Unknown: Announcer, welcome to a podcast about music and
entertainment before it all goes down to disposal. This is
circling the drain.
Hey, thanks for coming in to circling the drain, the podcast
that definitely wants to keep the entertainment and music
business out of the garbage disposal, if you know what I
mean, we're glad to have you on board, and we want to introduce
ourselves, because I know a few of you, probably quite a number
of you don't know who we are, so I'd like to go around the table
and introduce these fine gentlemen that are doing this
podcast with me. My name is Johnny B by the way over onto my
right is a great, great radio man and
even podcaster, yes, and an even nicer guy, yeah, a great guy,
and so humble.
Jay Harper, ladies and gentlemen, Jay, tell a little
bit. You know, you've been in the radio business. You've been
in the music business,
yeah, yeah, I've had I've had fun over the last 40 some odd
years. You know, I've been broke over the last 40 some odd years.
But, you know, I think it's the fun that really counts. But
yeah, you know, I found I feel like such a nerd starting out
like this. But yeah, I did start out at a 1000 watt day timer.
You know, radio, like all of us, yeah, like many of us that are
that have a few years on us, but yeah, in high school, in a small
little station, I was 17 years old, 1978 you know, little
station south of New Orleans that no longer exists. Well, New
Orleans exists, but the station no
longer exists. Well, there was a point where it looked like New
Orleans wasn't going to
exist. Yeah, that is the sad but true. Yeah, but yeah. But over
the years, you know, work radio in New Orleans, Baton Rouge,
Louisiana and but in 85 got an offer to come to Nashville to
work with MCA Records in their Promotion Department. And that
was, that was a kick ass time to be at MCA. Oh, you're not
kidding. He has, you know, well, the great Jimmy Bowen was head
of the label at the time. And what a character I know. We'll,
we'll probably get into some Bowen stories at some point.
But, you know, it was just amazing to, you know, one day
I'm, you know, at a good size station. You know, big, big
fish, little pond kind of thing there in Baton Rouge, with, you
know, with 100,000 watt powerhouse. But to go from a,
you know, radio station in Baton Rouge Louisiana to be sitting in
a meeting a few days later with Jimmy Bowen, who would produce
Sinatra's strangers in the night. And everybody loves
somebody for Dean Martin and Sammy Davis and and, of course,
at that point, you know, he was renowned for kind of
revitalizing Hank Jr, yeah, he did, you know, with family
tradition and produced Haggard's back to the bar rooms album, so
he Waylon, will the wolf survive Absolutely. I was around for
that at MCA, but anyway, just to be in that environment, Tony
brown and then sitting in meeting and working with the
likes of George Strait, Loretta Lynn at that time, Conway
Twitty, Barbara Mandrell, the Oak Ridge Boys, I mean, boy,
talk about culture shock,
and then, and then you move to 99 seven. WTN, next to Dan
mandus,
yeah, the great Weaver. And I know, yeah, Brother, brother,
everybody's Ken's brother. Yeah, they are, yeah, but, but yeah,
you know, hitting, you know, working those, those records and
stuff, getting to be around Steve Earl and Patty loveless
and Lyle Lovett when they came up and got to, got to know them
on a more personal level than a Conway Twitty, you know, but,
and getting to work with Glen Campbell and Roger Miller, who
were idols of mine when I was little, especially Campbell and
Roger Miller, just some really, really fun stuff, but, but
eventually I produce concerts at fairs and festivals around the
country. And man, you know, the the song I've been everywhere I
could sing. Well, you don't want me to sing it, but I could. I
can relate to that song, you know, because, boy, I feel like
I did go everywhere, producing concerts again, at fairs and
festivals, primarily country concerts. Yeah, and did that for
about four or five years, but have always had radio, whether
it be full time or part time, kind of in, lurking in the
background, you know, yes, lived in Charleston, South Carolina,
work radio there. Work radio in Columbia, work radio outside
Kansas City. So, you know, I bounced around a little bit, but
always kind of wanted to make our way back to Nashville. I
mean, I met my wife here. My kids were. Born here. So it is
home in many ways. So had an opportunity to come back to
town, and that's where, yes, I got to run into and for the last
few years get to know and find myself now sitting here with the
great Johnny B Wow, man. You know every Jimmy Bowen, who,
yes, exactly, you know? Jimmy B, No, I'm talking Johnny. B, so
yes, all of the stuff I've done over the last 47 years was all
meant to circle the drain, circle back here, right, baby,
to
sit with you. Johnny. B, well, I'm thankful for you are my
friend.
