Things start to go bad a month or so in...

Who am I kidding? Things went bad before the end of January!

More articles, from around the end of January 2006:

In radioland, it's the sour grapes of Roth

David Lee Roth's antics are said to be an outrage to some at station 92.3 Free FM.
Looks like rock-star-turned-shock-jock David Lee Roth is having an ugly launch as Howard Stern's successor, with radio station staffers grumbling about Roth's allegedly bad behavior.

My sources at 92.3 Free FM - formerly K-Rock - tell me that the former Van Halen front man and his manager, Matt Sencio, "are totally out of control and out of their league when it comes to producing a radio show," as one disgruntled employee put it.

"This guy [Roth] is impossible to work with. A real arrogant, self-righteous a-," says a Lowdown spy. "All the execs know they made the two biggest errors in radio history - letting Stern go to Sirius and hiring this moron Roth. He never preps for a show. He is out the door five minutes after the show, unless he is 'forced' to record a commercial or re-record ones he made errors on."

According to the anti-Roth faction, he demanded that general manager Tom Chiusano do expensive renovations on Stern's old studio, then refused to use it, claiming asbestos infestation. He ripped down the walls of a temporary studio because of suspected dust behind the walls.

"He swears he is allergic to dust and smoke, but smells like an ashtray," says the spy.

The source also says Roth's manager got into a shouting match with program director Mark Chernoff on one of the first few days of the show. Then, the spy says, "Roth insisted on decorating the halls and studios, and then he had a moving company come in and remove dozens of pictures and his fake palm trees while he mumbled about Tom and the bastards at Infinity," he said.

In addition, said the source, Roth "hates Tom and is vocal about that to almost everyone he talks at. It's almost like he wants to get fired, and take the money and run."

My detailed messages to various and sundry went unreturned yesterday, and a station spokeswoman declined to comment.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/sto...p-326862c.html

1-24-06

Where have all the Stern fans gone?

By DAVID HINCKLEY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Many of Howard Stern's fans say that, alas, no one on the dial can replace him.

As expected, Howard Stern fans seem to have scattered widely since Stern left for Sirius satellite this month.

Last week we asked those fans what they're doing now, and while this is a highly unscientific survey, there was a solid consensus that most aren't wild about their other choices.

That said, here's a sampling.

"Since no one comes close to Stern's genius, I listen to silence." - Matteo Dobrini

"Curtis and Kuby [WABC]." - Steven R. Bis

"I started listening to Z100. They are pretty funny." - Laura Coppolino

"The Zoo stations are empty garbage. Imus [WFAN] is too politically left. I've listened to Mike and Mike [WEPN] the most so far." - Frank Capobianco

"Imus is funny about 15 minutes a week. Curtis and Kuby can be too heavy. Roth Radio [David Lee Roth, WFNY] should be renamed Wretched Radio. Mike and Mike are just okay. I think I will just leave the radio off." - Marty Kwitter

"I always switched between Stern and Star [WWPR]. Now I listen to Star every day. He's funny, political and he cracks on everyone." - Misael Torres

"Finally settled on Imus and crew - funny, great interviews, educational and dependable." - Dick & Nancy Spahr

"I've been listening to Imus, but I'm bored. I have nothing else except CDs." - Jeff Emmer

"Opie and Anthony on XM." - Richard Welch

"Roth is the worst, Sliwa is a hack, Imus is lame. I am listening to books on CD and tape." - Christopher Hartmann

"Mike and Mike." - Gerald Matrale

"I listen to Imus most mornings. I cannot listen to hate radio WABC. Curtis is not the big man he thinks he is and Ron allows himself to be castrated for a paycheck." - Richard Wilson

"The Z100 Zoo is lame and I hate Imus because Howard did." - Jonathan Heines

"I listen to blues and country on WFDU. - Jerry Gips

"Nothing replaces Howard. I'd rather throw myself off a bridge than listen to David Lee Roth." - Gina Bertozzi

"I have Sirius and listen to Stern, but the reception is bad near Newark Airport so I have to switch there. I tried David Lee Roth for one day and settled on Star. He is smart and occasionally funny." - Len Franco

"Roth is unlistenable. Curtis & Kuby are too political. I like Mike & Mike, but I can only take so much and it's back to music: WAXQ, WBGO, WKCR, WFUV, WFDU." - Ray Hendricks

"I listen to WNYC. Maybe for my birthday someone will get me Sirius. Until then, I'll be well informed." - Anna Bennett

