| Have you ever been lonely in a far away land when a letter comes in the mail from family that takes you back to the place you were born? Or perhaps you listen to the radio and hear a song that takes you back to the time when you were in high school and taking sweetheart to the prom? Did you float on those pleasant memories deep in the night when loneliness had set in all around you from a hard day's work? For many emigrants from Mexico and beyond, Madison is a land of opportunity, but it is also a different place that -- outside of the touches of Mexico here and there -- is a place unfamiliar. But a deep tenor voice comes booming out on the airwaves every Friday and Saturday night on 92.1 FM that takes them back to Mexico. It is the voice of El Pajaro Loco, The Crazy Bird, actually Jose; Solorzano -- and the sweet Mexican melodies he spins along with his cohorts Arnulfo Rea and Lizbeth Ceron-De Garcia. In some ways, Solorzano has been a migrant of the airwaves since 2002 when he came to Madison to host his own show on WTLX - 100.5 FM. He then worked at WEMP in Milwaukee and WTTN in Watertown over the next three years. Then an opportunity arose where Solorzano could run a station 24/7 in Goshen, Indiana and he jumped at the opportunity. "I was in charge of the station through an LMA (local management agreement)," Solorzano said in his office during a break from his on-air duties. "I had to take care of the license, to make sure I didn't do anything wrong. I was able to hire my own people. I was on the morning show and we were number one. There was another station in South Bend and there was another one near us. And there was another one that reached our area as well. I was in shock. We were WKAN - 1460 AM. In 4-5 months, we were number one in the market. Everything was going pretty good." However, the ad revenue wasn't sufficient to keep everything going and Solorzano missed his family , which remained behind in Madison and so, he returned to Madison. Solorzano was determined to remain in the radio business, but working for someone else. He approached Clear Channel radio with a business proposition. "Instead of the way you look for a job where you tell them your qualifications, I told them I had a plan," Solorzano said. "'Let's do something,' I told them. 'Let's do the English market. Your radio stations like Z-104 are top-notch.' I went through my experience in radio and told them what I wanted to do. I wanted to invite the Hispanic community to their radio stations. I came with a list of 125 names of Hispanic businesses.'" Solorzano was hired and he began to contact Latino businesses to get them to buy advertising on Clear Channel's English radio stations. "I went out to 26 Hispanic businesses and got 26 Nos," Solorzano confided. "I was kind of depressed. I was in shock actually. After that, I had 10 Yeses in a row. Then I was kind of happy." Clear Channel's 92.1 FM went through a format change and was thinking on going to an all-sports format. Jeff Tyler, Clear Channel's vice-president and Mike Ferris, their program manager, knew about Solorzano's previous radio experience. They met with him and told him they would consider putting him on the air on Saturday nights. "Mike asked what kind of format did I want to do," Solorzano recalled."I told him regional Mexican. He asked me why. I told him that 80 percent of the Latino community here is from Mexico. And most of those Mexicans come from small towns in Mexico. He asked me why I thought I would be successful. I told him the numbers would tell him. We started on September 3, 2006. By April, the numbers showed we had listeners in the Hispanic community. We were excited and they decided to give us an extra day. So they gave us Fridays as well. It shocked everyone that we were number one in the market on Friday and Saturday night for people between the ages of 18-34 for men and women. They were impressed." As we sit in Solorzano's broadcast booth, the telephone switchboard lights up as people from throughout the Madison area call in to request songs. Solorzano has a huge play list of Mexican regional music stored away in Clear Channel's huge server. Rea and he take turns fielding calls and then Solorzano clicks his mouse a few times and the song is scheduled to play. In essence, Solorzano is his own producer. Solorzano enjoys being responsive to people's musical needs. "The music takes people back home," Solorzano reflected. "People become homesick. They call me and ask me if I can do them a favor. 'Say something about my family in Mexico. I have them on the phone and they are going to listen to it on the computer in Mexico.'" While Solorzano still sells advertising for his show and the other stations at Clear Channel, he readily admits that being on the air is the thing that drives him. "I love the microphone," Solorzano admitted. "Once I get behind the microphone, it's a different world. When I'm out on the street and I speak, people look at me and say 'You're Pajaro Loco.' That's because the voice is the same thing. I don't try to fake my voice. This is just the way I am. Out on the street, I'm just a regular Mexican. I could be confused with anyone. I got out of the ghetto, but you can't get the ghetto out of me." Solorzano gets satisfaction making a contribution to the community."It's a good feeling to do something beautiful for the people," Solorzano asserted. "I run into people who say 'I heard your song. I feel really good about it. Thank you.' What else could I want?" While asked if he plans to expand his program, Solorzano said that he was open to the opportunity. "Honestly, anything can happen," he said. "Our plan is to grow, but it depends on Jeff Tyler. When they give me a green light, it's going to be a different ballgame." El Pajaro Loco can be heard on 92.1 FM from 7 p.m. on Fridays and 6 p.m. to midnight on Saturdays. |
| Jose Solorzano, the Pajaro Loco radio announcer on 92.1 FM Memories of Mexico By Jonathan Gramling |
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| Jose Solorzano in his Pajaro Loco Mask as he emcees his show |