The Satirist: Fred Allen on Radio

by dr george pollard

Satirists poke us with ideas. “Wealth is cheese in the rat race of life,” said Fred Allen. He also said a nymph is a wet pixie and no one fails, only gives up trying.

Satirists are curious. They want to know if we find the truth, hidden in their comments, on our own. I drink, said Groucho, to make other people interesting. Do our eyes go blank, ever so briefly, before a knowing flash appears? She who hesitates is a fool, said Mae West.

Satirists mostly find their curiosity dashed. Empty eyes in blank faces gawk, hopelessly. We laugh, instinctively, though the point is missed. This annoyed Bill Hicks to no end. Emotions are more easily stirred than is the mind. A guffaw evokes more quickly than does a thought. Satirists continue to poke, ever hopeful.

Satire works best when written. It endures when written, as in stone. You can carry an item of written satire wherever you go, if not written on too large a stone. “Better,” G. Bernard Shaw said, “is never late.” “A tavern,” Jonathan Swift said, “is a place where madness is sold by the bottle.” Durable and handy, the written form offers more chances to learn from satire, over time.

Verbal satire has a limited range: as far as you can yell. Radio lets us yell louder and farther. A few verbal satirists, such as Henry Morgan, snuck on to radio, as sponsors, their agencies and networks, were distracted as they tallied the profits.

Fred Allen is the most notable radio satirist. His pinched nasal voice carried far, with much effect. Edgar Bergen, a top radio star, said Allen “exposes and ridicules the pretensions of his times.” John Steinbeck, the author, said Allen was “a brilliant critic of manners and morals.” Jack Benny, a private friend and public foe, said Allen ad libbed, satirically, better than did anyone, on or off radio.

Allen was a listener favourite, too. Each week, for 17 years, he poked 30 million adults with ideas. Mostly in the top ten, “The Fred Allen Show” was number-one for the 1947 season.

The week of 7 April 1947, the cover of “Time” featured Fred Allen. “Time” was the leading news magazine. The cover picture was a coup. One hundred million adult Americans saw his face, each day, looking up and out from the newsstand stacks, as they passed.

His satire comes in “an angry, big-city clank, a splashy neon idiom,” claimed an unnamed writer for “Time.” Allen shares his wit and style with other Irish satirists, such as G. Bernard Shaw and Jonathan Swift. He, as did they, deals in “fiercely topical satire.”

Allen fell to the bottom of the ratings, in 1948. Radio was fast losing its audience to television. His shtick wore thin. ABC Radio aired a big-money give-away show against him. Times were changing.

NBC offered to air the Allen show at a worthy time. Allen declined. His blood pressure was higher than his ratings, he said; the question was, which would survive, the show or him. Combined affects ended his radio career on 26 June 1949, but he survived, as his undertaker confirmed.

Radio satirists fade, quickly. Allen yearned for success as a writer of satire for the eye, not the ear. After radio, he wrote two books: both were best sellers.

Satire draws attention to lessons hidden in current events. “The recent financial crisis,” says Leroy Jones, a retired literary agent, “helped me get back on my feet. The car was repossessed.” The example offers simple lessons. Don’t take on too much debt. Don’t trust big companies. Don’t trust government. Don’t believe the media. Be ever wary. Corny, yes, but laughter and lessons, fortunately, ride on the back of a disaster.

Satire, to rephrase Allen, has the life span of a short-lived butterfly. The enemy is detail. “It’s so hot in southern California,” says David Letterman, “Sarah Palin was happy to get a chilly welcome on ‘Dancing with the Stars.’” A few years from now, any mention of Palin may lead to a yawn and few will recall the television show.

Details change, but core ideas stay the same, such as the heat in southern California or financial crises. What we need to know or be reminded about are the outcomes of core ideas. Voters, said many a wit, get the elected officials they deserve.

Few know of Fred Allen, today: time changed the details, but not his core idea. His core idea, that big business erases freedom, prevails. Workers understand this idea, well, and will in 100 years.

In the 1930s and 1940s, sponsors, their agencies and radio networks censored the satire of Fred Allen. Box stores, today, censor a community. Such stores ruin small, local businesses; exist as a monopoly, pay only the barest wage and not much tax on their huge profits.

Allen as, say, Bill Hicks, would understand the box-store plague: it urges complacency. They’d know how to respond. Allen and all satirists speak out about such plagues, often and loud.