"Used to toggle among Stern, NPR and WFUV. Now just the latter two." - Marc Weshler

"I like Ed Walsh on WOR. After 9 I default to Imus. WFNY should put the Radio Chick in the morning." - Greg Polvere

"Opie and Anthony. Cutting edge and funny. - Nick Lipira

"Air America [WLIB] is interesting and informative."- Frank Olmeda

"I've lost Stern, Bob Grant and oldies 101.1. Now in the morning I listen to WBBR."
- Barry Brown

"Love Curtis and Kuby." - Molly Hutcher

"Steve Harvey on WBLS." - Suena Williams

"ESPN Radio has been quite sufficient in replacing Stern. I also moved to Air America and WBGO. I can honestly say my IQ has gone up."- Kyle Younger

Originally published on January 30, 2006

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...p-328244c.html

Stone’s Stern With Stern

Howard Stern is featured in the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine, but the word “tedious” in the teaser is a clue it’s not such a flattering piece.

Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield feels that Stern's new Sirius Satellite show puts the "um" in "tedium" and that Stern “sounds like he no longer has to deal with anybody” who’s not a brown-noser, and, “as a result he sounds like a bored, gloomy fifty-two-year-old man.”

Sheffield feels that Stern may be bored because “he's got nobody to piss him off anymore” and suggests that Stern’s terrestrial radio replacement David Lee Roth “is more interesting just because it's so skin-crawlingly awful.” He adds that in these days of bland corporate radio, “it's bracing to hear a guy (Roth) who has no idea what he's doing.”

http://www.radioink.com/HeadlineEntr...&pt=todaysnews

1-30-06

Horoscope blurb:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

Chatty Mercury is entering your sign. You'll want to express your opinion. Make like David Lee Roth taking over Howard Stern's spot on the radio. Talk about what you want, when you want. Roth is said to be driving his producers nuts because he shows up just before the show and leaves immediately afterward. Maybe it's time for you to hunt down a day job that gives you as much freedom.

2-4-06

The Fine Line between Stupid and Clever

I wanna rock and roll all night ... but get to bed around 9:00

By Sean Bartlett

Published: Thursday, February 2, 2006

According to Don McLean, "the day the music died" was Feb. 2, 1959, when an airplane carrying rock legends Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper crashed in a cornfield just outside of Mason City, Iowa. The accident brought an abrupt end to the lives of three highly influential rockers, but perhaps more importantly, signaled the premature demise of Rockabilly culture. '50s dance music was effectively laid to rest on that day, leaving a void that would soon be amply filled by pot, flower children and all things psychedelic.

Such significant shifts of the American zeitgeist are usually best represented through the medium of pop culture. As each decade moves toward new sets of values and social mores, our icons, who were once truly gods amongst men, are thrown by the wayside into states of relative cultural obscurity. It is a heinous fate for many pop idols, as the struggle to find a life after fame is perhaps the megalomaniac's version of an earthly purgatory; a once vibrant soul is now but a shade that prays for a death that refuses to come.

Many believe that Nirvana slew the proverbial hair-metal hydra that dominated the American music scene for an entire decade. Generally, the release of Nevermind in 1991 has been rightly pinpointed as the end of many aqua-net fueled careers. I hoped, however, that metal's raucous spirit had lived on in some regard, if only for my personal sanity. The recent, albeit mild, comeback of Motley Crue this past summer was a sign that the sentiment of the deliciously depraved 1980s had not yet yielded to our increasingly conservative society.

But if there was ever a day I would have seriously considered getting plastered on whiskey and rye at my local levee, it may have been Jan. 3, 2006. It was the day that David Lee Roth took over Howard Stern's timeslot in several East Coast radio markets after the latter made the move to uncensored satellite radio. It was also the day I realized that rock and roll hedonism was officially dead, and that the terrorists had, in fact, won.

When I think of important men who truly defined eras, three names come to mind: Lincoln, Churchill and Roth, as there is no better personification of the decadent 1980s than Diamond Dave. As the front man for Van Halen, the most influential rock band of the period, he embodied a lifestyle of impish excess that every man, woman and child in America wanted to be a part of, if only on some subconscious level. And reaching him was as simple as guiding a turntable's needle into the appropriate groove, whereupon listeners would be offered three-minute teasers into a lifestyle they could never know, transported far from their banal existences to a better place where there is no more valuable a commodity than a ripping guitar solo.

