Podcast Transcript
Greg Hill:
I’m Greg Hill from WEEI and I’m taking a walk around the Seaport with Buzz.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to Taking a Walk, an excursion to converse, connect, and catch up at a cool location, with some of the most interesting people you can find.
Buzz Knight:
I’m Buzz Knight. And The Taking a Walk series is about connecting with cool people at great locations. For me it’s awesome, because it gives me a chance to get to know someone even better, especially someone whose work I’ve admired and respected over many, many years. Today, we’re in the Seaport district with a Boston radio icon, businessman, all around great guy. He’s the former morning man from WAAF and he’s currently the morning host at WEEI. Please welcome, Greg Hill.
Greg Hill:
Buzz, great to see you.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. Thanks for taking a walk. This is really great. I am looking forward to this. When I think about our time in this market, it’s usually been you and I fleeting moments at The Capital Grille, walking through or…
Greg Hill:
Are you saying I only hang out at restaurants? Is that what you’re saying? Restaurants or bars?
Buzz Knight:
We’ll get to that.
Greg Hill:
We’ll get to that? Okay.
Buzz Knight:
The same could be said of me, too.
Greg Hill:
I was always just trying to get you to either hire me or make an offer, so I could get more out of wherever I was working.
Buzz Knight:
I love that. I love that. Hope I helped, maybe occasionally.
Greg Hill:
I think you did.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah.
Greg Hill:
I think you did.
Buzz Knight:
Because I always enjoy that tactic, for sure. But I think the most that we actually… I was thinking about this, that we actually got to talk, if I’m not mistaken, was at your former boss’s wife’s memorial, as I believe. Ron Valery’s wife, when she passed away.
Greg Hill:
Yes. Yes.
Buzz Knight:
I remember talking to you at the after gathering there and that was probably the longest we probably ever talked.
Greg Hill:
It was, yeah.
Buzz Knight:
Sad moment, for sure.
Greg Hill:
Yeah. I worked for Ron Valeri a bunch of times, back and forth. One of the most instrumental people, when it comes to a mentor and somebody that was just a great program director in our business. Could be a little bit aggressive at times, in the way in which he managed people, but sometimes that’s better, right?
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. Ron’s a superstar. Ron worked for me many, many years ago, back in Connecticut. And then when he made the move up to AAF, we were all very proud of him. Subsequently, I would move into the market. Before we get into some of the ways and means that Greg Hill left the mean streets of Stowe and hit the big time, I want to let you know the cool thing about doing podcasts, you probably know, is we have a global audience. This is what mystifies me when I look at the data coming in. We got a big audience in Great Britain. I don’t know if you have any words for the folks in Great Britain.
Greg Hill:
Yeah. Well, what does one say? Is it cheerio or what is…
Buzz Knight:
Yeah.
Greg Hill:
Bugger?
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. Yeah. Big audience also in Italy, for some reason. I can’t figure that out.
Greg Hill:
Really? Oh, that’s awesome.
Buzz Knight:
And then what would you say to…
Greg Hill:
Define a big audience in Italy.
Buzz Knight:
12 people.
Greg Hill:
Okay. Well, that’s good. It is 12 more than I have.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. And then Czechoslovakia too, as well.
Greg Hill:
Really?
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. It’s the strangest thing. I don’t know why this happens, but I find it rather amusing.
Greg Hill:
You’re going to be contacted by the CIA or something, to send secret messages to the Ukrainians or something.
Buzz Knight:
I know.
Greg Hill:
What was it? Did you listen to that podcast series at all, by any chance, on the Scorpions song?
Buzz Knight:
No, I didn’t.
Greg Hill:
Wind of Change.
Buzz Knight:
Oh, no. I love that song.
Greg Hill:
You should listen. Theoretically, it was written by the CIA.
Buzz Knight:
Oh God.
Greg Hill:
And then they went to the Scorpions and it was all a secret message.
Buzz Knight:
Oh, that is so funny. I got to check that out. No secret messages here. We’re just taking a walk and having a good old time. Besides your great status and legend in the market, when I was thinking of the series and people to take a walk with, one of the reasons I thought of you immediately, was your history, which I so admired, of these walks you would take from Worcester to Boston for charities and all of that. Tell me about that and some of the great stories behind that, because we used to look at you in awe for those.
Greg Hill:
Well, when…
Buzz Knight:
Don’t tell me you drove the whole way.
Greg Hill:
No, no, no. I actually walked the whole way. When I started on WAAF in 1989, it was considered, really to be a Worcester station. We wanted to break into the Boston market. We wanted to do that for revenue. So, in order to do that, we didn’t… As is typical in radio and probably maybe with this podcast, I don’t know, there were no advertising budgets. Is there?