Fred Allen made Stuart Hample, a comedy writer, laugh. That was enough reason for Hample to write a book about him. Allen made millions of women and men think; this is more than enough reason to make sure he doesn’t fade away.

Click here to read the full story on Grub Street.

Muck-made Meyer — interview with Ken Meyer

by dr george pollard

“Ken ‘Muck’ Meyer is the most famous radio talk show producer, ever,” says Podcaster, Dick Summer. “He was the best sidekick a talk host could hope to find,” says Dave Maynard, who spent 40 years on air at WBZ-AM. Steve Fredericks, on WMEX-AM, competed, in over nights, with WBZ-AM; Howard Lapides produced Fredericks and says of Meyer, “[He] played the key role, ‘Muck,’ that made the Glick show a hit.”

“Meyer was the best talk show producer,” says Boston media maven, Kevin Vahey. “Every talk-show producer has a Rolodex on his or her computer or phone. This is where contact data, for potential guests, hides.

“Meyer kept his Rolodex in his mind. When you needed a contact number, all you had to do was ask him and prepare for a fast answer. If a possible guest had a phone, Meyer had the number.

“He was also the best guest tracker, ever,” says Vahey. To hone the competitive edge, “a host might want to interview an obscure guest. After the next commercial break, the guest was live, on the phone, with the host. Meyer made it seem too easy. After a while, he booked guests for all the talk shows on WBZ-AM.”

Meyer did more than talk shows. He produced “The Big Broadcast of 1975.” The weekend-long show aired on WBZ-AM for MD. It was the first of its kind, recreating Old-time Radio shows with the original casts.

The “Ken Meyer Show” debuted on WBZ-AM, in 1979. His show was a mix of callers, long-form interviews and Old-time Radio. It aired until November 1985, when “Carl de Suze and I left WBZ-AM on the same day,” says Meyer.

Meyer moved to WEEI-AM, also in Boston, to host “Radio Classics.” “I walked out of WBZ-AM at 7:15 pm and grabbed a cab, but didn’t go home. I went to WEEI-AM, says Meyer. “At 8 pm, Doug Steffan introduced me as the new permanent host of “Radio Classics.”

As for the state of radio, Meyer says owners pushed listeners away. Local content drew listeners; owners slashed it to save a buck. Syndicated shows are profitable, he thinks, but do little for listeners or their home town.

Years ago, the syndicated Laura Schlesinger show displaced Jerry Williams on WRKO-AM. It was a savage move, born of greed. Schlesinger cost much less than did Williams; the station profited on a drop in revenue.

There is hope. In 2008, says Meyer, CBS tried to swap the local overnight show on WBZ-AM for syndication. Listener outrage forced CBS to reverse its decision.

If listeners find a unified voice, this may create a new form local radio. WBZ-AM is a case on point. The new local radio will be different, though.

New technologies work best with short-form content. Over-the-air radio seems suited to long-form. The key to success lies in finding a mix of old and new technologies.

In this exclusive Grub Street interview, Ken Meyer talks about radio, the art of interviewing and working at WBZ-AM. Click here to read the complete interview.

Jerry Del Collianio — the end of radio

by Howard Lapides

“Hello Honey, it’s me. What did you think when you heard me back on the radio? I am the morning DJ, on W*O*L*D, playing all the hits for you, wherever you may be.” (Words and music by Harry Chapin, “W*O*L*D”.)

Once, not long ago, radio, AM stations and FM, was special. Always entertaining, radio found new music and DJs told us about what the new. Always, radio made listeners wonder and it’s hard to accept how far radio has fallen.

Jerry Del Colliano knows the acme and the nadir of radio. He lived the height of radio success and watched its horrific descent into nothingness. When he says the end of radio is now, not tomorrow, you must believe him.

Knowing Jerry Del Colliano, as I do. Reading his blog, “Inside Music Media” and speaking, with him, I sense I’m sitting Shiva for an old, trusted and loyal friend – radio. Radio is not yet dead. Still, we’d be foolish to believe radio wasn’t near the end.

I talk to men and women who love radio, but want to murder the messenger. They say Del Colliano sells doom. “Why doesn’t he focus on the answer to save radio,” they ask, “rather than focusing on failures?”

Del Colliano has answers. His answers speak to the future of radio, not its past. As any unknown or uncertain terrain, the future is sketchy and scary for most of us. Many try to stop his message.

