BobLassiterAirchecks.com

Another letter to the editor from the same page as Mercia Tillman’s:

Editor:

Ms. James got it right! Bob Lassiter has the only “show” in town when it comes to talk radio.

Lassiter is a master of Socratic irony. He satirizes the mundane and gores sacred cows with gleeful intent. He holds up a mirror and his callers stand before it, warts and all!

Bob Lassiter is living proof that to be successful one needs friends; to be very successful one needs enemies. His creative mind elates his friends and baffles his enemies. In the process, everyone in the Tampa Bay area is listening!

CAROLYN DUNDAS, New Port Richey

Following is the Letter to the Editor whose author Bob calls and speaks to at the beginning of the “Religion in the Schools” clip. 

Editor: Re: “The mouth of Tampa Bay” by Sheryl James, Nov. 24.

I am a talk show addict and now that you have published the article on Bob Lassiter, who is the apex of all that is bad in talk radio, I would appreciate it if you would give the same courtesy to all that is good about talk radio and interview David Fowler or Tim Coles of WPLP.

I have listened from time to time to Mr. Lassiter, and I find that I do so for the same reason that I stare at snakes: He repels me, and yet fascinates me at the same time. Here is a person who appeals to a very special audience: the alcoholics, the drug users, Ku Klux Klan members, those who hate our country, our flag, who have no respect for the values that are so important to life. I have no respect for a man who has never done anything for our country and never will. This poor creature uses the microphone as a child would use a security blanket. I have never called him and never will.

WPLP, on the other hand, is a station that believes in the values that this country was founded on. It is a pleasure to listen to Mr. Fowler and Mr. Coles, both quite different in their approach, but intelligent, decent men who leave their audience feeling happy. Since there is at times a great need to talk to someone, it is a comfort to have that faceless friend on the other end of the line, someone who will not scream street epithets at the caller merely because his ratings are more important than the job he does.

I have no desire to see Mr. Lassiter taken off the air because the unfortunate people who are into abuse would have nowhere to vent their anger, but I do wish you would now give WPLP the same courtesy.

MERCIA V. TILLMAN, Seminole

The sound quality is absolutely hideous (thanks to WPLP’s famously bad signal). Nonetheless, here is one of the station’s most oft-mentioned broadcasts: the remote from the food court at WestShore Plaza Mall in Tampa. It’s WPLP’s eighth birthday party, and to celebrate the station sets up a roundtable featuring Lassiter, David Fowler, Tim Coles, and John Eastman, with Don Richards as emcee. Much like WFLA’s Battle of the Talk Show Hosts…except, of course, that this one is more like an actual battle.

Bob Lassiter	David Fowler	Don Richards	John Eastman	Tim Coles

photos courtesy of teddwebb.com & Michael J. West

DOWNLOAD - WPLP 8th Anniversary Party

• Station: WPLP 570AM
• Date: December 5, 1986
• Time: 1:09:45
• Format: mp3
• Size: 16MB

Courtesy of Carolyn Dundas

Bob decides to pick the brain of the younger generation; he hasn’t been able to relate to this age group until recently, but he wants to understand how they view the world and what they want out of life. He does so by conducting a poll of callers, but only those under 30 years old.

DOWNLOAD - Under-30 Poll

• Station: WPLP 570AM
• Date: January 20, 1987
• Time: 20:43
• Format: mp3
• Size: 4.9MB

Courtesy of Carolyn Dundas

Two calls on WSUN from an “elderly lady” who loves Bob, but gets offended when he plays that song about “the breaking of the wind.”

DOWNLOAD - The Breaking of the Wind

• Station: WSUN 620AM
• Date: 1994
• Time: 6:04
• Format: mp3
• Size: 5.73MB

Courtesy of The Kern Brothers

The Kern Brothers’ “Fart Song,” a favorite of Bob’s.

DOWNLOAD - The Kern Brothers - “Fart Song”

• Station: WSUN 620AM
• Date: ?
• Time: 2:41
• Format: mp3
• Size: 2.63MB

Courtesy of The Kern Brothers

A man calls and asks for Bob’s opinion as a “heavier gentleman” in this quick clip that rips off a subplot from an old episode of The Simpsons.

DOWNLOAD - Fat Guy in a Chinese Restaurant

• Station: WSUN 620AM
• Date: ?
• Time: 3:49
• Format: mp3
• Size:3.67MB

Courtesy of The Kern Brothers

The Kern Brothers were songwriters and performers in Tampa who made parody songs for the Mad Dog to play on his WSUN show. Here’s a clip of their song “(The Mad Dog Is A) Champ” being played on the air in 1994.

