 At the age of 18, Cochran attended Ithaca College for a year before dropping out to start his radio career.He sold radio advertising for a summer before starting his career at WTKO in his home town as a DJ.Between 1981 and 2007, Cochran worked at 14 radio stations in 10 cities (including New York, Baltimore, Miami, Minneapolis (KDWB 101.3 FM), St. Louis, Detroit, and Chicago) and 8 states.