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. Oh yeah, for sure.
Greg Hill:
Is there an advertising budget for Taking a Walk?
Buzz Knight:
No.
Greg Hill:
The way to do that was to do something stupid or something that would get people to notice. So, we started off with me walking from Worcester to Boston, over three or four days and collecting change along the way, for the Greater Boston Food Bank or the Worcester County Food Bank. Then, over the years, expanded it with everybody that was on the show, whether it was L.B. or Spaz or Danielle. To me, I look back on those kinds of things as being the great days of radio, where you could do … You didn’t have lawyers that were involved. You could do things like that, and there wasn’t an argument against it. Now, you bring something up that you want to do, and there are 10 people arguing against why you can’t do it, as opposed to saying, “How do we figure out how to do it?”
Buzz Knight:
Yep.
Greg Hill:
I love that. Being able to shake hands with people and meet them and being able to say to them, “Hey, listen to me tomorrow morning on the radio,” is the greatest way in which to build a radio show. When I first started this, somebody said to me, “Doing a morning show is like running for president. The more hands that you shake, the more people that will listen to you.”
Buzz Knight:
Do you remember who said that?
Greg Hill:
Believe it or not, it may have been John Garabedian. I worked for John at V66, when I was still in high school. Taught me a lot of things. Certainly, a guy who’s done really, really well in our business.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. He just, fairly recently, sold those radio stations down at the Cape, to a friend of mine actually.
Greg Hill:
Yeah.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah.
Greg Hill:
But he’s a guy who loved radio.
Buzz Knight:
Yep.
Greg Hill:
I think there are still a considerable amount of those people in this business, but I’m not sure that there are as many as there used to be when we first started.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. I think it’s beautiful when you can look at it from the position that I was in. I would look and competitively, just be like, “Oh, that Greg Hill, look he’s doing this again.” But we would really use this as a standard, I’m not just telling you this, either in local discussions with talent or when I was in a corporate role, when we would try to say, “This is how you should do it. This is the model you should follow.” So, you really had that and still have that great influence, when it comes to what you’ve done for your community and what you continue to do for the community.
Greg Hill:
Well, I appreciate you saying that.
Buzz Knight:
Well, it’s the real thing. Now, who else shaped you in that regard, to think in those terms about community and helping people out? Who else was an influence?
Greg Hill:
Well, I worked for a great general manager in the early days at WAAF, named Bruce Mittman. You know Bruce?
Buzz Knight:
Sure.
Greg Hill:
Bruce was a guy who always said yes. Bruce was somebody who always found a way to get things done. He was not afraid of the FCC. He wasn’t afraid of advertisers saying they’re not going to… He was an absolute animal, an absolute savage. He was a big believer in, and Ron was too, in if you’re going to have edgy content, you need to balance that out by what you do in the community, so that when you do get in trouble, you can turn around and point and go, “Well, wait a second. Yeah, we’re edgy. Yeah, we say this. Yeah, this stupid thing that we did, resulted in this, but we also go around and help out in these ways.” So it’s where I got that from, I guess.
Buzz Knight:
The white glove, that’s what we would call it.
Greg Hill:
That’s called the white glove. Yeah.
Buzz Knight:
The white glove, yeah. One thing about Bruce Mittman… I love Bruce to death and respect him greatly. Bruce has to be a little bit more candid with his opinion on things, because he really holds back.
Greg Hill:
He doesn’t really tell you how he feels. No, you’re right.
Buzz Knight:
I know. That’s what’s so amazing about him. So when did you first get the bug and realize that, this was going to be a career?
Greg Hill:
Well, so I grew up listening to radio. I was a huge fan of a guy named Larry Glick, who was on WBZ at night. When I was in middle school, I loved Larry Glick. I loved radio. I listened to WBCN. I was really into music. I was into the music that BCN played, not necessarily into the music that AAF played at the time. We had a room off my house in Stow, where I grew up, which was an old garage room, essentially. I had a paper route. I went out and saved all my paper route money, bought myself two turntables, and I would go out and buy… I went to the Woolworths, which was in Maynard, every week and bought the top 20 45s, the songs that were popular and I would go every day after school and legitimately do a radio show, in that room, which no one was listening to. It was a great place to make mistakes, fuck up and figure out what my style was going to be, when nobody was listening.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah.