Most important, Del Colliano inspires thought. Inspiring thought is his greatest gift. Converting thought into action is our job, not his.

Del Colliano is a polarizing figure. Many years ago, I learned not to pick a fight, with someone who buys ink by the barrel; that is, the media. By exposing the sins of media consolidators, Del Colliano takes aim at those who buy ink, figuratively, by the barrel.

“You haven’t made it, in Hollywood, until somebody wants you dead,” is an old saying. Radio consolidators and corporate owners want Del Colliano silenced. He must be right.

I spoke with some of his harshest critics, recently. The irony is rich. Off the record, they speak with great respect, even admiration. For the record, they defile him.

Radio is on life-support, slipping into and out of a coma, unlikely to see the light again. Del Colliano beats this drum loudest, but he’s first to beat the drum, most loudly, for a new radio day. Radio, he says, is in the delivery business, using Model-Ts in an age of spaceships.

The big record labels, such as Warner Music Group or EMI, are along for the ride into a void. The labels cling to ways that didn’t work yesterday and won’t tomorrow. Is it a fluke, how radio and labels are crumbling together?

Del Colliano urges we look to the future, not to the past. Listen to the young, mimic what they do. Get a grip, he says, it’s not back to the future, but into the future. Click here to radio the complete Grub Street Interview, with Jerry Del Colliano.

Tim Byrd, the Byrdman, feature interview

“Byrd is the unknown A-list DJ,” says New York media maven, Leroy Jones. “No, he doesn’t work with a bag on his head, but he’s among the best DJs. He’s missing from top ten lists, too often.”

“Tim Byrd went one-for-one with ‘Cousin Brucie,’ for years,” says Jones, “but when someone thinks of New York City radio, she or he overlooks Byrd. The only radio sin Byrd committed is not working Los Angeles.

“Working LA, with freedom, he’d give The Real Don Steele a run. I know it’s a sacrilege to say any DJ is as good as was Steele,” says Jones. “Yet, Byrd is in that league, with Rich ‘Brother” Robin, Ken ‘Beaver Cleaver’ Levine” and maybe one or two other LARPs.

Comments about the radio work of Tim “Byrdman” Byrd seem deep in hyperbole. As Stan Klees, co-founder of the Juno Awards says, “If you did it and you tell, it isn’t bragging.” Tim Byrd did it and does it.

Early in his career, Byrd had an unheard-of 42 share, for his evening shift, on the renowned WAPE-AM, in Jacksonville. More recently, he took his evening show, on WRMF-FM, in West Palm Beach, from last to second place, in one rating period. The “it,” Tim Byrd does, is the best music radio in America and listeners respond.

Dick Summer worked with Byrd at WPIX-AM, in New York City. He says, “Tim is the complete radio personality.” Batt Johnson worked, with Byrd, at WKHK-FM, also in New York. He says, “Tim became my brother almost the day I met him.

“Byrd is fiercely fun-loving, hard-working and dedicated,” says Johnson. “He’s not afraid of his feelings. He’s not afraid to be kind. He’s not afraid to do right, on or off the air.

“There was an older African-American woman living in his building,” says Johnson. “She became ill and couldn’t work. Tim took it upon himself to pay her rent and give her money for food.”

Matt Seinberg, of Big Apple Air Checks, tells a similar story. “My family and I were stranded, in Florida, near West Palm Beach. All the hotels and motels were full. Yeah, I know, but it was June.

“We had nowhere to go and knew no one, except Tim,” says Seinberg. “I phoned him. In no time, Tim got us into a top hotel. We got much needed rest before the flight back to New York.”

“Such acts define the person,” says Batt Johnson.

Byrd made a career of hard choices. When others opted to take much abuse, to keep a job, Byrd quit. His career mixed small and large radio markets, without pattern.

For twenty years, Byrd worked New York City, the top radio market, in the USA. He also worked VH-1 for four and one-half years; he was the favourite VJ of Phil Collins and Carly Simon. The story of Tim “Byrdman” Byrd confirms talent and principle breed success.

In this exclusive, in-depth interview, Tim Byrd talks about how the only boy, of a preacher man, found success. Click here to read the full interview.

Streeter Click

Rainy Nights in Bangkok: interview with Timothy Hallinan

Introduction by Shadoe Stevens

Timothy Hallinan is simply the smartest, most creative person I know and the most inspiring. When we met, we became instant friends. Tim has been one of my best friends, all my adult life.