Unfortunately, Roth has now been reduced to the rock-god approximation of a nine-to-five job. As a morning disk jockey, he is locked into a Monday through Friday, four-hour gig that starts at 6:00 a.m. The only way I feel comfortable thinking of Dave up at that ungodly hour is if he's stumbling into a random hotel room after a night of strippers, Jack Daniels and misdemeanors.

Instead of discussing topics like the effects of an incredibly sexy teacher on a young student or driving cars as fast as humanly possible, Roth now goes as far as to devote his insight to more serious topics like the war in Iraq. It is a subject he is strangely conservative about, promoting a view completely antipode to everything I was taught in the school of rock. One thing is for sure: There has never been a time I have been more conscious of the fact that he is old enough to realistically be my father. Sure, the same is true for Steven Tyler, but for some reason he's exempt from such a negative characterization. At the very worst he's that cool uncle who gives you alcohol from the open bar at your cousin's wedding.

On Van Halen's self-titled debut, it is proclaimed that the protagonist of "Running with the Devil" lives his life like there's no tomorrow, and this may have been true for the David Lee Roth of 1979. But for the DLR of 2006 there is a tomorrow, one that arrives all too soon, his former self but a memory to be briefly revived in discussions on VH1's I Love the '80s. But I will always remember how that music made me smile, regardless of the fact that its godfather can no longer wear his badge of chemically-altered honor.


Sean Bartlett, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at srb@bu.edu.

http://www.dailyfreepress.com/media/...-1596801.shtml

Radio notes

Thursday, February 09, 2006

BY CLAUDIA PERRY
Star-Ledger Staff

Cramer stays current

Jim Cramer has left WOR (710 AM), but he'll be back on the air soon enough.

Cramer, the Summit resident who is the host of CNBC's "Mad Money" and is a markets commentator for TheStreet.com, takes "Jim Cramer's Real Money" to CBS Radio. The one-hour program will air at 1 p.m. weekdays starting Monday on hot talker WFNY (92.3 FM).

The show will focus on how to save and invest wisely in the market, as well as examine companies large and small to assess their investment potential. Listeners will be able to interact with Cramer on-air.

Cramer's parting from WOR was amicable. He had aired on WOR and its affiliates for three years. His last shows for the station will be Sunday.

While it seemed CBS Radio wanted young males for its Free FM stations, adding Cramer to the lineup signals a serious attempt to reach out to adult listeners. WFNY has been putting more guests on its morning show, which is hosted by David Lee Roth. Roth, who drew more than a few negative comments, has settled into something of a groove.

How are listeners taking it? The best way to find out will be the first monthly trend ratings, which come out Feb. 27.

People on the move

Two high-profile exits at local station groups have some tongues wagging. Barry Mayo, manager of the Emmis stations in New York, left last month. Andy Rosen, who played a similar role at the Clear Channel New York stations, exited last week. Rosen is rumored to be in contention to replace Mayo.

New in town is WDHA (105.5 FM) program director Tony Paige, who replaced Terrie Carr after she decamped to Sirius. Nancy McKinley replaced John Ryan as station manager of WDHA and WMTR (1250 AM). The stations are owned by Greater Media.

Perennial ratings leader WLTW (106.7 FM) adds Rich Kaminski for its 4 to 8 p.m. weekday shift. Kaminski will go on the air Feb. 20.

Program notes

Brooke Gladstone, co-host of "On the Media," will report from Jerusalem this weekend on media coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict. "On the Media," which is produced by WNYC, airs at 7 a.m. Saturday on 820 AM and 10 a.m. Sunday on 93.9 FM.

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/ledg...450.xml&coll=1

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Sirius Satellite and XM Radio’s Newest Marketing Tool: David Lee Roth
By: David Schultz

http://www.earvolution.com/images/roth.jpg

When Howard Stern moved to Sirius Satellite Radio, he became Sirius' strongest argument for attracting people away from terrestrial radio. In the last two weeks, a surprising entrant has emerged to challenge Stern as satellite radio's greatest marketing tool: David Lee Roth.

Since taking the commercial airwaves on January 3rd, Roth's inaugural broadcasts have been scatterbrained messes with little to no coherent thought being applied to the subjects discussed during the most misguided call-in show in recent history. In the absence of guests, well, to be fair, interesting guests, Roth must carry the show with his wit and charm. Instead, Roth falls back on stories of his recent exploits as a New York EMT and rehashes old grudges with Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen. In 1985, when Roth oozed charisma, this might be interesting. In 2006, it's painful radio.