Yeah, well, man, it's cool. You know, seriously, you know, we've
known each other a few years now, yes, and I thought I feel
like, you know we you're such an easy guy to to like, believe me,
but you
know, that's not what my ex wife,
but you know, as I, you know, started working over at cumulus
and working at Ws, MFM and 99 seven and getting to work with
you, and Dan man does, who seriously, is just such a such a
superhuman what a good dude. But, you know, it just an
immediate rapport with you, I felt like and we did. It's, you
know, it's been great, and I'm appreciative and happy to be
sitting here with
you, man. Well, we kind of came up with this idea at lunch one
day. We just happened to Jay invited me out to lunch, and we
had tried this before, and with Campbell, Valentine and
Campbell, and our schedule just couldn't mesh up, so we couldn't
make it happen, and I was trying to think of somebody to do it
with, and Jay just happened to have lunch with me. And really,
the man that kind of got this all underway, and he is also
part of this, is Jim McCarthy. And Jim, a lot of people know
who you are, I don't know not like you, but we would like to
know more about you? Well, my
name is Jim McCarthy, and I produce podcasts. Yes, there is
more
witness protection program
if you're gonna, if you're averse to radio voices, man,
this is not the show for you
guys who speak like we're constantly on Yeah,
sad but true. Yes, it
is Mommy. I started out at a at the home of rock and roll. I 95
and Dan Murray Connecticut, and, you know, former radio guy
myself. And yeah, you know, I, you know, the money wasn't
there, but you know, they paid us in experiences. That's true.
The guys who made the money and the people who made the money
over those years don't have the experiences that
we have. That's true. And with, he used to pay us with, with
concert tickets, concert tickets. Now that doesn't happen
anymore, no, yeah. Or, you know, he had some trade out
That's right, yeah, $10 off on a haircut, yeah, anything like
that, yeah, just really life changing
freebies, yeah? Or free drinks sometimes at clubs, you know?
Yeah, yeah, cuz
I did that too. Man, spinning records in the nightclubs. At
the end of the night, I look over behind me and there'd be
like, 50 bourbon and coat glasses. Oh, yeah. Like, gee, I
Yeah. People wonder why. They always go, Johnny, how did you
get, you know what? Why did you get so hung up on alcohol and
all those other things? Well, because people were giving it to
exactly, and it didn't cost me
anything. It's like you guys were, you guys were in radio,
and it was a lot of fun. Yeah, it was, I got into radio and it
stopped, kind of like it was still fun for me, don't get me
wrong, but probably not as fun as what you guys
had. Yeah, well, I was in radio. Well, I got started in radio.
One fact, to introduce myself to folks. I actually grew up in
radio. My father owned country stations in the Midwest, and he
also was very good friend. In fact, he came up in Alabama with
Hank Williams. He used to do shows with Hank Williams, yeah,
and Audrey Williams. And in fact, my mother and my father
both sang, and mother wouldn't want to hang out with Hank and
Audrey because they she thought they were creepy. Was what was
dad's story. But I got started in radio, working at dad's
station, working nine at night till six in the morning. Mercy,
that was a nine hour shift, nine hour shift, and I hate to say
but that that's when I started getting amphetamines, you know,
because it would help me stay up. Because, yeah, I was having
a heck of a time staying awake. But anyway, grew up in a
household. We had Jimmy Dean and Roy Clark were a lot, a lot of
times a guest at the house. It was very interesting, because
Roy was a lot of fun to have around the house, and for
especially kids. Roy knew how to entertain kids, and I really dug
Roy. Jimmy was a little more. Yeah, he was more for the
adults, but he did something hilarious. I've got to share is
Jimmy Dean. One time he was the for those that don't know. Jimmy
Dean used to have, like, an ABC television program. He was one
of the first, I think, country guys to have, and the Muppets
were, yes, that's where you had Ralph start. Yeah, Ralph the
dog, right, right? So anyway, Jimmy would stay at the house.
Now, our neighbors didn't like us, because they call us
hillbillies. You know, we don't want to hang out with those
hillbillies over there, right? But when Jimmy would come visit,
all of a sudden, like neighbors would come and bring pies and be
looking over my because my mother was like 411 and they'd
be looking over her to see if they could get a glimpse of
Jimmy. But they never knew Jimmy Dean got on my dad's my dad's
Cub Cadet, wearing his swimming trunks, and my mother's swimming
like a shower hat she had. He just covered himself in that and
he mowed our grass, and he later sent my dad a bill for $10,000
for lawn care.
You just got to ask. But anyway, I could say is no,
I worked there at Wichita for many years, then moved to
Nashville in 1977 and worked a lot in country radio, then moved
on to moved on to contemporary hit radio, where you have a lot
of Michael Bolton and Mariah Carey, and that's where I first
met Phil Valentine, who A lot of people know as a talk show host
that used to be on W, L, A, C, AM, and also 99 7w, T, n. I
worked with Phil for many years, and also Dan mandus after Phil
passed, and that was a couple of years there, but I would like to
dedicate this, this episode to Phil Valentine. Because if it
weren't for Phil Valentine, all of us would have never probably
met. And when you come down to it,
right, right? And you know, I never got to meet Phil. You
know, when I first moved to Nashville in 85 I heard him on
on the music radio, yeah, W, L, A, C, Lac, yeah. But, you know,
it just goes to show a man I never met, sadly, still still
having influences on people's lives, because just what you
said is very true. You know, if it weren't for him, you and I
would not be, not be sitting here, not being I did not know
that
about you. You haven't met him. No, he'd never know. I never met
Phil, no, because I came aboard 99 seven, you know, in a in a
part time capacity right after Phil passed. So, yeah, I never
got the chance to meet him.
Well, and it's interesting, because this brings the subject
that we wanted to talk about today with, because this is all
about entertainment. I mean, that's what we're talking about.
