A SPECIAL HERO OF THE DAY!
Name: Cristi Johnson (nee Cantle)
Age: 36
Occupation: former radio personality
Last Seen: Alpena, MI
Awarded For: leaving radio for greener pastures
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Age: 36
Occupation: former radio personality
Last Seen: Alpena, MI
Awarded For: leaving radio for greener pastures
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It almost seems that yesterday, Cristi Cantle was the hottest female radio personality in west Michigan.
As a teenager in the Detroit area, her radio career started at her local high school station. Then, it was Western Michigan University where she was the GM at WIDR, that school's radio station. In 1999, she made her commercial radio debut on a little radio station in Grand Rapids, WKLQ.
At the time, WKLQ was bar none, the coolest radio station in Grand Rapids, no, I mean Michigan. They had Howard Stern in the morning and kickass rock music all day. Even the jocks made their listeners at home. Men in west Michigan would die to be the Mr. Cristi Cantle as she ruled nights at The Rock @ 94dot5.
One fond memory I had of Cristi was that when I moved to Grand Rapids in 2002, I was hoping she was reading my website and requested a tune by Type O Negative at 11:30 the next night. 11:30 came and I heard the profanity-laden "Santa is a Fat Bitch" by Insane Clown Posse. I wrote about it on the Buzzboard and was told that she had the night off. The night after, she played "I Love You To Death". Awwww.....
Then came Matt Hanlon.
Of course, the much-beloved GM did his damage to KLQ. He fired well-loved jocks such as Mark "The Head" Feurie, demoted Stern to flea-powered 1340 (the old WBBL) and made Cristi the work horse of the station, forcing her to be heard from 3p-midnight daily, including on the station's short-lived Man Made Radio.
I remembered seeing her at a meet and greet for Powerman 5000 at the Guitar Center here in GR shortly after the station launched Stern's replacement, the ill-fated Ron and Don Show. I didn't say hi or nothing. She looked like she didn't even want to be there supporting the shell of a once-good station. Not long after, she left KLQ for good.
Cristi worked at a few stations here and there including WMMS in Cleveland, where she was reunited with her Man Made Radio sidekicks. Her boss at WMMS was none other than the late Kevin "Pig Virus" Methany, aka Howard Stern's old boss at WNBC/New York. No word if he forced her to say "Dubya-EMMMMM-M-S!" on the air. In the past nine years, Cristi worked at the Entercom stations in Sacramento, especially at 98 Rock. There, she was the producer of the popular Rob, Arnie and Dawn morning show and hosted a nighttime show on the rock station.
Along with her radio activities, Cristi also worked as a roller derby girl, often joining local leagues in virtually every town she worked in. She raced under names such as "Skellawhore" and "Corporate Cristi". In 2014, she married a man named Scotty and became Cristi Johnson.
Earlier this month, Cristi moved back to Michigan with Scotty and their dogs, but not to Detroit nor Grand Rapids. She now resides in tiny Alpena, pop. 10,000. Alpena's only local rock station, WWTH/Thunder 100.7 is mostly fed from Cumulus. Most of the other northern Michigan rock stations - WKLT, Rock 105 and The Bear - have translator stations in Alpena but no studios there. Most Alpena stations are fed off the bird. Yet, Cristi and Scotty have a job making t-shirts.
The two are now part owners of a well-established embroidery shop called Family Enterprise. According to records, the shop is owned by Cristi's family and does make good money.
Especially after the BS she faced at times working in radio, I'm happy for Cristi and her family. Owning your own business is a reward for all the hard work that you've accomplished in life. While I see Matt Hanlon trying to scrape his life back together for his drunk driving incident, I'm happy to see Cristi rise above the BS and start her new life. She's probably the only ex-KLQ jock fucked over by Hanlon that's doing quite well these days.
Now, they need to sell fish tacos and adopt the slogan "Yum Yum Gimme Some!"
