Yeah this should be great! Going to be interesting to see how many hours they run each day and how they break it up.

But this special has been over a year in the making so it has all the makings of a home run. Excited to hear some of his college tapes and anything from his younger years that Ben recorded of him as a kid.

We need something to get us through their 3 week holiday break.  

 

wow this is really good so far. I always dread when they are on vacation but this morning on my drive in I was riveted by the special. Really well done. It's interesting to listen to such long form radio programming. I haven't heard anything like this before.

Quote:

Matt wrote:
I'm not a fan of Howard Stern, so my only angle of support for him is in regard to freedom of speech/anti-censorship.

Can you guys elaborate on your excitement about this? I mean, are you excited for the quality of the documentary, the fascinating story, or is it about ol' Howie himself?

I promise not to play "bad cop" on this one. I'm really just curious.

it's a few things; Normally when the show goes on vacation like they are right now, they play old shows. It's not the best, and it's typically when I tune to some music or turn on my iPod. The documentary is interesting for me because it is a very detailed and very well produced retrospective. It is not often, if at all, that you can hear radio that is this long form, each act is about 5 hours long. From just the perspective of someone that likes documentaries it is great. When you add in the significant things that he has done with the medium, it becomes even more interesting. The way the documentary is produced is that they take present day dialog from people that were involved in the history (teachers, grade school friends, college professors, first girlfriend, other dj's) and mix it in with the 30+ years of tape they have where Howard is referencing the stories. The whole thing is produced with music in the background to reflect the time period and a narrator to help you follow along.

Another reason I like it is because I am a huge fan of Howard. Unlike a comedian who tells a joke, the audience laughs and you pass a judgment on whether or not they are any good, Howard is a joke best digested over a long period of time. For me that period of time has been since 1994 when he came on WBCN at night. The more that you listen the funnier the show becomes. There are references and jokes that take place over the course of weeks. It isn't as instantly gratifying as a sitcom or even a typical morning show. Tuning in for a minute here and there just doesn't do it justice.

And another thing that is excellent about the HOW, is that I find it endlessly entertaining to listen to pop culture from the past. Stories about Steve Perry being a dick to him in 1980 in Detroit and parties at a hotel with Van Halen are hysterical, and they have all of that tape. They mix it in with recent commentary on it and the originals.

So far, I am really enjoying it, Act Two is on today.

Hey Now!

I've always been really offended by his Mook personality, trotting out porn stars and stuff.

This led to a conversation with a friend about whether Frank Zappa is any different from Howard Stern. There's a lot of common ground, but some differences, too (I think).

Anybody? Who are other borderline skanks/geniuses?
GG Allin?
Red Hot Chili Peppers?
Aerosmith?
Rolling Stones?
Duncan?

Now it's you who is assuming that I was assuming. I paid attention.

As for the Zappa comparison, I know that their mediums were different, but much of their crude manner, and free speech platitudes were the same.

I like Zappa and I don't like Stern, but the reasons are somewhat contradictory, I fear.

Matt and Duncan are like the fire and ice on this thread--I'm going to be the lukewarm water.

I am a late-night person, and sometimes fall into the habit of watching late-night shows for long periods of time before I move on. For a period of like six months, I watched the Rush Limbaugh television show, back when it was on, and found it fascinating and repulsive to try and fathom the mind of that fat moron. I did a similar thing with the Howard Sterm TV show for a few months.

Maybe the TV show was different than the radio show, but there were a lot of porn stars, strippers, etc. on there, not to mention people Howard just wanted to make fun of. I wasn't all that enthralled by any of that. However, I did keep watching, and there were occasionally poignant or insightful or interesting segments, which is I supposed what drew me back every night. Maybe listening to him on a more regular basis would reveal more of that stuff, but eventually I found that the amount of worthwhile stuff wasn't enough to keep me watching for the entire show.

Sincerely,
Derek Smalls
Composer of "Free-Form Jazz Odyssey"

I didn't know the words Daryl Hall and amazing could be used in the same sentence.

Louis, is that legal?

I missed yesterday's program, but what I heard today was fantastic. It is so well-done.

To add to the "why do I like Howard" sentiment, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I've been listening for so long and I know the show so well that it's sort of like an extended part of my family. I know that sounds totally retarded, but it's the same reason that I like to listen to Car Talk on the weekends.

I think Howard gets a bad rap for all of the outrageous stripper crap and the Fartman stuff. I could take or leave any of that stuff, but it's the fantastic interviews that I like, the dynamic between the whole crew, some of the bits that they do are actually really funny. 