DOWNLOAD - The Kern Brothers - “Champ”

• Station: WSUN 620AM
• Date: 1994
• Time: 3:08
• Format: mp3
• Size:3:04

Courtesy of The Kern Brothers

Tom Tradup was President and General Manager of WLS-AM in Chicago from 1989 to 1996. He hired Bob Lassiter for the station’s transition from Top 40 to News Talk. Here are his thoughts on those days and on Lassiter:

Q: When WLS changed over to talk, what was your understanding of what you were trying to do? I.e., was there a specific strategy in mind?
A: When I was hired as President/General Manager of WLS-AM in 1989, Tom Murphy (then CEO of CapCities/ABC) and Dan Burke (Chief Operating Officer) charged me with returning WLS to its historic greatness in the market. The radio station—with a killer 50,000-watt signal that hits 38 states and two provinces of China—was 23rd in the market in Arbitron and hemorrhaging red ink. I was given a “blank palette” and told I could stay ‘music’, switch to talk, keep/fire any/all of the current WLS personalities, hire all new ones from out of town…just about ANYTHING that I felt it would take to compete in the tough, highly-competetive Chicago radio market.  As I searched for options and looked at who was “punching through” on the radio…one of many folks I considered was Bob Lassiter.

Q: Did you know Lassiter’s name/work before he came to Chicago?
A: Not really. Bob was then employed at WFLA in Tampa.  ABC’s radio division head Jim Arcara lived in Longboat Key, Florida and had heard Lassiter many times so he secured some tapes that we listened to.  Bob was represented by Chicago talent agent Saul Foos, who also pushed hard for Bob to be given a shot on the new WLS Talkradio 890. (The earlier reference to Jim Arcara caused no small amount of static in our building…since Lassiter contended—falsely—that (his words) “I was hired by Jimmy Arcara, not by Tom Tradup or Drew Hayes” and this misconception caused him to think he was ‘bulletproof’ in terms of direction. Obviously Bob discovered otherwise, but it was fun while it lasted.

Q: WLS was a legendary and beloved music station, and Chicagoans are famously loyal to their local institutions. Did that mean you were battling uphill from the start?
A: WLS in 1989 was a great, heritage radio station whose best days were assumed to be in the past. When we set out to change that by flipping the station to NewsTalk, although ‘LS was only commanding a 1.3 share of the 12+ audience in the Chicago market…I heard from EVERY SINGLE PERSON who ever “used to listen” in the past. I was, among the printable things, “Benedict Arnold” and “an out of town s.o.b.” who was wrecking the station folks formerly listened to. (Emphasis on formerly.)  Today, I’ll wager most of those complaining are regular WLS listeners….just goes with the territory when any “legendary” station changes formats.

Q: Lassiter said that his difficulties at WLS started from Day One. What happened?
A: I’m not certain what Bob meant by that. Obviously, I thought there was a creative spark and an energy to Lassiter that would contrast nicely with the successful yet deadly boring “personalities” on WGN, our primary competitor, or the other news and talk stations up and down the dial.  We targeted WLS’ new format to counter WGN at the older end of the demos (friendly neighbors talking over the bacvkyard fence, the lost pet patrol, helping Mabel find her visiting relatives a motel that would accept pets, etc.) and WLUP at the younger end (goofy, David Letterman knockoffs like Steve Dahl or Jonathan Brandmeier who were phoning in their performances.) Obviously the plan worked…although the first year or so was like the movie “Flatliners” in terms of ratings. So Bob may have felt pressure on himself because nobody in any daypart—including the then-unknown Rush Limbaugh—was moving the needle in our initial months on the air.

Q: Was it just Bob, or was it the whole on-air staff that clashed with management? What was the atmosphere at the station between the talent and the front office?
A: Honestly, I believe we rounded up one of the most talented groups of men and women—both on the air and behind the scenes—in the history of American talk radio. My past experience at KCMO/Kansas City, WASH-FM/Washington, WMCA/New York and KRLD/Dallas among others gave me a pretty good barometer of how to get the best out of everyone…and I don’t think there was an inordinate amount of “clashing” with management. Certainly not that ended up in my office. Again, Lassiter was a unique talent who put a lot of pressure on himself. I had him visit me in my 45th floor Chicago highrise and…over a beer on the balcony…Bob just stared off into space and said, “What am I doing here? This market is too big for me.” He also went through producers like Kleenex, so I suppose that added to the suggestion there was “conflict” or a “clash” now and then. But other than a few feuds on the air with our morning team Don Wade & Roma it was just another day in Talk Radio at WLS while Bob Lassiter was in the building.

Q: Was the conflict with WLS in particular, or Cap Cities overall?
A: CapCities/ABC—specifically Murphy + Burke—showed more patience (and actual understanding of how a talk station develops slowly) than most corporate leaders. Many other companies, faced with the slow growth of WLS Talkradio 890 in 1989 and 1990, would have pulled the plug and turned the station into a reggae format. But CapCities/ABC was a very positive place to work and I have nothing but good to say about my 6 ½ years with them.