I met Tim, in 1970. I came to Los Angeles to work KHJ-AM and Tim was doing station promotion. He came up with some of the most innovative, creative campaigns Bill Drake and RKO General, which owned KHJ-AM, delivered. We met when Tim took some head shots, of me, for station promotions.

A year or two later, we were neighbours in Topanga Canyon. I was creating the “World Famous” KROQ-FM and Tim had formed Stone Hallinan Consulting. Stone Hallinan was an international public relations (PR) firm, with offices in LA, New York City and London, England.

Despite his success in PR, all Tim wanted to do was to write. He wrote and wrote. Every novel he’s written has received critical acclaim.

About his new novel, “Breathing Water,” Maddy van Hertbruggen writes, it’s “truly an excellent book – I don’t know how Hallinan can get any better – he set the bar … high for himself! Hallinan sprinkles perfectly wrought phrases throughout the narrative, like gems falling on to the pages, never failing to delight. In some ways, it’s harder to write a review for a book you love …. The tendency is to want to put out all sorts of superlatives, to gush with adjectives. Please indulge me for a moment: the book is extraordinary, magnificent, exceptional, heart shaking, heart breaking, brilliant. As I read this book, I laughed, I cried, I gasped, but I never … yawned. “Breathing Water” is a great book. Period” (from ReviewingTheEvidence.com, August 2009).

“Breathing Water” is the latest book in the Bangkok Series. This may be the only thriller series, in the world, in which the hero is a family. The family includes Poke Rafferty, an American writer living in Bangkok; his wife, Rose, a former bar worker, and Miaow, the ten-year-old street child they adopted.

At the core of these books by Tim Hallinan, there’s the love and tenderness of a family trying to stay together, while separated by culture, language, religion and, often, hair-raising events born out of real-life. Tim writes multilayered stories. His stories are rich, with colours, engaging, unforgettable characters and love. The love is of the family, of life and of the Thai people.

His mysteries are compelling and unpredictable. A novel by Tim is hard to put down. As thrillers, his books are riveting. At the same time, Tim writes with incredible wit and unexpected, laugh-out-loud humour.

I recommend “Breathing Water.” After reading it, I’m sure you’ll rush out to pick up the other novels in Bangkok Series. I’m certain you’ll find them so rewarding, you’ll forage used books stores for the six novels in his Simeon Grist Series, too.

There’s no one like Tim Hallinan. He’s one of the finest writers, of our time, and among the best storytellers. Click here to read an exclusive interview, with Tim Hallinan, and find out why.

Screenwriter Neal Gumpel: free falling and almost famous

Introduction

by dr george pollard

A hundred years ago, Albert Einstein didn’t know physicists believed E could not equal mc-squared. He wrote about the effects of E equaling mc-squared and changed the world. Einstein didn’t know he was supposedly wrong.

Neal Gumpel, the screenwriter, is similar. He’s a usual person around whom unusual events occur. “Many of the fictional screenplays he writes,” says Brian Linse, of Linsefilms, “happened to him. No one believes his life is the fiction he writes.”

During high school, Neal worked as a house painter. He developed a knack for high-end kitchen finishing work. As he painted, in Rye and Greenwich, he talked with his clients.

The talk was mostly about preparing food. Customers asked Neal to cater, and he did. Two years later, he went from house painter to caterer, with no training in either.

When Neal met his first wife, she was a bible student. He took up bible study to be with her. After they married, Neal became a minister, licenced by the State of New York.

When his marriage ended, Neal worked at Dean and Deluca, a trendy, high-end café, in New York City. Two years later, he opened a bistro in Kona, on Hawaii, called “A Piece of the Apple.” Two years later, Neal and second wife, Helen Shelby, the super model, returned to New York City, where he worked at the high-end Citarella Fish Market.

Two years later, Neal and Helen wanted to sublet their New York City apartment. Jim Sheridan, the film writer and producer, came to view, with his daughter. As daughter, Helen and Neal toured the building, Sheridan noticed, on the coffee table, a story Neal wrote. He read it, while waiting.

Ten days later, Gumpel was the sensation of the Toronto Film Festival. Sheridan was saying, “Neal is my new writing partner.” Sheridan said his next project, which Gumpel wrote, was “Lucky Men.” Then Sheridan took Neal to Hollywood.

