Today, I’m doing something that no one should ever attempt.

I’m writing about my ex-husband.

Don’t worry, he knows this is coming.

And there’s 10,000 miles between us, so our buffer zone is legit. 😉

Don’t tell this kid “no”

There wasn’t much action in his rural Australian town, but James Anderson showed an early talent for tinkering with technology, and a rich reverence for radio.

So he was stoked when a local community radio station started up. 👊

There was just one problem — James was only 14, and the station manager thought he was too young to volunteer.

Ouch. His teenage dreams were crushed in an instant.

But while this was the first time he was “too young” for radio, it wouldn’t be the last.

And, like all with all the other challenges that would lay ahead, he figured out how to get his voice on the airwaves.

In this case, James’s dad stepped up and pulled some strings—

The two ended up co-hosting a Saturday morning show together.

Awww.

James was hooked.

What does it take to be a radio star?

James graduated high school with one singular goal — to work in radio.

So how does an 18-year-old with no professional radio experience or music industry connections achieve this?

He started harassing befriending people.

Notably, the breakfast announcer at the local commercial radio station, Sun FM.

The announcer allowed James to sit in with him to learn how a commercial station operated, and soon confided that he was planning to accept a job elsewhere — so his chair would be empty.

James’s new pal recommended him for the job, and at 18 years old, James found himself hosting his own commercial radio show — live from a snowfield studio at Mt Buller — the area’s premier ski resort.

James was living the dream. He spent his mornings hosting his show, his afternoons carving the slopes, and his evenings —well— partying. 

What would you expect from an 18-year-old with cash burning a hole in his pocket? 🤷

And sometimes, he didn’t wake up in time to —ahem— host his own morning show. 😬

But he would blame it on the studio lock being frozen shut, and all was forgiven.

(The lock was only actually frozen once, but that gave James a great excuse whenever he needed to sleep off a hangover).

The birth of Turbo

When a big city radio station decided to spend a few days broadcasting from Mt Buller, James got to harassing befriending again — this time with some pretty big studio execs.

They offered him a few trial shifts on Melbourne’s top rock station — Triple M.

Well, he must’ve nailed it, because he got a call shortly after he had returned home to the mountains with some pretty damn good news. 🤷‍♀️

James immediately jumped in his car and broke every speed limit racing back to Melbourne.

On arrival, the program director exclaimed,  “Wow, you got here fast! We’re going to call you ‘Turbo’. Here’s your contract.”

And after 18 months of trialing different time slots, Turbo was handed Triple M’s morning show — becoming the youngest person to ever have a full-time weekday show on a major Australian network.

He was 21. 🤯

Turbo found himself working with the biggest rock stars in the world, who would co-host his show while they were touring Australia.

He was hanging out with bands like Foo Fighters, The Offspring, Coldplay, and Blink 182.

He shot billiards with Metallica, and flew to Japan to interview The Darkness and Missy Elliot. 

To align with Triple M’s rebellious rock format, Turbo needed an edge. 🤘

In collaboration with a clever programming team, his on-air persona began to take shape.

👉 Turbo started a long-lasting feud with Nickelback’s front man, Chad Kroeger, when he asked in an interview if Mel Gibson considered casting him to play Jesus in Passion of the Christ (a knock at Chad’s long, luscious locks).

👉 When Gene Simmons released a solo album and co-hosted Turbo’s show, Turbo refused to play any songs from it, saying live on air (to Gene’s face) “no way, it’s a bit shit”.

👉 One Good Friday, Turbo gave away a loaf of bread and a fish to live callers. Another time, he ran a competition to win a Russian mail order bride.

👉 And when his girlfriend broke up with him, he introduced Puddle of Mud’s “She Hates Me” with:

Thinking he would surely get fired for that one, he was stunned when his boss ran into the studio with a bottle of Jack Daniels, exclaiming that it was the best song intro he’d ever heard.

While Turbo’s “shock jock” style was met with some complaints — most people loved his unfiltered, cheeky personality.

In no time at all, Turbo was:

• Given a nationally syndicated weekly rock countdown show, sponsored by Jägermeister, and broadcasted on 150 stations.

• Doubling his daily reach with his show being networked to both the Melbourne and Sydney markets.

And in 2005, Turbo’s show officially hit #1 in the ratings. 🎉

For those who don’t work in broadcast media, let me put it this way…

👉Ratings.

👉Are.

👉Everything.

When ratings dip, heads roll. ☠️

But when they’re high, it’s party time. 🍾

In Turbo’s case, his was the highest rated show across the entire network, in all time slots.

At the age of 23, Turbo had achieved career success beyond his wildest dreams.

But he was still under his rookie contract, receiving rookie pay.

Idiots killed the radio star

Quite reasonably, Turbo believed that it was time to ask for a raise.

He approached the network executives with his killer ratings, and humbly asked if there was any “wiggle room” with his measly salary, given that he was now the network’s most valuable asset.

They outright declined.

In their eyes, he was still a rookie.

Um… wtf?

Seeing that he was visibly disappointed by their response, the network execs tried to smooth things over by giving him a $200 grocery store voucher (most likely left over from the promo department’s prize cupboard).

I can literally feel the punch in the stomach just writing those words.

Being declined a raise sucks, but to have your worth equated to some extra milk and eggs is beyond insulting.

Overwhelmed by a mixture of feeling unappreciated, and a desire to see the world, Turbo made a hasty decision to go out on top.

He handed in his resignation, and packed his bags.

It was time to get out of Australia.

Turbo meets the world 🌎

Turbo ventured out, and soon realized how many “fake” friends surrounded him when he was a radio star. 

It was time to find James again.

A very non-fake friend (shout out to Shazza ❤️) got James a summer job at the International Gymnastics Camp in Pennsylvania — as a videographer.

James had no experience as a videographer.

But he also had no experience as a radio announcer, and did pretty damn well with that, sooo… 🤷

He taught himself how to operate a camera, and spent two successful summer seasons in the U.S., filming Olympic-bound gymnasts. 

In between summers, he traveled the world on his savings and a tiny income from a regional tourism website he had launched as a teenager.

During his travels, he fell for a Russian beauty, and spent a few months in a remote Russian city in the dead of winter. 

While snowed in, living with her family (who didn’t speak English), and unable to do any work, James realized it was time to get serious about life again.

So he applied to two jobs:

1. An on-air radio position in Egypt.

2. An on-board cruise ship position in Alaska.

James was offered both of these jobs — on the same day.

These were:

• Two totally different roles

• Two totally different industries

• Two totally different parts of the world

He chose to set sail to Alaska. 🛳️

And I’m forever grateful that he did.

Because if he hadn’t, I never would have had the chance to know the kind, talented, and driven James who would become my first love.

I’m taking next week off to enjoy the 4th, but will be back in your inbox on July 11th with a continuation of this story. 🍺🇺🇸🍺

It’s a humdinger. 🤯

Cheers! 🍻

-Kristin :-)

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