FARGO’ S KING OF CLASSIC
ROCK N’ ROLL: DAVE JACOBS
Dave Jacobs of Triad Broadcasting’s 107.9 The FOX is not from the Fargo area, or for that matter, he’s not even a native midwesterner. So how did this well-traveled Northeastern professional male nurse from ‘Jersey’ find a permanent home in Leonard, North Dakota? What else but L-O-V-E? A tiny four-letter word that has snared many an outsider into claiming North Dakota and Minnesota their final destination for family and home.
SA: Dave, you and Marge met in New Jersey when working at the same medical facility. How long did it take her to convince you to move back with her to North Dakota? When did you move to North Dakota?
DJ: Well first off, I want to clarify that, yes, I was in nursing for many moons, but I was an orderly…C.N.A., a grunt… the guys that do all the work. Margie’s a nurse and when we met working together at Hackettstown Hospital in New Jersey, she was making me do all her work, much like today. Nothing’s changed. Actually, that’s a lie…I enjoy doing all the work. (Psst…ask me if I feel safe at home.) We moved here in June of 1991.
SA: Once here, you transitioned from a nursing career into the raucous world of rock and roll. Considering the two careers are conceivably total opposites from one another, how did you decide to make such a gigantic switch?
DJ: Well, I kept getting written up when doing requests over the intercom system at St Lukes/ Meritcare/Sanford…actually people would ask why I wasn’t IN radio, that my voice and demeanor maybe fit there better and away from sharp stuff and sick people. Seriously, I loved the health field! A bunch of hard working people that deserve better pay…right up there with teachers and cops and firefighters. Oh! And D.J.’s.
SA: Did you ever experience playing in a band or consider radio broadcasting as a career choice prior to getting in the business?
DJ: Nope. Never. Can’t play an instrument to save my life…always wanted to, though! Besides, I’ve got a face for radio…not the stage.
SA: As a child and teenager, you moved several times. In a retrospective look back on those years, do you think moving around as a child and teenager helped you mature faster or taught you to instinctively be more sensitive about how others react to humor? Where have you lived, prior to North Dakota, that you would consider moving back to? Was there anywhere you lived you disliked so much you never want to return?
DJ: Totally agree with your observation about having a sense on reading people; I think anyone that moved around a lot like I did as a kid, knows that. Seven different schools before the 8th grade, finally settling down with Dad from 9th grade on in upstate New York, Middleburgh to be exact. Class of ’84 rocks! I can see me returning to New Hampshire, the Monadnock region there…or the Catskills in upstate New York….but just to visit. I love it here in North Dakota, sure the wicked winters suck here, (thought I’d throw in a NE vernacular) but honestly– it’s the people. I know now why the rest of the country wants people from the upper Midwest to work for them— hard work and honesty among other attributes that I wanted instilled in my kids, and it has. Wouldn’t trade that for anywhere on Earth. As far as hating a place…I stayed over in Gary, Indiana once on a drive back east with the family…I parked next to the stake that Moses drove into the ground…
SA: Dave, you, Robbie and Moose keep the early drive time on 107.9 rolling like clockwork with giggles and gags and with a flawless upbeat momentum— how do you manage that at the crack of dawn every day, week in and week out? What time do you need to go to bed in order to drive from Leonard to Fargo and be at the station before 5 a.m.?
DJ: (Laughing out loud) Well, thanks! I’ve worked with Robbie a long time…she’s like an old comfortable shoe…all wrinkled and soft…tongue hanging half out. (Oh man, I’m gonna catch hell for that!) Robbie and I have worked with a lot of great people the past 17 years, but Moose is really a nice fit. Real nice….fuzzy little Moose….legend has it if you catch him by the scruff of his neck when it’s raining, he will give you his pot o’ gold. As far as getting to bed…summer is late! Ten, ten-thirty at the earliest. Usually, too much to do outside with the birds and the sunshine all shiny, frolicking and such….hard to sleep when you’re totally missing out on frolicking. Winter gets a little easier to hit the sack early, being it gets dark by two-thirty. Depression sets in nicely by 5…voila!
SA: You have a special passion for SCARY. Tell our readers about THE CRYPT at JACOB’S MANOR and what the proceeds are for and where they go to.
DJ: Oooh — our little slice of heaven here in Leonard! Margie and I have been yard haunters since we moved to Leonard in 1994, slowly progressing from a few headstones over the years to now a permanent haunted house that we built back in our garden 3 years ago. It’s a great haunt! Lots of secret passages, bottomless pits…general mayhem and stuff, it’s an absolute BLAST! Just ask all the friends that help haunt it come next October! We have, for quite some time, been only charging any non-perishable food item to benefit the area food banks. In the last few years though, we’ve given all the donations to the Kindred High School kids for Fill the Dom. It ends up at the same place, but helps out more folks! You can find it on www.hauntworld.com, just click on North Dakota, and on Facebook! The Crypt at Jacobs Manor!
SA: You and Marge have three children: Anthony, a student at NDSU majoring in Computer Science, which means he will always find employment; Chealsey, who is destined to a become a renowned cosmetologist,t and Nicole, who is still in attendance at Kindred High.
As someone who moved often and attended several different schools in as many years, what do you think the major advantages and disadvantages are between living in the same town and going to the same school your entire life with the same friends versus moving every year and changing friends, cultures, traditions, etc.?
Do you feel as technology expands and offers more opportunity to go to school, shop, watch movies, interact playing games and communicate via texting, skype, and tweeting, people may find they no longer need the big city life to make a living and we might see a resurgence of small towns making a comeback? Why or why not?
DJ: I like the kids having their roots in one spot. It’s something I never really had as a kid; although I got past it, I don’t think a lot of kids do. I saw a lot of kids lose their way and get into trouble. We’re blessed with good, strong kids. I’m so thankful for that in today’s world; things seem so tense anymore around our little planet.
But as far as your question about cultures, the Red River Valley has become SO culturally diverse! The FM areas art scene is better than ever, and with today’s technology, you CAN experience other cultures, more than ever, learn more than ever! And isn’t that what we want for our kids? To learn so much more than us? But without prejudice? Without pre-determined suspicions on a certain culture or race? That being said, I try to keep the kids away from Iowa folk.
SA: 107.9 The FOX plays classic rock ‘n roll tunes that are nearly half a century “long in the tooth,” as the saying goes. Yet this genre of music is still as viable and popular with the younger generations as they were when many of the same tunes were considered Top 40 hits. What do you predict will happen when those born after 1975 are no longer programming the stations playing “classic” everything ? What will the “new” classic music sound like?
DJ: Classic Rock is a timeless medium. My son Anthony was born in 1989, Chealsey in 1991 and Nicki in 1993, and they all love classic rock! Despite me! Of course they love the new stuff, but hey! Good is good, right? I mean, Beethoven’s been dust for how long now, and people are still crazy over him. The guys from Zepplin, AC/DC, Beatles and the Stones will still be around a thousand years from now because it’s great! The Bachs and the Wagners inspiring youth with Delta blues thrown in with a dash of Scott Joplin– it’s all such a wonderful melting pot! Listen closely and you can feel the inspired notes from this genre or that genre, woven together into who knows what two generations from now? Music inspires, creating unto itself and self-perpetuating! But like I said–hey– good is good, right?
For a rousing good time in the morning with a pick-me-up to go along with your first java-kick-me-starter-up, tune into Dave, Robbie and Moose at Triad Broadcastings KPFX, 107.9 Fox FM station! Once tried, you’ll never go back to the ho-hum stock market / ag reports again! Rock out your mornings with Dave, Robbie & Moose!