Greg Hill:
At times during my career, there were only two or three more people listening, than were listening in the garage. It’s something that I was always passionate about. I look back now and say, “I’m really fortunate because my passion ended up being what I was able to work in and make a living in.” I’m so lucky about that, so lucky about it.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. It’s beautiful to see it and then beautiful to see the layers that you add to your personal brand over time. I mean, you didn’t start, obviously with working the charitable piece. You grew that piece, obviously. And then you ultimately added into that, your foundation. Tell me about the first genesis of the foundation. Talk about some of the work that the foundation is doing.
Greg Hill:
I’ve always had… Not always, but after I had been doing this for 15 years… Frequently, I would walk in to do the show at 5:00 AM and something tragic had happened overnight, whether it was a death of a police officer or a fire or a story about a family who needed help. At that point, there was no such thing as GoFundMe. So, there was no central way of giving that existed. So, I had had this idea in my mind about establishing a foundation so that immediately, we could… Everybody’s attention is on those things when they happen, right that moment. And then news cycle-wise, life cycle-wise, people move on to other things. So, by the time a fund used to get set up at the local credit union, everybody was on to something else.
Greg Hill:
I wanted to be able to establish a way that people could give that morning. We could use radio for what it is best at, which is immediacy and being able to help out locally, in the community right away. In 2011, to celebrate my 20th year on the radio, I established that foundation. I’m really, really proud to say, and it’s not… I should not get the credit for it. It should be the people who’ve given over the years, but we have literally just hit the 20 million dollar mark, when it comes to what we’ve donated.
Buzz Knight:
Wow. That’s outstanding.
Greg Hill:
That’s thousands and thousands of people who give $25, $50, go to an event, help out, over and over and over again. It’s extraordinary. It’s amazing to me. We live in the most generous part of the country, as far as I’m concerned. People give and give and give.
Buzz Knight:
But you also have a lot of great corporate sponsors, as well.
Greg Hill:
We do. Yeah. We’ve been able to get to that point where we can leverage what we do. It takes a while for people to understand what you do and to sit there and watch you do it. So, we’re really fortunate in that way as well.
Buzz Knight:
Congratulations on it. Let’s talk about the Seaport. You’ve certainly seen, I’ve certainly seen how it’s just transformed over the last couple of years, five years.
Greg Hill:
Yeah.
Buzz Knight:
We’re looking out over here. This is Fan Pier, right?
Greg Hill:
Yep.
Buzz Knight:
It’s just crazy what’s going on. Talk about where we’re at and…
Greg Hill:
I moved here two years ago. I love this section of the city. I love the water. We have a house in Maine, which I love. Every day I love being out here on the water, whether it’s walking around like we are today or… I mean, honestly, I spend a lot of time eating as well, at Davio’s or wherever. This neighborhood, to me… The biggest thing about it is I’m old. So, it’s alive. You walk outside…
Buzz Knight:
I almost dropped my phone in the water when you said that.
Greg Hill:
But do you know what I’m saying? Do you feel it when you come down here, that it’s alive, that there’s…
Buzz Knight:
Absolutely.
Greg Hill:
Yeah. Yeah.
Buzz Knight:
Absolutely. By the way, I don’t get into the city that much, unfortunately, which is really lame, but…
Greg Hill:
No. I mean, listen, I think you go through different stages in your life. I lived in Stow from the time that my kids were born, until they were out the house. I love being in the suburbs, but stages. I love being back in the city. I love it.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. I love coming in. Still come in, from time to time. But if I get past Fiorella’s and Concord, that’s a big night.
Greg Hill:
I’ve seen you there, as well.
Buzz Knight:
Yes, you have. You have, yeah. Yeah, we both have the same… Now, when you go to different cities, do you have places, restaurant-wise that you’re locked in, in different cities as well?
Greg Hill:
There’s some great national chain restaurants, but I like asking around and finding out where people like to go, and then being able to talk to people about their city and about… I mean, I love traveling. I certainly haven’t been one who has not traveled, but I look forward to, someday when I do stop doing this, to being able to travel a lot, because I love visiting places.
Buzz Knight:
Just while we’re walking, it just occurred to me, there’s a place… I’m sure you know it, by the way. This is a little bit of a game, but it’s also a story. It’s a place in Concord, called Sally Ann’s that’s a little pastry, coffee shop. No, I know, you know it.
Greg Hill:
Yeah.
Buzz Knight:
So anyway, Bill, the owner there, Bill, was listening to one of the Taking a Walk podcasts. He was particularly amused at the notion… I think it was when Dan Shaughnessy and I took a walk, and he thought it was hysterical how… He said, “I could hear you guys sort of huffing a little bit, when you’re walking.”
Greg Hill:
Yeah.
Buzz Knight:
I said, “Well, we’re walking.” No it’s legit. What do you want?
