Pussah
05-01-2001, 12:11 PM
..."WHO THE HELL ARE OPIE & ANTHONY?!?!?!"
from their unofficial website foundrymusic.com
Both of them grew up on Long Island. One of them was in radio for most of his career. The other held down jobs in roofing and air conditioner installation before entering the wonderful world of radio. Fast forward to 2000: Opie and Anthony are as big a rags-to-riches success story as NFL quarterback Kurt Warner.
Opie, whose real name is - well, it's for us to know and not for you to find out - comes from a family whose siblings are named Darren and Quinn - Op claims they were all named after classic TV entities. He went to Harbor Fields High School, the same high school Mariah Carey attended. He then ventured to SUNY Geneseo college. He liked the party atmosphere so much, he settled there for five years - one year above the average. While there, he worked at their college radio station. After college, he had radio gigs at stations in such cities as Buffalo, NY ("The Fox"), before landing at WBAB in Babylon, NY (Long Island), where he hosted "The Opie Show" in prime time.
Anthony comes from a Sicilian family. He graduated from John Glenn High School, the same high school Boomer Esi1ason hails from. Ant liked to call him by his real first name - and receive a royal ass-whooping at the hands of Boomer as a result. While Boomer went on to college, and, eventually, the NFL, Anthony was a self-proclaimed "tin knocker". He also performed in a hard rock outfit, ROTGUT.
In the summer of 1994, as the OJ Simpson trial was underway, Anthony went to the WBAB studio to perform a song on "The Opie Show", called "They're Gonna Electric Shock OJ." If OJ didn't kill Nicole, Anthony and I would probably not be doing this radio show!", Opie writes in the liner notes for their CD, Demented World. Eventually, based on that, Opie and Anthony would join forces and form a new radio show.
They moved to Boston and started their show on WAAF in Worcester, Massachusetts on or about February 13th 1995. There, they started the world-renowned promotion "Whip 'Em Out Wednesday" - or WOW, for short. Other recurring bits include the "Hi Mom, I'm In" phone series ("Hi Mom, I'm In Jail", etc.) and "Bra Bingo", in which cup sizes were substituted for traditional Bingo numbers (i.e. instead of B 12, think BB 34). While in Boston, they spawned their first album, "Opie & Anthony's Demented World", a compilation of some of the best bits they have amassed during their Boston tenure, including the "Butt Plug" and "Tourette Whorehouse" phone calls. They also hosted a semi-successful TV show in Boston called "Real Rock TV", which aired on the local Spanish-language station late at night.
Then on April 1, 1998, Opie and Anthony decided to pull an April Fool's Day prank, a prank unlike no other - with astounding results. They reported that Boston Mayor Tom Menino was killed in a car accident. Some concerned listeners actually fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. One week later, WAAF general manager Bruce Mittman fired the duo (actually, there is some dispute as to who really did the firing). It might have been the most amazing, attention-getting stunt Opie and Anthony have done in their entire radio career. For the next month or so, Opie and Anthony were unemployed, trying to make ends meet.
Enter WNEW-FM. One of New York's legendary stations, the station "where rock lives" was having trouble trying to keep ratings living there too, so to speak. After gaining much success during the first 25 years on the air, the station, plagued by low ratings book after low ratings book, changed the style of their rock format about as often as you would change your underwear. In spring 1998, WNEW-FM general manager Scott Herman signed the duo to do afternoons at the station, regardless of their dismissal from WAAF. It took time for them to settle in. Don't forget, at that time, it was a music-intensive station, so they took "musical breaks", but they were subjected to playing Jethro Tull and Allman Brothers tracks, as opposed to the hard rock music they were accustomed to playing when they were working at WAAF.
While at WNEW, Opie and Anthony introduced the tri-state area to such promotions as "The Tuesday Night Hummer Club", also known as "Hummer Tuesday", in which ladies hob their man's knob in order to join them into the club. It is also asked that the men reciprocate for their gal pals. Another promotion is "F-U Friday", in which listeners have a forum to call or fax in F-U's to anyone who has done them wrong, or pissed them off.
Frequent guests introduced during this stage include Ol' Dirty, a listener from the South Bronx, who would give his opinions on current events from the 'hood perspective, as well as teach them some ghetto slang (e.g. "shoot a trey up in that piece"). There is also a listener by the name of Patty, who likes Opie - I mean really likes Opie - so much that she would go as far as visit the building where the show emanates from. When she did stop by, she always claimed she was visiting a friend of hers who works at 1010 WINS, an all-news station which is also housed in the same building, located at 57th Street and 7th Avenue. Eventually, she would earn the nickname "Stalker Patty".
Anthony's dead-on impressions of such New York figures like Rev. Al Sharpton, Regis Philbin, Mayor Giuliani, and the Mad Dog have become a staple of the weekly shows, and are just one contributing element to their rising ratings.
With time, their show became the highest-rated show on the station. Meanwhile, the musical backbone of the station was quickly deteriorating, as it has been for the last decade. In May 1999, an official statement was released, stating a format change from music to talk would be imminent by the end of the year. At that point, Opie celebrated by giving away CD's from "the world's largest rock and roll library", as WNEW called it. On Monday, September 13 at 3 PM, WNEW, "The Rock of New York", was now known by the less mundane identity of "FM Talk @ 102.7: Talk You Can't Ignore". The Opie and Anthony show was extended an extra hour, and they continued to take "musical breaks", but under those circumstances, the station would be known only as "102.7". Opie called the show "the only talk show in America that plays music - don't try to figure it out, just go along with it."
