Short and sweet and full of the good kind of nostalgia, Worst to First tells the story of how a radio guy from the Tampa market made a leap to New York City (actually, the studios were inconveniently located in Secaucus, New Jersey) in 1983, and pulled off the impossible in the world’s most competitive radio market.
We all love a shaggy dog story – a version of Rocky. Rooting for the underdog is the American way; it’s why you’ll like this movie even if you don’t know anything about radio, but it’s also the human phenomenon that D.J. Scott Shannon and his band of colleagues used to get the public to support the station.
“We used the audience to help build the audience,” one member of Shannon’s morning crew observes.
Although the doc is kind of a hand job to Shannon’s outsized ego (radio guys have never been known for their humility) it isn’t bragging if it’s true. Shannon essentially invented the Morning Zoo format that not only helped propel his Z100 to the top of the ratings – it also became go-to programming around the country.
The guerilla employment of stickers, shirts, signs, the station van—all things that are normal now, if not passé, were being used in a more aggressive way than ever before…and it worked! People hung “Worst to First” outside their apartment building windows.
Shannon and company played the Top 40 format, but in a way that offered more variety – a greater range of styles of songs, and even a technical way of making the broadcast sound better (the head engineer at that time explains it, but I cannot)
Finally, Shannon really pushed for the stars to come out to Jersey in the early morning hours to make on-air appearances. Some of them show up in the film to offer testimonials. There’s a funny story about a young lady who came to the station every week, trying to get Z100 to play her music. She was such a pest that they dreaded seeing her. A few years later, they held an event in Times Square where tens of thousands of people showed up for a glimpse of this ambitious young lady.
That young lady was Madonna. The song Z100 started playing was Holiday
Other artists who got their start on Z100 such as Jon Bon Jovi, Joan Jett, Nile Rodgers, and era superstars, Debbie Gibson and Taylor Dayne all share their personal stories of the importance of the station, their love of radio and passion for performing music.
It’s the radio version of David and Goliath. Yes, I am a long time broadcaster and I loved every minute of it, but even if you just want to see a fun time capsule of the early 80s told from today’s perspective, you’ll dig it.
Worst to First: The True Story of Z100 NYC will be released February 11th, on Video On Demand streaming services.
Watch the Official Trailer
