Grandma Got Run Over by a DJ

"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" is a Christmas novelty song written by Randy Brooks. He's the nephew of comedian Foster Brooks. [More Here] According to Brooks, he came up with the idea for the song after seeing his "drunk" uncle in action. But later he also cited Merle Haggard as an influence. As you may know, Randy didn't record the tune. The bluegrass duo Elmo & Patsy actually recorded it a with his permission in Oakland, CA in 1978. Having seen them both play, I suspect Patsy plays guitar on the original. Elmo was a banjo man especially in the beginning.

Back in in 1979 Elmo & Patsy were playing clubs in the Bay area, but also small stages in Reno and Lake Tahoe. The surprise hit was a 98 cent 45 rpm single sold at pharmacies. They were selling it at shows. The single hit so big locally that the story made the AP wire and then into regional newspapers. The Victoria Daily Times literally quoted a Tower Records manager "It's hot. I've had to call back and order more. I'm sort of bewildered by the whole thing."   

The song was originally self-released as a 45 in 1979 on their own Kim-Pat records, with the B-side titled "Christmas". Another pressing was on their own indie label, Oink. Soundwaves (NSD) re-released it in 1978 with distribution after airplay on KSFO unexpectedly sold 10,000 units. NSD sold another 250,000 copies. You can listen to that original, slightly more country version here. There were at least 6 different pressings of the original single in 1979 alone. A 1980 issue of City Arts Monthly reported: 

"The novelty Christmas song sold 20,000 copies in three weeks , a surprise, I'm sure, to everyone involved . Originally released on the subsidiary Oink label, it is being reissued this year in England by Stiff records. Such good fortune doesn't happen often in the small record company business, but chance and circumstances do make it possible." 

Patsy Trigg and Dr. Elmo Shropshire, were husband and wife back in 1979. But after the divorce in 1985 Elmo claimed that Patsy never sang on the record. This strikes me as dubious based on the vocal harmonies. It feels like a retcon; for a song he didn't write, Elmo takes a lot of the credit. But maybe it's a reference to the re-recording Elmo made in 2000 to get out from under the old 1984 Sony distribution deal. Possibly it was the 1982 re-recording they did after splitting from NSD and before the Sony deal. In an interview with Billboard [SOURCE] Elmo actually said  "I re-recorded my own version of “Grandma.” We used all the same personnel. Even I can’t tell the difference." This is nonsense. I can definitely tell the difference between the original and later versions. But if there were 3 or 4 recordings... I'm not so sure. More here.

Elmo dressed in grandma drag for Sony

At 560 KSFO-AM it was either the Kim-Pat pressing or the Oink 45 that found its way into the hands of Gene Nelson. Patsy said it was an opera singer who performed at the Sonoma Harvestfest in '79 who gave it to Nelson. One article credits the unnamed session drummer from the 45. (That was probably Bob Scott.) Either way, Nelson played it on KSFO in December of 1979 and the requests never stopped coming. Nelson didn't get asked much about breaking the single. He once said "It was around the Christmas season and here's this record 'Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.' So I listened to it and I thought, 'Aw, yeah.' I just thought it was hilarious, so I played it," Purportedly other Bay area stations taped it off of KSFO. Dr. Demento even invited Elmo & Patsy to perform it on his popular radio show back when he was on KMET. More here.

What made "Grandma" big in the Bay area was the same thing that made it into a national sensation. It was huge with kids. This song is referenced in dozens of student newspapers in the early 1980s. And there were a number of DJ stunts which got it back into the press in the mid-to-late 1980s. There was a very well reported stunt in December of 1985, on 103.7 WLLR in Davenport, IA. There DJ Jack Daniels, egged on by listeners, played the song 27 times back-to-back during the morning slot before station management was able to stop him. It burned up about 3 and a half hours of airtime. Even Penthouse magazine covered the story. The Christmas Encyclopedia by William Crump reports a similar stunt:

"A disc jockey in Davenport, Iowa, once played "Grandma" 27 consecutive time on the air (after which he was fired,) while another in Godfrey, Illinois, played it 310 consecutive times and made the Guinness Book of World Records." 

The latter claim I can't corroborate, and the "record" if real, is not recorded on the Guinness Book website. If the station was truly in Godfrey, IL there are only two possibilities. If it's an FM, it can only be WLCA. The Clark County Community College station. If it's AM, The only possibility is 1570 WBGZ-AM and only around 1988. I think that was also just a studio address. The city of license seems to have remained Alton, IL throughout that period. If you were curious, 310 spins of the 3 minute 24 second single would take a minimum of 17 hours and 34 minutes, excluding station IDs at the top of the hour...

