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Grow Your Network: Laurie Kaye Is A Rock Radio Pioneer Who Conducted John Lennon's Final Interview
Here's HOW and WHY to connect with Laurie Kaye
Matt Zeigler
August 01, 2025
For years, I've been connecting with interesting people and documenting insights that might help my clients and myself. What was once private is now (mostly) public.
People often ask: "How do you know all these people?" and "How do you connect these (re: random) ideas?" The answer is simple: consistent relationship cultivation and thoughtful note taking. My north star is trusting my instincts, my maps are the constellations in these reflections.
This approach to multidisciplinary networking has helped dozens of clients, colleagues, and friends strengthen their networks and unlock new opportunities. Find my Personal Archive on CultishCreative.com, watch me build a better Personal Network on the Cultish Creative YouTube channel, and listen to Just Press Record on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and follow me on social media (LinkedIn and X) - now distributed by Epsilon Theory.
You can also check out my work as Managing Director at Sunpointe, as a host on top investment YouTube channel Excess Returns, and as Senior Editor at Perscient.
Feel free to steal these ideas directly - that's what they're for! I can't promise you'll learn FROM me, but I guarantee you can learn something WITH me. Let's go. Count it off: 1-2-3-4!
Introducing... Laurie Kaye!
Do you know Laurie Kaye? She's the rock radio pioneer and author who conducted what tragically became John Lennon's final interview on December 8th, 1980 - just hours before his assassination. She's also the brilliant mind behind some of radio's most legendary specials, including the 17-hour "The Beatles from Liverpool to Legend."
If not, allow me to introduce you. Laurie started her career as a news editor at KFRC radio, eventually becoming an on-air newscaster who interviewed everyone from Mick Jagger to David Bowie to the Ramones. She's the author of "Confessions of a Rock and Roll Name Dropper: My Life Leading Up to John Lennon's Last Interview." I wanted to connect with her because she embodies something I value deeply: the courage to turn personal passion into professional purpose, even when that means diving into the unknown.
Our conversation is LIVE now on the Just Press Record YouTube channel (and this Cultish Creative Playlist). Listen and you'll hear stories from the golden age of rock radio, behind-the-scenes moments with music legends, and wisdom about building a career around what you truly love.
THREE: That's The Magic Number of Lessons
In the meantime, I wanted to pull THREE KEY LESSONS from my time with Laurie Kaye to share with you (and drop into my Personal Archive).
Read on and you'll find a quote with a lesson and a reflection you can Take to work with you, Bring home with you, and Leave behind with your legacy.
WORK: Trust The Voice That Says You're Ready
"One of my professors said to me after I turned in an article that I'd written for the campus newspaper, he said, ‘Laurie, you already know how to write. Why are you bothering to take classes? Why? What are you doing in school? You should go get an internship. You'll get a job right away and then you can quit school.’"
Key Concept: Sometimes the biggest career breakthrough comes from recognizing when formal education has served its purpose and real-world experience becomes the better teacher. Laurie's professor saw what she couldn't see in herself - that she was already equipped with the skills she needed. The leap from student to professional isn't always about completing a program; sometimes it's about having the confidence to step into the arena when you're ready, even if you don't feel ready.
Personal Archive Note-To-Self: I remember a moment, in late elementary school or maybe middle school, where something from science and something from history and something from math all overlapped in my head, and not in some teacher-presented way. It was probably something about World War II and dropping the bombs, which - given my Pearl Harbor day birthday, I was extra tuned-in to these stories which checks out.
My brain clicked on how some calculation of mass was related to math, and how these scientists used science to change history. And I wondered why the subjects were all broken up like that. But they were, so I moved on.
Later, trying to figure out work (or whatever a modern-era “career” even is anymore), I slowwwwwly figured out the same lesson again. The subjects all overlap. It’s not about liberal arts, it’s the idea that liberating all the subjects from their middle school silos, that’s an art form in and of itself.