And when Phil Valentine passed, I was really blown away by how
many people were coming up to me. And I'm not just talking
about at station events. I'm talking about going to the
grocery store or anywhere else, people that had never met him.
And I can't tell you how many tears are probably on my, you
know, clothes from people that just missed him. They were
hugging me, they said, but we miss him so much. And I mean,
I'm talking about men too, grown men crying. And it really got to
me. I was thinking about how people affect our lives that are
in the entertainment industry. When they pass, even if we don't
know them, it really affects us, like Elvis. I remember when
Elvis passed.
Oh, me too. I was a kid. It was one of those, you know, do you
remember where you were moments Exactly? Yeah, yeah. I was, I
was working as a bell hop. I was 16 years old, you know, August
of 77 and I was working as a bellhop at a hotel in the French
Quarter, New Orleans. Wow. And there's some stories there.
Yeah. I can remember. The the black folks that worked at the
at the hotel, in the kitchen, one of the waiters came running
in crying, oh yeah, man, Elvis. Did you hear Elvis died? Elvis
died. They were, everybody was shocked,
right? You know, oh they were, I mean, it was just mind numbing.
And you know, when you talk about Elvis, in fact, I have a
great story about my father's station, which was country
music, but it was after Elvis passed and the station was going
to do you. Moment of silence for Elvis and dad's setup was kind
of weird, because the the transmitter building was in the
north part of Kansas, and there was a guy there that an
engineer, that all he did, his whole job was to stay there, and
if there was ever any dead air to hit a record. And so they
were going to do this. They were going to do this moment of
silence for Elvis, and all of a sudden they start the silence.
And there's probably about 10 seconds of silence. They have
off air alarms. All of a sudden you hear a bluegrass song.
Everybody was upset with old gene that he was the, he was the
engineer up there. But I thought, you know, Elvis would
have dug that. Yeah, he would have thought it was hilarious.
But, you know, Elvis was huge. Another huge one was John Lennon
of The Beatles. That was shocking,
yeah, again, the the immediacy, the just the shocking nature of
that you're you're absolutely right. You know when you and I
talked? I mean, it was about around the same time I was
working radio. I was on the air that morning when we got the
word in December of 82 I'm thinking it was like December 9,
eighth or ninth of 82 when Marty Robbins passed, yes, and even
though he had had some pretty well known health issues, he had
heart problems as a young man. But still, I remember grown men
calling the radio station requesting Marty Robbins in
tears. Oh, yeah, you know, so the impact that that these,
these celebrities have on people's lives, as you say, as
you state, is just it's hard to measure, you know,
well, and
it made me really wonder too, it really happened with Johnny
Cash? When Johnny Cash passed, because I was guest hosting for
Phil on WAC, and we were trying to we were going to do like
there was like we usually do in talk radio. There's all kinds of
political subjects we wanted to talk about, but all people
wanted to talk about was Johnny Cash, how he affected their
lives. And why do you think people get so involved with
like, these people's lives, like they, they is it just, do you
think it's, it's just like a part of their past is gone? Or
do they you think they really have a they feel like they have
a relationship? And I think
it could be a bit of both, Johnny, you know, especially for
musicians, because music has just such an impact on people's
emotions Exactly. You know, songs that bring up memories,
or, you know, you remember where you were in your life when that
song was popular, or that artist just really touched a nerve with
you, or maybe a family member really loved an artist, yes, and
so that artist brings back great memories of your mom or your
dad, because that artist was so special to them. For me, for
example, Merle Haggard is still my guy in his prime and country.
Nobody wrote him and sang him any better than the hag. And my
first real concert experience just me and my dad and I'm going
to get Misty here was seeing Merle Haggard in concert New
Orleans Municipal Auditorium, 1972 and I remember there was
like flooding in the area that night, yeah, and I remember our
car on the way to the concert. Our car got lifted up in the
flood and started floating. But anyway, we got to the show and
even, and what's cool about that concert is it was recorded as an
album I love Dixie blues is the name of that album, and it was
recorded live in New Orleans. And my my dad and I were there,
and I have that album, of course. So, you know, playing
that album, man takes me back, 12 years old, you know. But even
the even haggard, made a comment about water dripping on his
microphone because there was a leak in the in the ceiling there
at the Municipal Auditorium. But you know, so anyway, you know
Merle Haggard, there's a special kind of relationship. That was
my dad's guy and it became my guy. But anyway, to just kind of
answer your question, yeah, I think people just get
emotionally involved, especially with musicians and with certain
actors and other celebrities. Oh, sure, you know, Robin
Williams, you know the way he passed was so sad. Oh, it was
sad. And you know, you hear all these wonderful stories about
just what a good human he was, you know, just a really good.
Warm guy. So, yeah, I think that people can just relate, because
they just strike certain celebrities anyway, just strike
emotions in people.
Well, that's very true. I think because my guy was Waylon Jim,
yeah, yeah, he was the whole reason I came to
Nashville, yeah, you know, and I got to work with him a bit, and
interesting dude, I
bet, yeah, he was interesting. But I remember when he passed.
