Rick at the Great Wall.




Reprinted from Beijing Youth Jan 12, 2001

RICK

China's Top Senior DJ Every night at 9 pm, two old friends, a foreign guy & a Chinese woman with very beautiful voice, are waiting for you at the same place--JOY FM. The foreign guy (lao wai) introduces himself: "I'm Li Ke, R-I-C-K, Rick." This "Open Weekend" column introduces Rick, who is an American working in China Radio International. Most of the Chinese young people under age of 30 have listened to and are familiar with his voice.

One of my friends said:" It would be much better if the listening section of TOEFL was read by Rick!"

Rick said, �If the Chinese audience can�t understand me, then my part of the program would be difficult for them to appreciate.�

And I said, �Either my English level has improved, or what Rick said has been made easy to be understood.�

So we can conclude this about Rick. He is the top senior DJ in China. However, he is always very modest, unlike many other Chinese broadcasters nowadays who often like to walk from behind the curtain to the front of the stage to gain more attention and fame.

Rick looks to be around 40 years old. He looks a little bit like an American western cowboy we�ve seen in the movies. His complexion looks like he spends time outdoors. He never behaves like a celebrity, which makes others feel that he might be a bit shy. His voice is extraordinarily nice with several Chinese words mixed into his English.

He doesn�t smoke or drink. Currently, he is writing his autobiography, telling about his music radio broadcasting life in China for almost 20 years, and how he got here.

Street Artist Most of the broadcasters in Chinese radio & TV stations have graduated from Radio and Television College. However, Rick didn't have this professional training before. He majored in English literature in university. He likes American writers such as Hemingway, Mark Twain, O'Henry, and Edgar Allan Poe but he didn't intend to be a writer himself. At that time, western young people, influenced by anti-war thought & also the rock & roll music, started to ponder the issues of life. Rick didn't know what kind of career he would undertake in the future. First, he wanted to figure out, "Why I am here, and what can I do?"

Rick has one sister and one brother. All of his family members have well planned lives. He wanted to approach life differently. After university, he went to Canada and became a street artist. He drew pictures of Prince Edward Island scenes and sold them to passers-by. Drawing and photography are two of his favorite hobbies.

One day, Rick heard an announcement that a radio station wanted to recruit a new person to host a music program. It was a small but a very good radio station in Florida. Rick went for the interview and successfully got the job. That year, he was 24 years old, with no stable career. Because of this unplanned chance, he began this career as a music DJ in radio stations and has been one until today.

He has mainly been playing pop songs in his programs. In the 70s and 80�s the most popular singers were artists like Elton John, Whitney Houston, Madonna, and the Eagles, and as we know, the US is the center of the world�s pop music. "Actually, I like what the audience likes. I want them to feel happy. I don't want them to feel like they are listening to a serious music class!" At the time of his first radio job, he didn�t know that he would work at radio stations for a long time.

Does Life Need To Be Planned? Rick said he is not a person good at making long range plans. "I don't want to plan everything. I want to experience more. You can only make plans based on what you already know. The world offers much more than that, if you let it!"

This also influences his attitude toward the music. He said: �I can�t say which period has good music. I can only say that music keeps changing. There�s always good music around.�

In 1980, Rick went to Taipei to work as a radio musical host at ICRT. Two years later, he worked at Commercial Radio Hong Kong and then 104 FM Select, and stayed in HK for more than a dozen years. Sometimes he will broadcast songs requested by the audience, and his interaction with his FM Select audience made his program very popular Hong Kong, Macao and even parts of the Mainland.

In 1996, he produced the program of JOY FM with a female broadcaster, Ying Feng, in Shanghai, and since 1997, he has co-hosted this program with another female broadcaster, Wang Lu (Jade).