The majority of Roth's show revolves around his monologues on political and social issues. At the core of Roth's problems is his lack of pedigree to credibly offer opinions on many of the weighty issues he wants to discuss. Roth wants listeners to buy into the belief that he is an intelligent, thoughtful social critic without making any effort to build up such a rapport with his audience. To most listeners, David Lee Roth is an increasingly irrelevant, aging rock star. America likely cares no more for his thoughts on President Bush's policies or legislative enactments than they would about Courtney Love's views on health care or Paris Hilton's thoughts on the amendments to the tax code. Before his predecessor Howard Stern confronted politics, he had earned the trust of his audience, generally reserving his strongest, most lucid opinions for issues within his bailiwick as a performer (e.g. censorship, the FCC) or as a longtime New Yorker (e.g. daytime highway construction, living in New York after 9/11).

Roth attempts to confront and discuss a wide variety of issues on his show, inviting listeners to call in and join the discussion. When the subjects are entertainment related, especially with respect to musician's behavior, Roth is in his element, obviously having a large reservoir of knowledge on the topic. When he wants to discuss politically charged issues like the recent New York City transit strike or the war in Iraq, Roth's glib, easy answer persona fails him to miserable, horrific degrees.

When discussing weighty topics, he sounds like a moderately educated person simplistically and unconvincingly arguing about issues that are beyond the full breadth of his comprehension. In relating his views on the Iraqi War, Roth mashed his thoughts on Bush's reasons for going to war, America's conduct of the war and our continued presence in the country into one muddled, confusing argument. Before you could make an effort to parse through what Roth thought he was trying to say, Linda, one of his foils chimed in, a la Britney Spears, that she follows and believes in whatever our President does because it's wartime, he's our Commander In Chief and deserves our respect and trust without question. When a listener phoned in to chide Linda for her slavish worship, Roth dismissed the caller thanking him for calling in to humiliate himself, leaving his friend's blind allegiance unquestioned.

In the 80s, Roth showed enormous charisma and a sense of humor in his "Diamond Dave" persona. Sadly, all of those character traits are absent from his morning program. When the discussion turns to the music and entertainment industry, Roth shows glimmers of interest. Given that Van Halen continued under the same name after Sammy Hagar replaced Roth, his views on whether a Freddie Mercury-less band should still call themselves Queen had some weight behind them, even if tinged by his remaining bitterness for those who participated in Van Halen version 2.0. Similarly, when Roth confronted an author who had written a book about an extraterrestrial influence in rock and roll, Roth relied on his own experiences with egocentric musicians to express skepticism in the author's thin premise.

Unfortunately for his audience, Roth rarely stays grounded in areas he can comfortably and knowledgably discuss. An early diatribe against gun control, early in his first week on the air, typified Roth's elocutionary failures. In supporting his view that America requires better education on guns rather than gun control, Roth told a surprisingly riveting tale of a delusional ex-convict attempting to kidnap his father, a 56-year-old physician, at gunpoint. The incident, which occurred in his father's medical office, concluded with his father disarming the kidnapper with his bare hands before escaping out a back door. Throughout this story, Roth remained completely oblivious to the fact that he supported his argument for the unlimited right to purchase weapons with an anecdote involving an unarmed man in his mid-fifties (albeit with a black belt in karate) eluding a psychopathic gunman without the use of a weapon which Roth wishes everyone to have free access. Ignoring the fact that restricting weapons might have prevented his father from having one pointed at him, Roth proudly announced that he purchased a gun and slept with it under his pillow until the police captured the gunman. Regardless of whether you agree with his political views, Roth's ineptness as a political pundit or coherent social commentator predominates the entire discussion.

Unless Roth significantly improves, his time on commercial radio may be limited to how long it takes Infinity Broadcasting to figure out how to bring Adam Carolla's program over from the west coast. Somewhere in the entertainment graveyard, a crypt houses the corpses of The Chevy Chase Show and The Magic Hour. The caretaker should start preparations to receive the David Lee Roth radio program, it is arriving soon.

http://www.earvolution.com/2006/01/s...ios-newest.asp

Might as well jump ... to another station: Dave's dull debut

By Irene Test

Published: Thursday, January 19, 2006

David Lee Roth should be entertaining; after all, he did front Van Halen, train as a helicopter pilot and work briefly as an EMT. Explaining that curious latter career choice, he says, "It's out of balance, like most of our show here," in his new radio show broadcast throughout the East Coast.