It was real strange, because we were doing doing our show, and
somebody from waylands family, they wouldn't identify
themselves, but they called me on February 13, yeah, 2002 and
they they said that we wanted to see if you knew that Wayland had
passed. And I said, No, I did not know. And it hit me like I
couldn't believe the loss I felt. Yeah, because and you're
right. Waylon Jennings, if it hadn't been for Waylon Jennings,
my father and I probably would have never gotten as close,
because I remember the first time I ever had a Waylon
Jennings, because I before then I was deep purple, Jimi Hendrix.
I was all into rock and roll, and all of a sudden I'm playing,
I think it was this time album. And dad burst into my room and
he said, Are you liking this? And I said, Oh, dig him. I said,
I think he's really good. Yes, I was probably, I would think I
was 15 at the time. Oh, wow. Yeah, that's cool. 15 years old,
because everything else, you know, he would hear me playing
Hendrix, and he would go, you know, son, he's hearing things
you nobody else can hear. And I'm going, Well, Dad, I can hear
it. He didn't like that answer, but, but Waylon, Jennings,
Johnny, in fact, when dad passed, it was really I was very
gifted. I was given a great gift from God with my father passing.
And it's strange to say that, but my dad was visiting
Nashville, and we had a moment alone for just a few minutes,
and we talked very deeply about our radio careers, and he told
me he was proud of me and all that. And I told him I was proud
of him, but he asked me, he said, Do you miss Waylon and
Johnny catch said, Oh, yeah. World's just not the same
without those guys in it. He said, Son, it's very important
that you live life and and appreciate all the simple
things. Because he said, that proves to you, right there, you
never know when your time is going to come. And it was only
10 minutes later that he went, Oh, wow. Massive heart attack.
Oh my god. So that was a great that was a great moment and a
great life lesson. But you're right, it's all about, well,
like you and I, we were very affected by the death of Eddie
Van Halen. Oh yeah, I remember that day vividly.
I mean, I have actually talking about, where were you? When?
Types of stories. You know that year 2020, was a tumultuous year
for a lot of people. Neil Peart passed in January of that year,
great drummer, and I was in the midst of recording the rich
Redmond show. Rich Redmond show.com go check it out.
Cheap plug, and got to do it whenever you can. My friend, I
was acting producer as well as co host on that show. Rich was
main host, interviewing one of the guests, another guest,
another drummer, who was very influenced by Neil, and I was
just, you know, researching stuff on the computer like I
did, and that's when I found out. You actually, could
actually see my visceral reaction of me finding out on
camera, when I found out that he died, man, and that's, that's,
I'm like, I don't know if I'm great. I could maybe I am
grateful for that. But then, you know, yeah, back in October
comes and Eddie dies, and it's like crying out loud, man, these
are two big heroes in my
life. Oh, you're not kidding. Well, then I was talking about
Waylon Jennings, you know that whole from 2002 to 2003 I lost a
lot of country heroes. I lost, you know, we lost Wayland. We
lost Johnny paycheck, yeah. Lost Johnny under appreciated, John,
yeah, Johnny paycheck was under appreciate, yeah. He was a wild
and crazy guy, yeah.
But you know, when that whole Hank Williams, well, that whole
outlaw period of country, right? You know all you hear, and
deservedly so is Waylon and Willie Tom, Paul and the Glazer
brothers, Jesse Coulter, David Allen, CO, CO, yeah, but
paycheck, man. I mean, he seems to be forgotten in that
discussion. He shouldn't be great talent. He had some great
stuff, oh yeah, and great story. I played a few shows with him,
and we'll have to talk about that some other time.
You talk about an interesting guy,
but you know, you talk about, you know, your father asking
you, do you miss Waylon and Johnny Cash? And we can say,
Yes, we do. But the cool thing is, they're still there. We can
play their music. Yeah. And you know, when it comes to, you
know, we've lost our maybe you have recording maybe you have
some old air checks of your dad. I don't
know, my dad made records. Yeah, my mother made records too.
Yeah. They live on through
Okay, yeah. But you know, so many fans, we don't have that
now, you know I don't have, you know, my dad passed in 2011
Yeah, you know, I don't, all I have are photographs, you know,
and I'm thankful for that. But you know, there's something
about hearing the voice, yeah, that really, really connects
with you. How was, how old was your dad? Jake, oh, mercy. He
was 77 and he just, he collapsed, pulmonary embolism.
Just, he was there, then he wasn't.
Yep, that's way my father, Johnny, what about yours? He was
80, okay. And my mother life lived? Yeah, my mother was
different. She died. I was just a few weeks of turning 16, and
she was actually on Decker records, Oh, yeah. And she had a
few top 10 hits, but Dad got jealous. Dad was kind of weird
because he didn't like he didn't like anybody else in the family,
you know, having any kind of notoriety
or so, what name did your mom record under
Jeannie Pearson? And you can look it up on YouTube. Yeah,
have a few of her I wanted to do that. Yeah, they have a few of
her records on there, but yeah, and Gary Stewart was another one
that I loved, good writer, and he committed suicide,
right? 2003 you know,
you know, Farron young also, oh, yeah, you know, committed
suicide. And, you know, I had an interaction with him that we can
discuss one day, but
let's discuss it now. I mean, Farron young. I used to hang out
with him, actually, at the Hall of Fame Motor Inn. It used to
that's what he called, right? And he would go down there, and
I used to go there at the same time to drink, have a little
drink in the afternoon, and he and I would start talking, I
don't know he, I don't think he knew my name or anything, yeah,
but, and I did know my father, I did talk about these, oh yeah, I
know that's cool. But anyway, it was really funny because he
started in on Wayland that, you know, waylons all screwed up on
this cocaine, and, you know, he's gone broke. He was, I said,
Well, Farron, what's in your glass there? He said, Coca Cola.
