At the first radio station I worked at, everyone had an air name. I was asked what mine would be, and I immediately thought back to my teenage days when I'd play DJ with a tape recorder and call myself "Richard Robinson". (I was a huge fan of Batman and Robin when I was a kid, and the name borrowed aspects of those characters.) I shortened it to "Rick" and have used the name ever since. After thirty years on the air, more people know me as Rick Robinson than by any other name, which is one explanation for my split personality.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
(Really, they are!)
Who do you think you are?
I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. My mission on earth is to learn and to serve. In general my motto is live and let live, unless their living interferes with yours.
How's your book coming?
I worked on my novel voraciously for a good three months in 1995, and managed to write thirteen chapters; almost half of it. Life got much busier shortly after that and I put the book on hold for awhile. Now I keep stumbling across TV shows and books that have the exact same premise and I kick myself for not seizing the day while I had it. I do hope to finish it someday, but at the moment there's not a lot of wind in that sail.
How many songs have you written?
I counted them once. There were over two hundred, though the list included radio jingles and short comedy things I'd done. I have enough real songs for four or five albums. Most of them were written in the 80s, when I was a morning DJ and had all the rest of the day to play.
What will you be when you grow up?
I've been privileged to do all the things I've really wanted to at one time or another, with some measure of success or at least satisfaction (art, music, radio, TV, writing, comedy, acting, teaching) As for the future, I hope to stay on top of new technology and maintain some sense of valid contribution to my world. Most of all I want to get organized and lose thirty pounds.
You don't have an accent. Where are you from?
I'm originally from Massachusetts, and believe me, growing up I had northern accent to spare. When I got into radio in North Carolina, however, the local advertisers didn't cotton to having a "yankee" voicing their spots, so my boss gave me a Jerry Clower comedy album and told me to "mock" (or emulate) him. Somewhere between my New Englandisms and a thick southern drawl I found a middle ground that causes most people to think I'm from the midwest.
Wait a minute -- you did comedy and acting?
Well, I took a course in comedy at MSU in the 80s, which resulted in doing a standup routine on a local TV variety show at the time. The point was not to be become a comedian, but because I'd occasionally put humor into my radio show it seemed like a plausible side study.
The acting thing was part of an Advertising Federation musical comedy onstage. I played a radio salesman who wooed ad executives with song. (One was a Neil Diamond/Barbra Streisand duet, "You Don't Buy My Station Anymore", or something like that.)
How did you get hooked up with Paul Shanklin?
The more interesting story is, how did he get hooked up with Rush Limbaugh. Many years ago at the Mid-South Fair, a local country station was doing a remote broadcast and was asking people to "moo" on the air. Paul, a natural funnyman, chose to moo like Ross Perot, complete with political indecision, and was an instant hit. He soon was featured on their morning show and when someone sent a tape to Rush Limbaugh in New York, it wasn't long before Paul became his resident satirist. Paul needed a musical producer to help with his parodies and someone recommended me. We've been friends and co-conspirators ever since. It's a special honor when the man of a thousand voices asks me to lend one of my own.
What's for lunch?
I'm on a diet, starting Monday. It doesn't matter when you read this; that is always the case.
Are we there yet?
Almost.
.
What is Rick and Ron at Lunch?
My friend Ron (who I met years ago while working at the same radio station) is also a musician and songwriter. For birthday presents we give each other musical comedy, usually a parody or an elaborate skit, a practice that has gotten totally out of control. Several of my commemorations have involved a sizeable rock opera called Rick and Ron at Lunch, where we burst into new songs about everything that's been happening to us in the last year. People who've heard these melodic slices of our lives say we should put it on stage. I would want Matthew Broderick as me and Alan Rickman as Ron.
Broderick (L) and Rickman
EVEN MORE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Would you like fries with that?
It could happen.
Who are the nicest celebrities you've met?
Times have changed, but celebrities used to visit radio stations when they were in town and that's how I met many of them. Junior Samples from Hee Haw was my first (when he was alive) and I thought that was a big deal! I've since had the pleasure of talking to Dick Clark, Michelle Pfeiffer, Zig Ziglar, Chuck Berry, Adam West, Melanie, Michael McDonald, Wink Martindale, Ronnie McDowell, Kim Hunter, Chuck Mangione, and more Christian recording artists than I can remember. Interestingly, the more successful the person, the humbler they seemed. Particularly amiable were Christian singers Steven Curtis Chapman and Phil Keaggy.
UPDATE: In August 2010 we decided to experiment with a blog that includes an audio webcast.
