Paul Michaels was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. After serving in the U.S. Navy he attended the University of Detroit and Wayne State University majoring in Communication Arts. He worked at various radio stations in the south as a play-by-play sports announcer doing local high school games and as a DJ. Since that seemed to be going nowhere, he came back to Detroit where he secured a job as an overnight disc jockey and night janitor. It didn’t pay much but it afforded him the opportunity to develop a jazz show that carried him until his entrance into the advertising world.