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Straight From The Mouth
The Morning Mouth's November Interview with Toucher & Rich
(Reprinted by permission; Copyright © 2006 Talentmasters Inc.)

Let's start with a quick bio?

Rich: Born in Long Island, New York. Spent much of my life in Atlanta GA, where I started in radio at WREK, the Georgia Tech college radio station. Became an intern at 99X in Atlanta working with The Morning X with Barnes, Leslie, and Jimmy. Was hired part time in 2000, full time in 2001. Left 99X in 2003 to work with syndicated morning show "Kidd Kraddick In The Morning" out of Dallas. Left Dallas in 2006 to do this.

Fred: Raised in Farmington Hills, MI. Went to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. Moved to Atlanta in '98 and got a job at WMLB-AM. WMLB was a Americana Country station. I ran such shows as "Swap Shop," "Master Gardener hired to be a programming assistant st 99X. When Sean Demery left the

station I moved to nights at the end of that year. At the end of 2003 I took over for Steve Barnes on the morning show.

How did the show come together?

Rich: Toucher and I started at 99X around the same time. We were both the same age, found the same things funny, and had always talked about doing a show together. I also met Crash while at 99X, and there was no one who made me laugh harder than him. I had always said that if I could put together my ultimate "dream team" to do a show with Fred, Crash and I would be it. Then I met this strange and amazing 19 year-old, 345 pound guy named Adolfo Gonzales while working in Texas. Everyday for three months, Adolfo would ride the public bus to come by and watch the show (we had a "Today Show" type glass window) from 5:30am to 10am. When I finally met him after one of the shows, I found out that he had been hit by a car, stabbed, never kissed a girl, loved "Dance Dance Revolution," and wanted to be a "cowboy lawyer" (I'm not making that up). I instantly made him an intern, and promised him that I'd take him wherever I was going. He's one of the nicest, strangest, weirdest, and greatest people I've ever met. I thought that with the four of us together, we'd make the kind of show that I'd want to listen to.

Since you weren't doing a show together, how did you put an audition tape together?

Rich: CBS was cool enough to fly us to Phoenix to do a couple of nights at KZON Free FM 101.5. Those ended up being our audition tapes.

Who was the person that heard you and knew you had something?

Rich: We had a handful of big believers in the show during the forming stages. First of all was radio consultant Randy Lane. Randy was always a big fan of Toucher, Crash, and is in fact he was responsible for making me a large presence on 99X and getting my job with Kidd Kraddick. I worship that guy. Also Chris Oliviero and Tony Berardini of CBS Radio were very instrumental. I actually met Chris and Tony at Morning Show Boot Camp last

year and when I told them that I was leaving Kraddick to start my own show, they were with me every step of the way from there on out.

Fred: Chris Patyk in Phoenix was very supportive before and after the audition.

Would you say your type of show is the future model of talk?

Rich: I don't really know. I'm not sure if there's another show out there with a bunch of longtime friends just B.S.'ing on the air. Most shows seem to be put together by GMs, PDs and consultants without any proof of chemistry. So in that aspect, I hope that yes, it is the future model of talk.

Fred: Due to Rich, we also do a ton of stuff in the street. Crash and I now are both in therapy so anti-depressants lead to some magic moments.

A lot of music FM shows play little or no music. Do you see a time when music on terrestrial all but vanishes?

Rich: No, but I do think that the most successful stations will end up being the ones that are personality driven. iPods rule. My iPod has all of the music that I want to hear, and I believe radio listeners for the most part feel the same way. As a radio host, you just have to try everyday to be better than their iPod.

Fred: The thing is if you buy or download a classic song than what is the point of hearing it on the radio? For example if you've owned the Pearl Jam "Ten" album for 15 years are you still pumped to hear Jeremy? I mean you know the kid is pissed and punches Vedder with a "surprise left" already.

What exactly do you talk about? What did you talk about this morning?

Rich: I always say that there isn't one topic you can throw at us that at least two of us aren't experts on. Fred's a television and sports junkie. Crash loves sports, news, science fiction movies, and bad 80's arena rock. I'm a movie junkie who loves video games and bands that have names that sound like diseases. And Adolfo is just strange. Today we talked about the World Series, the Nintendo Wii, dirty bombs, Back To The Future, the horrible

lyrics of Paul Stanley vs. the horrible lyrics of the Saved By The Bell Soundtrack, female exclusive gyms, how to kidnap an insane person, crippled dogs, Scientology, Kip Winger's stance on the Iraqi war, North Korea, awful ESPN Sportscenter feel-good montages, Crash's lack of marital relations, how we've made all of our close friends alcoholics, andŠwell, I can't remember what else.

Any politics?

Rich: Most of our political talk is about things like the smoking bans in bars, and overly-strict liquor laws. I personally hate talking politics, so thank goodness Fred and Crash like to.

