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Howard Stern & The Greaseman

N

nativeatlanta

Guest
This has been bugging me for years. So,I thought I would ask the readers of radioinfo.com for answers to the following questions.

1.When Howard Stern was still being syndicated by Infinity Broadcasting,how come he was not broabcast here in Atlanta? He was syndicated in other locations of The South/Southwest: Dallas,Orlando,Norfolk/Hampton.
So,you can rule out the so called Bible Belt arguement.

2. Why did The Greaseman quit broadcasting on Z-93/Why did Z-93 drop The Greaseman?
 
nativeatlanta said:
This has been bugging me for years. So,I thought I would ask the readers of radioinfo.com for answers to the following questions.

1.When Howard Stern was still being syndicated by Infinity Broadcasting,how come he was not broabcast here in Atlanta? He was syndicated in other locations of The South/Southwest: Dallas,Orlando,Norfolk/Hampton.
So,you can rule out the so called Bible Belt arguement.

2. Why did The Greaseman quit broadcasting on Z-93/Why did Z-93 drop The Greaseman?
Click to expand...

Don't know about number 1 -- number 2...no ratings, not funny (ever) and, most-importantly, not local.
 
The answer to #1, from what I read in the AJC at the time, was that no station wanted to bring Howard here because we're so deep in the Bible Belt that many many Bible-thumpers would be terribly offended. Quotes in the paper were always on the order of "he just wouldn't work down here."

I always thought this was total BS, but hey, what do I know?
 
According to many sources--though hard to believe--Jesse Helms said he would challenge the WZGC license transfer to Infinity if the company didn't agree to never carry Howard Stern. It sounds ridiculous, but I've heard it from some reliable people.

For whatever reason, the Greaseman was not getting the job done for Z93, and people were clamoring for a local show. I don't know why the Atlanta version of the show didn't work. I personally think the Greaseman is a great talent, and I've heard him be incredibly funny on DC101 in Washington and WAPE in Jacksonville.
 
I loved Grease while he was broadcasting from Atlanta. I still quote him once in a while. I assume Z let him go due to lack in ratings, but he sure had some great stories.

It's martini time!
 
#1 - 2 words: bible belt. Stern would have been a pariah for any station that would have put him on.
 
I was told that Stern's price was a flat $1 million, and no one was prepared to pay that for him. Surely there were other reasons as well, all of the above ones would have to be considered.

Grease was not local and perhaps beyond his time. He was Theater of the Mind, while Stern was Shock. Current tastes run more to Shock. I happen to like Grease's stuff immensely. A friend of the past (Jim Henry) was Chief for The Ape in Jacksonville in the day, and has many hours of vintage Grease archived. I can listen to them for days.

Grease gonna do a little offshore drillin' to - nite...
 
Art Dellinger was the chief engineer at WAPE when Grease was there. Never heard of Jim Henry.
 
The z93 sales director at the time of all of this (approx 1992) told me point-blank that several huge accounts relayed to her that they'd bail from the station if Stern came. Delta was one such advertiser she named.

As for Grease, he was definitely polarizing. I guess you could say he was a talent but it was always these 5-7 minute bits that ended in a juvenile punch line. They tried to make him local toward the end and he originated a lot of shows from ATL. Several remotes with Marcia "I love David Boo-ie" Shipley went reasonably well IIRC.

Didnt he drop the N bomb or something similar later in that decade? And mgmt showed "the ring-dang-doo" to the curb??
 
Since I started this topic,I add another point. When it comes to Stern never being broadcast in the Atlanta area,I forgot to mentioned why did not 96Rock pick up Mr.King of All Media after Chris Rude was let go as the morning show?
Rather than bringing in The Regular Guys. But, Chris Rude being let go I believe a decision that was made after Clear Channel purchased 96Rock.

The Greaseman got fired again from making a remark about Ebau Badu winning a Grammy for best new artist. Grease was poking fun at her singing by saying: No wonder they drag them behind trucks. This was right after that black guy in some small town in Texas who was dragged to death by white trash racists.

Amazing The Greaseman is back on the air in Wash,DC area. You think after that remark he made about MLK JR birthday becoming a holiday that he be banned from working in DC.
 
"I guess you could say he was a talent but it was always these 5-7 minute bits that ended in a juvenile punch line."

It was never the punchline with the Greaseman: it's all in the journey. I loved the guy.
 
><Art Dellinger was the chief engineer at WAPE when Grease was there. Never heard of Jim Henry.

I been misinformed. Not the first time. Jim had scads of Grease's stuff though, classic.
 
troone said:
Didnt he drop the N bomb or something similar later in that decade? And mgmt showed "the ring-dang-doo" to the curb??
Click to expand...

Something about "that Lauryn Hill guy"... hey, Sir Paul's words, not mine...
 
TheGreenskeeper said:
The old bible belt blah blah is BS. Maybe nobody had the stones to try Stern in this market.
Click to expand...


Totally agree.

Sick and tired of the "Bible Belt" ying yang..................... :p :p
 
Doug Tracht, a/k/a Greaseman, was a major talent with one small flaw: he's missing an important internal editor that would save his butt. He stepped in the "racist" pile long before the I-man. Wikipedia clearly explains how he got in trouble: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greaseman

His stuff is available online at: http://www.greaseman.org/

I enjoyed some frosty suds with him at the American Pie in Roswell back when he was visiting the market. I found him a very intelligent and terrific guy. He's currently listed as on the air at WMET in DC.

"As we used to say down in ooooold Mexico City: A M F!!!"
 
Inside Radio reports this evening that Greasman will do his last show on WMET in Washington this Friday. He isn't retiring, but looking at other options.
 
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