ROTH Radio Reviews Thread.

Entertainment Columnist - Scott Tady
01/08/2006

Good or bad, he's no Howard Stern

AK NAHAS
Give him credit for not being a Howard Stern clone.

Landing on terrestrial radio last Tuesday, David Lee Roth sounded more like a mix of Dr. Phil, Dr. Laura and Pittsburgh's own Jim Quinn.

The Roth show, heard locally on WRKZ-FM (93.7), debuted dismally, but by Friday the former Van Halen singer hit a groove that made his show fairly entertaining, or at least worth a few more listens.

Focusing on listener phone calls and his own rapid-fire riffing, Roth wisely has left the strippers, drunken dwarves and crazy cabbies to his predecessor, Stern, whose Sirius Satellite Radio show premieres Monday.

The bigger risk by the 51-year-old Roth is his refusal to load his show with celebrity guests. Roth explained he doesn't want to interview Hollywood stars because then he'd have to pretend he saw their latest movie.

That's a refreshing attitude, but it backfired during Roth's most crucial hour - the 8 to 9 a.m. drive time slot on his debut show - when he spent the entire time interviewing his Uncle Manny, a World War II veteran and 1950s Greenwich Village club owner.

With his stories about bombing Berlin and booking Peter, Paul & Mary, Manny was the perfect radio guest ... for an AM nostalgia station like WJAS (1320.)

Things hadn't improved much by Wednesday for listeners who tuned in to hear an emergency medical technician discussing the importance of 911. Just what gridlock-weary commuters need - a boring lecture. Roth has undergone extensive training as a New York City EMT, something he talked about at great length last week.

The Roth show improved Thursday and Friday when the host fielded phone calls and dispensed advice on relationships and parenting. Though his show is heard throughout eastern and Midwestern markets, most of those callers had Brooklyn accents that "Saturday Night Fever's" Tony Manero would have struggled to comprehend.

At times, his conversations with listeners turned political, allowing Roth to get on a soapbox on issues such as gun control (he's opposed, though he says hunters should only be allowed in the woods after receiving extensive gun training).

With his bold opinions, quick wit and colorful use of language, Roth showed ample potential. He fired off some funny one-liners ("The problem with Cuban coffee," he said, "is that a week later I'm drowsy again.") and displayed a proper mix of defiance and humor in dealing with the inevitable crank-calling Stern fans.

But with no provocative guests to grill, Roth's shtick sometimes grew tiresome. To maintain a verbal flow, Roth surrounded himself in the studio with several underlings, none of whom contributed much in the way of humor or insight, though in fairness we should give them time to see if there's a Stern-styled Stuttering John or Baba Booey in the bunch.

Roth, too, deserves a few more weeks to fine-tune his show.

Though, if he doesn't soon find someone more interesting than Uncle Manny to talk to, WRKZ officials might want to start figuring out a backup plan.

...
Scott Tady can be reached online at stady@timesonline.com.



©Beaver County Times Allegheny Times 2006

Roth fans woodn't reed dat.

Tit's t2oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooo

Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooNG.


:spank:


I had t2o edTIT dat. Tit was t2oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooo

Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooNG.;)

go rewind "brokeback mountian", and watch it again....... :rolleyes:

"Roth explained he doesn't want to interview Hollywood stars because then he'd have to pretend he saw their latest movie."

Dave still got it! Hope he improves, maybe an on air bong hit might help him. Just a suggestion :)

I've been listening regularly, and I'll admit he did start off slow, but he's been getting better every day, and he's an interesting guy.

I think this is going to work out nicely for him. He handles the callers well, and the hecklers with diginity. He's also starting to open up more about himself, and is endearing himself to listeners...

I've turned some friends on to the webcast, and they all say it's pretty good stuff, even the ones who weren't big fans of his to begin with. Go Dave!!! :D

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Jurak
go rewind "brokeback mountian", and watch it again....... :rolleyes:

---

KUDOS, Jurak.........PHIL is definitely hard up and probably a cross-dresser seeking attention in a bad way.