Mel Gibson, the actor, owns Con Artists. “When Neal first came to Hollywood,” says Brian Linse, “Sheridan took him to Con Artist for a meet and greet. Last person Neal meets is Gibson. They talk for a long while; Neal always has a steady stream of enticing ideas. When leaving, Neal shakes hands, with Gibson, and says, ‘Thank you, Mr. Costner.’”

This is Neal Gumpel. He writes the best screenplays, but knows little about Hollywood. “He knows almost no one in Hollywood,” says Linse. “This is good.”

“Neal pitched an idea to Brian Cooper, at DreamWorks,” says AJ Benza. “Cooper loved it. Neal got a six-figure development deal to write the script. The story came directly from the life of Neal Gumpel.”

“He’s a natural screenwriter, not studied,” says Brian Linse. “Neal doesn’t know he can’t write a scene this way or that. He decides what he needs. Then he does it.” Neal is two steps forward for Hollywood.

Neal Gumpel has an extraordinary life story. He tells it well. Click here to read his first in-depth interview, now, to know why his basic instincts prevail.

Keeping radio alive: Big Apple Air Checks

Introduction
Streeter Click

“Matt Seinberg has always been a pain in the butt,” says Allen Beebe, of WMJY-FM, in Biloxi, Mississippi, “but thank gawd for him.”

“Air checks aren’t a business, for Matt,” says Gnarly Charlie, of WFLC-FM, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “Air checks are his passion.”

There’s a practical side to his passion, says Beebe. “In Hurricane Katrina, I lost all the air checks I made during my 30-year career. Matt sent me copies, of my work, that he collected.”

“Matt’s dedicated to performing the essential, often thankless, task, of preserving radio, for generations to come,” says radio legend, Dick Summer. “If it weren’t for Matt Seinberg, the next generation wouldn’t have a clue about how radio excited the last.

“Radio has changed, so much, in the last decade,” says Summer, “that those, of us, members of the ‘Louie-Louie Generation,’ wouldn’t recognize it, if we still listened. That’s okay. Change is how an ‘art form’ survives, and radio is art.

“Radio, today, wouldn’t nab my interest, as it did, all those years ago. I wouldn’t consider devoting a career to it, today. The creative autonomy, I enjoyed, is impossible, for now.

“Rummaging through the dust in the back of my closest,” says Dick Summer, “I came across a pile of air checks. These ‘tapes’ go back to the 1960s and 1970s. The stations include WBZ-AM, Boston; WNBC-AM, WNEW-FM and WYNY-FM, all in New York City.

“My granddaughters, Cassie and Jacqui, were visiting. As both are taking media classes, in college, I played the air checks for them. They were surprised. They heard nothing like those shows, on radio, today, and their teachers mentioned nothing of such entertainment.

“These air checks are a small, but important, part of history and radio history, in particular. These air checks are oral history. All air checks are a vital part of who we are and were, and how we got here.

“There are books called, ‘The History of Radio.’ Printed words can’t capture radio, which is about sounds that excite the mind and body. The sounds are different, now, less exciting, perhaps, than during the days and nights, of the Louie-Louie Generation.

“I’m not knocking radio. It’s as different, today, as radio, of the 1950s and 1960s, was from soap opera radio, of the 1940s. Times change, so do art forms.

“Radio hiccups and new formats appear. Some listeners like what they hear, others don’t. Everyone calls it progress, but the inflection, on “progress,” varies.

“You can readily buy copies, of soap opera radio, now called, Old-Time Radio. What’s hard to find,” says Summer, “in quality or quantity, is radio from the Louie-Louie Generation. Big Apple Air Checks is one of the few places, other than the dusty piles in my closest, where you can find Louie-Louie Generation radio, aplenty.”

You can’t realize the future until you recognize the past. Radio, today, is bland, barren and boring because any sense of what was and what may be has vanished. Matt Seinberg has a great ear for an era of exciting, creative radio, as you will read. Click here to read the Matt Seinberg Interview.

The Pope of Hollywood and Vine

Introduction
dr george pollard

“AJ and I are at Ago,” says Neal Gumpel. “Ago is a Hollywood restaurant owned by Harvey Weinstein, the movie producer. He knows AJ, well, and invites us to his table.