And I said, Well, let me have a he said, you're not touching.
He was a funny guy. I really did like him,
yeah, and people forget that. You know, certainly later
generations. I'm sure many people watching this maybe have
no idea who Farron Young was, but, you know, there was a time
when that dude was, he was on top of the world, man, oh yeah,
he was a superstar. He was the singing sheriff. You know, he
was in movies out in LA had his own talk show. You know, a nice
looking guy could sing his butt off. Back in my concert
production days, I had produced a show. It was a festival in the
Quad Cities. Was it like Rock Island, Moline, Davenport and
Silvis, Illinois? You know where Illinois and Iowa meet? There
any Quad Cities? But there was a big festival there, and Farron
Young was one of the acts. There were several acts on the bill
there. And, you know, was in the heat of the summer. It's 1000
degrees, and Farron Young is, you know, they had a big it was
literally a tractor trailer bed, you know, as a stage, yeah, you
know, like they would do with those fast Country Music Days,
but it was good science and stuff. Lee Greenwood was the
headliner for that. That's what everybody was waving on. But
yeah, Farron young got out there three piece suit. I'll never
forget. It was a three piece blue suit, you know, with a tie
and all this again, 1000 degrees. And Farron young
sounded wonderful. I mean, he got out there and sang his ass.
He was fantastic. Oh, great, great. And, you know, half the
crowd is not paying any attention to the guy. Anyway,
later that evening, I was having dinner. It was like one in the
morning. I think it was at a Denny's
that had a bar, which is that was like, wow,
that's a nice Denny. We've gone,
we've gone to heaven a Denny's with a bar. But anyway, a friend
of mine that was there with the show. Anyway, we went and had
dinner, and I saw Farron young sitting in the corner by himself
eating. And as we got up to leave, I go up and I say, you
know, hey, Mr. Farron, you know, saw you at your show. Gosh, you
know, you sound wonderful. It was great to see you. And he
started tearing up. Oh, wow. And he's like, Thank you, you know,
thank you so much. You don't know how much I appreciate that,
you know. And that has always just kind of struck me, you
know. And it really wasn't that much later, when. The when the
poor man committed
suicide? Well, yeah, everything was kind of crumbling, yeah,
getting and you
can only imagine what it's like to be on top of the world and
then nobody, you know, give a rat's ass about you from an
entertainment standpoint. Well, I mean, it's got to be such a
kick to the ego.
It really is. I mean, it's like, you know, when you're in radio
and they fire you by computer, it's, you know, it really jars.
Who could that have happened? I don't know. I
don't know, but it was a crime, I tell you. Anyway, we've had a
lot of this year. I couldn't get over this year. Oh man, one
right after the other. We've had Lonnie Anderson did be krp, and
since then, she was 82 Yeah, she,
well, she, she died, I think, like the day before her 80th
birthday. Yes, that's right, she was 79 That's
right, yeah, she was, I met her once, yeah, did you really,
yeah, when I was in radio in Vegas, and very, very shy,
really, she was memorable because she was this very kind
of, you could tell she was a bit of an introvert. And, you know,
over the attention, I think she just wanted to live her life
well, you know, a lot of people are like that famous. You know,
they're not. We all think they're now. David Lee Roth, I
doubt is shy. No, he certainly is not. But we also lost Hulk
Hogan. Ozzy Osbourne, yeah. And Ozzy, I can understand why a lot
of people were because Ozzy Osbourne, I mean, that was my
first rock concert. My sister took me. I was, I think I was
all of 10 or 11, wow. And that was my first rock concert, and
first place I ever smelled marijuana. Smell it, I said,
Peggy, what's that smell? That's marijuana, John, but I really
liked Black Sabbath. Why am I so hungry? Why can I not remember
where we live? But anyway,
I first smelled weed at a concert, at a John Denver
concert. Well,
of course, it was John himself.
Another guy lost too soon. Yeah? John Denver,
yeah, yeah. And, what a great talent, underappreciated talent,
very
underappreciated. But Ozzy, I can understand, because he's
old, not only that, but he was such a part. I mean, he was on
television, you know, he did the reality TV thing. People that
weren't even into rock and roll watch
that. Yeah, and I think in because of the reality TV he is,
he has fans in their 70s, in fans in their teens, exactly,
you know, so a big, wide swath of Yes, of generations that
really took to him.
And the same with Hulk Hogan. I mean, Hulk Hogan had been in
movies he had done, you know, reality TV. He also had Malcolm
Jamal Warner. A lot of people may not know, but that was Theo
Huxtable exactly on the show. He also did it. My wife got into
watching that. I want to say it was the resident, that may have
been the name of it.
And then he was on a sitcom right on, B, E, T, yeah, like
Malcolm and me, or something like that. Yes, yeah, yeah. So,
great actor, yeah, you know, in 54 years old, which you know,
way too young. Yeah.