Roth couldn't be any more correct: His radio show, the replacement for Howard Stern's in Boston and six other cities, is about as interesting as Sammy Hagar's solo career. If Diamond Dave hopes to sustain a four-hour radio program, he needs to open up, to deviate from celebrity gossip and diluted current events discussions.

Roth begins with the predictable batch of celebrity "news" -- what any reader could find skimming People -- and drones on for more than an hour without any insight. The topic of actors venturing into music is addressed, but Roth offers scant commentary.

Shouldn't he have an opinion about actors who, with the help of a producer and guest artists, can churn out an album and a hit single, while authentic musicians struggle to be on the charts? Apparently not.

Roth responds,

"I'll never be an actor in a movie. I actually exist." Didn't he used to be a singer?

The second half of his show generally takes the format of a radio call-in program and, no matter the subject, the callers carry Roth's show. Here, he wanders into a less compelling version of Howard Stern territory. One discussion trots through such heavy topics as self-esteem and self-image as they relate to plastic surgery, only to degenerate into penis jokes that the show's supporting cast laugh too hard at.

If David Lee Roth is going to continue with a four-hour show, he needs to be less mundane and more open. It's a daunting task to replace Stern, the radio host who played the rock star with ever-increasing success. Roth's failure is that he's got it all wrong: he's just a rock star trying to be a radio host.

http://www.dailyfreepress.com/media/...-1478101.shtml

Talking points

January 14, 2006

GEOFF EDGERS

He has the pipes. He knows how to work the big stage. But anybody tuning in to David Lee Roth's new morning radio show -- the one that's been created to replace Howard Stern, who moved to Sirius -- knows he's not likely to last even as long as Gary Cherone in Van Halen. Fear not, Infinity -- we've come up with a few good, strong candidates to help send Diamond Dave packing. And we've had some very important experts -- the Comedy Asylum's Chet Harding, Talkers magazine founder Michael Harrison, and Kevin Myron, longtime producer of the late David Brudnoy's WBZ radio show -- offer free professional critiques of the potential stars.

VINCE VAUGHN, actor
Harding: ''He would probably be great, though you would have to have a good 10-second delay on him. And he might beat up his guests."

Harrison: ''I don't think anybody who has a background other than radio is capable of filling that slot."

SARAH SILVERMAN comedian
Myron: ''I like her because she'd be local. But she would be just another person on the radio saying things outrageous just for the sake of being outrageous."

Harding: ''She would be awesome, but she'd be shut down in a day. If you think Howard Stern had FCC problems . . . She's cute and personable, so she might be able to get a second day."

CHRIS ISAAK
singer and actor
Harrison: ''Anybody who does not have radio experience and [hasn't] worked their way through radio is doomed to fail."

Harding: ''You know, the ladies love Chris. He's a good singer, a good actor. I don't know if he makes a good talk show host. He's just a little too smooth and a little too laid-back. He'd probably be a great, cutting-edge NPR host, if they want to get a little edgy, if they want to break out of the box a little bit and get a little crazy."

SINBAD, comedian
Harding: ''He's too nice. I think of him more like if there was a radio Disney host that adults might tune in to, Sinbad's your man. And you want to see those parachute pants; you don't want to hear him describing them. He's a step ahead of Carrot Top as host. I don't dislike him. I honestly think he's just too nice. He's a funny guy, but he's a little too sterile maybe."

Myron: ''The thing about him is he's one of those made-for-TV celebrities or one of those made-by-TV celebrities. Where's the beef?"

Harrison: ''The idea that the only person good enough would be someone not in radio, that's a joke. Ridiculous. It kind of gives the impression that radio is a lowly medium, and that is, in fact, insulting.

http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/a...alking_points/

Dave's appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast was good, and gives a great set up to Dave's radio career.

Here...

From 35 minutes...and at 1 hour 33 minutes

https://youtu.be/aiIHEyvjNdA

Ya I got that one saved. Thanks again for posting all these, back in 06 i was on dial up, so I never would have been able to hear it.

This is one of the coolest things on this website. .. ever. I love listening to these.
You know.. the show wasn't so bad.
But come on.. his co-hosts were Animal, his EMT instructor and B. Young.
Get someone interesting with some skills in there.
He needed someone to reel him in after awhile.
A Joey Diaz kind of guy that is funny and not politically correct.
I didn't like the loops that were played all the time.
Anyways, it's crazy this actually happened!