“Quentin Tarantino is at the table, too. He has a huge script, sitting where his dinner plate goes. Tarantino wants Weinstein to make a movie, from this script.

“After listening to the back and forth about the lengthy script, AJ says to Harvey, ‘Why not make two movies?’ Whence came two volumes of ‘Kill Bill.’

Benza wrote two gossip columns, “Hot Copy” and “Downtown,” for the New York “Daily News.” The columns opened doors. “The phone rings at 4 am,” says Benza. “It’s Mickey Rourke asking me for a favour. Another time, Jack Nicholson yells, from the other side of a packed room, ‘Come over Sunday, I’m barbequing.’ I was 27. It was nirvana.”

“His New York fame,” says an A-list Hollywood actor who prefers we not use his name, “lead some people to believe AJ Benza is a rough, tough bad boy. It’s smoke and mirrors. Agencies lose money, today, because some agents, men, are honestly afraid of him.”

Neal Gumpel writes movies with Benza. “Let me give you a few examples of the rough and tough AJ Benza,” he says. “AJ finds dew-covered grass morbid and creepy; he won’t walk on it. He believes in ghosts and is afraid of antique furniture. He’s also the worst liar in the world.”

“AJ is all show business,” says Leroy Jones, a former literary agent. “Benza refined an image. The show business people who cause me to wonder are those who believe the image. Their job is to ply illusion and delusion, yet, they’re wary of an obvious put on. These people may have problems, not AJ.”

In Hollywood, hosting “Mysteries and Scandals” was the big break for Benza. “His no bull, New York attitude made ‘Mysteries and Scandals’ a success,” says John Rieber, head of programming at G4 media.

“AJ can walk into a room and befriend anyone,” says Rieber. “He talks honestly. This is a rare talent.”

Today, Benza hosts “High Stakes Poker,” with Gabe Kaplan, the comedian, actor and poker champion. “It’s the highest rated show on the Game Show Network,” says Kelly Goode, head of programming for the network. Benza, who claims to know nothing about poker, says, “High Stakes Poker” is “heroin for poker players.”

Andrew Lear co-manages Benza. “One night,” he says, “we’re at “Ago.” The restaurant teems with A-list celebrities. Who’s holding court, but AJ? Sitting next to him is Sharon Stone. Celebrities are leaning in to shake his hand. Bill Maher hovers. Everyone knows AJ and that his hard-shell is a work. He has the warmest heart in Hollywood, and the most talent.”

Click here to read this rare, exclusive conversation, with AJ Benza. Learn about his life, talent, insight, intelligence and down-to-earth philosophy. AJ will change you, for the good.

Howard Lapides: media maven

Streeter Click

Howard Lapides is a storyteller. “I helped him discover his missed calling,” says business partner, Bill Siddons. “He should have been a raconteur.”

“I used to think he only talked,” e-mails Leroy Jones about Lapides. “Now, I see that he tells stories. His stories are lessons, with morals. He dispenses 21st century lore, sometimes cynical, always honest, never off mark. To restate Beat poet, Jack Kerouac, ‘Go read, of Howard, now and learn.’”

Lapides is about media. His favourite adage is the media are 99% business and 1% show. That folksy wisdom is his recipe, his talk and walk, for success.

“If you don’t exist to the middle world,” he told Dr Drew Pinsky, “among managers, agents and publicists, you won’t succeed.” Producers, atop the media food chain, rely on middle world farmers. Talent creates, best, when free ranging.

“Creative fulfilment takes many forms,” says Lapides. “Radio is one. Promoting rock and pop concerts is another. Helping talented women and men build careers is a third.” He knows, having done all three, with élan and much success.

Centuries ago, Lao-tzu said, “Those who justify themselves do not convince.” Shakespeare thought she “Doth protest too much.” Baseball great, Yogi Berra claimed, “If you done it, it ain’t bragging.” Lapides does it, won’t talk past the sale or justify.

This is rare. “Lapides works a phony town and industry,” says David D’Arcangelo. “Yet, he remains genuine, with bona fides; dignity and integrity intact.”

Lapides sees himself as “a disc jockey from Buffalo, New York.” It’s true, of course. Still, this self-image grossly downplays his protean ability.

“Howard knows radio,” says Bob Wood. Wood hired Lapides to host the Buffalo “Bills” post-game show. You’re unlikely to find anyone who knows radio as well as him.

