Director Mitchell Stuart’s Worst to First is a love letter to radio

Filmmaker Mitchell Stuart. // Courtesy Gunpowder & Sky

Released last week via streaming VOD and cable on-demand by Gunpowder & Sky, the new documentary, Worst to First: The True Story of Z100 New York, tells the story of the legendary NYC pop radio station’s meteoric rise from the bottom of the rankings to become number one in a very crowded market.

The doc “portrays the ultimate David and Goliath story that built the foundation for the world’s biggest radio station and the people behind the legacy that endures and continues to grow, reaching eight-digit audiences daily, and continuing to influence the face of media and entertainment,” but also, ultimately, speaks to the power of fandom and connecting with people.

It’s a fascinating story, covering a unique moment in history, beginning in 1983, right when pop music was set to explode once again.

When we spoke via Zoom with director Mitchell Stuart last week, we began by asking him how his connection to Z100 began, which is an equally-fascinating tale.

Given that Stuart is a self-avowed punk rocker, clad in a Clash t-shirt and leather jacket, working with a station famous for helping break Madonna, Bon Jovi, and Taylor Dayne initially caused a bit of cognitive dissonance.

Worst to First poster

“Somewhere in 2003, Don MacLeod–a dear friend who had been tracking our business for a number of years–said, ‘I think you’re ready,’” relates Stuart. “’I want to hook you up with the people at Z,’ and so he introduced me to Tom Poleman and Sharon Dastur and they invited me to do something backstage at Jingle Ball.”

Z100’s Jingle Ball is an annual concert held at Madison Square Garden, featuring some of the biggest names in pop music.

For the record, the 2003 show was hosted by Jennifer Lopez and is rather notorious for having headlined pop-punk band Simple Plan over Beyonce and Jay-Z. 2021’s show featured Ed Sheeran and the Jonas Brothers.

“To go backstage for a pop concert, I was going in there with my best cynical armor up,” Stuart remembers, but then discovered that his point of view would rapidly change.

“I found these people–everyone out that worked at Z100–were such music people. They loved music as much as anyone you’d ever want to have loved music and it was genuine. It was real.”

Plus, the experience of 19,000 fans screaming for every act that came out at Madison Square Garden can do a lot to change one’s mind, as well. From there, Stuart began working with the station to produce commercials and help take the station from where it was once again sitting at the bottom of the ratings, back up to the top.

In the course of his time working for Z100, Stuart learned something of the history of the station, and discovered that his time there mirrored the start 20 years prior. Given that Z100 was a New York institution, he was aware of the station, but knew little regarding its particulars.

“They did some commercials and billboards, but it wasn’t music that was aimed at me,” explains Stuart. “I never paid attention to them because it wasn’t playing the Clash. It wasn’t playing ska. It wasn’t playing stuff I was listening to.”

Additionally, when Stuart worked with Z100 and then IHeartRadio as an agency and a production company, it wasn’t going back. It was always going forward. It wasn’t until after he got the call to work on Worst to First that Stuart discovered legendary DJ Scott Shannon started Z100, or that it began in 1983. The fun thing about the documentary is that the viewer goes on the same journey Stuart did, learning about how this now-juggernaut of a station had its humble beginnings in “the swaps of New Jersey.”

Scott Shannon from Mitchell Stuart’s Worst to First. // Courtesy Gunpowder & Sky

“I met Scott and he sensed that he could trust me,” Stuart recalls of the start of the project. “I said, ‘The only rule about this is I’m going to tell the truth. I don’t know where we’re going now. In fact, I don’t even know the story we’re going to tell. I’m going to figure this out along the way.’ I knew nothing.”

Stuart explains that, as a documentarian, that joy of discovery is something you want to have in the film, because it allows the director to represent the audience as something akin to an onscreen avatar, taking the same journey that they are. Along the way, the viewer hears from DJ Shannon, but also a who’s who of music history such as Jon Bon Jovi, Nile Rodgers, Clive Davis, Debbie Gibson, Joan Jett, Taylor Dayne, and Tony Orlando, along with myriad folks who worked at the station.

It’s the Jon Bon Jovi interview that starts the film that really sets the tone, thanks to the fact that you can watch this musician who’s seen a million faces and rocked them all go all the way back to when he was just a kid starting out.

“When you heard Jon answer those questions, it was very soft-spoken,” Stuart explains. “It was very genuine because we’re talking about what he loves and it wasn’t Jon Bon Jovi, the rockstar. It was John Bongiovi, the kid from Jersey, who was trying to make it: ‘Now I’ve made it and I’m here talking about Scott Shannon, because he was so helpful in getting me from here, too.’”

Worst to First: The True Story of Z100 New York is available on VOD and cable on-demand now.