Talk radio is more of an east coast thing. One of the first things I heard from Howard was a decent exchange with Robin about Oprah inferring Howard was a racist because he had a white guy ghost write his memoirs. Howard pulled no punches and countered that Oprah was the racist because she demanded a black ghost writer for hers and that he didn't pick the guy, the publishers did. Robin tried to defend that but in the end she gave in and admitted Howard was right about Oprah. I was totally impressed. Here's a guy who's not afraid to speak his mind even when he might get his ass handed to him for doing it. But everytime I heard something from Howard after that it was about how small his dick is or how much he'd like to fuck some chick. Most of his debates with guests after that usually turned into guest vs Howard and his minions. His side kick never turned against him and if the did they soon disappeared from his show. I check him out on YouTube once in awhile to see why one of his minions left the show but that's about it. As far as Roth Radio goes. The guy was a great musician at one time. I've heard some snippets of good radio from his shows but most of it didn't interest me in the least. Finding out he acted like a diva while doing his radio show isn't much of a surprise.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cadaverdog

Talk radio is more of an east coast thing. One of the first things I heard from Howard was a decent exchange with Robin about Oprah inferring Howard was a racist because he had a white guy ghost write his memoirs. Howard pulled no punches and countered that Oprah was the racist because she demanded a black ghost writer for hers and that he didn't pick the guy, the publishers did. Robin tried to defend that but in the end she gave in and admitted Howard was right about Oprah. I was totally impressed. Here's a guy who's not afraid to speak his mind even when he might get his ass handed to him for doing it. But everytime I heard something from Howard after that it was about how small his dick is or how much he'd like to fuck some chick. Most of his debates with guests after that usually turned into guest vs Howard and his minions. His side kick never turned against him and if the did they soon disappeared from his show. I check him out on YouTube once in awhile to see why one of his minions left the show but that's about it. As far as Roth Radio goes. The guy was a great musician at one time. I've heard some snippets of good radio from his shows but most of it didn't interest me in the least. Finding out he acted like a diva while doing his radio show isn't much of a surprise.

---

He was the star and they were paying him 4 million a year. i would have acted like a diva also.
It's Dave after all...
Breasts,

The whole radio show was one big train wreck. The first few days were so boring I couldn't believe they didn't pull the plug immediately. Sure, there were some interesting pieces here and there, but the majority of it sucked. Remember when Dave started ranting about how the station wanted to bring in some sort of sidekick and Dave whined about it on air, saying he didn't want a Robin Quivers on his show? Yeah, he should have embraced the proposed change. Remember when he was - what was it, "suspended?" for a few days and then came back and acted like a petulant child, speaking in a complete monotone? Yeah, another genius move on his part. Real "rock star" behavior there.

The worst part though was when he tried to sing, it was just horrible. I'll never forget the interview with Brian May and Dave says he can still hit the high note and I cringed, hoping he didn't try to prove it. Cause the high note he hears inside his head ain't what the rest of us hear.

Now, having said all that you'd think I wasn't a fan at all. Not true. I just realized really quickly that spending hours and hours listening to Dave ramble on is nothing like spending 12 minutes reading a giant interview the guy did in 1985 or watching a three minute Mtv interview - Dave is best in small doses. And if there had been anybody guiding the ship while Dave was on the air they would have structured the show to reflect that.

If you listen to some of the newer Roth Shows, you'll hear a lot of music mixed in between Dave's talking. It spaces things out and makes it more listenable than a straight 40 minute diatribe on the history of wrestling. Excuse me, 90 minutes of the history of wrestling. Now, if Dave's radio show had been more structured and maybe have some music tossed in - songs, not Dave screeching over whatever loop is playing - things might have worked out better for the short time the guy was gonna be on the air.

Sometimes freewheelin' isn't such a good idea.

It was just...look, I'm a longtime fan of Dave's. I dug his autobiography. He has a history of giving funny and insightful interviews as far as rock stars go.

4 hours at a shot of Roth rambling on about subjects outside of the music business, something that Roth actually knows about, was just a bad decision. Especially in terms of hosting a morning radio talk show in 2006. By that point, Roth was 2 decades past his career peak. And as mentioned in the posts above, Roth didn't exactly have a solid cast surrounding him on his radio show. If anything, the type of radio show Roth COULD have done well with would have been a rock-centric/themed show that should have been on a satellite channel with a specialized or narrowly targeted audience in mind.