In 1979, The Daily Colonialist called them "Sonoma county ranchers." Elmo was a Kentucky native, he first moved to California in 1967, after getting his DVM at Auburn University’s School of Veterinary Medicine in Alabama. In Sonora he opened his own small animal hospital. In some early interviews he refers to this as part time. He voiced numerous national radio spots and was a regular guest on KPIX's "Evening Magazine" television show. Trigg was a Tennessee native. After the divorce, Trigg taught at at Motlow College, worked as an auctioneer and worked full time as an on air DJ for 98.7/1580 WLIJ in Shelbyville, TN. She gave at talk at the Fayetteville Rotary club about the history of the song. [LINK] 

But the most interesting thing that Patsy Trigg and Elmo Shropshire don't talk about in all these interviews and bios is their first bluegrass record. They released a traditional bluegrass LP in 1974 [SOURCE] and a second in 1980. [SOURCE] The former is quite collectible now. On the back cover are liner notes written by Mick Seeber who describes Pat & Elmo's origin as a group. Together they performed and hosted the Saturday afternoon program "The Great Bluegrass Experience" on KSAY with Mick Seeber as emcee. The program started in 1969 broadcasting live from a San Francisco club called The Orphanage. I have looked high and low for airchecks and found zilch.

Seeber later took the program, including Elmo & Patsy, to KNEW where it switched to nights 10:30 - 1:30 AM. I think that's when KSAY dropped their C&W format following the sale to James Gabbert in early 1974. This wasn't a standard country music program. Jerry Garcia also played the show, apparently with Old & in the Way. It's that early Grateful Dead connection which seems to have best survived today. From KNEW it was advertised as the only country station in the Bay which was true in that moment. But it's predecessor, Ray Elund's Bluegrass show on 94.1 KPFA "Pig in a Pen" was previously hosted by Al Knoth and Mick Seeber from 99.3 KRVE and continued through at least 1976. More here and here. 

Pedo Radio

You can't make this stuff up. If you haven't heard the story, I can give you the short version. Paul Lotsof, the owner of 97.7 KAVV (Cave-FM) in Benson, AZ has been broadcasting a PSA for 2 years with the theme of hiding child porn, and proposing shorter sentences for child pornographers. Just to complete the stereotype let me also note that KAVV is a country music station. You don't need the audio, the transcript is from an alternate universe. More here and here.

"Nearly every day, somebody gets arrested for violating Arizona's child pornography law. Arizona's child pornography law is the most stringent in the nation in that it prescribes a mandatory 10-year prison sentence for each photo that you have of a naked juvenile in a sexually-suggestive pose. That means that if you're caught with six such pictures of somebody under the age of 18, you go to prison for 60 years... If you have such material, you can save yourselves and your family a ton of grief and save the taxpayers a lot of money by never storing such pictures on the hard drive of your computer. Always use an external drive and hide it where nobody will ever find it. Likewise, never keep paper pictures, tapes or films of naked juveniles where anybody else can find them.""

So what kind of town is Benson, AZ? It lies in South East Arizona, and sports a population of only about 4,700. It's in the desert plains so it's dry, hot and rarely rains. People stay in doors a lot in Cochise County.  To their credit, the town isn't tone-deaf on the issue. Sheriff Mark Dannels opened an investigation to determine if the PSA is illegal enough to file charges. However, he did wait almost two years to do that. But Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre decided that Lotsof was protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment safeguarding free speech.  This seems doubtful since incitement to comit a crime is usually a crime in and of itself. FYI: hiding evidence is a crime.

It was only after KPHO-TV 5 (CBS) ran a story on the problem and contacted Lotsof that the wheels of justice began to turn. More here. Paul Lotsof defended himself poorly in the interview.

"Please take notice that the PSA in question does not condone child pornography in any way; it merely points out that the penalties for possession of child pornography are draconian, to the extent that the real victims are the people serving these incredibly long sentences. The suggestion that anyone in possession of such material be warned to get rid of it or take steps to avoid prosecution serves to emphasize that the penalty provisions of the law – calling for 10 years’ imprisonment per image – are so extreme that the greater harm is in the enforcement of the law. The PSA does provide factual information and that information is perfectly accurate and important."

Lotsof clearly thinks he's trying to accomplish something. But I doubt he's actually is. I recall that it was pornographer Larry Flynt that won a notable first amendment victory in 1988. Free speech advances can come from unexpected quarters. But tt is one thing to be a First Amendment crusader, or a incarceration reform crusader... but Mr. Lotsof has written a few editorials on his own website, and he cannot seem to explicate himself even in his own forum.

“Judging by the posts on Facebook and other web sites it is clear that a lot of people have managed to misunderstand what I said in my one minute announcement. Many people seem to think that I have expressed the opinion that child abuse is fine and dandy. I never said that. These same people think I said that production of child pornography is fine and dandy. I never said that. Others think that I believe that dissemination of child pornography is fine and dandy. I never said that. Still others think that I’m telling people to break the law. I never said that. Some conclude that I must be a pedophile. I am not a pedophile and I don’t have any child pornography in my possession and have a hard time understanding why anyone would want it. But I do understand that there are some folks out there who do like this material and I feel some sympathy for their plight.”

