Listening to Irv and Joe makes me hungry
The one where I try and explain my Pavlovian response to two old farts with a radio show.
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Irv and Joe have been around the Denver Sports scene since dirt was invented.
I moved from Colorado Springs to Denver when I was 19 years old. I came to be with a redhead I met while I was in High School. Long-distance dating stunk so I packed up everything I could carry on a Kawasaki and made my move to the big city.
After living in Wheatridge for six months I decided that I wanted to be where the action was so I found an apartment in Capitol Hill. Living there was fun! Too much, actually.
I got into some trouble and a bondsman took possession of my motorcycle. I got stuck riding the bus to work every day from Colfax and Emerson to 88th and Federal. Just me and my Sony Walkman. That’s when I became a Sports Radio junkie.
I can’t say for sure what station Irv and Joe were on back then. This would have been around 1991 to around 1993. All I know is that I listened to them then and I still do.
Anyone aspiring to work in radio should tune them in. The most extraordinary thing about Irv and Joe isn’t their sports talk. It’s good – but a lot of guys are good at chatting about the local teams. What sets them apart is that they are masters at promoting their sponsors. They do it in a personal and believable way.
I have rarely heard Irv and Joe play a recorded read. They do spots live and they don’t talk about businesses so much as they talk about the people who make businesses unique. Everyone is Irv and Joe’s best friend and deserves to be yours.
More than any other category, I associate Irv and Joe with restaurants. When they tell me a place serves good food I believe them and I go there.
Two places in particular that Irv and Joe have recommended that I now list among my favorites are Brewery Bar and Hacienda Colorado, both of which I heard the fellows mention dozens of times before I got around to trying them.
The way they describe eateries and the dishes they serve get me off my butt for some reason. I can’t really explain it, but Irv and Joe make me hungry.
They are evangelists for their sponsors. They also seem to remember the names of everyone they meet.
Radio, they say, is a dying medium. I don’t buy into that. Guys like Irv and Joe are the reason why I don’t. Renaud Notaro, a friend of mine who’s radio show can be heard on Mile High Sports radio in the evenings from 6-8, learned from Irv and Joe how to treat sponsors. To listen to Renaud is to learn about the people who support his show. But he doesn’t just blab about them on the radio. Renaud visits them regularly, tweets about them, recommends them to the people he meets and hands out gift certificates like they were candy. He’s an ambassador.
Does radio advertising work? It does to me – but only because of pros like Irv and Joe.