Fred: I like to talk about politics but Rich makes sure I don't get to boring or preachy. He is also in denial and can't face the fact that we are screwed.

How is planning for a talk show different than let's say planning for a Kidd Kraddick show?

Rich: I've never been on a show so easy to plan, and yet I've never worked harder in my life. Since all four of us on the show are old friends, we talk times, drank more beer, and passed out naked in more public places than anyone else on the planet. At every show meeting, at least one of us has something dysfunctional going on in our lives, so we take that topic and exploit it to it's maximum potential.

Fred: Rich loves being out on the street with his mic. I mean he actually enjoys it! That is priceless to a show. It allows me more time to plan day to day and read the paper.

What did you learn most from other jocks you worked with? Who gave you what?

Rich: Jimmy Baron taught me to treat interns with respect. When I first started at 99X as an unpaid intern, Jimmy would always get me free concert tickets and gift certificates when I did a good job, and I'll always remember that. He also was a very good storyteller.

Kidd Kraddick taught me how to do syndication. He developed a way to talk to 40 cites at the same time, and have every city thinking the show was local.

Fred: I learned a lot of fundamentals from the producer of the 99X morning show Gary "Wally" Wallace. He taught me how to plan and execute a show.

Rich, you did a session at Boot Camp 3 years ago which involved some rather amazing stunts. Is this part of your new show? If so, give us a couple of examples of what you've done recently.

Rich: That session was a blast. Yes, we still do a ton of the hidden mic stuff. I did a bit on Kidd's show a while back where I went into a bingo hall full of old people and rednecks... and just kept yelling "BINGO" until I was manhandled by a Bocephus look-alike. We've done a ton of hidden mics recently -- my advice is to always bring your recorder with you wherever you go. You never know when you'll need it.

What do you say to the music jock reading this who wants to do your brand of talk?

Rich: Find friends of yours in radio that you really click with, lock yourself in a production studio and make some tape. Create your own team, don't wait for a PD or consultant to do it for you.

Did you actually have a gig lined up when you turned in your notice to Kidd?

Rich: No. I told Kidd in May of last year that I was going to leave the show at the end of 2005. At that point, I had absolutely no idea where I was going. My decision was based on several things. For one, I felt it was time to finally move on and do my own show. Secondly, Howard Stern had announced that he was going to satellite, and I knew that there would be a big shake up in the radio world. And third, I knew that there was a chance that Fred Toucher and I would be able to work together in early 2006. That was it! In the time between putting my notice in with Kidd and actually leaving the show, It was an unbelievably strange and exciting time.

Were you bent on doing an FM talk show?

Rich: I knew I didn't want to do a Top 40 show.The greatest thing about doing a guy targeted show is that you can just talk. If you find it funny or interesting, chances is the audience will find it funny or interesting. No second guessing on content makes life so much easier, and the show so much better.

You finally got in your first real rating's trend. Were you sweatin' it?

Rich: I could be "cool DJ guy" right now and lie to you, but the fact is that I was terrified. Let's just say that I spent a lot of time on my knees the week before that book came out. Thankfully, the book ended up being massive. In the men 25-34 demographic, "Toucher and Rich" posted a gain of more than 130%. In persons 18-34, the show posted a 30%+ gain, beating Boston rivals WAAF and WEEI.

Progressive talk and other FM brands of talk have had their share of struggles. Is it just part of growing pains, or is it still trying to find its audience?

Rich: There just aren't a ton of great shows out there. I know that Free FM will eventually become a success because CBS right now is about doing whatever it takes to acquire and keep talented people. They learned the hard way that you can't just throw a guy with no radio experience on the air (David Lee Roth) and expect ratings. Look at all of the hoops they had to jump through to get a quality morning show with Opie and Anthony, and now look at how the numbers are slowly growing.

The FCC fine frenzy seems to have calmed down a bit. Do you find yourself a little less cautious these days, or does CBS keep you on your toes?

Rich: We just found out that we aren't allowed to say the word "scumbag" on the air. Wasn't "scumbag" used in "The Little Rascals"? So yes, we do keep on our toes.

Fred: Yes! Who knows if it has slowed down? Who even knows what the rules are? It is scary.

You're Governor (Romney) is mentioned as a (2008) presidential candidate. Will he be the next President? Obama" is really fun to say.

Fred: Romney doesn't stand a chance. He's already gotten busted asking for Morman support. Deval Patrick will win Governor easy.

Final prediction: We're doing this interview before the world series. Tigers or Cardinals? Who wins and in how many games?

Rich: My prediction: Pine Tar in 6 (reference to Kenny Rogers unknown substance on palm).

Fred: Kenny Rodgers should hope that was pine tar or he needs to learn how to wipe. Cards in 6.

Read previous Morning Mouth interviews.

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