Rick told us that JOY FM was originally a joint project between China Radio International & a French company, and then the French withdrew from broadcasting in China. "It is better now. It�s not much fun when too many people want to eat from one bowl of soup, or like the saying, �too many chefs spoil the broth.�

JOY Family During the period of working in JOY FM, Rick has worked with three female partners, among whom Jade has worked with him for the longest time, about three years. When he speaks with Jade, she can understand everything. Her English is perfect. As a broadcaster, Rick hopes the Chinese audience can understand what he says, so he speaks slowly and clearly, with simple and unadorned words. He likes to use parallel sentences to help the audience understand more easily.

JOY FM is broadcast from 9 to 11 pm every night, and stands amongst the leading Beijing radio stations during the same broadcast time. The audience writes or emails to JOY. Jade handles the Chinese letters, while Rick handles the English ones.

Rick said, �I live in Beijing, and I try to understand my audience.� He always makes small personal surveys. He watches people�s reactions when they listen to songs like "California Hotel" by The Eagles, and concludes that a lot of Chinese people know and love a song like this.

He blends the songs of all ages together. He never chooses songs of unitary style, age nor one singer. The way he selects songs is not really influenced by personal interest. His mission of selecting music is to �make people happy and feel good.� He said, �no one tells me which songs are to be broadcast. It�s not decided by machines or computer. I want the audience to listen and have a good happy feeling about the music and the program. I often rely on instinct. I live in China. I have a very good feeling towards Chinese people, and I believe my understanding is getting better and better."

Chinese college students comprise the largest audience group of JOY FM. Rick likes contact with them. He often goes to universities in his spare time and answers the audience's questions about JOY, or anything. He said in his magnetic voice, �If you feel lonely, then you can find a friend in our program; if you've already got many friends, then you can make one more friend here.�

Maintain the Mystery We got stuck in the interview when we asked, �Who is your girlfriend?� Rick refused to talk about that personal issue. He said, "I think people should own the imaginary space and the sense of mystery. Even when I am making program, I never talk about things that are too personal, or my close relationships with others. I think the audience isn�t interested. Even in my autobiography, you won't read everything about me. But you�ll read a lot more than you know now!�

�For instance, don't tell me too much about Julia Roberts� private life. If she has a boyfriend, I�m okay with that. If she gets married, then I don�t want to know. It spoils my fantasy of her being available!� This spring festival, Rick's family will gather in Hawaii. He likes to celebrate the Spring Festival rather than Christmas.

I Enjoy Chinese Friendship Rick's favorite exercise is the �rollerblade.� With these four wheel shoes, he skates on the main roads and small hutongs found in places like Xidan. Running puts stress on joints and legs, and but rollerblading is easier on the body. He doesn't like to drive even though he�s from Detroit, the famous Motor City. In Beijing, he would rather take the subway. Some foreigners think the life in China can be difficult, while Rick feels it can actually be convenient and always interesting.

When he relaxes at home, he seldom listens to music. He mainly goes to the internet while watching TV. �I can listen to new music at home, like Madonna's new songs. But my listening experience is different from the ordinary audience. I usually enter into a working state very soon. I will think, �is this is a good song and suitable to our program? So it�s not very relaxing when I listen to music at home. I get to listen to plenty of music at work.�

Like Jade, he doesn't like Karaoke very much. �Some people really sing terribly. It hurts my ears!� Instead, he likes to listen to the sound of others speaking in a quiet environment. The natural human sound is his favorite sound after work.

I admire those who have courage to make contributions in their own fields, people like Stephen Hawking. He has made a giant contribution to the understanding of the universe, even though he's physically challenged. Mark Twain traveled around the world which influenced his novels. Paul Gauguin quit his comfortable job in the banking field, traveled the South Seas and lived out his life in Tahiti and became one of the world�s most famous artists. The Beatles changed the concept of pop music. All the above mentioned people not only have their names recorded in history, but they have also helped us comprehend and appreciate our world!

I work at my work on Joy FM at China Radio International radio not only as a chance to broadcast the music, but also to inspire people to have a positive attitude towards life.
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