I don't think anyone cries tears over the plight of pedophiles except Mr. Lotsof. Nonetheless after his advertisers revolted he stopped running the PSA.

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 31

You all heard this story two weeks ago. But in the hubub you forgot that this was just another attention-seeking DJ interested in ratings.  All claims to the contrary, about starting a discussion... what they really want is a discussion about themselves. You can't club a baby rabbit on live radio with a bicycle pump and expect that you will not be the focus of the story.

Jorgen Ramskov is the Executive Director at Radio 24SYV in Copenhagen.  He was born in Horens Denmark, and graduated from the Danish School of Journalism in 1988. He was reporter and editor at Copenhagen Radio, a station in the DR (danish Broadcasting Network) He was also a reporter on TV 2 News, but returned to DR in 1995. he worked at the Danish Film Institute, and later became head of the Copenhagen Film Festival.

The host of the program in question was Asger Juhl. Juhl grew up on a farm, but had not previously killed rabbits. So he consulted an unnamed Aalborg zoo employee on proper technique. He was told that when you hit the rabbit at the neck it's usually only stunned and to complete the task you need to break it's neck. For some reason lacking a stick Juhl Ramskov opted for a bicycle pump. The pump wasn't terribly well-suited for the task and Juhl  had to hit the rabbit three times. More here.

He named the rabbit Allan, and after the he bonked it on the head thrice with the pump, he twisted it's neck, skined and field dressed the 9-weeek old Lagomorpha. Ramskov claimed that 24SYV was highlighting the hypocrisy of animal rights campaigners who eat meat. Then took the animal home where he and his children cooked and ate it in a stew. He wasn't wrong. But the fore notice, videotaping and staging of the event reek of a PR effort. Previous to the killing, Juhl  debated animal right with a Danish reality TV star Linse Kessler who attempted briefly to rescue the rabbit.  That said, I do think rabbits are tasty animals. 

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 30

This one reaches a whole new level of stupid. Aaron Klein is the host of Aaron Klein Investigative Radio. It's broadcast on 970 WNYM-AM in New York, and on 990 WNTP-AM in Philadelphia. Klein describes himself as a Jerusalem-based investigative reporter and author. Other sources might point out that he's a birther, bigot, conspiracy theorist, and general purpose-polemicist. He also writes for the right-wing nutter website World Net Daily. He recently did something so outrageous I have to call it a radio stunt.


The core of Aaron's legitimate reporting is his specialization on the Middle-East. He often conducted interviews with adversarial factions. He refers to this in his 2008 book Schmoozing with Terrorists.
As a part of that ongoing theme he conducted an recorded interview with Abu Al-Ayna al-Ansari. Al-Ansari, is the leader of a Salafi group allied with the Islamic State also known as ISIS. In the pre-recorded peice, Al-Ansari spoke in Arabic, and his comments were translated into English.

The crux of the interview focused on a genuinely nuanced internal battle between Hamas and Salafist groups in the Gaza Strip in Israel. Klein had the good sense not to do the interview live... even to edit out a segment in which Al-Ansari threatened an anti-Islamic writer named Pam Geller. But he didn't have the good sense to perhaps speak to homeland security about it's more inflammatory contents. But Klein asked Al-Ansari about the intentions of ISIS toward the United States. Klein aired that. Al-Ansari declared that ISIS will not stop until its flag is raised over the White House. An American broadcaster airing threats against the United States directly from terrorists. I think that may be a first.

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 29

Plastic is flammable, which makes sense since it's made from petroleum—oil. Foam rubber is generally made of polyurethane, is still plastic and also made from oil. They were first invented by Otto Bayer  in 1937. So if you are working with open flame... do not try to protect yourself with a barrier that is itself flammable. There is an obvious problem there. Teapot Tim aka Tim Coburn, apparently knew none of these things.

On July 2nd in 2004 Teapot Tim from 99.5 WIHT-FM was the home of his station manager Jeff Wyatt in North Potomac, MD. Tim was known as a "stuntman" for their morning Zoo program "Hot Morning Mess."  TAs a stunt Tim had covered himself in foam padding and was encouraging listeners to set off fireworks off on him at around 8:30 PM. Inexplicably Tim was not injured, though that would have been very much deserved.

However another person suffered minors burns.  A good-Samaritan neighbor called 911.  Then the cops showed up. Fireworks are illegal in Montgomery County.  Three people were given citations for illegal possession and discharge of fireworks, as well as reckless endangerment. DCRTV reported that Tim was previously arrested in Manassas, VA for mooning motorists in an unrelated radio stunt. Tim quit the show in October of 2006 [LINK] The program was cancelled later that year.

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 28

In 2014 the radio station CKMP burned $5,000 CAD.  Responses ranged from outrage to disbelief. They were not the first to get a bit of press attention for burning money. In 1994 the band KLF burned one million British pounds. [LINK] Responses ranged from outrage to disbelief. In 1984, Serge Gainsbourg burned a 500 French franc note on national television (in France.) Responses ranged from outrage to disbelief.  There are other examples, but the reaction always ranges from outrage to disbelief. So there is some cultural context out there if you need it.

