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Sara Finke
Jeff Hess
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facebook.com/AfternoonDelight920
Afternoon Delight
In 1976, the Starland Vocal Band released a self-titled album that would spawn a top 20 hit, as well as score the group a Grammy for Best New Band. “Afternoon Delight,” to this day, is a weird pop concoction, immediately recognizable and lyrically as ridiculous as the day it was released. The song, of course, is an ultra-thinly veiled nod to the joys of lovemaking when the lights are bright. It’s also a natural, cheeky, go-to title for radio shows that air during mid-day.
In St. Louis, the title’s so irresistible that two programs currently carry the one-hit-wonder’s banner. One, on KDHX, is a pop/rock show, hosted by one of the station’s longer-running talents, Jeff Hess. The other’s a newbie, a combination of voices and influences; this one airs on WGNU’s 920 AM from noon to 2 p.m. daily, with a sports emphasis. This means that St. Louisans still tuning in to the radio dial are treated to a pair of “Afternoon Delights,” which overlap for two, glorious hours a week.
We kicked some questions to the hosts of each program: KDHX’s Hess and 920 AM’s Patrick Imig, Willie Springer and Jeff Abeln. We’re pretty sure none of them knew about the other show initially, but they know plenty about their own show. Here’s what they each had to say about them.
Afternoon Delight, KDHX 88.1 AM, 12 to 2 p.m., Friday
Not only a programmer at KDHX, Jeff Hess has been a busy musician in St. Louis for a while now, currently playing guitar and singing for Kadu Flyer and drumming for Tight Pants Syndrome. His show currently holds down a prime slot on the community radio station’s loaded Friday lineup, where, it’s true, he replaced yours truly’s “Silver Tray” a couple of years back. (It’s a move that’s benefitted the station’s mid-day, and here’s the first vote for that opinion.)
A smartie on all manner of rock styles, Hess’ show veers between genres for an exciting 120 minutes. He breaks into programming to quickly back-announce tracks, but his interstitials are routinely short, emphasizing the music and giving you just the basic info on the two-to-four-minute gems that make up his sets. He knows his stuff.
Can you tell me how long the show has been on? How long have you been on KDHX, overall? There’ve been a couple different slots, right?
I have been at KDHX since 1999. My first show was a 3 to 6 a.m. psychedelic/freakbeat show called “Psych Out.” “Afternoon Delight” began in May 2000 on Mondays; in 2005, I switched to Wednesdays; and in 2011, I had the bright idea that I wanted to do nights and renamed it the “Thursday Night Happening.” Didn't like it as much as I thought I would. It returned on Friday afternoons in 2012 after a colleague (you) stepped down. Thanks for doing that, by the way. I'm so happy to be back to afternoons.
Forgive the open-ended question, but how would you define Afternoon Delight to someone who hadn't heard the show?
Quick definition: mostly rock, spanning several sub-genres through several decades.
And is there a blueprint of the show in your mind? Programmed prior to show, or done on the fly?
I always program before the show. Most of the time it is methodically planned; however, I have hastily thrown together a few at the last minute.
Afternoon Delight, CBS Sports Radio 920 AM, 12 to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday
When CBS Sports Radio went through a reshuffling of programs earlier this month, Patrick Imig’s solo-hosted “The People’s Show” was a casualty. Not cast aside, though, he gained an hour and two co-hosts, Willie Springer and Jeff Abeln. Together, they’re the newest “Afternoon Delight” on the local airwaves, with a show that—were it a website—would be a curious mash-up of Deadspin, Bleacher Report, STLtoday, and TMZ.
Kicking some questions to the three principals, Springer and Imig shot back notes over the weekend, sketching out their vision for the short-termed program’s future.
Can you tell me how long the show has been on?
Springer: The show premiered on Monday, June 2, not necessarily as an offshoot of “The People's Show.” We each have a general background from various shows on the station, plus elsewhere, but are aiming to develop a show that, hopefully, will be heard as original.
How long have members of the show been on 920 overall, and in what roles?
Springer: I have been with the station since the early fall of 2013. Same goes for the other guys, if not just before me, in fill-in roles. I am the producer of “The Morning After,” but have been filling in or appearing on other shows since joining the station. Jeff has been filling in for various shows since the station's launch. Patrick has been doing “The People's Show” since being chosen after on-air auditions. Some of our other mentionable backgrounds: myself working at KMOX, Jeff at KMOV and Fox Sports Midwest, and Patrick with the New England Patriots.
Forgive the open-ended question, but how would you define Afternoon Delight to someone who hadn't heard the show, early on?
Springer: If not familiar with the show, it's fundamentally a sports talk program, but mixed with a theme of variety, daily topics, observations (a general theme of Seinfeld's “nothing”), listener interaction via phone and text mostly, thriving on frequent tangents or digression. We feel that it's not necessary to talk sports if there's really nothing to discuss. We've kind of been in-and-out of those times recently, but there’s plenty to discuss today with baseball and soccer. We’ll have interviews for what is relevant, but won’t be dependent on them. The same thought process has been working well with “The Morning After.” Special segments are being developed that ought to encourage more listener reaction. Prizes will be given out to listeners, often and in many ways.
Imig: The best way to describe A.D. is that it's sports-based with elements of variety.
And is there a blueprint of the show in your mind?
Springer: I guess the original blueprint, one that has been working for the most part, is that Jeff and I have a naturally clashing chemistry, which comes from a friendship that developed while the two of us were covering sports (mostly Steve Spagnuolo's Rams). Both of us had worked with Patrick in the months leading up to the show. He's technically supposed to be the ringmaster of the circus.
Imig: We’re not trying to be any other show, we’re just being ourselves and avoiding the same song-and-dance that sports talk shows rely on: stale guests.
Programmed prior to show, or done on the fly?
Imig: Ultimately, we like to have fun and want that to come across.
Sprigner: Ideas, discussion, preparation are going on all the time. We are texting each other stuff just about every day: notes based on a game, where we are, a random observation, a new idea, etc., etc. Before going into the studio, we each have an idea and general focus of what will be discussed, but quickly will jump into other unplanned topics and conversations. There's probably an additional dozen, if not more, topics that we will just not have time to get to in the two-hours because of where the show goes, which is fine with us.
