Straight From The Mouth
The Morning Mouth's July Interview with Rusty Humphries
(Reprinted by permission; Copyright © 2003 Talentmasters Inc.)
I'm sure in talk radio circles, you're somewhat of an overnight
phenomena. In the span of a few years you jumped from contemporary radio to a
couple of talkers and now are heard in over two hundred markets. Are people
who haven't known you the past 20 years surprised at your diverse
background?
I'm starting to get that overnight success story. It's very different,
because like you said, a lot of people outside the talk community know me as
a producer or the director of a comedy network. On the talk side, they've
never heard of me before. Now, the show has gone from one station to 251
stations in about a year, and I'm an overnight success, which is funny. But,
It's also difficult for people who've known me for a long time, to think of
me as something different than that crazy comedy-guy, and to be a serious
talk show host. I am serious on my show, but I'm also funny. I'm me on the
show. It's me. So, I don't have a radio persona, other than what I am, but
I've grown up. Life is different. Back ten years ago when I was producing for
(Kidd) Kraddick, I was single, in Dallas, having a good time. Life was great,
but I didn't have a lot of focus other than I knew I wanted to succeed. I
knew I wanted to do something better. Since then, I've had a family, grown up
and have a couple of kids. I've settled down. I've actually stayed in a city
for 6 years, it's a record.
Prior to Dallas, you also worked with a number of other well-known
personalities. Some, before they were well-known? Name a few.
This is my 22nd year in radio. I started working with Gary Lockwood who
was at KJR, Seattle where I grew up, Charlie Brown/KUBE in Seattle as well.
And I interned for Rick Dees. I worked with Gary Bryan quite a bit. I worked
in Kansas City where I met Mancow. He came up to a remote. This little
squirrely kid came up and said (in character) "You're my favorite DJ." I was
doing a remote in Kansas City. I was like "Wow, thanks a lot. I appreciate
it. He says "I'm gonna be in radio some day." "You are?" "Yeah. I've even got
a radio name picked out." "You do?" " It's Mancow! What do you think?" "Uh...
Good luck, kid!" We've been friends ever since. Since then, it's been one of
those things where the student overtook the master, and now he's got a
best-selling book and just doing fantastic. I couldn't be more proud of him.
I've watched when he did the Bay Bridge thing. He snuck out of town and went
to my house in Bakersfield.
For folks who don't know, the infamous stopping traffic on the
Golden Gate Bridge was a take on Bill Clinton getting a haircut in Los
Angeles. If you don't know the whole story, the book "Dad Dames Demons and A
Dwarf" is now available in all bookstores.
Your path also crossed another personality who's done well; Rush
Limbaugh.
Yeah, I was doing the morning show on WPLJ New York with a guy named
Archer. I was only supposed to be up there for a week, and they ended up
liking me so I stayed there 6 1/2 months. Then I decided that I wanted to go
do something else. On the AM side I heard this guy a few times and just
thought he was great. It was Rush. When Rush was a kid, his name was Rusty.
Everybody at first thought that I was his kid, because I was 23. I was young,
I looked a little like him. Everyone thought I was his kid. I just thought he
was great. He was very funny off the air. He was doing some impressions. He
does great impressions, and I said "you should do more funny stuff on the
air" He said "like what?" I said "I don't know. I got this stupid song. You
should play this song called Bomb Iraq (this was just prior to Operation
Desert Storm)." (Now going into Rush voice) "Young man what would I do with a
goofy little song? I said, I don't know, just say it's the Rush Limbaugh
singers and see what happens." So he plays this song and starts getting calls
from GM's all over the country and they're all telling him "Rush, that's
great. You gotta start doing more of that stuff. That's great." So the next
day Rush asks me "So what else can you do?" "Well... uh, I do Mike Tyson
impressions (Rusty goes into impression...)" Then Rush says to me "Go into
the other room and call me, do something!" So I call him and do this bit back
and forth with him... and I can see him in the other room and he's laughing
so hard his face is turning red. So, I come out and he waves me in. He pulls
out this wad of cash like I have still never seen and hands me nine $100
bills. "Keep 'em coming, young man. Keep 'em coming." "Okay!" So, I ended up
doing a lot of material for Rush.
In your pre-overnight success period, you garnered quite a
reputation for your production pieces. Do you have any favorites?
Actually two of my all time favorite bits were about you Don, for
Bootcamp. I got Kidd Kraddick on vocals and wrote and produced two pieces.
The first was a song "Do the Don Anthony" and the other "The Don Anthony
Instructional Tape." Unfortunately Don, your star has yet to rise beyond the
radio business so people who don't know you personally don't understand how
funny these bits are. But for those who know and love you, I'd be more than
happy to send mp3 copies for anyone who asks via email rusty@therustyshow.com
I think they are hysterical!
I'm so happy I asked. So after New York you left for Dallas. How did
you end up at the Eagle?
Well, I had been doing a comedy network since '88 and heard Kraddick on
the air. Didn't really know him, but thought that my humor and his would work
together. I tried to hook up with him. He was kind of leery of a comedy
network guy, which is what he thought I would be. We hooked up, and then he
actually hired me. I worked with him for two or three years at the Eagle.
After that, I headed to Atlanta and worked with Steve McCoy/Star 94.
Forgive my self-serving digression, but we're coming up on The
Mouth's tenth anniversary. Ten years ago, you were producing for Kidd. Were
you there when he started the Mouth?