CKMP uniquely were only burning money as a part of an on-air publicity stunt. The contest was called “Bank It or Burn It.” Co-hosts Katie Summers and Ryan Lindsay asked listeners to weigh in through social media on whether the stacks of bills should go to a lucky listener or be immolated. The internet did exactly what you'd expect it to do. 54 percent of respondents answered with the hashtag “#BURN” via text. The CBC even reported on it here. More here.

Just to make sure they got the job done the duo used an actual crematory for the burn. The Pet Heaven Crematorium & Funeral Chapel of Calgary did the honors. Perhaps they were surprised, but they followed through on their promise.  Technically they were not breaking the law. Canadian law only protects coins from defacement, not paper notes. Regardless, responses predictably ranged from outrage to disbelief.

CKMP immediately began promoting their next round of Bank It or Burn It, with a 10k pile of Canadian banknotes. This time voted to give away $10,000 rather than torch it. But this time the voting was a bit more secretive. It seems probably the outcome was fixed this time and the trolls overruled. A $10,000 check was written to The Children’s Wish Foundation. Their Facebook and twitter posts were all taken down. The contest was never run again. More here.

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 27

This isn’t the first case that a radio station prank contest went this way. According to the FCC, in 1999 102.1 KPRR in El Paso held a crooked contest. They told listeners that if they called in and answered a 10 question quiz correctly,  they would win “10,000.” One caller did call in and answer all the questions correctly.  The general manager of KPRR then informed her the number referred to Italian lira, not American dollars. The difference at the time was $9,947. She was a bit peeved. More here.

Our nameless winner received a check for 53 dollars from KPRR-FM. The FCC sent them a notice explaining that this was a violation of Section 73.1216 of the Commission's rules. These require licensees, to fully and accurately disclose material terms of a contest. Clear Channel claimed that this didn't apply because “the station never stated ‘on the air’ that it was giving away ten thousand dollars.”  Clear Channels further added to their defense that the complete rules for the contest were on their website. These did state that the prize was 10,000 Italian lira, not dollars.

The FCC rejected that line of reasoning, because it was utter bullshit. Clear channel was summarily fined $4,000. I think we can all see how that math fails on a couple levels. Interestingly that $4,000 goes to the Federal government. The unnamed woman in the complaint gets nothing from that judgement. She has to file a civil suit against Clear channel to get her $10,000. Good luck with that.

CHOMO Radio

Chomo is a slang term for Child molester. I use the term because it really makes them sound like defective degenerates. I've written about felonious DJs before here. But there were so many it could have been a series. There is a subset of those that are the worst of the worst: DJs that have been arrested as pedophiles. The lowest of the low. As public figures they really bring down the industry. I've researched just the last 10 years or so of US arrests from the headlines to comprise the below quick list.

 91.3 WCSG - Grand Rapids, MI
John Balyo, a Christian radio host was arrested for child porn. Baylo was an an eight-year employee of Cornerstone University's WCSG-FM.  He was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in state prison. More here.

93.3 KMXV - Kansas City, MO
Gregory D. Sage was arrested in 2007 on 5 counts of child pornography. He did afternoons DJ'ing at KMXV starting in 2002 and was promoted to promotions manager in 2006. Sage also worked at KCKC doing a little traffic and promotions. More here.

810 KGO-AM - San Francisco, CA
This one was so big it made the international news. Bernie Ward was a radio talk show host at KGO. His career began there doing fill-in slots starting in 1985. He remained on staff until his firing in 2007 following the indictment. He is now serving a seven-year prison sentence for the online distribution of child pornography.

1230 KTNC-AM - Falls City, NE
Matthew Leaf was a radio news and high school sports broadcaster in an unrated market area. He was arrested at the radio station on suspicion of possessing child pornography.  MThe radio station has removed his image from their webpage. More here.

13420 WJAS-AM - Pittsburgh, PA
Michael H. McGann was formerly program director of WJAS-AM in Pittsburgh. He retired in 2008. Previosly he had been a DJ at WTAE-AM, WPRR-AM, WISR-AM, WRKZ-AM,and WIXZ-AM among others. Sherrifs caught him admitting to various felonies in an online chat room in February 2012. He was arraigned last June. More here and here.

102.9 WYFM-FM - Youngstown, OH
Caught in 2009 after chatting up federal agents online, Y103 Radio host Scott Kennedy was sentenced by a federal judge for possession of child pornography. He will spend 51 months in prison and pay a $25,000 fine. More here and here.

104.3/950 KKFN-AM - Denver, CO
Dean Edward Letschka was a traffic reporter on KKFN in Denver under the name Sam Hammer. But in 2004 he was arrested and charged with attempting to produce child pornography. In a sting operation instead of receiving a box of Polaroids he received a visit from federal agents. He was has sentenced to federal prison for 8 years. More here.