“To this day,” says concert promoter, Harold Levin, of Bass Clef, “Howard is the brightest person in show business. He’s imaginative and successful. Howard is among the best managers and promoters, of all time.”

“If there was no Howard Lapides,” says Pinsky, “there’d be no Dr Drew, period; end of story. He told me what to do. Often, he told me how to do it. I listened, learned and benefited.”

Most telling is the opinion of rivals. A top agent, who negotiated anonymity for his comments, knows Lapides, well, often working with him. Though his words abused, his style praised. The agent always referred to “Howard,” never that so-and-so. When he spoke the word, “Howard,” his tone softened, his volume dropped, if so slightly. In midsentence, he clearly paused before saying the name. What’s unsaid is most revealing. The agent can’t help respect and admire Lapides.

Lapides likes to work live, over lunch, at The Palm. Supposedly, the art of conversation is dead. Monday to Friday, at The Palm, over lunch, Lapides confirms the art of conversation is alive and thriving, in Los Angeles.

In this rare interview, Howard Lapides is at the top of his game. He tells stories, offers insights and gives advice. Most of all, he entertains.

Click here to read the complete interview, with talent manager, Howard Lapides, of Lapides/Lear, Lost Angeles.

It’s all in the name

dr george pollard

“From the moment I heard Shadoe Stevens, on WRKO-AM, in Boston,” says Howard Lapides, “I knew he was one of the few radio people I’d always idolize. That was 40 years ago and my opinion hasn’t changed.

“I was student, at Emerson College,” says Lapides. Evenings, I produced Steve Fredericks, on WMEX-AM. Weekends, I worked area stations, as the ‘Frogman.’

“Instantly, I knew Stevens was the man. What I didn’t know was the name, Shadoe Stevens, was inflicted on him. He had been Jefferson Kaye, for years, and didn’t like the new name. Most important, he made ‘Shadoe Stevens’ a widely-known success.

“Go out on the street. Randomly ask 100 people, “Who is Shadoe Stevens?” Most will know. They might remember his radio work, ‘Hollywood Squares,’ ‘Traxx,’ ‘Dave’s World,’ ‘Loose Cannon,” ‘Fred Rated’ or maybe “The Big Galoot.” Everyone knows something about Stevens.”

“Shadoe follows,” says John Rook, “in the footsteps of such greats as ‘The Real’ Don Steele, Robert W. Morgan, Larry ‘Superjock’ Lujack and Rick Dees.” Those are big steps to fill, but Sevens does it, easily. “Still,” says Rook, “he needs to learn how to spell!”

“For too many,” says Rook, “radio fame is a brief blink of the cosmic eye. Success, for Stevens, hasn’t peaked. He reaches new heights, daily, it seems. Don’t hold your breath, waiting for the day he can’t top yesterday. Heaven, hell and purgatory supposedly have top production studios and, since Dante left, new ideas are few. I predict Shadoe lifts the afterlife to new, creative heights.”

“Stevens made it on television,” says Lapides. “Shadoe succeed on game shows, sitcoms and in movies. He was one of us, the women and men of radio, showing the big shots we could do it all, and do it all well.

“KROQ-FM is a legend,” says Lapides. “Given no money, Stevens created this powerhouse station on his endless flow of ‘over the top ideas,’ a unique ability for radio production, unparalleled optimism, hard work and determination. How many, in any business, legitimately claim these characteristics? Stevens created KROQ-FM, twice. How few created such success, once, let alone twice.

“This,” says Lapides, “is the heart and mind of Shadoe Stevens: if I can think it, I can find a way to make it happen.”

His success comes of tenacity. “Stevens is a survivor,” says Don Barrett, “in his personal and work lives. Through a steady stream of creative output,” says Barrett, “Shadoe Stevens continues to share his journey with us.”

Shadoe Stevens is a Renaissance Person. He prospers in many areas and in many ways. He’s a Leonardo, working the digital age, with high-tech sound and radiant light.

Daniel Bornstein said, “A celebrity is someone known only for whom she or he is, not for what he or she does.”*** Stevens is a celebrity, but KROQ-FM and the AOR radio format, to pick only two examples, make Stevens most notable for what he does. What he does arises from a nimble mind, grit and no fear of dogged hard work.

Shadoe Stevens has a first-class character, a first-class mind and his work product is first class. He’s a first-class role model. Click here ’cause you need to know about Shadoe Stevens.