As a teenager in the Detroit area, her radio career started at her local high school station. Then, it was Western Michigan University where she was the GM at WIDR, that school's radio station. In 1999, she made her commercial radio debut on a little radio station in Grand Rapids, WKLQ.
At the time, WKLQ was bar none, the coolest radio station in Grand Rapids, no, I mean Michigan. They had Howard Stern in the morning and kickass rock music all day. Even the jocks made their listeners at home. Men in west Michigan would die to be the Mr. Cristi Cantle as she ruled nights at The Rock @ 94dot5.
One fond memory I had of Cristi was that when I moved to Grand Rapids in 2002, I was hoping she was reading my website and requested a tune by Type O Negative at 11:30 the next night. 11:30 came and I heard the profanity-laden "Santa is a Fat Bitch" by Insane Clown Posse. I wrote about it on the Buzzboard and was told that she had the night off. The night after, she played "I Love You To Death". Awwww.....
Then came Matt Hanlon.
Of course, the much-beloved GM did his damage to KLQ. He fired well-loved jocks such as Mark "The Head" Feurie, demoted Stern to flea-powered 1340 (the old WBBL) and made Cristi the work horse of the station, forcing her to be heard from 3p-midnight daily, including on the station's short-lived Man Made Radio.
I remembered seeing her at a meet and greet for Powerman 5000 at the Guitar Center here in GR shortly after the station launched Stern's replacement, the ill-fated Ron and Don Show. I didn't say hi or nothing. She looked like she didn't even want to be there supporting the shell of a once-good station. Not long after, she left KLQ for good.
Cristi worked at a few stations here and there including WMMS in Cleveland, where she was reunited with her Man Made Radio sidekicks. Her boss at WMMS was none other than the late Kevin "Pig Virus" Methany, aka Howard Stern's old boss at WNBC/New York. No word if he forced her to say "Dubya-EMMMMM-M-S!" on the air. In the past nine years, Cristi worked at the Entercom stations in Sacramento, especially at 98 Rock. There, she was the producer of the popular Rob, Arnie and Dawn morning show and hosted a nighttime show on the rock station.
Along with her radio activities, Cristi also worked as a roller derby girl, often joining local leagues in virtually every town she worked in. She raced under names such as "Skellawhore" and "Corporate Cristi". In 2014, she married a man named Scotty and became Cristi Johnson.
Earlier this month, Cristi moved back to Michigan with Scotty and their dogs, but not to Detroit nor Grand Rapids. She now resides in tiny Alpena, pop. 10,000. Alpena's only local rock station, WWTH/Thunder 100.7 is mostly fed from Cumulus. Most of the other northern Michigan rock stations - WKLT, Rock 105 and The Bear - have translator stations in Alpena but no studios there. Most Alpena stations are fed off the bird. Yet, Cristi and Scotty have a job making t-shirts.
The two are now part owners of a well-established embroidery shop called Family Enterprise. According to records, the shop is owned by Cristi's family and does make good money.
Especially after the BS she faced at times working in radio, I'm happy for Cristi and her family. Owning your own business is a reward for all the hard work that you've accomplished in life. While I see Matt Hanlon trying to scrape his life back together for his drunk driving incident, I'm happy to see Cristi rise above the BS and start her new life. She's probably the only ex-KLQ jock fucked over by Hanlon that's doing quite well these days.
Now, they need to sell fish tacos and adopt the slogan "Yum Yum Gimme Some!"
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Got a Bee-otch to nominate? E-mail us @ chuck69dotcom@gmail.com. All suggestions (except for me) are welcome!
Bee-otch of the Day Archives can be seen on http://beeotchoftheday.blogspot.com!
Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!
Got a Bee-otch to nominate? E-mail us @ chuck69dotcom@gmail.com. All suggestions (except for me) are welcome!
Bee-otch of the Day Archives can be seen on http://beeotchoftheday.blogspot.com!
Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!
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