93.7 WOGK-FM - Ocala, FL
Terrell Bellows, the former co-host of the "Mr. Bob Morning Show" on WOGK was caught after he chatted online with an undercover FBI agent about trading child porn.  In 2006 he was sentenced to five years in federal prison Thursday for possession of child pornography. More here.

98.1 WBUL-FM - Lexington, KY
Roy D. Baldridge, known on air as "Dusty Dan" on WBUL was charged in 2009 with four counts of possession of child porn. The tale of his capture was kind of amazing. Originally charged only with burglary, he was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property and possession of a defaced firearm. But then police seized and searched his computer... leading to more serious charges. More here.

102.7 WNEW-FM - New York City, NY
Dave Herman was 78 years old and died in 2014 waiting to go to trial. He started out at WHTG but distinguished himself as at WMMR in the late 1960s. He later joined WABC and moved to WNEW in 1972 where he stayed for 20 years. Later on he worked at WXRK and rejoined WNEW in 1997 retiring in 1998. He was arrested in 2013 at an airport in the Virgin Islands on a charge of attempting to transport a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. More here.

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 26

In February of 2000 back when 93.7 in Shreveport, was still KITT-FM these was an incident.  KITT, then owned by Citicasters, held a little contest with a prize of one million. One million what? Well you'd assume dollars as that is the legal tender of this country. KITT was careful not to say dollars because that would ruin their prank on Shreveport. Incidentally, the legal term for that is fraud. More here.

The first caller with the correct answers to their questions was promised to become a “millionaire.” There were a large number of callers and radio personalities "Coyote" and Kathryn let John  Richard McRae know that he was a millionaire. But McRae didn't receive one million dollars, KITT paid them one million Turkish Lira. That is the equivalent of less than $2 dollars USD. McRae was a tad miffed. Actually he filled a complaint with the FCC.

Citicasters tried to claim the whole stunt was a parody of the ABC television show ``Who  Wants  to Be  a Millionaire?'' Their only evidence for this claim for the FCC was that the prizes for the runner up were crappy: a   CD,  hamburgers, and movie passes for two. The FCC was not impressed. Thunder Country, was fined $4,000 for violating  Section 73.1216 of  the Commission's  rules by  not disclosing  a  material term of a contest. The FCC went on to note that Citicasters had been fined for this previously and that they were not amused.93.7 in Shreveport is now KXKS, still a country station but now owned by Townsquare media.

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 25

In 2004 WXZZ's Morning Crew including Twitch, Mary Jane and Kyle Kincaid played a little prank on Lexington Kentucky. It seemed on the face of it a small prank... but there is a place and time for everything. Smoking is at sort of a cultural nadir in the U.S. But in some southern enclaves tobacco is still a cash crop and restrictions on it's use are about as popular as speed traps.

Twitch and crew announced on air that the Lexington Urban County Council had passed an ordinance banning residents from smoking cigarettes in their vehicles. Other cities had considered similar legislation, including conservative strongholds like salt Lake City. Lexington had also just begun enforcing its controversial indoor smoking ban the previous April. So the claim was more credible than you might think. The result was that people went ape.  The Urban County Council, the police and even 911 was deluged with calls from irate smokers. More here.

The three disc jockeys were suspended.  The city of Lexington threatened to file a complaint with the FCC. That may sound like an over reaction but FCC rules do prohibit hoaxes that can cause "public harm."  their threat was not without merit. In the end, Cumulus had to make a formal apology to the Urban County Council and made some civic donations to cool things out.

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 24

Let it be known now that any radio contest in on or around April Fool's day is to be considered suspect. In March of 2005, listeners of 103.9 KBDS-FM  in Bakersfield, CA, were told that whoever came up with the correct mileage accumulated that week by the station's two Hummer H2s would win two new H2s courtesy of Radio Campesina on April 1st.  This was just one year after Radio Campesina bought 103.9 in Taft California from Adelman Communications and dropped the KMYX call letters. It seemed like a nice new year promotion. It was not.

Shannon Castillo was one of two listeners who guessed 103.9 miles, the right answer. KBDS is also known as "Play 103.9", so winning the contest was less a matter of figuring out the number of miles traveled by the trucks than guessing that they'd make a play on the brand name. 

Castillo was instructed to be at KBDS at 6:00 AM to pick up her prize. Castillo hired a baby-sitter for her two children and departed for the station. When she arrived she was informed that the "Hummers" she and another listener had won were not full-size Hummer H2s, a vehicle worth about $60,000 each. It had been a prank and the station was awarding them only toy trucks. To add insult to injury, the KBDS morning show hosted by deejays Chuey Boy and Dirty Sanchez ran promos for a week mocking Castillo as a victim of their April Fool's Day joke. She was not amused.

