Stupid DJ Tricks: Part 12

I decided to really kick-off the year by revisiting a classic. This week will kick off my third installment of Stupid DJ Tricks. It's not that all DJs are stupid, it's that some of them are amazingly stupid. That minority does the rest of the group a disservice... Because those are the DJ's that get national press coverage. You never read about a DJ making a donation to a respectable charity.  You read about a DJ in a nun costume handing out Jello shots at the rifle range. On that note, let us recall the story of Joe Grande.

Today Joe Grande is better known for his work in television. In 2004 Joe guest starred on HBO's hit show Entourage. He's also been in two movies since then, he had a bit part in Party Animalz and played more significant roles in the movies Unwelcome Strangers and Blaxican Brothers. But that is not where he was 8 years ago.

Back in 2002 Joe Grande got a very unpleasant visit from the Los Angeles Police. It was the kind of visit that in any normal universe would have been the end of his career. The LAPD said they got complaint calls reporting that there was a man exposing himself to a school bus.  The man was not Joe Grande. The "man" was a 17-year-old kid participating in the "dare of the day" on Power 106 KPWR. Joe Grande was a flunky on the program "Big Boy’s Neighborhood." 
 
Joe Grande started his Radio career in San Jose. While a college student he street teamed for KHQT Hot 97.7 FM. Eventually he became known as "Big Joe" a cast member of the "Morning Doghouse" program. He also has done sports on  KIIS FM's Mornings with  Ryan Seacrest and had his own weekend talk show on 570 KLAC-AM. (In 1995 KHQT became a simulcast of KFOG, with the new calls KFFG)

The crime was conspiracy and soliciting a person to engage in a lewd act in public. Prosecutors had a wide variety of options beyond even that: soliciting a prostitute, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, child endangerment... the list goes on. If Joe Grande wasn't on a morning zoo radio show, he would have been in jail. The prize for the unnamed boys nudity was at least ostensibly, concert tickets to see the band P3. There are three bands named P3 in the US. One is a jam band in North Carolina, one is a 50s rock cover band from Illinois and one is a christian rock band. For irony's sake, I'm hoping it's the Christian rockers.

While on location, Grande announced on air that he wanted someone to do something crazy.  he suggestion was that someone remove all of their clothes and walk to all four corners of the intersection —naked. A 17-year old boy volunteered and claimed he was 18. Grande presumably did not check his ID. The teen was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of intentional and public exposure of one’s private parts, Police Officer Jack Richter said. Inexplicably his brief flirtation with kiddie porn didn't derail Joe's career.