It's one thing for those of us at this site to appreciate what Dave did on his radio show, but we're not really representative of the broader public who listened to morning radio in 2006...who for the most part probably hadn't even thought of Roth for a couple of decades by the time 2006 rolled around.

4 hours of anyone talking with no music and few guests 5 times a week is impossible. How could that ever work ever?

The only question at this point is was CBS incredibly fucking stupid or was he set up to fail?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Seshmeister

4 hours of anyone talking with no music and few guests 5 times a week is impossible. How could that ever work ever?

The only question at this point is was CBS incredibly fucking stupid or was he set up to fail?

---

It seems like CBS was more concerned with not pissing off Howard Stern than replacing him with someone or something that might actually interest listeners. As if they were worried Howard would turn them into public enemy number one with his fans. Since Roth and Stern were friendly if not actually friends they probably assumed Howard would hesitate to bad mouth Roth and turn his (Stern) fans against him and his show. I wonder how much influence Stern had on Roth while he was actually doing the show and if he purposely turned Dave against CBS to kill the show without looking like he back stabbed Dave.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Seshmeister

The only question at this point is was CBS incredibly fucking stupid or was he set up to fail?

---

CBS was stupid to think that talk could work once Stern left. They would have been better off syndicating more morning zoo shows.

One of Dave's on-air crew told me "absolutely!" when I asked if he felt they were set up to fail.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cadaverdog

It seems like CBS was more concerned with not pissing off Howard Stern than replacing him with someone or something that might actually interest listeners. As if they were worried Howard would turn them into public enemy number one with his fans. Since Roth and Stern were friendly if not actually friends they probably assumed Howard would hesitate to bad mouth Roth and turn his (Stern) fans against him and his show. I wonder how much influence Stern had on Roth while he was actually doing the show and if he purposely turned Dave against CBS to kill the show without looking like he back stabbed Dave.

---

Stern didn't really talk much about Dave early on, other than reporting on the bad ratings and reviews. He sent his "news team" to deal with it.

AND CBS wasn't too concerned about pissing off Stern, they sued him around the same time he started at Sirius. He did go off on CBS about that. Once they settled there wasn't a word spoken about it.

CBS would have been better off just turning over the various local stations Stern had been on over to local or regional "morning zoo" crews.

Because that's what people would have adjusted to with much more ease than transitioning to Roth. Plus, while you would have lost a percentage of Stern's audience, you would have picked up some listeners in those areas who never listened to Stern but would have given a locally-based morning zoo crew a chance, solely based on content. The content being a substantive amount of TMZ-style commentary over wacky local crime log police happenings, + promotions for local upcoming events. Then a couple of segments of national celebrity news and take a few listener phone calls. You have a primary host (or maybe two co-hosts), a sidekick, an underling, an on-air producer and a chick in terms of the cast. It is the same template in terms of casting for virtually every morning radio show. A template that Stern basically invented.

Wherever Stern was career-wise in terrestrial radio by 2006 (if he had 'peaked' years before or whatever), Stern was still the gold standard in 2006. You don't replace him with David Lee Roth. Mostly because David Lee Roth likes to talk on and on and on about one thing: himself. Stern is no humble wallflower, but Stern also knew when to let guests talk, when to let his supporting cast chime in and riff, etc.

I suppose the money that was being offered was something that Dave couldn't pass up, but I thought it was a bad idea from the day it was announced. Mostly because you have to be a REALLY diehard Roth fan to WANT to hear him talk for hours on end. Like, as I said I think Roth is perhaps one of the most entertaining rock star interview subjects ever, but you keep it in moderation: you give him his hour to talk, then you move on. Somebody at CBS confused Roth's ability to talk and talk and talk with being enough to sustain a radio show that immediately followed Stern's departure, but there's more to hosting a decent morning radio show than the ability to talk nonstop.

I think WNCX is on their 8th morning show since Stern left. I'd have to look it up to verify.

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Originally Posted by twonabomber

I think WNCX is on their 8th morning show since Stern left. I'd have to look it up to verify.

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There are so fucking many of them, but not that many good ones. Lot of 2nd, 3rd and 4th rate Stern wannabes and even the ones that aren't trying to be the next Howard Stern show are pretty lame. Plus you have all these lame-o podcasts and internet chat shows. Too many people talking to the point where sifting through it all to find a good one really isn't worth the bother. It's seemingly fairly easy to start up a morning show/podcast when thinking of some of the ones I've heard, but apparently not so easy to develop a good one.

