Laughs and revelations as radio hosts MJ and BJ reunite

There were hugs, handshakes, laughs and a dramatic on-air revelation about cocaine abuse at today's reunion of morning radio personalities MJ Kelli and BJ Harris on WFLZ, 93.3 FM.

Harris, who hosts a radio show in Denver, hadn't been back to Tampa since he left in February 2001 - and getting here turned out to be an expensive chore.

A snowstorm in Denver on Wednesday delayed Harris' flight and he missed a connection in Atlanta. Faced with the possibility that his former partner wouldn't make it here, Kelli (Todd Schnitt) scrambled in the late-night hours to hire a limousine to drive Harris from Atlanta to Tampa.

"It cost me exactly $1,735.09 and I put it on my American Express card," Kelli told listeners.

Both men were working on less than three hours sleep when they took a sometimes painful trip back to the 1990s, when they first met and had one of the top radio shows in Tampa.

From 1994 to 2001, they ruled the ratings and when Harris left there were rumors that their egos had clashed.

But this morning, the former co-hosts revealed the reason for the breakup of "The MJ & BJ Show" nearly nine years ago: Harris' cocaine addiction that spiraled out of control.

Kelli said he reached out to BJ about two years ago to rekindle their friendship.

"I felt enough time had passed and he had straightened out his life," he said. "I visited him several times in Denver and we decided that it would be good to clear the air and tell what happened.

"I think his experience might serve as a warning to people and maybe help someone get help," he said.

Harris, whose first name is Barry, said that talking openly helps him cope.

"I am still an addict; I will always be an addict," he said. "But I have been clean for about two years now."

Harris said his cocaine use began in the mid-1990s and became progressively worse.

"It got to the point where it was taking away my family from me, my children, my wife and my work," he said.

Kelli, who says he has never touched any kind of drug, wasn't aware of the abuse until Harris told him in late 1999.

"I knew you liked to drink beer and I thought you had a drinking problem," he told Harris.

Harris said the problem reached a critical stage in 2000 when they were in Las Vegas to present entertainer of the year at the Radio Music Awards live on ABC - he went missing for three days, partying on cocaine. They managed to pull off the presentation but WFLZ management (Clear Channel Communications) wanted Harris to clean up his act.

Attempts at intervention, including 35 days at an addiction center, failed, Harris recalled.

Harris also surprised Kelli with a story about paying $200 to WFLZ personality "Uncle Fester" (Dominic Siciliano) to provide "clean" urine so he could pass a drug test.

At one stage, Harris had run 53 radio stations while serving as WFLZ director and co-host of the morning show. Clear Channel demoted him to program director at a Cincinnati station. But he still couldn't kick the habit and eventually was unemployed.

"Setting me free without a paycheck was one of the best things they could have done," he said. "It was tough love.

"I finally saw the light and decided that if I didn't stop, I would die," he said.

In 2003, he joined KALC, Alice FM, in Denver as program director and later launched a successful morning show.

"Once we have cleared the air then we can get to the fun stuff," Kelli said. "Tomorrow we will go back to the original 'MJ & BJ Show."