We also lost Val Kilmer, great actor.
We lost Richard Chamberlain. A lot of people
remember him from The Thorn Birds or Dr Kildare,
Gene Hackman, yeah, we lost Gene Hackman this
year. He was, like, his 90s, though, yes, yeah,
was but, but so kind of bizarre and mysterious, and still they
there are questions
about, well, yeah. And what's sad is that his wife apparently
died before he did, right? Yeah, he was relying on her. So he
that poor man was in the house alone, not knowing, because he
was suffering from dementia. Yeah, dementia. And so he didn't
even he had to be taken care of. But she was gone. She was dead.
And so, yeah, that was a very, very sad. And then we also had
Dave, which David Johansen, anybody that remembered rock
from the 70s, New York Dolls? And he also Buster Poindexter,
wasn't that is,
Oh yeah, yeah, that's right, yeah. We lost. And they had a he
had that somewhat hot, hot, hot,
yes, yes,
the Bill Murray movie, Scrooged. Yeah, right.
But you know, I think, I think with radio, like in Phil's case,
also Rush Limbaugh's case, yeah, is that, I think the audience
feels a little closer to somebody like that, because on
radio, radio is such a like when you're watching a movie, or
you're listening to records, or you're going to concert, you're
kind of sharing the experience with other people. When you're
listening to a talk show, a talk radio show, it's usually you
alone in the car, yeah, and you start to build and you hear
about these, you know, Rush talked about his personal. Life
filled in constantly. You know, you got to know his boys, you
got to know Susan, his wife. And I think it's harder for people.
I think it hits people harder when it's somebody like that
that's on the radio that they get to know, well, intimately,
especially when it's a radio personality that has mastered,
the ability to be one on one and intimate and make it feel as
though you were the only one listening, which now was a and
not everybody, not everybody can do that. You know, there's a
there's a special talent there, and also the fact that you
listen every day, yes, you know it's like every day, they're a
part of your a part of your
day. Well, they are. They're part of your life. And I think
that's why, because I've seen people, I mean, I've seen people
get emotional over, you know, people that are celebrities and
whatever. But I've seen, I've seen more people get far more
emotional when it comes to somebody that's on the radio and
especially talk show host, I don't know, like I said, I think
the reason behind that is that, like I said, that it's more
personal. You're right there in the car with them. You feel like
they're a part of your life, even if you don't know them,
right? And especially if it's a talk show host that is local,
yeah, and they're talking about the same, you know, they hit the
same pothole you did this morning, and exactly, they're
able to relate these local and personal stories, as opposed to
maybe somebody that's syndicated and they're coming from Denver
or whatever, right?
So, you know, even in syndication, I think Phil, I
noticed that Phil was was connecting with people in
Florida, he was connecting with it was the same thing. And in
fact, it got When, when, when they were doing it right, when
Westwood one was actually getting him on stations that had
a great audience. There was at one time we couldn't hardly get
our callers in Nashville to get on, because you had so it was
when we were on in Cincinnati, also in Houston and those
audiences, I mean, they fell in love with him and,
well, again, he was a special talent. Not everybody, not
everybody
could do that. No, they couldn't Rush was really good,
absolutely, you know, regardless of, I know there are a lot of
radio people that did not like Rush Limbaugh because of his
political leanings, but, but from a radio standpoint, and his
ability to connect with an audience, he was just an
absolute master.
Well, it's the same with Phil. You know, there were radio
people that didn't like Phil because they didn't like his
political stances, but I think it goes deeper than that,
though, with radio people sometimes, sometimes it's
jealousy. You know, jealousy, all these people are successful,
Yeah, boy, you nailed that. And but let's face it, Limbaugh,
that man saved am radio. At the time, he
saved talk radio. He saved am radio. I mean, he made talk
radio. If you listen to talk radio before brush a lot of it
was boring,
yeah. I mean, okay, you had your Larry kings and all that to
certainly have their place in radio history. Don't get me
wrong, but you're right. Rush Limbaugh was just a different
animal.
Man. Oh, he was Rush was great. So was I also liked, personally,
I liked Phil Hendry. I thought Phil Henry was an
interesting character. He was man, man of 1000 voices. Yes.
I mean, those guys just made talk radio fun to listen to, and
Phil did too, and that was probably my most fun I've ever
had in radio. And I have to add Dan mandus and Ken Weaver and
also Joan Jones. I was shocked, because I was shocked, because I
didn't think I'd ever find that again, and I did. I had a lot of
fun working with those people.
Yeah, you know, the sucky part about it, and you and I know it
well, is, you know, getting up two or three in the morning,
that morning shift, it would all while it may be fun, it's still
man kill you.
Literally, I can tell hurting my my
health, yeah, yeah. I mean, I've worked morning radio at other
stations over the years, and boy, you know that that getting
up two or three in the morning, it catches up to you, especially
as you get older.
