Advertise on podcast: It All Works Out in the End

This episode marks the beginning of the KQRS portion of Tom Barnard's life story. Bob Sansevere focuses on how Tom was recruited, what the station was like when he arrived, and how the KQ Morning Show evolved into a major success.

Tom recalls how his distinctive voice caught people's attention at Brown Institute, leading him to pursue voiceover work in his early twenties.His first agent, Victoria, helped launch a career that took off almost immediately, with Tom quickly booking a full schedule of commercial work.Tom describes balancing his KQRS morning show with frequent trips to Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York to record commercials, often flying home in time for the next morning's broadcast.Bob remembers watching Tom record a Western Auto commercial perfectly in one take, something Tom says was common throughout his career.Tom explains how his natural reading ability, distinctive voice, and conversational delivery helped him stand apart from traditional booming radio announcers.The two discuss major advertising clients, including Target and Northwest Airlines, and the substantial money Tom earned through national commercials and residual payments.Tom shares memories of working alongside famous actors, encountering celebrities in New York, and building relationships throughout the entertainment industry.He reflects on the competitive Minneapolis voiceover market, the importance of unions, and how the industry has changed with the arrival of artificial intelligence.

This episode follows Tom through the next stage of his early career, from steadily moving up the schedule at KSTP to leaving for WDGY, a decision he says he still regrets. He talks about the veteran broadcasters who taught him the business, earning just $11,000 a year, and eventually moving from radio into record promotion with Ariola and Capitol Records. At Capitol, Tom suddenly found himself working with acts like the Beach Boys, Paul McCartney, the Knack and Ricky Nelson, while learning the business side of entertainment and how record companies influenced radio airplay. The conversation also covers his stint at WAPE in Jacksonville, his developing on-air personality, getting fired and returning to Minnesota, and ultimately discovering that his distinctive voice and ability to read copy naturally could become an entirely separate career in voiceover.

Attending Brown Institute and learning the basics of broadcastingFeeling culturally out of place at Brown after growing up in North MinneapolisDeveloping a natural on-air style instead of the traditional “disc jockey voice”Getting his first radio job at KDAN while still a teenagerThe first time he went on the airMoving from KDAN to 1500 KSTP after being noticed by people in the industryStarting at KSTP doing overnights and weekends

This episode is all listener questions, from start to finish. It's the final part to focus on Tom's pre-radio life. Understanding his father’s mental illness and how it shaped Tom’s childhoodLearning to read at a very young age and using books as an escapePlaying basketball at St. Anne’s and memories of his teachersChristmas traditions and his brother Terry returning home from VietnamThe friends and families who gave Tom support outside his own homeGetting around Minneapolis by bus before he learned to driveReceiving a scholarship to Brown Institute and studying radioTom’s rebellious streak and getting into trouble at broadcasting schoolThe music and local bands that influenced him growing upMeeting musicians he had admired, including Ricky NelsonHow Tom met former Viking Philip “Philly Dog” WiseTom and Philly Dog’s decades-long friendship and his later role on the morning show

Growing up poor and moving between neighborhoods in MinneapolisTom’s early jobs and learning to work from a young ageHis relationship with his siblings and taking responsibility for his familyAttending St. Anne’s and adjusting to a very different school environmentTom’s experiences at Jordan Junior High and with his teachersGrowing up during the Vietnam War and upheaval of the 1960sThe moment Tom first became interested in radioHis earliest radio jobs and the people who helped him get startedMoving to Jacksonville for his radio careerThe origin of Tom’s “Catman” nickname

This is a new series where Bob Sansevere interviews Tom Barnard, one-on-one, about his life. It's a focused show whose ultimate goal is to be compiled into a memoir. In essence, it's a mini-series with a beginning and an end. When will that end come? We won't know until we get there. Growing up poor in North MinneapolisTom's grandparents and complicated family historyChildhood memories of his mother and fatherGrowing up with his brothers and sistersWorking from a young age to help support the familyTom's relationship with his father and their eventual reconciliationNeighborhood life and the communities Tom grew up aroundEarly jobs and learning to make his own moneyDiscovering his voice and getting his start in radioThe beginnings of the career that would eventually take him to KQRS