Q: What was your own relationship with Lassiter? How did that affect your perception of things?
A: Well, I just like talent. Period. And Bob was a talented guy. Complicated…aggravating…infuriating…but unquestionably talented. He and I had a couple of lunches and one dinner (Mary cooked us dinner in their apartment) but beyond that I wasn’t very close to Bob and that was the way he wanted it. I have always stayed in touch with Don & Roma, Stacey Taylor, Roe Conn, Drew Hayes, Jay Marvin and the other WLS folks and I visit the station frequently when I’m in Chicago. Their current PD Kipper McGee is a good friend. But Bob always took the contrarian, ‘let’s not get too close’ approach to management and, sadly, I wasn’t aware he had passed away until you contacted me for this interview. It doesn’t change how spellbinding he was ON the air but he wasn’t a guy I hung out with OFF the air.

Q: At one point, Lassiter was forbidden from saying that he had ever lived or worked anywhere except Chicago. Why?
A: When WLS was billing itself as “Chicago’s Talk Station” and embracing everything about Chicago—politicians, food, the great museums and nightlife, etc.—it was counterproductive to have anyone referring to how great Florida was, or what success he had in Florida, or how all the supermarkets in Chicago paled in comparison to Publix in Florida, etc. Again, that was part of Bob’s chemistry: attack nice little old ladies who violated his “don’t ask how I’m doing today” rule, if we’re pro-Chicago be anti-Chicago, etc. It was that whole annoying Neal Rodgers, attack-the-snowbirds-and-Social-Security-recipients  Florida talk host act that does make the phones ring but, long term, doesn’t play in a place like Chicago which—in spite of all the steel and concrete—isn’t NYC or LA. Chicago is a friendly, Midwest town that just grew really, really big and Bob opted not to take that into account which was his ultimate undoing with us. But he went out the way he came in: his own man.

Q: What were his numbers like? Lassiter was pulling 8s and 9s Tampa. How did the Arbitrons in Chicago compare?
A: Bob Lassiter was a great talent to whom Arbitron diary holders did not appear to gravitate.

Q: Bob was fired after his show on September 20, 1991. What was it that made it happen at that particular time?
A: You will think I’m lying, but I honestly do not recall why we terminated Bob’s employment…or if we even DID.  I’m not certain if it was a personnel issue or if we just couldn’t renegotiate a new Agreement on mutually agreeable terms. If your 1991 date is correct, it would be a little more than two years into a three year deal, which I seem to recall we had with Bob. Possibly we decided not to pick up the option for a third year?

Q: When/why did you ultimately leave WLS, and what happened next for you?
A: I spent 6 ½ great years in Chicago and with ABC. When Disney purchased CapCities/ABC in 1996 I cashed out my “shadow stock” and returned to Programming…first at the USA Radio Network (where Iaunched the national morning show Daybreak USA in 1996 which is still heard in about 200 markets) and then in 2000, with my brilliant, visionary friend Walter Sabo, we created and launched a radio service for PARADE Magazine.  In 2003, I joined Salem Communications where I am VP/News + Talk Programming for the Salem Radio Network…overseeing all of our national talk hosts including Bill Bennett, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager and others plus our Salem News Network which serves over 1200 stations nationwide.

Q: Is there anything I’ve not asked that you think it’s important for me to know?
A: I believe Bob Lassiter had many friends (and imitators) in this business. I’ve been in Talk Radio since the late 1970’s and few hosts, guests, or producers have stood out as Bob Lassiter did. He was incredibly talented, and does not to be enlarged in death beyond what he was in life: a sizzling presence who was a true “original” and who helped me and my team drag WLS from “also ran” in Chicago back into the bigs…winning the Marconi for News/Talk/Sports Station of the Year in 1995 from the National Association of Broadcasters. Bob was gone at that point, but not forgotten.

Education Secretary (and future talk-show host) Bill Bennett was quoted as saying that if he had to choose between the Bible and the Constitution in the schools, he’d choose the Bible, and Bob, naturally, is pissed off. Better yet, the start of this clip features Bob reading a letter to the editor about himself, then putting the letter writer on the air to challenge her on it. All in a day’s work.

DOWNLOAD - Religion in the Schools

• Station: WFLA 970AM
• Date: December 2, 1987
• Time: 38:28
• Format: mp3
• Size: 4.4MB

Courtesy of Carolyn Dundas

Just a taste (a minute and a half) of a monolgue from one of Lassiter’s shows during his minimum wage campaign in 1986. This little clip is literally everything we have from 1986, although Bob was on WPLP for that entire year.

