Well, the picture's old and outdated now.....
Growing up in the DC suburbs during the 1980's afforded radio listeners the chance to hear some great ones. Among them, and depending on your tastes, were Howard Stern (on DC-101 and later WJFK), the Greaseman (on DC-101 and later bounced around), and - my favorites - Don and Mike.
I ran across Don Geronimo between 8th and 9th grade (1985, I think) when he was on WAVA's afternoon show. My folks sent me from Mt. Airy, Maryland to DC to go to high school, so I was a commuter like all the other miserable putz's on the roads. My dad would let me pick the station, and Don's show was OK by him. Later on that year, WAVA teamed up Don and Mike in the mornings for a "zoo" show that I started to follow semi-religiously.
I grew up with it, from '85 on. They were the soundtrack to my little life: my first date, my driver's license, my first real girlfriend, my first job, graduations, and - later on - marriage and parenthood. They started out playing silly games, and kinda jive radio bits between Top-40 songs. Mike was the voice guy and Don was the MC. Together, they were great. They took lots of calls from freaks like me who were loyal listeners. Don would argue or pester his wife, Freda, on-air, and she and their son became part of the show.
They moved to afternoons in '91, I think, the show evolving into more of a talk show. I loved it, listened all the time.
Yeah, I think there were periods of time in the show when they imitated Stern and there were others when they moved away from imitation and moved into their own niche. Their chemistry was potent, Mike's talent for imitation was - and remains - amazing. Don was always able to make the most innocuous schlub an interesting and funny member of the show (like the phone screeners or sales folks). Some "cast members" (what is this, Disney?) grew into great contributors - like Robb, the intern who became the jock he apparently always wanted to be. Or long-suffering Buzz, the new guy, who was interrupted about roughly every second syllable.
There were always weird work-stoppages, unexplained suspensions that would be explained later on. I don't know, I guess I missed the shows where they'd explain everything. There were rumors about how D and M didn't really get along, etc etc. I think I always thought of them as the indivisible team, like they were "radio parents" who were stuck together, I couldn't imagine them independent of each other.
Don's wife died after being injured in a car crash in 2005. I can't even imagine, I don't want to imagine, how painful that was for he and his son. The show continued, and as time went by it seemed to me that they found a better place as a show.
Apparently, the on-air improvement wasn't translating off-air and Don left in 2008 with a pretty good sign-off. He needed to heal his life after his tragic loss. I think I held a little too tightly to Don's talk of perhaps re-uniting with Mike "someday."
Nowadays, Mike has a podcast (www.mikeomearashow.com) he produces, which is pretty good. It's similar to his canceled show but condensed into an hour. The guys are opinionated but funny - it's an entertaining hour.
Don's recently returned to radio on a station (KHTK) in Sacramento and I've been listening. I admit it's weird to hear Don without Mike and vice-versa. Being a dorky radiophile (or just too big a fan) I keep listening for the odd verbal nods or disses that they're perhaps throwing at each other. I honestly can't tell if there's a D & M feud or not. I find myself hoping that they're still pals and that "hey hey the gang's all here" is something I'll get to hear in the future. I realize I sound like I'm too emotionally invested in all this - and sound like a nitwit. Well, that's what I am, quit reading.
Truth is, they're fallible human beings like me. I'm sure there's more behind-the-scenes drama than I ever knew, and that there are hurt feelings and issues between the guys. If all 4 Beatles were still alive, I'm sure folks would be clamoring for a reunion. Hell, Pink Floyd reunited for a hot minute in 2005 (I'm a big fan). I'm allowed to root for one, right? But for a reunion to ever happen it takes the resolution of those issues (if any exist - like I said I have no idea).
In the meantime, I'll just shut up and listen. Don was correct when he described the "intimacy of radio." It's different than the Ken and Barbie dolls on TV, it's almost like someone's voice in your head. Somehow, through the radio, the intimacy of the radio makes guys like me care about the lives of the folks on the air. There ya go, douchebag city for me.
Thanks, D&M (and everyone else) for all the fun.
Again, I'm commenting on my own blog to add a clarification. I listen to Don's show and Mike's, and though I enjoy both I do not enjoy either one as much as when they were together.
ReplyDeleteDon's given reason for leaving the D&M show was perfectly understandable, grief over the loss of his wife.
Since then, though, it sounds (to the nutty over-invested listener) like there's not much love lost between D and M. I can only base this on the public utterances of each guy on their own shows. I guess, as I tried to write above, that their former day-to-day working relationship was different than what was conveyed over the air. It used to sound like D and M were pals, but perhaps that's not exactly true, public perception vs. private realities.
Maybe I just need to grow up.