Buzz Jackson has been the afternoon host and program director at country format KIIM FM 99.5 for almost 12 years. His show airs from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Jackson worked for a country station in Florida for six years before moving to Tucson and has been a radio show host for 25 years.
What was the first concert you attended?
Pat Benatar. I think the Alarm opened for her. And that would've been probably 1983, at Jones Beach Theater on Long Island.
What are you listening to these days?
There's so much good stuff out there but there's one CD that I haven't been able to get out of my CD player, and that's the new one by the Zac Brown Band. I also think that Bruno Mars is fantastic.
What was the first album you owned?
Parallel Lines by Blondie. It was also the first and only eight-track I ever owned.
What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone seem to love that you just don't get?
Adele. I just don't understand why she's popular.
What musical act, current or defunct, would you most likely see perform live?
We would need a time machine, but I would like to go back to the '80s and see Van Halen with David Lee Roth. It just hasn't been the same with Sammy Hagar.
Musically speaking, what is your favorite guilty pleasure?
Eighties music. Nothing with any soul or depth, just disposable '80s pop.
What song would you like to have played at your funeral?
Instead of a particular song, they should just put the radio on because that's kind of where I'll live on for a long time. I'd like to think so anyway.
What band or artist has changed your life and how?
I kind of got into country music by accident and once I realized the influence that George Strait had on pretty much every other artist, it all kind of clicked for me. What I do on the radio is much easier because of his influence.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
Thriller. The songs are really good. But the production by Quincy Jones, if you listen to that album with headphones on there's all this cool stuff happening in the music. It's just really, really neat.
