Ralph Sutton Interview
Chad Bowar: Describe The Tour Bus to someone that may not have heard it.
Ralph Sutton: What we always say is that it brings you the best party rock of the 80s and 90s and we fill you in on the party rock of today. When I first came up with the idea of the show, the concept was this. I'm in my early 30s, and when I was a kid classic rock was Led Zeppelin, The Doors and the Rolling Stones. Now it's 20 years later and classic rock is still Led Zeppelin, The Doors and the Rolling Stones. It makes no sense. So I said, what about my music? The music I grew up with, the feelgood party rock music from the late 70s to the early 90s. That's what we play. We stay away from what I call the "complaint rock" of today, the "I hate myself, life sucks" music that you hear all over the new rock stations. Our show is more about happy, fun party rock. 90 percent of it was about going out, having sex, getting drunk and partying. That's what I miss the most. I miss rock stars, I miss fun music, and that's what the show is built around.
How did the show get started?
I had no radio experience whatsoever. I had an idea, and that was it. I got myself an overnight gig at a really small radio station in Jersey where it was 12 to 6 in the morning Saturday to Sunday for six bucks an hour. After being there for a month or two I hit them with the idea of my show, contingent on the fact that I would bring one of their full-timers on the show with me. They liked the idea. We were on the air for six months and in those six months we took our time slot from 12th place to 1st place and we quadrupled our audience. We decided to take it to a bigger rock station, WDHA, our flagship station. We were there for about six months when more success happened, a huge boost in ratings. Six months after we were on the air there, we got syndicated. And then six months after that we brought on five stations, and now it's been five years and 56 stations.
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