It seems that any time Howard does something mainstream, like going onto a late-night talk show, he is always the "over-the-top" shock-jock persona that the non-listeners think he is all the time, and don't like. Personally, I don't like that persona either and I am usually dissapointed with his TV appearances. I can't see any non-believer becoming a fan after seeing him on TV.

At the same time that I love the Stern show, I don't like Bubba. I never liked Opie and Anthony. I won't say that they're not funny, but because I never really listen to them, I just can't see that I'd like them. I would have never thought I would like Howard either. I just did. 

The Zappa/Stern debate is kind of the same thing. I am only familiar with the few Frank Zappa songs that I'm familiar with, and I only really know him through the Joe's Garage trilogy. I think it got me through puberty, actually. In hindsight, I can't listen to any of that "shocking and dirty for humor's sake" Zappa stuff, as it reminds me of bad 70's porn magazines. Kinda juvenile and stupid. That's how people who don't really listen to Howard think he is. So that sort of proves the point that you either give him a chance and get on board, or you don't and you think he's a juvenile pig.

You're really missing out on Artie Lange, though!

I also wanted to add that Howard's interviews are so unique because he comes from a totally different angle than any other mainstream interviewer. His sports figure interviews are fantastic because he's not a sports fan and he gets these people off their guard and they talk about far more interesting stuff (in my opinion) than what you hear in every other interview. Some of my favorite interviews really changed my mind about certain people. Pretty much all of his interviews are like that. Paul Anka, Sting, Artimus Pyle from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Baby Spice, Lisa Loeb, Daryl Hall, etc. Very interesting interviews. His musical guests are often incredible too. I have a totally huge amount of respect for Pat Monahan from Train after hearing him sing on Howard. Same for Stone Temple Pilots and Hum who both did amazing renditions of songs I might not have cared for otherwise. The Daryl Hall interview a month ago was killer, and the music they played, just him and bass player, T Bone Wolk playing acoustic guitar was really great. I was very impressed. Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades even seemed cool when they were on recently.

I can totally see why non-listeners wouldn't care to invest the time into going out of their way to listen, and I don't blame them. It's probably the same reason that I don't care about reading Harry Potter books or listen to Frank Zappa.

As another sidenote, I couldn't be happier with Sirius! I barely ever listen to "terrestrial" radio, and usually only to tune in to WBZ for the news.

 

Roger 

Some people find it strange that I'm not a Howard fan, but I'm not.

When he locally debuted nights (and was number one rated at least once -- in PROVIDENCE) I checked him out and simply didn't hear anything I liked. I had the preconceived notion about the strippers and whatnot, heard a couple of times that he took the really easy way out with disagreeing callers, caught a very pretentious air about him, and couldn't stand not having the immediacy of a live show.

Later that year, I started interning for Liz Wilde and she was a huge fan -- many nights we were doing show work and we had to wait for her to finish listening to a Howard bit.

From there, it was probably 200 times too many from my parents' friends and friends' parents that I heard "You're gonna be the next Howard Stern." when they found out about my career plans. Trailblazer that he was and is, I was just gonna be the first me. I didn't seek him out on purpose from there, and at first I didn't know why. In the past year or so I read somewhere that Kevin B from WAAF doesn't listen to other morning shows -- something about if he doesn't hear something, he can't rip it off.

Of course, that was when I thought I'd be steadily employed and in a position to do new things with the medium myself. I've developed an appreciation for (and somewhat jealousy of) anyone in radio who can stand up for themselves ... ANNNNNNDD keep popping up in new gigs.


That said, I loved a couple of his books that I've found around the house or in a girlfriend's bathroom collection, and occasionally listened and found him much more entertaining from 99 to whenever he was off of live mornings.

I haven't cared to catch him on Sirius 'cause it seems like a lousy investment for the time I'd be able to listen to the product (likewise the only reason I have an ipod is because I won it. Love it but have a hard time parting with that much money when I have so many CDs and several CD players.)

I equate my non-fandom with maybe someone's non-fandom of say... Yes. No doubt they have chops, but are self-important and just not to my taste.

BTW Duncan - I don't Zappa well either. I've tried, and it's difficult. Actually, I've always wondered why you never appreciated Frank -- I'm always assuming that the VB set (and by some extension Worcester) appreciates lyrics almost next to last about an artist. I assumed you thought he was too noodley rather than shockey.

And Roger thinking Shaw/Blades cool after? Wow.

Is he the kind of miracle worker that can turn you around on, say, Live?