WKHX Atlanta morning show co-host J.J. Kincaid has a lot of industry respect and goodwill. He’s been considered a “jock’s jock” since his Top 40 work at KDWB Minneapolis and WHTZ (Z100) New York. Kincaid has been a consistent presence in social media, particularly as a calming voice for personalities caught up in the industry’s downsizing of the last year. He is the moderator of the self-explanatory Facebook group “Oh Damn . . . That Song.”
Kincaid had his own period of job-hunting angst to draw on after leaving his first morning job at KPTT Denver. But two years ago, Kincaid and morning host Dallas were tapped when the longtime WKHX (Kicks 101.5) Atlanta reimaged as “New Country 101.5.” On Monday, Oct. 11, they’ll debut on 25 Cumulus stations replacing Westwood One’s current show Paul Koffy.
We took a Fresh Listen to the show as heard on October 7 on WKHX. Between 6-7:30 a.m., bits included:
- On the “Dallas’ Dish” segment: Blake Shelton jokes about Ariana Grande implying he was old on “The Voice”; Kelsea Ballerini has an upcoming poetry book; tickets are available to the general public for next month’s CMA Awards; Britney Spears wants to direct a movie, like “Kill Bill” (“I’ll see that one” says Kincaid). The Apple news that was teased in the last break is that “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” has been readded this year, due to viewer demand. The next teaser is for an upcoming story about Burger King. (“I don’t know if they can legally do this.”)
- The Burger King story is about the introduction of Ghost Pepper Chicken Nuggets, only available by downloading the BK app. Co-host Garrett speculates that they won’t be really spicy. Brooks & Dunn, Travis Tritt, and Elvie Shane are in town that night for the “Reboot 2021” tour. “Let’s get them before the concert so we can all suffer,” says J.J. Dallas asks whether they’ll have Impossible Nuggets as well.
- There are a lot of teasers on the show. The answer to “how does your mailman get revenge” is the story about the mail carrier who was caught urinating on a particular mailbox, then told to finish his shift.
- Producer Amanda has derided somebody on TV for wearing “2017 fashion.” That comment wounds J.J. who shops at Wal-Mart and whose current $40 shirt is a splurge. “When was your last time in a department store?” asks Dallas. “About five or six years ago,” says J.J., who believes that based on the Wal-Mart displays, Hawaiian shirts will be back in style this fall.
- On this morning’s “But Wait, There’s More” segment, the team members’ stories are:
- The Sandy Springs policeman who had to deliver a baby on the side of the road. Dallas says that she could probably deliver a horse, but not a human;
- Kelloggs and Wendys are teaming up for Frosty-flavored cereal;
- A national park in Alaska has named the winner of “Fat Bear Week” (adorable bear pictures are posted on Facebook and Instagram);
- The man who had his pants stolen by muggers who weren’t content to take his wallet only.
- On this morning’s “My Little Secret,” the caller’s confession is that instead of going to multiple farmers’ markets because his wife wants locally sourced produce, he goes to the supermarket and transfers the produce into a burlap bag. But he can’t remember if he removed the labels. On the previous day, the topic was a woman who broke off an engagement, then found out that she was still her fiancée’s emergency contact when the hospital called her to make a decision about organ donation. (Fortunately, it never came to that.)
- The team starts the topic of things-that-allegedly-happened-to-a-friend-of-a-friend with the urban legend about getting a staph infection from touching the phones at a cellphone store. That leads to soliciting listener calls about whether you’ve ever had anything supernatural happen at Halloween haunted houses.
The morning show’s daily recap podcast is posted here.