January 4th (with first day reviews)

[Seshmeister]

Show #2

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

[twonabomber]

Day two, and we had a thread with the reviews of the first show:

Listeners likely to jump if Roth doesn't improve
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Julie E. Washington
Plain Dealer Reporter

David Lee Roth started his first day as heir to a slice of Howard Stern's radio kingdom by saying, "Six a.m. What am I doing on the radio?"

As the four-hour show unfolded Tuesday on WNCX FM/98.5, it became clear Roth had no clue.

His show, originating from New York, was mostly excruciating, sometimes funny. It probably prompted anyone who isn't a die-hard Roth fan to dive for the channel buttons.

CBS Radio, formerly Infinity Broadcasting, divvied Stern's talk-show domain to three people: Roth, the former Van Halen frontman, is heard in Cleveland, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Dallas and West Palm Beach, Fla. Rover--morning DJ for Cleveland's WXTM FM/92.3 -- is on in mostly Midwestern cities, and comedian Adam Carolla replaces Stern in selected Western markets.

Roth's first day behind the microphone was filled with illogical ramblings and parental advice from a man who is not a parent. Other than his sole in-studio guest -- his uncle, Manny Roth -- and a handful of call-in listeners and unnamed sidekicks who served as a live laugh track, the show was all Roth. No contests, no skits, no reading from headlines.

The best thing you could say was that he kept things clean.

Roth criticized the poor air quality at Ground Zero in New York, then suggested the site be used for schools, artists and student housing.

He blamed neglectful parents for Federal Communications Commission regulations (guidelines exist because parents don't want to take time to explain sexual behavior to children), overweight kids (parents don't teach kids about dangers of junk food) and AIDS (parents don't teach about condoms).

The show improved in its second half, as Roth interviewed his uncle about his experiences running Cafe Wha? in New York, where many stars of the 1960s performed.

An interview with Roth's flight instructor -- he's learning to fly helicopters -- perked things up.

By 8 a.m., Roth was declaring that being a radio host was a breeze, much easier than dragging oxygen cans up stairs, which he does as an EMS technician.

Unless Roth gets better fast, it's his morning radio gig that will need a whiff of oxygen.

[twonabomber]

Radio debut doesn’t exactly Roth the boat
By Sean L. McCarthy

Wednesday, January 4, 2006

David Lee Roth is no Howard Stern.

Turns out he’s no Adam Corolla, either.

The most shocking thing about Roth’s debut yesterday morning as would-be East Coast successor to Stern’s syndicated radio empire was how the former Van Halen frontman chose to neither shock nor awe his new listeners.

Roth’s program, carried on seven CBS Radio affiliates including WBCN-FM (104.1) in Boston, opened with the familiar drumroll of Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher” and a female voice declaring: “Welcome to David Lee Roth. Prepare to feel filthy my friend, and completely alive.”

Yet Roth offered no filth in his first four hours.

Instead, he opened his stint in what he called “the hottest seat in international radio” by revealing his typical McDonald’s order (two-cheeseburger meal, supersized with a Coke), and within four minutes asked: “What am I doing on the radio?”

He answered by describing his first experiences listening to the radio, a Ray Charles song when he was a 7-year-old in 1961 living at 21 Alton Court in Brookline.

Hub references abounded. He kidded new boss Tom Chiusano about his dislike for Roth’s “Boston Irish” friend in the studio. And Boston listeners soon learned that DJ Hutch, who previously worked shifts at WBOS-FM (92.9), WROR-FM (105.7) and most recently WZLX-FM (100.7), was Roth’s main on-air sidekick. Hutch also helped Roth during his weeklong stint last year on WZLX.

Snippets of songs and beats played in the background, with Roth prompting Hutch sometimes to play the complete song — U2’s “Vertigo,” the Faces’ “Ooh La La” and Average White Band’s “School Boy Crush.”

Actually, Roth’s show amounted to average white radio.

When a couple of callers couldn’t connect via his toll-free line, 866-313-FREE, Roth quipped: “Is Eddie Van Halen running the phones?”

Stern’s West Coast replacement, Adam Corolla, opened his show yesterday with a team that included VH1’s Rachel Perry and his longtime producing partner Jimmy Kimmel. Anyone who has heard Corolla on the radio sex-advice show “Loveline” or any variety of Comedy Central shows was familiar with the subject matter at hand yesterday.

Roth was slower out of the gate.

At 9:58 a.m., he signed off from “David Lee’s Tiki Bunker, where the debris meets the sea. Join me tomorrow, it gets nothing but better from here.”

Let’s hope so.