Straight From the Mouth

completely on the defensive, because I bet that every radio and television show that she has been on has been beating her up. So, while we didn't want to let her get away with anything, in terms of not asking the proper questions, when she came in we were really nice to her. We sent stuff to her hotel room last night, gifts, just saying welcome to town. When she came in we were really nice. We made her laugh. When we have someone in to interview, we start out wanting them to say something that will be repeatable in other media, a quote that people can hang on to. I don't think we got there with her, because she was just so...

Uptight?

Jeff: She is focused and tight and unyielding. If you ask her a really good question, she just won't honor it and blow you off. She is basically focused and a little bit cold. We figured she had been asked every newsy question, and people can get that on cable. We had to get something different, so we go to more personal stuff in a case like that. One of the things that Jerry asked her, "Since it all went on, how many times have you cried and why?" I said to her, "My touchstone that brings me back to where I should be in life, when I feel like I am getting out of control, is my folks. You have your mom, what did your mom say through each step of this thing?" We tried to get her to go to more personal things, so you can see her rather than some news interview.

Jerry: She did finally admit that the rumors were true; that she was using the Playboy thing just to get on our show to try to pry me away from my wife.

Is the lead you were looking for in the six o' clock TV news?

Jerry: Probably... She admitted it finally. At least she didn't deny it.

So it was all a ploy?

Jerry: Yeah, to get on our show to pry me away from my wife.

Did she want to meet you later?

Jerry: Well, you gotta hurry up and get this thing over with.

I understand you have Keanu Reeves on tomorrow, right? You mentioned that part of your formula is to try to get them down to your level, to get them to like you, feel comfortable with you, and ask them questions they aren't expecting. Is there more to this formula?

Jeff: No, we're not great interviewers. Are we great interviewers?

Jerry: No. It's our weakest spot. I just realized, after hearing Larry King say it for 20 years, that you never ask a question that can be answered with a yes or no. So, I started doing that about two weeks ago and that's worked out. I know this will sound self-serving, but I think that we are really likeable. When people come and sit down in the studio they have a really good time. People will get up and leave, and say "I had a great time," or "This was really fun." Now Jeff and I will always say, now what's it like when they go to other stations, don't they have fun? What happens in those studios?

Let's talk about Jeff and Jer. You guys have been together how long?

Jeff: 18 years

Do you have an anniversary?

Jeff: May 3 and we always celebrate.

How?

Jeff: We meet at the top of Mount Soledad, the highest point in San Diego, as we did our first day on in San Diego. Coincidently, our very first anniversary day is May 3, in Detroit. We happened to start the same day here too.

Jerry: We meet up there early in the morning and we brew up some General Foods International Coffees, and then we just hold each other while we drink them. No, we meet up there and look over the city, like the first day we were on, and we thought, how awesome is it to take this on. Do we really think that people care a crap about what we have to say? We say a little prayer and

Jeff: And start drinking.

A bit of Trivia, and correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't your show was almost Jerry and somebody else?

Jerry: Jerry and somebody else in Detroit. This was in early '82, and there almost was a guy who was a slam dunk, and he backed out. There was a guy I had heard that I thought would be a really good guy, I'd like to meet him. He was going to come and do the show with me, but then he backed out. Which left me with nobody, so we started this search, myself and the company, to find a partner for me. Which is ridiculous, it's like saying we are going to find you a wife in 90 days. I flew all over the country looking for people. On the weekends they would fly into Detroit and nothing was happening. It was getting time to go on the radio. The PD said, "Hey I use to work with this guy in Oklahoma, you might like him." He called Jeff, and asked Jeff to send a tape. I heard the tape and I said, "Well, you know, I could mold this guy. I could help him along. I think there's some stuff there I could work with."

Jeff: I was in Phoenix working by myself, and Jerry flew in and we spent the day together. We didn't even talk about radio. We swam around the pool and goofed around. We knew that we could be best friends, even college roommates.

Can you remember your first impressions of each other?

Jerry: Yeah, I saw Jeff and said, "Why is he wearing a dress?" I'll tell you exactly how it happened. We met in the lobby of a hotel in Detroit.

Jeff: The Michigan Inn.

Jerry: The doors open to the elevator, Jeff walked out. Obviously, he knew it was me and I knew it was him. The first thing he said to me was, "So the topic today is morning shows, huh?", and he laughed. I knew immediately that was it. It was done. We could have just shaken hands and said, "See you on the air in a month."

Jeff: So we went up to this room and started talking about morning shows after that. There was no point to it, because the basic foundation of why we did what we did happened to be the same. We are completely different people. But the basic foundation of what drives us is exactly the same, and we instantly clicked. It was just meant to be. They put us in a studio to do a practice show and after like two breaks it became apparent that it was a joke. We didn't need to do that, so we ordered pizza.