Greg Hill:
This is the first day that I’m going to get my 10,000 steps in. Which I tell myself every morning I’m going to get my 10,000 steps in and I get about 5,000, but yeah, it’s cool. We’re doing it.
Buzz Knight:
So how’s it going on EEI? That obviously was a major shift in your life.
Greg Hill:
Yeah.
Buzz Knight:
How’s it going?
Greg Hill:
Listen, for me, it was a great opportunity and a great challenge. And I think that we had… You know, because you did this so well for so long that it’s all about, in my opinion, it’s all about chemistry and you can’t fake chemistry. And we are at a great point when it comes to Greg Hill show with the cast of characters, where there’s great chemistry and it takes a while to get there. It takes getting the right people. It takes getting to know people. It takes years of working together to know a story about Chris Curtis that I can share on the air that’s getting… And I know how Curtis is going to react. He knows how I’m going to react.
Greg Hill:
It’s almost three years that I’ve been there. We’re at a great point. I think the radio station is… First of all, it’s a legendary radio station. First sports radio station in Boston. Some incredible talented people have worked there over the years. I take a lot of pride in being able to be a part of that. I think the station is evolving, as any brand does, after 30 years. So it’s kind of cool to be a part of that.
Buzz Knight:
And you got a great guy, Mike Thomas, who’s a dear friend as well, who’s at the helm there and…
Greg Hill:
Really good guy.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah.
Greg Hill:
And he’s a guy who helped Sports Hub become what Sports Hub is. To me it’s really exciting. As I said earlier, I am fortunate to still have a career in this business. I did 28 years on AAF, almost 29.
Buzz Knight:
And you’re only like 37. So, it’s weird.
Greg Hill:
But honestly, I’m out of breath, like I’m 70 during this walk that is a real problem. But yeah, no, I love it. I get up every day excited to go in there and talk about Tom Brady for the 170th day in a row.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. And the thing around Boston is, there’s never any sports to talk about really.
Greg Hill:
Right.
Buzz Knight:
Remember for the format… And it still could be an issue for the format, but I remember there was this thing and it was sort of market dependent on, “Well, when the teams aren’t playing” or “They’re not in season, what are you going to talk about?” And it seems like that’s not a problem now, is it?
Greg Hill:
No, first of all, I think in Boston when the teams are not playing well, that’s better for sports radio.
Buzz Knight:
Right.
Greg Hill:
But also, I came there with the intent to do lots of different things. To me, content is content and if my goal is to try to find a way to make… And people are miserable, we’re all miserable in the morning. We’re going to work, work sucks. So I’m always trying to find a way to make people smile and it doesn’t always have to be sports. It can be what’s on the mind after the blizzard or after the beautiful sunny summer weekend. It’s about what’s going on in the city. It’s really about what you want to talk about. What’s on people’s minds.
Buzz Knight:
This question almost sounds a little bit of a cross between Oprah and Jiminy Glick. So let’s give it a go. So Greg, why do people like you?
Greg Hill:
Well, there’s a considerable amount… If you pay attention to the text messages or social media, there’s a considerable amount who probably don’t. But I hope… I think probably a better question is why do you hope that people like you?
Buzz Knight:
Why do people like you, Greg?
Greg Hill:
I need lots of things answered about this question. Are you talking about people who listen or my family, my friends, because I separate the two.
Buzz Knight:
Oh, all right. It doesn’t have to be separated. They all intersect a little bit.
Greg Hill:
Listen, I hope people like me, because they appreciate the fact that I have done my best to help the community out. That I’m in general, a pretty positive guy who I enjoy… There’s people in our business, I feel like, who are unable to, for whatever reason, appreciate the success of others. I love being able to see somebody who has worked with me or worked at a station that I’m at, who goes on to do great things. So I hope they appreciate that. I hope they appreciate the fact that I’ve worked really hard to be a pretty good father. I’m trying to get some kind of stupid dad joke off. I hope they appreciate the effort.
Buzz Knight:
Well, I also think though, too, I would add, that you’re approachable. I have seen this in real time where there is air talent who’s not really that approachable and comfortable in the public setting and you are approachable.
Greg Hill:
Yeah.
Buzz Knight:
People sense that and feel that. I think that’s part of the connection that you continue to make.