Does anyone else out there have the rest of the show? Or any other airchecks from ‘86? Please, email us!

>DOWNLOAD - “Minimum Wage” Teaser

• Station: WPLP 570AM
• Date: 1986
• Time: 1:36
• Format: mp3
• Size: 191KB

Courtesy of Carolyn Dundas

Bob’s favorite subject, of course: The Bible, God, and why the two don’t really have much in common. It starts with a letter from a listener regarding the previous week’s show with Rabbi Bresky and moves from there into a penetrating monologue about what the Bible says about God - and what any thinking man knows CAN’T be true about him. Then come the callers, and we all know what that means….This show, incidentally, was sent in by the infamous Carolyn from New Port Richey.

DOWNLOAD - The God of the Bible

• Station: WFLA 970AM
• Date: July 25, 1988
• Time: 1:31:13
• Format: mp3
• Size: 21.4MB

Courtesy of Carolyn Dundas

Bob has been subbing all week for Mark Larson, causing Larson’s fans to call off-air and scream about Lassiter; when Bob retaliates by answering all the phones himself, the listeners just flood the business lines with complaints. Until Friday, that is, when management finally removes Bob from the air and advertises that they’ll make a major announcement the next Monday during Bob’s time slot. You may already have guessed what happens…

Below are both days: Friday, June 21, and Monday, June 24.

DOWNLOAD - Bob’s Fake Termination - Friday 6/21;  Monday 6/24

• Station: WFLA 970AM
• Date: June 21 & 24, 1996
• Time: 18:32 (June 21); 35:40 (June 24)
• Format: mp3
• Size: 2.2MB (June 21); 4.1MB (June 24)

Courtesy of The Professor

Jim Johnson needs no introduction to anyone who’s spent time in the Chicagoland area or listened to WLS-AM. Johnson is a longtime reporter for WLS news and was Lassiter’s newsman during his two-year tenure at the station. He talked to us this week about memories of Bob and the early days of talk at WLS.

Q: You were around before WLS went talk…what kind of an impact did the change have, in and out of the building?
A: It was a huge change..and it actually was good for my career..News Talk became the main product instead of music.

Q: Were you aware of Lassiter before he came to Chicago?
A: I had never heard of him.

Q: You and he sounded like you had a lot of fun in your banter on the air; did you have a relationship with him off-mic?
A: We had a lot of fun on the air..and liked each other.  Bob and his wife came to my house for dinner with me and my wife..And we went to their house.

Q: What was working with him like? Was it a different experience than you’d had in radio before?
A: Bob was pretty much the same off the air as he was on the air..Although we socialized together..he was somewhat difficult to get to know..kind of aloof..I’m no psychologist..but I thought he might have been depressed much of the time.  But Mary his wife would know more about that than I would.

Q: Were you privy to the clashes between Bob and the front office? Did you have a stake in it, or an opinion?
A: I know they clashed. Bob seemed to hate any boss who tried to tell him how to do his show.  I knew pretty early on he was going to have a hard time. Everyone on the air (me included) are critiqued now and then, but he couldn’t stand it (I think he pretty much considered them idiots). It went downhill pretty much from the beginning. If a suggestion came from a boss Bob did not seem to like it..no matter what it was.

Q: Lassiter made the claim that he was eventually forbidden to mention that he’d worked anywhere outside of Chicago. Do you know anything about that (i.e., why)?
A: I never heard that.

Q: As someone with as much experience as you in Chicago radio: why do you think Bob didn’t make it in town?
A: I could be wrong..but I think he might have lasted if he had learned to “roll with the punches.”  My memory is that just before he was fired his ratings were starting to go up a little, but by then Bob had pretty much burned his bridges.

Q: Were you there the night he got fired? What exactly happened?
A: I was on the air with him..he was called into the front office after the show..I waited for him at the elevator and he said “Johnson my journalist..I’ve been fired.” I wished him well. That was the last time we talked until I called him a couple years later when I was in Florida visiting my mother.  We had a brief chat on the phone.

Q: Any particular memories of Bob you’d like to share?
A: I thought Bob was one of the best storytellers I had ever met.  But the bosses didn’t think his stories were what they wanted on the air.

There’s a lot going on in this clip, including discussion of Dr. Laura, moral gray area, elephant dung, WSUN and WYNF, and the Hooters Girls. Still, the centerpiece of it is Bob once again replaying the Mr. Airstream call and then having people call in who think it was live and real. A historic night at WFLA, as Bob says.

DOWNLOAD - Mr. Airstream Revisited

• Station: WFLA 970AM
• Date: September 1999
• Time: 45:08
• Format: mp3
• Size: 15.4MB

Courtesy of Martin Roberts