So on 21 June 2005, Castillo filed a lawsuit against the KBDS for $60,000 citing breach of contract and fraud. It may or may not be related but on November 14th, 2008, KBDS laid off its entire programming staff and went dark. They have flickered back on air briefly but only to renew their STA to remain dark. Radio Campesina is rumored to be trying to sell the station.

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 23

This wasn't even funny. It was just mean and made everyone at the radio station look unprofessional and vindictive. It's not the worst thing they've ever done but probably the most petty. The short version is that In 2011, the John and Ken Show gave out live on air the cellphone number of an immigrant rights activist and urged their angry, bigoted listeners to harass him. There was no way that was going to go right. It was a miracle they didn't get sued. More here.

John and Ken already had a history of "incidents" that slighted and/or victimized minorities. In 2005 the duo urged their listeners to send toilet brushes to the Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's office. Thousands were received. They've taken actions against candidates running for office which has resulted in complaints being filed at the Federal Elections Commission.Suffice it to say... they are not classy people.

The John and Ken Show is hosted by John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou. They became a duo at WMGM-FM in Atlantic City, and caught a little press then for pranking WAYV during their holiday food drive. In 1990 they took over the drive-time slot on WKXW-FM. They quickly became the scourge of New Jersey and left for KFI two years later. They were fired 5 years later over a "contract dispute."  They moved to KABC-AM who tried to house break them with mandatory diversity training.  Eventually they were fired over their poor ratings. For some reason KFI hired them back in 2001.

Jorge-Mario Cabrera is an immigrants rights activist. He's the director of communications at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA). In that role he gets interviewed sometimes for that viewpoint like any other talking head. So it is not unusual that a media outlet have access to his contact information.  It is unusual for radio hosts to give it out and to direct their listeners to harass that person.

By his own tally, Cabrera got more than 400 very angry, racist and threatening calls and had to change his phone number.  John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou were campaigning against the California Dream Act. But this was just a personal attack not material to the argument. Several rights groups threatened to boycott the show's advertisers. KFI cried censorship. In the end Kobylt publicly apologized on KMEX-TV. More here. In covering the event, James Buchannon did write a spirited defense of "non-Jewish White talk show hosts" on the David Duke website.

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 22

This must be my third round of Stupid DJ Tricks, but the hits just keep coming. I must share in hopes that further idiocy can be averted.  I have more than a weeks worth, but I'll limit myself to just one per day for the week. Brace yourselves.

Back in 2007 Bobby Brown (aka Robert Barisford) was arrested in Massachusetts for  unpaid child support payments and failing to appear in court . This was not new.  In June 2004, Brown had been sentenced to 90 days in prison for missing three months of child support payments. That was waived when he paid the tab. But by 2007 he was back in hock and was re-arrested. In that era Brown was being lampooned on SNL as a jealous, verbally abusive, philandering cocaine-addicted drunk... which by all reports wasn't much of an exaggeration. More here.

So 99.5 WIHT in Washington, D.C. took a look at Mr. Brown and thought that thsi was a guy they wanted working at their radio station. The Kane Show, the syndicated morning program on WIHT decided they'd like Bobby Brown on their show for a week! So they offered to pay his tab and his court fees to make that happen. The grand total was $19,150. But, when it came time to deliver, Brown was unreliable. According to starpulse.com:

"Brown did call the morning program...but hung up after 10 minutes after getting into an argument with the host over whether he would discuss his child support woes and his actual agreement with the station...the two engaged in a lengthy argument over Brown's alleged agreement to appear on the show and he hung up."

The station's website later said in part: "Hot 99.5 and Bobby Brown's Attorney have mutually decided that this wasn't in their best interest and Bobby's attorney has agreed to return the money to Hot 99.5."

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 21

Bob Hannah was on 107.3 WAAF doing overnights from 2003 into 2006, then moved to 7pm-12m from 2006-2009. He was quickly picked up for some fill-in work at 104.1 WBCN and sister station 100.7 WZLX. I have heard that he's back at WAAF for  Saturday mornings 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM but I've not confirmed that. Bob Hannah was really famous in 2007 for doing something really dumb. Why he did it we do not know. He later said that he just thought it was funny, but that's what ichthyophiliacs* always say.

Maybe it was a fundamental misunderstanding of how social media works, or maybe Bob really likes attention.  He simply replaced his normal head-shot on Myspace with a picture of him naked, using a dead fish to cover his groin area.  The only problem here is that this maneuver posts that same photo to your "friend's" pages. So while that's fine for most "friends,"  it may not be appropriate for all "friends." Because not everyone wants to see a half naked man wearing a fish. Fishermen pose with their catch all the time in Boston. They usually don't do it naked.

In this case the wrong "friend" was the Attleboro Police Department. Oops. As to exactly why they took the page down, police Capt. George Bussiere said  “Research found that it wasn’t meeting the criteria we had hoped it would meet...” There is a man with a gift for understatement.

*I made up that word.