Well, I worry about Damn man, just because this guy, he will
fill in later, man, well, he will fill in on, like, on red
eye radio, which is all night, all night, all night, then he'll
get off there, go in, do the morning show, and then do a do a
fill in in Washington, DC, somewhere later that afternoon,
right? All in one day, all in one day. I'm thinking, How do
you do it? Man, but he
can. It's a race. Radio is a passionate industry. Man, yes,
it is, that's the thing. Is that I always try to impress upon
radio people, because there are people in radio and then there
are radio people. Yes, there is a difference radio people like
I've always told you, even when you were on my podcast, you are
still valued us. You still have value, even if the industry
doesn't see it. Podcasting needs you, you know, even with Mr. Dan
mandus and stuff like that, bad buddy, you know, you probably
don't need a big bang in your head against the wall. No, you
could be
podcasting. Well, this is more fun, I'll tell you,
right? Is more free form, that's for sure. And
I was gonna say that before, you know, I were talking about Phil
Valentine and what kind of what kind of, what was the connection
that he had? I think it was kind of an every man. You know, he
was a very relatable every man. He was the epitome of radio when
it comes to the one on one connection, absolutely. But I
think he was a brotherly and fatherly figure to a lot of
people. He probably had a lacking element of that in their
lives.
Well, he was, and I'm glad you brought that up, because he was
the kind of guy. I remember even the people that came in and
cleaned the station one year, Phil did really well, and he
gave these folks a bonus himself, handed out he didn't
have to do that. No, he did not. And he was the kind of guy too
that I don't care if you were the cleaning crew or if you were
you know you you were a producer on a another show, no matter who
you were, if you came in and said hello to him, man, that
dude talked to you and got to know you, there was a guy at the
station that didn't agree with him politically at all. This guy
did production. This guy had written a screenplay. Do what,
I think I know who you're talking about,
but yeah, he did a screenplay. He did a screenplay, and he
said, man. And he told me this after Phil passed, he said it
really touched me because Phil said, Give me a copy of I want
to read it. And, and Phil tried to help him get his screenplay
to the proper people. I mean, he was that kind of guy, yeah, and,
like, even us, you know, my wife and I were trying to buy a
house, and we were a little short on the money side, and
Phil helped me out, wow, and I paid back some of it. But then
he I was I made one payment. He said, Johnny, after this, you're
good, yeah, you're just, you're considerate, you know the bills
pay. I said, Man, I don't want to pay you back totally. He
goes, No, just, he said, they don't pay you enough here. He
said, You're a talented guy. You deserve it. And
you mean he didn't put his mafia voice on and say what I'm
gonna need to do some things for us. You know, if you don't, you
may be swimming over here in the river somewhere. It's really we
used to love to do those.
But anyway, I you know that it's just hard to lose people that
have been such a big part of our lives, like, you know, Elvis
Wayland, John Lennon, Eddie Van Halen, Phil Valentine, Rush
Limbaugh, whoever it is, whatever, even their sports
people that we've lost like you Muhammad Ali
Yeah, you know Ryan Sandberg, who passed here recently, yes,
you know, I know that, especially for folks in Chicago,
you know, he really, really meant a lot, not just to the
Cubs, but to the city. Oh,
yeah, there's, like, also Howard Tilley with Miami Dolphin. He
died this past year. But yeah, it's just, and you had a
Muhammad Ali, didn't you have a Muhammad Ali picture
that you brought? Well, yeah, I had a, well, you bring that up?
I had, why not? Muhammad Ali was huge, yeah? And I grew up just
fascinated by the guy, because he was a fascinating character.
And all of the you know, political stuff aside. I know he
turned a lot of people off, but you know, you have to consider
the era and the time, you know the 60s is when you know there
was so much turmoil in the country and stuff, and he
energized as a celebrity, he interjected himself in the whole
political thing and what was going on. But, but all that
aside, I just found the man fascinating, not only from a
personal standpoint, but certainly from an athletic
standpoint. You know, kept losing the title and winning it
back and losing the you know, right? But he, in one of his
comebacks, he was to fight Leon Spinks in the Superdome in New
Orleans, and it was quite a big deal. And part of the promotion
for that fight, he came to town in New Orleans, he was going to
make an appearance. And. He was to go to the ticket office
there. This is back before online and all that you had to
physically go to an office and buy a ticket, some for events.
But so again, this is 1978 I was 17 years old, you know, living
in New Orleans, but he came to town as part of a ticket
promotion, and he was to, as I say, appear at the ticket
office. But he came in in grand fashion. He came in on the
Natchez river boat in New Orleans, up the Mississippi
River, and he was to get off the boat and make his way to the to
the ticket office. Well, I had a summer job at a refinery that
year, making five bucks an hour man in 1970 78 which was pretty
good, which was money? Yeah, you're not good. But anyway, I
called in sick at my laborers job at the refinery because it
was my I had a drawing. I was a fairly good artist at one time,
and I had a Muhammad Ali drawing, and I was bound to
determine to get him to autograph that. So I said, All
right, I'm going to go to that ticket office, darn it, and I am
going to get Ali to sign my drawing. Well, as I said, he
pulled he came in big to do the the brass band and the jazz band
and all that greet him at the dock as the Natchez river boat
comes to the dock, he gets off, and he's in a they put him in a
horse and carriage. They're taking him to the ticket office
through the streets of New Orleans in the quarter. Because
the ticket office, if I remember, was kind of downtown,
almost in the French Quarter. But anyway, he was in a horse
and carriage, and I got about as close to the man as we are,
right, you know, walking along. And of course, he's got these
guards and stuff, you know, walking along the carriage,
which I fully understood. But anyway, I followed that care me
and 200 other people follow that carriage all the way downtown,
and he gets out to the to the ticket office. Well, they some
guy came out of the office and yelled to the crowd. You know,
if you come into the ticket office and buy a ticket, you can
get a picture and an autograph from Ali. I'm like, son of a
gun. I mean, the tickets were like, 25 bucks to sit in the top
of the dome, right? Which was a lot of money. I didn't have
that, but so well. Anyway, the crowd starts chanting, Ali, Ali.
