Ferris Waller (aka Boss Hogg) graduated from Plant City High School in 1957. “I graduated with an extremely high, D average,” he said. “Don’t forget that. I was so #@%! close to the bottom of the class, you wouldn’t believe it. If you could find a 1957 annual yearbook, they always had little sayings like, ‘He’ll go far.’ Under my picture, they put, ‘What I don’t know would make a great book.’”
“I was just mischievous,” Boss recounted. “I was always into something, and I would get into it without thinking. I can remember whenever I would have to go down to rake my grandma’s yard. I was eight or nine years old. She had several rakes at the house. Here I am raking the yard, and along comes a couple of neighbor boys. First thing you know, I have five or six boys raking her yard, and I was out there giving directions. I don’t know, I reckon that was the beginning of my ability to deal with people—convince them, or con them, or whatever—and to make work look like fun.”
“I started sweeping the floor of my grandmother’s store when I was seven years old,” Boss said. “I have never had a job. The only one I have worked for is my dad. I never could find anybody that wanted to hire me.” Now Boss owns several businesses. “I think a lot of my drive was because I wanted to prove to my classmates that I wasn’t as dumb as they thought I was,” Boss said. “And now there isn’t enough of them alive to even make a difference.” About his success, Boss added. “It ain’t brains. It’s determination and not being smart enough to know when to give up.”
Boss accidentally fell into the radio business. “The local radio station in Bushnell had a representative—they wanted me to advertise on the radio,” he said. “And, as usual, I sat there and I probe, ask questions, and talk. I come to find out, they were just like many of us, and they were struggling to survive. I decided, ‘Tell the owner to come out and talk to me, maybe I will be able to help him out.’ Biggest mistake of my life. It would have been a lot cheaper to advertise. I thought I would get a free ride. Here, it cost me a couple of million dollars, and it is still growing.” Boss Hogg Radio has six AM stations and two FM channels. It employs 12 people and makes use of 7 volunteers. “We can be heard from south Ocala all the way down to Lake Placid,” Boss said.
Every year, the Lakeland Ledger holds a competition for the best radio station in Central Florida, in which people vote for their favorite stations. Four years ago, Boss Hogg made its debut on the list. “What is so amazing is that we were voted #1 radio station in Central Florida,” Boss said. “And we were #2 for two more years. We are just an AM radio station. We got voted in originally not knowing there was a contest. A little AM radio station beat out a lot of the FM stations. It was unbelievable.”
In terms of a playlist, one of the station’s ads said they bought every K-Tel record that was ever made, and then they bought a radio station. They also play reruns of Casey Kasem, and Wolfman Jack. “A dead guy is our most popular show,” Boss Hogg said. “That’s bragging rights if there ever were any.”
The Sunny Side Up Morning Show is a window into the success of Boss Hogg Radio. Whatever happens, happens. Below is some of the talk from October 18 that made the show colorful.
“I am Fester Jenkins, the cracked egg.”
“I am Tater Hays, the deviled egg.”
“I am Boss Hogg, the one and only rotten egg. And the reason I am the one and only, is there is not another &%$# fool that would want to claim that title.”
Throughout the show, listeners called in with praise—“Boss Hogg is a legend.” Another caller said he went through the radio dial, but couldn’t find anything else to listen to. Saying, “The rest of it is crap.” Callers also shared their personal victories, complained about commercials, and complained about manufacturing in China. One person working on water heaters on the west coast of Florida, called in to tell about the damage he was looking at from Milton storm surge.
“Look at you—a true entremanure.” – Tater said about Boss
“Have you listened to the station?” – Boss
“Yes, but I have no taste.” – Dave
“What you have is poor taste.” – Boss
“We have a caller! I don’t know why, but we do.” – Fester
“Since Dave got here, this show has only gone downhill.” – Boss
“There was a period of time I used to be full of myself. ‘Waller, you are almost an Einstein. How could a $@#!! like me be this smart?’ Then after several years went by of me thinking how brilliant I was, I stopped and I looked around myself, and I was surrounded by idiots.” – Boss
“All I can say is, if you can make me look good you’re a miracle worker.” – Boss
“Is the show almost over? Folks we apologize, you heard too much talk today and not enough music.” – Boss
The DJs played the parody songs, “I Can’t Wait To Get On The Couch Again,” by Tater and the Tots, and “This is Ponderous.”
After the show, the two DJs and Boss walked over to a kitchen in the building.
“I think we are like everybody,” Fester said. “We are everyman. I think all of our listeners kind of think a little like we do—talk a lot like we do.”
“It is authentic,” Tater added. “It is honest. It’s real. It’s not regurgitated morning show radio. A lot of guys wake up at two or three in the morning and start doing their prep. Fester walks in about an hour early, and goes through a couple of things. Typically, I walk in five minutes before show time totally unprepared. Somehow that chaos all comes together. We never know from day-to-day what the show is going to sound like. We don’t know if Boss is going to show up at six, or if he is going to show up at 7 or 8 o’clock, or not show up at all.”
“That is what makes us popular,” Boss commented. “People are desperate for something different. And, oh #&!, did they get it. “
“I reckon the main thing, my end goal, is to have a radio station in Plant City again,” Boss said. “To bring radio back to Plant City—that is the reason I have spent all this money, and all this time and effort. It looks like we may be able to accomplish that. But it’s so difficult, it’s %@#* near impossible, because in this particular area, you can scan the channels on the dial, and there are almost no empty spots at all, and when you do find an empty one, the frequency conflicts with some other station within 100 or 200 miles depending on the station. If I don’t run out of money, or some of the people that are selling radio stations will take a bad check, I will keep on until I can insult the entire state of Florida in one breath.”