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 20

This was a more traditional prank, the April fools joke. The holiday has it's roots in a Roman pagan holiday called Hilaria, celebrated on the vernal equinox to honor Cybele on  (about) March25th. Hilaria is the root word from which we derive "hilarity."  Incidentally it was one of a few Roman holidays which was to be celebrated soberly. How it devolved into the modern tradition is unclear. But it probably had something to do with the ever-popular Spanish Feast of Fools, and Christian Feast of the Ass. Fast forward two thousand years and the holiday now centers around morning zoo DJs playing trick on their own listeners.

This prank may have been an homage to satellite radio. Beginning in mid-March, the Denny Schaffer Breakfast Club morning program began announcing that their program was converting to a subscription-only business model at 92.5 WVKS. Much like the Wall Street Journal, without a subscription, only portions of the content would be available. They claimed that free content would only include commercials, music beds, drops, and the listener-end of phone calls.

On April 1st the program was aired only in part with big gaps to simulate the "pay radio" platform. Toledo responded with ire and venom. Angry callers flooded WVKS and were recorded and played back after the prank was announced at 8:30 AM. Denny crossed the street to 1370 WSPD-AM  in 2003, and moved to Atlanta in 2006 for a gig on WGST-AM. last I knew he was doing nights at WGKS-AM still in the Peach state.

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 19

This prank was somewhere between cruel and amazingly stupid.  On May 25th, 1998 102.5 WLTO held a call-in contest.  That night, disc jockey, Jason Hamman aka "DJ Slick" announced that he wanted to thank people who listened to his program through the American Idol finale. He was holding a contest to win 100 grand. He even wrote it up on his blog. His actual written words were "Be caller 10 @ 280-1025 and you'll be 100 GRAND RICHER!!!"

Norreasha Gill won that contest by listening to the radio show into the night and managed to be the 10th caller. She was understadably excited, and began immediately planning on what to do with the money. DJ Slick told her she could pick it up in the morning. But there was no money, the contest was a farce. When Norreasha arrived at the WLTO-FM studios the next morning, she was asked to return that night, when DJ Slick would be there. But when she got home, a message from the station manager was waiting. He explained that she had won a 100 Grand candy bar, not money. When things became disputatious, he offered her $5,000 to settle her claim.

Gill sued of course.  In July she filed a lawsuit against Cumulus Media Inc. in Fayette Circuit Court. It accused them of breach of contract. DJ Slick was not named in the lawsuit, but he did voluntarily resign.

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 18

When the story is about a man with a name like "Greg T The Frat Boy," one must assume the worst.  I assumed he was a dudebro, and the situation was much much worse.He was a DJ on 100.3 WHTZ-FM "Z100" in Newark, NJ. In Carteret, New Jersey Greg duct-taped himself to a utility pole. It was a sort of human billboard type of stunt but one for which he had no permits, nor had he made any of the appropriate arrangements. He even parked the stations van blocking the sidewalk. He did however bring his own duct tape. It took all of 20 minutes to get arrested. The NY Daily News noted this was his third arrest for similarly stupid stunts one of which included trespassing in Martha Stewarts driveway back in 1997. [source]

That faux frat boy's real name is Gregory Tyndorf. He was arrested on August 14th, 2002. The event was staged in a parking lot across the street from Exit 12 of the New Jersey Turnpike. Municipal Court Judge Allen Comba fined him $500 for disorderly conduct,  further noting that Tyndorf had selected one of the busiest intersections in Central Jersey, if not the state.  Tyndorf pled ignorance which  is believable for a DJ. More here.


The stunt had been part of a strange public display of support for Ira Joe Fisher, a WCBS-TV weatherman who had been recently cut loose. In the end, Ira Joe Fisher was retained by CBS until 2003 and left there for CBS News Saturday Early Show through 2007. Gregory Tyndorf still co-hosts on the morning zoo show on WHTZ. That ghastly image to the right is him... and you can even buy the poster on their website for some heinous reason.

Stupid DJ Tricks: Part 17

 My stockpile of stupid DJ stories is so deep I am afraid I must unload a weeks worth upon you all.  It is that time again. Today's tale is about Brett Reese, the owner of 104.7 KELS-LPFM It's not much of a station, operating at 61 watts in Greeley, CO with a 9-watt repeater in Fort Collins. For the last several years, for the week before Martin Luther King day this bigot reads aloud a speech written by Kevin Alfred Strom, a  white supremacist, which maligns Dr. King. The specific charges are that King was a sexual degenerate, an anti-American communist and an embezzler.

Never mind that King wasn't a communist, or even a remarkable perv of any stripe. He did cheat on his wife but that's all too commonplace. What offends Reese (probably) is that King was having affairs with Caucasian women, and that offends him because he's a bigot. Bigots are also commonplace and unremarkable. But broadcasting that message all week before MLK day for years.. that's just asking for trouble.  But that lack of candor strangely is not the offense that wins him a place on stupid DJ Tricks.It gets better Reese said he would begin carrying his gun at school board meetings because he's been threatened for his King commentary.
In response that January, other school board members asked district officials to draft a policy banning weapons from all school property.