I mean, honestly, how many different mediocre morning zoo shows with a white male in his mid 40s talking about sex, boobs and farts in a manner that only a 12 year old male would find funny does America need? Even Stern slowly grew out of that shit with the turn of the millennium.

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Originally Posted by Terry

I mean, honestly, how many different mediocre morning zoo shows with a white male in his mid 40s talking about sex, boobs and farts in a manner that only a 12 year old male would find funny does America need? Even Stern slowly grew out of that shit with the turn of the millennium.

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And that's funny about Stern. He's gone full-blown animal activist since he got remarried. Doesn't eat meat any more, and gives his staff a hard time for eating meat. This, after years of bashing Don Imus for running a ranch where sick children go to play cowboy. Others get all wound up because Stern only works three days a week, when he once said that not being on the air live five days a week "is a disservice to your listeners." And don't get some of the fans started on "Hamptons Howie."

Ironically considering the fan wars at the time, I now listen to the Opie show sometimes...

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Originally Posted by twonabomber

And that's funny about Stern. He's gone full-blown animal activist since he got remarried.

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His trophy wife looks a bit like Beavis sister... :)


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Stern_2014.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/rFJIb.gif

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Terry

I mean, honestly, how many different mediocre morning zoo shows with a white male in his mid 40s talking about sex, boobs and farts in a manner that only a 12 year old male would find funny does America need? Even Stern slowly grew out of that shit with the turn of the millennium.

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I checked, WNCX has had six different post-Stern morning shows. Seems like eight because the lead guy was replaced a couple times.

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On November 7, 2011, radio personality Slats (Tim Guinane), formerly heard on WNCX rival WMMS and WNCX sister station WXTM (now WKRK-FM), took over the WNCX morning shift. Slats' program is the sixth different morning show to air on WNCX following Stern's move to Satellite in 2006.

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I don't listen to terrestrial much. Slats does some commercials for a local RAM dealer and every sentence ends with "man." "RAM trucks are great, man!"

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Originally Posted by Seshmeister

Ironically considering the fan wars at the time, I now listen to the Opie show sometimes...

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I hear it's better without Anthony but I don't listen. If I'm on my week off of work, if Stern isn't on, I'm listening one of the music channels. I'm regressing into my New Wave origins, been listening to First Wave a lot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by twonabomber

And that's funny about Stern. He's gone full-blown animal activist since he got remarried. Doesn't eat meat any more, and gives his staff a hard time for eating meat. This, after years of bashing Don Imus for running a ranch where sick children go to play cowboy. Others get all wound up because Stern only works three days a week, when he once said that not being on the air live five days a week "is a disservice to your listeners." And don't get some of the fans started on "Hamptons Howie."

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Well, the words "Don Imus" have always been a sparking point with Stern. Any time those words were mentioned, I'd start laughing because you knew Stern was gonna lose it and just go ballistic.

Stern realized ten years ago that terrestrial radio was getting too clogged with pale imitations of his show, so he went to satellite. I'd have to imagine he's got enough "fuck you" money now not to care, and he's only still doing his show because he WANTS to. And Howard's going to do the show HE wants to do, like he always has. Some fans whine about Stern hosting American Idol and selling out, or claiming Stern has become too pc, or whatever. But he's just getting older. He's not the same Stern he was in the early 1980s. That's not necessarily a criticism - if Stern were still doing poop jokes and going on at length about how he likes to watch lesbian strippers get it on, fans would bitch about how Howard has been doing the same thing forever rather than bitching about how he has changed. So fuck the fans.

I mean, personally I think the show lost a bit of edge when Artie left, but Stern still pulls off some good interviews now and then. Even beyond that, Stern has nothing left to prove...or to innovate. There's not much left TO innovate within that morning radio talk show template anyway. In the end, it just boils down to what it always has: the show is about Stern talking about himself and his views on whatever. And you either find that of interest or you don't.

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Originally Posted by Seshmeister

His trophy wife looks a bit like Beavis sister... :)


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Stern_2014.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/rFJIb.gif

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I guess that means I want to fuck Beavis' sister, cuz I think she's hot.

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Originally Posted by Seshmeister

His trophy wife looks a bit like Beavis sister... :)

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She was 28 when Howard Stern started dating her. Unless you want Stern to trade in his 40 for two 20s.
:)
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