How are you most different and alike?

Jerry: There is nothing that is the same as far as the people we are, and what we like to do when we are not at work. Our interests are completely different. I think at the core, the kind of person that we are, as far as how we deal with other people, we are the same. We were raised very much the same. That's the common ground that we find.

Are common qualities and interest important in order for a morning show to succeed?

Jeff: I don't think so, what do think Jerry?

Jerry: No, we have six people on our show. Jeff and I are very different, but the other people on the show are different from us and I think that provides tremendous diversity on the radio. If you listen to our show you will find someone that you identify with. Before we had all these people, I think that you found you either identified with myself or Jeff. I'm married but we don't have any kids , and we have a far different life-style than Jeff and Nina who are married and have kids. If we were the same the show would be extremely boring.

Tell us about the members of the showgram, who does what?

Jerry: Well, there's us and Tommy Sablan is our producer. Then we have Laura who does the traffic, but she's more than traffic and news. I don't know, how do you say it, Jeff?

Jeff: She's a pain in the ass?

Jerry: I hate to say she's a sidekick. It's an ensemble show, like in Friends, how do you say what Ross does or Joey does. She's just one of the players.

Jeff: We got Randy who's our Assistant Producer, he's been with us forever. He's kind of a geek.

After 18 years of doing a show together, how do you keep yourself creatively charged?

Jeff: We talked about this on the air the other day. I have been doing this forever, the only job I have ever had is being on the radio. I started when I was 14 and I have always done this. When I find that I am getting fried or I'm getting too negative, I have to step back an re-meet, I know this sounds like Deepak Chopra, but I have to re-meet 14 year old Jeff. Who, he and his brother went around radio stations, and was thrilled when they would even let him in the back door to watch the DJ. If I find that I am bitching because we have a photo session as soon as we are off the air and we have an appearance that night, I remember that 14 year old Jeff would have puked if I told him he gets to do that. I think you have to step back and catch the wonder. The rest of it, whatever you are getting worked up on, in the big picture, is bullcrap. and this will be counter to what most other people tell you. Once the show's over, I don't think about it at all. Now I think about my life, and that becomes the show the next day. I don't obsess about this. I have a lot of other things I do. I give this four hours a day.

Your show is famous for its incredible promotions, stunts, etc... like putting thousands of people together to form human flags, raising vast amounts of money for families and charitable groups . Of all the things you have done like this, which stands out most in your mind?

Jerry: The first time we did something was in 1988. The Exxon Valdez was coming to town to get repaired. We decided we were going to ask a bunch of people to go to a particular place in San Diego to make a big sign, Exxon with a big slash through it. I remember Jeff and I driving over there and you couldn't see, because there was a giant ring of sand around where everyone was suppose to go. We went down there and we thought it would be great if ten people showed up. We walked up this hill and looked down and saw probably 1500 people and we almost cried. Now 1500 people pales in comparison to the other stuff we have done, but it was the first time we ever did anything like that. I remember climbing the crest of that hill and seeing all these people waiting for us. I don't think I ever felt like that before. We both just got goosebumps and almost cried. We were hugging each other, and it was like, "Oh my God, they're listening. They will do something we tell them to."

You impact a lot of people in very special ways. Each day you make listeners feel good about themselves and their lives. And when you're around other morning people, you have this same impact. Are there people along the way who made the same impact on you?

Jerry: Let me answer for Jeff. The answer is me!! For me it was a guy who worked at WWDC in Washington when I was in high school and college. He did a morning show, his name was Johnny Holliday. He put his kids on the air, his wife on the air. He lived his life on the air. He did voices. He was hysterical. I felt like I really knew this guy and that he was a friend. When I started to do my show, even before Jeff, I thought I should try to sound like him as much as I can. He's still around. He's in Washington doing sports for ABC, but I don't think he's on the radio anymore. That guy was like a hero of mine for a long time. He was unlike anyone I had ever heard on the radio. When he went on vacation I didn't even want to get up in the morning.

Jeff, what about yourself?

Jerry: I already answered for him.

Jeff: There were three shows I listened to, admired and copied growing up in Ohio. You may never have heard of them, but they all shared one thing. In the age of Boss Jocks, they just talked on the radio. They were: a team show, Bob and Ken on my first station,WWST/Wooster; Bill Smith on WTVN/Columbus, and especially Ted Lux on WKYC/WWWE / Cleveland. Ted was so personal and did things like call his Mom on the air. He was also nice enough to take my calls when I was in high school, and took the time to offer advice. Because of that, if I get a call from a kid interested in radio, even though it's an inconvenience, I always call them back...and give them Ted's number.