In 2011 Brett Reese (alleged) left a threatening voice-mail message for Justin Sasso, the owner of another local station 1310 KFKA-AM.In the message he threatened a "shootout" because advertising reps from KFKA had called on businesses that happen to also underwrite KELS. Darn that free market capitalism. Subsequently Reese was served with a temporary restraining order by the Weld County Sheriff's Office and lost his permit to carry a concealed weapon. Understandably, a restraining order was also issued against Reese by Sasso.

Then in May a teacher accused Reese of sexual harassment, and several other people reported to the board that they believed Reese was drunk at a meeting. He was censured and the board got that weapons ban by June. In Greely Reese was still the big story even that summer. In July the Southern Poverty Law Center named  Reese third on a list of nine for “Hate in the Mainstream” for his broadcasts. In February of 2012, over  a year after the whole rigmarole started Reese finally resigned from the school board. He still owns KELS-LPFM.

STUPID DJ TRICKS: Part 16

After a week of Stupid DJ tricks I start to lose interest. In real-time, I lose interest even faster than that.  I don't care if they're snorting their Cheerios down at the frat house, the morning zoo doesn't grab me. But this one is no morning zoo moment. It's nuanced, in a daytime TV drama sort of way. More here and here.

Our tale begins in Cincinnati on WLW-AM with radio host Eric Deters, who is also a licensed lawyer. You can see his own website here. He was very vocal and very active. According to the Kentucky Trial Court Review he has tried more civil jury trials than any lawyer in Northern Kentucky. That may or may nor be a good ting depending on your point of view. He's also a mixed martial artist cage fighter... yes a bit of an odd duck.  So don't get on his case, he'll sue you, kick your ass then tell everyone about it on WLW.

Despite his legal training Deters ended up in a big of legal trouble. The Kentucky Bar Association brought a suit against him that levy's six charges against him for violating the rules of professional conduct. One of them specifically dealt with his evening program on WLW.  He is accused of calling Grant Circuit Judge Stephen Bates an "unfair."  Bates had ruled against him in the case of a Grant County school bus crash in January of 2007. Apparently this is not something you can say about a judge on the radio.

Being a lawyer Deters filed a federal lawsuit against the Kentucky Bar Association to stop the proceedings against him. He felt the rules of professional conduct stifled free speech. Deters suit even claimed that the trial commissioner, Frank Doheny, was biased and refused to recuse himself. Deters is known for filing medical malpractice suits and Doheny for defending them. Deters has run for public office against some of the other members which intimates other personal motivations. The situation just sounds a bit off, you might even think that they had it in for him a bit. Well so did he.

Deters asked for a restraining order to prevent a trial and for an injunction to stop the bar proceedings against him.  He sought a new trail commissioner and a ruling that the bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct stifles free speech. U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves held a hearing in Frankfort, KY. Reeves shot down Deters and he ended up having a confidential disciplinary proceeding with the bar association. He lost the injunction, and he lost the appeal. But the tumult continued, Deters evening program on WLW was terminated, but his part time talk-program continued. Whatever was going on behind the scenes, Deters sued Kenton Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders for libel over comments he posted on twitter. Kenton Circuit Court Judge Martin Sheehan tossed that one too and made a side comment that summarized the problem nicely:

“The state’s interest in protecting the free and open expression of opinions cannot be lost on Deters, an individual who, when not practicing law, hosts what can certainly be termed a highly opinionated radio talk show.”

Stupid DJ Tricks: Part 15

Dominic Dieter is one of those DJs that is going to end up in the Darwin awards. He's a 29-year-old Ohio native. He went to Mount Union College in Alliance, OH.He started as a phone screener on "Rover's Morning Glory" on 92.3 WKRI in Cleveland.  But then he made the mistake of saying he'd do anything to get on air. Thus began the Friday morning "Dare Dieter" segment of the program. each week Host Shane "Rover" French makes a new effort to do new and sadistic harm to Dieter.  It wasn't long before he was licking a bug zapper, eating a human placenta and snorting cremated remains.

In July of 2007 came a dare that sent Dieter to the hospital. The dare involved rolling him in an 85-gallon drum down a steep hill  near the Marginal road off I-77 near East 49th Street. partway down the hill the lid came off and Dieter was partially ejected repeatedly slamming his body against the ground until he came to a stop. But really, after you've put your hand in a bear trap and set yourself on fire what else can you do for attention?

Initially Dieter complained of not being able to feel his feet.  A spokesman at Cleveland MetroHealth Hospital said that Dieter was treated and released.Initially Host Shane French said he no longer would be airing the "Dare Dieter" segment. True to his word, no further dare's have been issued, but as recently as April of 2008, Dieter was asking for further abuse.