BEHIND THE MIKE : WHAT DRIVES KIIS-FM'S AFTERNOON-DRIVE HOST BURKE.Eight years ago, new KIIS-FM (102.7) afternoon-drive host Billy Burke Billy Burke could refer to:
n. A woman devoted to the pursuit of pleasurable activities. pictorial of America's sexiest radio disc jockeys disc jockey (DJ) Person who plays recorded music on radio or television or at a nightclub or other live venue. Disc jockey programs became the economic base of many radio stations in the U.S. after World War II. . ``The phones went nuts,'' Burke recalled. ``I got marriage proposals and general insanity from every single female in Dallas. I even got a long-distance proposal from a woman in North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. . The big mistake was saying I was ready to settle down.'' Burke has since settled down. After stints in San Diego, Texas San Diego is a city in Texas, United States. The population was 4,753 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Duval CountyGR6, and is partially also in Jim Wells County. and Sacramento, the Hawaii native currently helms the 3-to-7 p.m. weekday shift on KIIS KIIS Kansai Institute of Information Systems , spinning top-40 hits such as Mariah Carey's ``Forever'' and the Fugees' ``Killing Me Softly.'' ``People here seem generally happier than in other places,'' Burke said. ``They're very enthusiastic and supportive and seem more real. If you treat them real, they treat you real back.'' With that in mind, Burke answers his own studio phone and replies to faxes from listeners. ``I must receive 100 faxes a day and I personally answer every one,'' the 38-year-old Burke said. ``Because when they call the guy on the radio, that's who they want to talk to, not some screener or operator. I like being in direct contact.'' Burke, who lives in Northridge with his pregnant wife, Victoria, and their 4-year old son, Angelo, holds a black belt in Korean karate and enjoys kickboxing and cooking. Burke was a teen-ager 20 years ago when he landed his first radio gig in a small southern Texas town. ``The station was so small you actually had to throw on `Stairway stairway or staircase Series or flight of steps that provides a means of moving from one level to another. The earliest stairways seem to have been built with walls on both sides, as in Egyptian pylons dating from the 2nd millennium BC. to Heaven' and run across the street to use the bathroom at the gas station,'' he recalled. As for music, Burke's taste is eclectic. ``I like everything - '70s and '80s stuff, retro [Latin, Back; backward; behind.] A prefix used to designate a prior condition or time. , alternative, r&b,'' he said. ``And today's dance music seems so fresh. You have people really singing again. But even if I wasn't working at KIIS, I have to say I'd still be listening to it because it's so geared to the L.A. lifestyle.'' Burke added that he is especially pleased to be working at the radio home of morning-drive giant Rick Dees. ``It's such a thrill to walk down the hall and say hello to him,'' Burke said. ``In this business, he's one of the all-time greats.'' Although he has worked in TV, Burke says he much prefers radio. ``Radio reigns supreme because it's the theater of the mind,'' he explained. ``You can paint mental pictures unlike any other medium.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: ``Radio reigns supreme because it's the theater of t he mind,'' says Billy Burke, right, with morning drive-tim DJ Rick Dees. |
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