Yes. I remember when we sat down and wrote the first issue of Morning
Mouth Magazine. You know, Kraddick's dad is in the publishing business and
Kraddick has always been a great writer. It was kind of one of those things
that we did... we did a morning show with Kidd Kraddick, and Dave Walker who
is now in Bellingham, WA. Kraddick just had this idea; he wanted to do a
little magazine and it was "Hey, we're gonna write some columns and see what
happens." It was more like a newsletter, as I recall. And, it just really
took off. Now, ten years later, I see it everywhere I go.
Where did he put it together?
It was at the radio station, in the middle of the sales office. Back then,
Kidd Kraddick was an early computer geek, and he got me into it. I remember
the first computer he got me. He got a great deal... it was a 386, which was
huge, man. Every one had 286's and I was one of the first ones to get the big
jump to 386. And, the big jump, I got a 2400 baud modem, which was "look out,
big deal." One of the reasons I think he did it is because we had so much fun
downloading stuff to each other. It was such a novel concept, we'd get on the
computer. It was such a pain, but it was so much fun. Can we actually send a
message across the computer? Oh my goodness, this is cool! This was when the
jocks were talking about CompuServe, and that was one of the ways he got the
message out about The Morning Mouth. We'd get on CompuServe and tell people
about it.
How did you get into talk?
I've always loved talk radio. When I was a kid -- and I'm talking like 6th
grade -- and everybody was into heavy metal, I hated it. I would be calling
Larry King at night (In King voice) "Seattle, Hello!" "Hi Larry, I'm not a
first-time caller!" And I would think I was asking the most brilliant
questions ever and he would hang up on me. So anyway I had been in Chicago
working with Mancow and Bob Eatman (Mancow's Agent) to help put him in
syndication. When that job had finished, one of his affiliates in Ft. Wayne,
IN, had a talk station and needed a host, so they said to me "Hey, have you
ever considered doing talk?" I said, "Yeah, I don't know if I can do it, but
I'll try." What they didn't tell me was I was replacing Rush (Limbaugh) who
had crossed town to a company who had a 78% share in billboards. So it was a
little tough gettin' in, but looking back it was probably the best thing that
ever happened. And then I got fired because I didn't beat Rush in my first
book. In fairness, I've actually become very good friends with the owners
there and they're nice people.
And from there you went to Reno?
Yeah. KOH-AM. And you know, Reno is really a fabulous town. I mean, I've
been in 22 different markets and you start to realize what it is about a city
that you really like. And here you've got big concerts, big shows, there's
Lake Tahoe 20 minutes away and there's no traffic. I've now been here for six
years and I love it. And of course, I couldn't have done it without the
support of Citadel who allowed me to syndicate.
I hear you broadcast from your house?
Yeah, it's great. Not that I don't like being around the folks at my
flagship station KOH-AM/Reno. My PD Dan Mason has been winning consistently
for over 10 years. My local producer Trevor never misses a beat. Even the
sales staff is incredibly supportive. It's just that TRN (Talk Radio Network)
built such an incredible facility for me at home, there no reason to go into
a station. I have a fully digital 32 track studio, so I can record my songs
and bits any time of the day or night. I have two computers, two fax
machines, laser printer, ISDN, DSL, and an Instant Replay. My studio really
is better equipped than any radio station I ever worked. I also have an
incredible support staff in Oregon at the TRN Headquarters who help me find
great stories, guests and even screen the phone calls two states away.
Everything is done via phone, fax, video connection and e-mail, the
technology is unbelievable!
How did you get the opportunity to go national?
I was "discovered" by the Talk Radio Network CEO, Mark Masters. Mark may
be the most brilliant person I have ever met. This guy discovered Art Bell,
Michael Savage and now Rusty Humphries. I have never met anyone with such a
firm grasp on what makes great radio.
How do you like dealing with 300 Program Directors?
I tell my affiliates to "Treat me like your local talent. You need liners,
promos, appearances whatever it is and I'll be there." Because, truth be
told, it's not just good for them it's good for me, too. I need that station
to be successful with my show. The more successful I make them, the more
successful they make me. It's the same thing I have heard over and over when
it comes to things like "Bootcamp." "My station won't pay for me to go or
they're gonna make me take vacation time for it." So what!? Who is Bootcamp
going to benefit more? Who's career are you interested in furthering. If the
station or company doesn't see the value, pay for it yourself, it's in your
best interest to improve. The better you get, the more the station/company
gets, the more successful you get. Take responsibility for your career; don't
wait for the station or anyone else to do it for you.
I couldn't close this interview without asking you to repeat one of
my favorite radio stories? The story of when Scott Shannon drove you to his
new home in New York after returning there from L.A.
The first time I met (Scott) was on the phone. I got a call, and Scott
didn't sound like Scott when he called. The best way I can describe it is;
Elvis really, really tired. At first, I thought he was joking. I thought it
was someone doing a bad impression. I was like "Oh, come on. Who is this?"
This is a Scott Shannon, I am a dee-jay from L.A. Rusty, you used to be
funny." "Okay, quit the joke." "It isn't even funny..." "Oh, it is Scott."
Scott and I eventually became friends. I think I earned his trust and
respect. And one day, I went to New York. I was traveling with Mancow. Scott
picked us up, and we went to his house. We were driving up this long
driveway, and he said
..."Boys, I want you to look to the left...
...Now, scan the horizon and look as far as you can to the right...
...Thank you Pirate Radio!
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