In 1985, my radio career was soaring. I was co-hosting the hugely successful WQMF-FM morning radio "Show With No Name." My partner Ron Clay was a shrewd, sardonic, soured-on-life hippie guy. He was brilliant and always had something clever to throw out on the air. We could finish each other's sentences with goofy riffs about society, celebrities, and politicians. We did outrageous things. We used sound effects to make it seem as if we were broadcasting from around the world. We lied a lot. We giggled at each other's provocative setups. We were juvenile delinquents trapped in grownup bodies. Rude boys throwing conventional broadcast techniques out the window. Radio stations in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia sent employment inquiries. None of those
Tag: the show with no name
When we were clueless, the dark days of cruel comedy
Today's Cancel Culture would blow a fuse trying to erase the careers of anyone involved in these 1970s sketches by the famed National Lampoon comedy troupe. Nat Lamp aired a syndicated weekly radio show in the 70s. Many of their most popular segments were later sold on albums. Here's one that would never see the light of day in this enlightened world. In the recording posted above, John Belushi interviews the very gay Charles Bronson (Christopher Guest), Clint Eastwood (Chevy Chase), and Lee Marvin (Steven Collins). Heads would explode in 2020 if comedians released this stinging mockery of LGBTQ people. But in the 1970s, being gay earned derision at the very least and violence at the very worst. In a separate sketch, Guest plays
It’s always nice to see your name in the news, unless it is followed by “was arrested”
My friend Shannon Ragland was doing some research and found the first time my name was published in our hometown newspaper The Courier-Journal. My parents must have been so proud that they forgot to say "I saw your name in the paper, honey!" About a month after the Mick Jagger article ran, I was moved to co-host the morning show with Ron Clay. We titled our show "Morning Sickness" and it became an instant hit. The photo below shows both of us in another high-profile publicity stunt, now working for WQMF under the title "The Show With No Name."