Once upon a time long, long ago, I was just a toddler in the radio world. I was still wobbling through each airshift, trying to figure out exactly what persona I wanted to exhibit to any unfortunate soul whose radio dial happened to land on the frequency of the station foolish enough to hire me. I was in awe of the "Boss Jocks" who I grew up listening to late at night from far, far away. Great personalities like Chicago's John "Records" Landecker on WLS, and Jim Stewart on WNOE New Orleans, amazed me with their ability to entertain me and how they could make any silly song appear to be bigger than it really was. There was humor, innuendo, excitement, and mystery about it.
I knew that I would never have the talent those guys had, but I could still live my dream in my own way. A program director tried to get me to use an on-air moniker. There is nothing mysterious or alluring about the name, Denny Ainsworth. It is difficult to comprehend for some people and doesn't "flow" or have alliteration like many on-air folks. Ron Radio was already used.
The PD suggested several possible names for me to use. I didn't feel comfortable with any of them. It was awkward to be called one name on-air and another when I was with family or friends.
I settled on just calling myself "Denny". That evolved into self-deprecating comments like, "This is WHSY, and I'm Just Denny". It was kinda funny, though, how even that developed into friends calling me "JD".
I reckon people will call you whatever seems to fit at the time. It has been a long time since I was around any of those friends who called me that. Time goes on and new friends are added to the list and they may just decide to call me something new. I'll stick to the basics. I'll answer to just about anything as long as it ain't mean.
Just Denny
