When did Howard Stern stop being a shock jock? Was it when it became a rather prescient judge on “America’s Got Talent?” Or, when he recently celebrated his 30th anniversary on radio in New York; he debuted Aug. 30 in 1982 on WNBC.
Stern actually got his start in radio at Boston University for campus station WTBU before joining commercial station WNTN in Newton, Mass.
He met his eventual sidekick Robin Quivers, at WWDC in Washington, D.C., where she worked as a straight newscaster. Stern was more about satire than shock back then, but he honed his style there and moved to WNBC in New York City in 1982. He and Quivers have been a team ever since.
He lasted all of three years before he was fired there in 1985. But by then, his reputation, fan base and style were well established. He jumped to WXRK the same year and became the nation’s top radio personality during his 20-year reign at the station. In 2006, he jumped to satellite radio in a landmark $100 million deal.
Steve Austin and Eddie Finocchiaro.
While his show descended into smuttiness and potty talk, he was a tireless advocate of free-speech and one of the best interviewers in radio. He was fined by the Federal Communications Commission more than any other radio jock in history. But he fell off the pop-culture radar after moving to subscription-only satellite radio.
With his move to satellite radio from terrestrial radio, naysayers claim he’s lost his edge. As for me, I’d listen to him anytime.
Meanwhile, another new format, Internet radio, has emerged since Stern’s departure, and Eddie Finocchiaro is literally setting the net on fire with his unbridled running commentary on almost everything.
Uncle Eddie, as he prefers to be called, is trailblazing in much the same way that Stern did in his early halcyon days. Eddie’s worked alongside some of the best as well, most notably with Jim Kerr at Q104.3.
Whether it’s former Gov. Jesse Ventura or the latest Penthouse Pet, he produces some of the most interesting and eye-opening radio of the day. Demand The Ham. Check his show out at “Hamradioshow” at morelikeradio.
An Expert Weighs In on Kato Kaelin
Brett Winterble
Writer Marc Eliot who had done a book with Kato around the time of the OJ Simpson trial was thrust back into the limelight as well. In an exclusive interview on the Brett Winterble Show (XM Radio), he outlined his analysis on Kato’s motives.
“What most people don’t remember is that at the time we collaborated, Kato was trying to start up a career as a comic; trying to develop a routine in fact. The trial made him something of a household name. I knew he liked that and I see these recent revelations as a way to possibly make that happen again,” he said.
In other words, Kaelin wants a shot at his 15-minutes of fame again. But Eliot goes on to say that out of everything he was told by Kato (and, apparently it was a lot), very little of what he knows was ever revealed in court. So, maybe he does have something to say.
Names in the News
Tom & Lisa Cuddy, Tony King, Jacqueline Boyd-Dolenz, Jerry Lembo, Brad LeBeau, Joel Diamond & Rebecca Holden, Mark Bego, Brett Winterble, Brandon Damore, Rod West, Joel Denver, Mark Strickland, Adrian Niles, Jingle Punks, David Salidor
