Mike show on in the afternoon would be a major mistake and the death of the show. I have been a listener of WRIF since the late 70’s. Meltdown would be my choice to work with Mike Clark on the morning show. I like Marc, but I don’t think he has the proper “enthusiastic” voice for a morning show. He sounds like he’s still half asleep all through the show. Perhaps WRIF should do a “Detroit DJ” contest similar to American Idol and WRIF Rock Girl mixed.
I loved Drew and Mike. I never honestly thought the show would end. If anything the whole debacle is sad, regardless of who’s fault is who’s. I’m going to miss the banter.
I agree Heather. I hope they offer the spot to Meltdown. I think he would be a great addition to the show!
Well, it’s been a year since the last post, so I think I’ll revive this one. I think that now is the time to get an afternoon drive show. Aside from sports-talk, there really is no worthwhile afternoon talk. Plus, now that Jay and Bill have their show on WXYT-FM and Deminski and Doyle back on at WCSX-FM, the morning-drive time market is getting pretty swamped. Someone said that Drew can get a show mid-afternoons on WJR. Well, that won’t work because that would cut into Rush Limbaugh’s show, which gets the station perhaps its’ best ratings. And WRIF won’t give him that time because of Arthur P.’s seniority at the station. (Art’s been with the station since the 60’s when it was still WXYZ-FM). His best shot around here probably would be either 97.1 the “Ticket”, WDTW Progressive talk, or WDFN. Like all the posters on this board, I hope to hear Drew soon. Drew was one of those guys who you got the impression that nothing ever scared him (except for Tess’s cancer, obviously). With him being from Chicago but having had most of his success in Detroit, I wonder who he’s rooting for in the Western Conference Finals? I heard he was on the radio briefly with “Killer” Kowalski in Boston, but I haven’t yet heard any of the show. Well, I wish nothing but the best for Drew and Tess.
I was in Windsor just the other day for the first time in years and was like “What happened to Drew”. Mike doesn’t have the skill to pilot a radio show….seriously. He was a sidekick at best. Really funny guy mind you but he sounds lost and confused.
I was a loyal listener of the D&M show for 12 years. When Drew left, I still listened – partly out of habit, and partly out of hope that Mike could continue the legacy of great radio. But he has failed, in my mind, miserably. I liked Mike a lot – as a sidekick. But once he was on his own, it was clear that he has no skills for interviewing guests, and really has nothing interesting to say. And what he does say sounds very scripted and bland. It’s been over a year now since Drew’s official departure and I have finally let go of any hope that there will be anything even remotely as good as D&M, in Detroit. That is, unless Drew gets back on the air…one can only hope.
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