Greg Hill:
Well, if nobody’s listening, then I’m going to be doing a job that requires physical effort. And I can’t do that. So I am grateful more than I can express when I meet people who give me part of their day to listen. I got another great piece of advice from a guy who used to be a production director at WAAF in the early years, his name was Mitch Todd. And he was talking about air personalities, people on the air, because he had been on the air for a while. And he said, “You always have to remember that we are one step below the carnival barker when it comes to fame.” I think that I think that we’re really fortunate to be in a business where people are interested in what we say. They’re hoping that you’re able to entertain them and form them and they give you some credit for that, but we’re not we’re not Tom Brady. We’re not David Ortiz. We’re just on the radio and it’s no big deal. If you act like it’s a big deal, I don’t know why you do.
Buzz Knight:
Well. So you’ve got the entrepreneurial side of your life, philanthropic, obviously, the entertaining side in closing, any last chapter that you haven’t fulfilled that you might want to fulfill?
Greg Hill:
Oh yeah. There are a lot of things that I want to do and I don’t really know what they are. I think I am interested in being able to do something that is mentoring people in some way, shape or form when it comes to this business. And by the way this business isn’t… This business is what you’re doing right now. We’re in the business of audio content, whether it’s delivered via podcast or delivered on the radio or delivered into your head by Elon Musk in 10 years, we’re all in this business of sharing a little bit about ourselves and trying to make people think and trying to make people laugh. And so I’d love to do something at some point that gives me the opportunity to interact with people who are really passionate about that.
Buzz Knight:
Well, Greg…
Greg Hill:
What about you, though?
Buzz Knight:
What about me? All right.
Greg Hill:
If I did this and I didn’t interview the interviewee.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah.
Greg Hill:
That would be a failure on my part. So how are you enjoying this next chapter for you? And is there anything that you haven’t done that you want do?
Buzz Knight:
I’m loving it. I’m loving it, because it’s reawakening skills that I needed to reawaken from being somebody that was on the air previously. I’m learning, sometimes the hard way. I’ve always loved interviews and that’s always been something that I really enjoy. I love creating things or being part of it. I was usually the person who was part of the creating, but my part was get out of the way and let the creative people do the creating and just help them. So this venture, I really like, and it’s something that I want to continue to enjoy, but I’d like to find something that helps an industry that I’m very grateful for, that has been good to me and that certainly can always use a lift. So that’s what I would like to do, whether it be something that helps AM radio, honestly.
Greg Hill:
Yeah.
Buzz Knight:
Which may be too late. I hate to say. I mean, we have in this market, Boston for the folks in Czechoslovakia… They probably can hear it here.
Greg Hill:
Or Italy.
Buzz Knight:
Or Italy. I mean 1030 WBZ is one of those other iconic AMs that will survive, but it breaks my heart when I see AMs that just sign off, because that’s a better business decision. That’s heartbreaking. So, I don’t know, maybe I can be part of something with a group to give AM owners another shot at something, another revenue stream. So, maybe those are some of the things, but I want to be around people who are collaborative and creative.
Greg Hill:
All right. And then two more. Only one thing you miss about radio, being involved in radio on a day to day basis.
Buzz Knight:
Oh, the team collaboration and then ultimately the wins that came from that.
Greg Hill:
And one thing you don’t miss, and you can’t say sales people.
Buzz Knight:
Oh, well I would say the traffic jams that I used to have to be in.
Greg Hill:
You’re professional. That’s a diplomatic answer. I think you’re saying obnoxious overpaid talent.
Buzz Knight:
No, I love talent. I started as talent, so I know how to be obnoxious, just like the next guy. I loved always being with talent. And that was where I was, is most comfortable. There were times I would be driving out from Metro West and be flying to let’s say Philadelphia and I would be in traffic listening to you and other morning shows for an hour and a half or two hours and then I would get to the airport and fly to Philadelphia. Then I would be in traffic when I landed in Philadelphia for another hour and a half. So that, I don’t miss.
Greg Hill:
If there were good things about the pandemic, that was one.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah.
Greg Hill:
You could get anywhere you want to go in the city in 10 minutes.
Buzz Knight:
Right. Yeah. I don’t miss that, but I miss those collaborations for sure, and being associated with those wins, because we had some good wins across the board.
Greg Hill:
Well, keep doing this. Thanks for including me. I think I reached out, because I had listened to Taking a Walk with Doris Kearns Goodwin. She was your friend from Concord.
Buzz Knight:
Oh, thank you.
Greg Hill:
So keep doing it and thanks for letting me take a walk with you.
Buzz Knight:
Thanks for doing it, Greg. This has been a blast.
Greg Hill:
All right, man.
Speaker 2:
Taking a Walk with Buzz Night is available on Spotify, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
About The Author
Buzz Knight
Buzz Knight is an established media executive with a long history of content creation and multi-platform distribution.
After a successful career as a Radio Executive, he formed Buzz Knight Media which focuses on strategic guidance and the development of new original content.