So finally, Mr. Ego Muhammad, Ali. He comes out of the ticket
office. He stands on a chair and starts that Ali shtick. You
know, the greatest, you know, all that stuff, yeah. And, of
course, the crowds going nuts. I am in a sea of people. I am
probably, oh gosh, 20 yards away from where he was doing all
this. And I said to me, and I had walked to that entire I've
been there the entire day, walking along. And this is a
couple of hours. You know, a few hours is how long it took all
this to transpire between him, getting off the boat, getting to
the office. There, I had my drawing rolled up in my hand the
entire time. So while he's going through his spiel, he looks
around and he's, you know, the people are going crazy. I said,
All right, Mr. Ego, here, I unrolled, I unfurled the drawing
and held it up, and he immediately zoned in on it. Wow.
And I'm like, champ, champ. Can you please sign this for me? And
he just kind of looks and he goes, you know, he motions for
it to be brought up to him. Yeah, so my heart goes in my
throat as I hand this drawing to the people in front of me. But
the crowd was cool. They did the, you know, they they passed
it up to him. So he finally gets the drawing, he unrolls it, and
he looks at it, and he smiles like approvingly, yeah, and, and
he said he he held it up to his face. That's great. And I
remember hearing cameras going off, yeah, to this day, I have
yet to find anybody that I know that life mag Sports Illustrated
somebody Yeah, has pictures of that man holding up the drawing
to his face, yeah. But anyway, he held in the crowd.
You didn't take a selfie. He
holds it up to his face, and the crowd goes, yeah. And he says
something that, well, he uses the N word, okay, yeah. And he
said, Man, there ain't no N word fighter this pretty well. So
him. And he signed it, and he held it back, you know, and the
crowd, you know,
they they brought it back to you, they brought it back to me.
Well, that's unheard
All right? And that wouldn't happen today. No, I would not
this. Wow,
if I that's really good. You drew that, yeah, 17 years old
man. He did, that's the time when I, when I did okay. But is
that pencil? Charkin? Chocolate, charcoal? Maybe. Yeah, this the
drawing is just, is just pencil, but to tilt it forward a little
bit, yeah? But he signed, it's 78 Muhammad Ali, wow. And I'm
told that, you know, he later in life, he was, like a lot of lot
of athletes, he signed a lot of stuff, but the fact that it was
during his active time he signed at 78 makes this, if I ever
wanted to get rid of it, makes it pretty valuable. Well, you're
not kidding for Ali fans,
and you did a great job
on that, yeah, so, but yeah, you know, as you can imagine, that's
a prize possession. And,
oh yeah, hang on, that's really cool. What a great story behind.
But that is a
great story, yeah, so, you know. And I can remember standing
there in the crowd, and people are jamming their hands in my
back pockets and stuff, you know. So I I actually had my
wallet down. I stuck it down in my underwear, over my crotch,
because people that's that's good to know. Let's keep it the
frame.
I learned that. I learned that at Mardi Gras. Okay, you don't
put your you don't put your wallet in your back pocket at
Mardi Gras, that's where you put it. But of course, in New
Orleans, putting stuff at your crotch, that ain't foolproof
either. But anyway, so yeah, that was quite the experience,
man. But yeah, you know Merle Haggard. My favorite memory.
That's one of my favorite memories. It is a good memory.
It was kind of my my encounter with the greatest
well, they kind of wrap this up. I'll tell you another great mom
and Ali story. It came from Wayland, Jennings. I saw it on
it was whatever Gary Chapman was hosting. I think it was called
Music City. Tonight. Is after Ralph had I know there was Ralph
Nashville. Now, wasn't it? Was it started out Nashville. Now I
think, yeah, I think it became something, yeah, you're right. I
don't know. I don't know. It may have kept the same. But anyway,
he was talking to Wayland Jennings, and Waylon was talking
about that his daughter was dating this guy, and she brought
the guy to her house. She didn't tell him her last name, that
Jennings was her last name. She brings, she brings this guy to
her home, which is waylons house. He said, I answer the
door. And he said, on one side of me is Johnny Cash, and on
another side of me is Muhammad Ali. And he said, This poor
boy's eyes look like the look like the donkey on Hee Haw, and
he said, I just looked at the kids. Said, rough life, ain't
it, son. But anyway, I appreciate everybody joining us
on our podcast, the debut circling the drain. We're going
to have a lot more, and we're going to have some interesting
guests for you too in the future, but we hope you always
join us, and we hope that you have a great day, whatever it
is, and don't, don't just go down the drain circle the drain
baby. That's from Johnny and Jim and Jay. We'll see you next time
you I'm.