Got Stillettos Phil ? You just might get a wink and a smile from your Brokeback partner..

DAVE's show is diggin' in! Hunkerin' down! looks like we're in for a very long night!

Dave is really starting to kick ass now.

He really is an impressive individual.

Roth’s classy jump to radio

Jan 15, 2006

http://www.rock101.net/images/davidleeroth.jpg

The strangest thing happened to New York radio earlier this month when K-ROCK rebranded itself as the talk station WFNY. Its morning slot, once filled by the raunchy sex talk of Howard Stern, became a forum for discussions of rock trivia, random musings and PG-13 humor.

Even stranger: The man hosting that forum is David Lee Roth, onetime singer for the rock band Van Halen.

Is this a move toward kinder, gentler radio? Don't count on it. Roth wasn't hired to be Daniel Schorr - he was picked to replace the most popular shock jock in America. It seems almost accidental that Roth now qualifies as one of the classiest acts at WFNY/92.3 FM, and during his shows you can almost hear his employers at CBS Radio asking what the heck went wrong.

They probably thought they'd picked a winner in Roth. His name is instantly recognizable to young males, a virtual synonym for rock-star debauchery. He's a gifted gabber with an offbeat wit and a fast-moving mind. He's also a knowledgeable music fan who likes to talk rock history with callers. (He even chooses his own eclectic background music.) How could WFNY have known that Roth would keep the vulgarity to a minimum and treat his listeners with respect?

Roth's show isn't terribly compelling, but it's refreshing to hear a morning jock ease off the insults, gay jokes and tasteless humor. Compare Roth to another host on WFNY, Leslie Gold, aka "The Radio Chick." On her inaugural show, she and her crew made fun of Dick Clark's slurred speech (the result of his recent stroke) and giggled over a recording of an inarticulate Hurricane Katrina survivor (he'd just lost his wife).

In a city filled with Miss Joneses and Stars and Buc Wilds, Roth probably can't remain mild-mannered for long. He's already wising up to the shock-jock game, bringing in a Stern-style crew of comedians and getting abrasive with callers. He's also fishing for controversy: Earlier this week he took calls on the subject of sex with minors.

"Everybody thinks the only way to get to young people today is to be dumb," says Michael Harrison, who publishes the trade magazine Talkers and worked as a radio host during the 1970s. "Most of my listeners were 18 to 24," he recalls. "We did it by talking to young people more intelligently than our counterparts on AM radio did. I think that formula would work today. And no one seems to have gotten that idea."



:elvis:

As I've said, I didn't expect just Beavis and Butthead and big titties on the Roth Show...

I think Diamond Dave is a keeper on the air.
He's quick, and provoking
And no, He's not Howard Stern, unlike Howard he can sing,
speaks 3 languages, and is worldly

the sky's the limit, I would rather see him evolve slowly just like hes doing than to come out with a scripted format.

I look forward to listening to him already.

Exactly. His show actually is getting more interesting every day.

I listen to it streaming on my office computer, and my only complaint is that they don't update the website with the latest streams quick enough.

Other than that, the content is great, his personality is still one of the most dynamic ever seen, and I thank God we have the internet, because otherwise I wouldn't get to hear him on the West Coast...

"Roth's show isn't terribly compelling, but it's refreshing to hear a morning jock ease off the insults, gay jokes and tasteless humor. Compare Roth to another host on WFNY, Leslie Gold, aka "The Radio Chick." On her inaugural show, she and her crew made fun of Dick Clark's slurred speech (the result of his recent stroke) and giggled over a recording of an inarticulate Hurricane Katrina survivor (he'd just lost his wife)."

He's a class act all the way. Smart, smutty humour is what gets me hooked in. I really hope Dave builds a real grass roots following similar to the early Van Halen days.