Like Laurie in her story, you can take stuff from one domain, and then use that expertise or experience in another. The people who make breakthroughs in one silo are special in their own way. They move the vanguard forward. But, for most of the rest of us, our rocket fuel comes from collaging our own curiosities to make a difference where we, uniquely, see a path come into focus.
Work question for you: What skill do you already possess that others recognize in you, but you're still treating like you need more formal training to develop?
LIFE: Find Your Jo Interrante - The Mentor Who Sees Your Potential
"She was so incredible, not just to work for, because she was super exciting and just complimentary to me and pushed me on to my career and encouraged me to get ready to be on the air and all kinds of things. But she also was a lot more incredible than my mother had been in terms of supporting me and telling me that I was incredibly talented, which my mother never did."
Key Concept: Sometimes the most transformative relationships in our lives come from people who aren't related to us by blood, but choose to invest in our growth anyway. Jo Interrante, Laurie's news director, provided the encouragement and belief that her family never did. These chosen mentors can fill gaps in our lives and become the voices that push us toward our potential when our original support systems fall short.
Personal Archive Note-To-Self: Jo Interrante deserves her own book. She’s the best story in Laurie’s book and she’s barely a focal point. But, she’s there, and she’s pushing, pulling, and directly engaging Laurie through all sorts of parts of her journey, both good and bad.
Parents are supposed to raise us. Music, or art, or our experience ends up doing a lot of the lift along the way. But we can’t do it all abstract like that, we need direct engagement.
To have another female voice in her life, that wasn’t her mother, who championed and challenged her into a successful radio career, and then through the trauma of being John Lennon’s last interview, and all that followed on the other side - sharing the Jo Interrante stories is Laurie’s masterpiece (you should read the book just for this detail).
Few of us have a Jo in our lives. More of us could strive to be a Jo for others. Incredible.
Life Question For You: Who in your life has believed in your potential more than your family did, and how can you pay that forward for someone else?
"I like to tell people what I listen to, to hopefully influence them to listen to it. I feel like I'm influencing them. I feel like I'm letting them know about artists who may not be alive anymore, but are still so incredible. Like David Bowie. I mean, I've seen him live so many times... And you know, sadly he's passed away. But... I like to let people know they should still be listening to that album."
Key Concept: True legacy isn't just about what you create - it's about what you help others discover. Laurie understands that being a cultural curator means preserving and passing forward the art that shaped you. In a world where algorithms decide what we hear, there's profound value in human curation based on lived experience and genuine passion. When you share what moves you, you become a bridge between generations of art and artists.
Personal Archive Note-To-Self: Legacy being one part creating and another part curating - this idea is really resonating with me. I’m thinking of my Poppop and the mix of direct experiences vs. the more indirect “oh, he LOVED this” type details.
The beach and the Cadillac and the garden, those are one type of thing. He made those special by the experiences he created around them with me. But the songs and places and the people in my family, they exist outside of him, often as reminders, but also as touchpoints that are way larger.
I know legacy is what you leave behind and it has lots of murky nuance to it. Still, if the focus is on curating meaning, as much as it is on creating any type of one-off experience or art, I think a person is on the right track.
Laurie is doing it by writing her book and not letting her radio specials drift off into space forever. I respect it. Especially knowing she’s taking the time to speak with people like Kevin and me to share the stories, and incorporate them into our own lives.
Legacy question for you: What art, music, books, or experiences that shaped you are you actively sharing with the next generation, and what might be lost if you don't?
BEFORE YOU GO: Be sure to…
Check out her book "Confessions of a Rock and Roll Name Dropper"
Visit her website: https://www.confessionsofarocknrollnamedropper.com/
Take a moment to reflect on all these ideas!
You have a Personal Network and a Personal Archive just waiting for you to build them up stronger. Look at your work, look at your life, and look at your legacy - and then, start small in each category. Today it's one person and one reflection. Tomorrow? Who knows what connections you'll create.
Last thing: Don't forget to click reply/click here and tell me who you're adding to your network and why! Plus, if you already have your own Personal Archive too, let me know, I'm creating a database.