Nicole Brice
Mar 8, 2025
Joe Burns has an innate ability to make you laugh out loud in this non-stop ride of hilarity.
I just finished reading a phenomenal book, so I felt inclined to share my thoughts with all of you so that you, too, can enjoy this honest and heartfelt narrative of the glory days of radio. We'll Try and Get That on For You is the latest from author Joe Burns. Burns has published books on web design and other creative endeavors in the past, but this is his first book of this nature, which I call an autobiographical comedy fiction satire masterpiece. No seriously. This book is a "Sandlot" narrative with "Anchorman" antics. I could see it being made into a hilarious screenplay.
Reading this book was personal because Joe Burns was one of the many phenomenal professors who taught me when I attended Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. Some of my fondest memories of college include his classes. He taught me so much, and now, after reading this book, I realize why he was so knowledgeable. If you talk with Joe in person, he is just a shy, goofy, and loveable human who is too smart for his own good. Did you know that he once took the Mensa test? More about that can be found in our interview with him on our website. As I write about him, it's difficult for me to type just his name without the "Dr." attached to it.
We'll Try and Get That on For You is a story told through the eyes of the 'intern,' aka Joe Burns. With tales of morning show DJs running for governor, procuring votes with promises of Taco Tuesday becoming mandatory, to vivid details of characters, this book is a riot of entertainment. It's funny, it's entertaining, and it never lets up.
Radio contests and shenanigans abound, even going as far as stealing the thunder from another local station promoting a concert by the Beach Boys. With his innate storytelling ability, Joe Burns brings these events to life with such detail that you find yourself laughing out loud. The book is filled with unexpected humor, from an electrocution to a death threat, and even getting told off by multiple clowns. Yes, clowns.
Reading Joe’s retelling of the events of 9/11 unfolding while he helped facilitate local coverage on my former college radio station, 90.9 FM KSLU, now known as 90.9 The Lion, felt personal because I was a student at Southeastern at the time. I will never forget how I stayed home from classes that day because I was just exhausted. I love that the university utilized his radio experience and expertise on this day because if you’ve ever heard him speak, he truly does have a gift for radio.
When Joe gets to the part of the book about his later career outside of the station that shaped him, he recounts the ending of radio with personality and the beginning of formulaic conformity in radio. It’s a bittersweet ending as he sums it all up and updates the later years of the cast of characters once they had moved on from the beloved Z-107.
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There are many other surprises, so I will not spoil them for you, but do yourself a favor and immerse yourself in this vivid and entertaining narrative. It’s fun.
Buy here:
We'll Try and Get That on for You: My Life in Personality Radio: Burns, Joe: 9798892110600: Amazon.com: Books
*Photos by Gary Governale
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