"102.7" continued to play music on the weekends, too, while during the week, rock jocks were jettisoned in favor of radio talent, including "The Radio Chick" Leslie Gold, as well as shock jock Tom Leykis. Opie and Anthony found out that Tom had stolen their "WOW" promotion (he calls it "Flash Friday"). Only three days into the new talk format, they ripped each other on their respective shows. Since then, Leykis was referred to on the Opie and Anthony show as "Tubby Tom". (Eventually, Tom's show would be canceled, only to return on a pre-recorded, weekend basis.)
During the fall season came the concept of "Lesbian For A Day", which was somewhat inspired by MTV's "I Wanna Be A VJ For A Day". The purpose of L4AD: two (maybe more) female listeners are invited into the studio to sit on the "lesbian couch" and explore each other's sexuality.
A couple of noteworthy events during this time include a successful "Homeless Shopping Spree" at the Short Hills Mall in New Jersey - picture it, a group of dirty, disheveled bums going Christmas shopping at a high-class mall. There was also a controversial promotion, in which the person who can do the sickest thing wins a trip to Hawaii. The winner consumed five living feeder mice live on the air.
Actor and comedian Jay Mohr has become well acquainted with Opie and Anthony during this time, and has been their most coveted and frequent celebrity guest to date. Other well-renowned friends of the show include singer/songwriter Stephen Lynch, rock band Godsmack, comedians Lewis Black, Adam Ferrara, Jeffrey Ross, Brian Regan and Jim Breuer, and "Sopranos" star Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
In January 2000, the station dropped the "FM Talk @ 102.7" moniker, and was known once again as simply "102.7 WNEW". Opie and Anthony practically spearheaded a "new" look for the station, with Tubby Tom long gone and new talent being ushered in. Currently, clips of Opie and Anthony's show are being heard daily back in Boston on WBCN-FM - once a rival of WAAF; nowadays, it's the other way around. Meanwhile, chants of "Syndication Now!" are abounding from faithful listeners in the tri-state area, but will they ring true? Only on the promise that they "behave", Opie once said.
- OK, terrific!
from their unofficial website foundrymusic.com
Both of them grew up on Long Island. One of them was in radio for most of his career. The other held down jobs in roofing and air conditioner installation before entering the wonderful world of radio. Fast forward to 2000: Opie and Anthony are as big a rags-to-riches success story as NFL quarterback Kurt Warner.
Opie, whose real name is - well, it's for us to know and not for you to find out - comes from a family whose siblings are named Darren and Quinn - Op claims they were all named after classic TV entities. He went to Harbor Fields High School, the same high school Mariah Carey attended. He then ventured to SUNY Geneseo college. He liked the party atmosphere so much, he settled there for five years - one year above the average. While there, he worked at their college radio station. After college, he had radio gigs at stations in such cities as Buffalo, NY ("The Fox"), before landing at WBAB in Babylon, NY (Long Island), where he hosted "The Opie Show" in prime time.
Anthony comes from a Sicilian family. He graduated from John Glenn High School, the same high school Boomer Esi1ason hails from. Ant liked to call him by his real first name - and receive a royal ass-whooping at the hands of Boomer as a result. While Boomer went on to college, and, eventually, the NFL, Anthony was a self-proclaimed "tin knocker". He also performed in a hard rock outfit, ROTGUT.
In the summer of 1994, as the OJ Simpson trial was underway, Anthony went to the WBAB studio to perform a song on "The Opie Show", called "They're Gonna Electric Shock OJ." If OJ didn't kill Nicole, Anthony and I would probably not be doing this radio show!", Opie writes in the liner notes for their CD, Demented World. Eventually, based on that, Opie and Anthony would join forces and form a new radio show.
They moved to Boston and started their show on WAAF in Worcester, Massachusetts on or about February 13th 1995. There, they started the world-renowned promotion "Whip 'Em Out Wednesday" - or WOW, for short. Other recurring bits include the "Hi Mom, I'm In" phone series ("Hi Mom, I'm In Jail", etc.) and "Bra Bingo", in which cup sizes were substituted for traditional Bingo numbers (i.e. instead of B 12, think BB 34). While in Boston, they spawned their first album, "Opie & Anthony's Demented World", a compilation of some of the best bits they have amassed during their Boston tenure, including the "Butt Plug" and "Tourette Whorehouse" phone calls. They also hosted a semi-successful TV show in Boston called "Real Rock TV", which aired on the local Spanish-language station late at night.
Then on April 1, 1998, Opie and Anthony decided to pull an April Fool's Day prank, a prank unlike no other - with astounding results. They reported that Boston Mayor Tom Menino was killed in a car accident. Some concerned listeners actually fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. One week later, WAAF general manager Bruce Mittman fired the duo (actually, there is some dispute as to who really did the firing). It might have been the most amazing, attention-getting stunt Opie and Anthony have done in their entire radio career. For the next month or so, Opie and Anthony were unemployed, trying to make ends meet.
Enter WNEW-FM. One of New York's legendary stations, the station "where rock lives" was having trouble trying to keep ratings living there too, so to speak. After gaining much success during the first 25 years on the air, the station, plagued by low ratings book after low ratings book, changed the style of their rock format about as often as you would change your underwear. In spring 1998, WNEW-FM general manager Scott Herman signed the duo to do afternoons at the station, regardless of their dismissal from WAAF. It took time for them to settle in. Don't forget, at that time, it was a music-intensive station, so they took "musical breaks", but they were subjected to playing Jethro Tull and Allman Brothers tracks, as opposed to the hard rock music they were accustomed to playing when they were working at WAAF.
While at WNEW, Opie and Anthony introduced the tri-state area to such promotions as "The Tuesday Night Hummer Club", also known as "Hummer Tuesday", in which ladies hob their man's knob in order to join them into the club. It is also asked that the men reciprocate for their gal pals. Another promotion is "F-U Friday", in which listeners have a forum to call or fax in F-U's to anyone who has done them wrong, or pissed them off.
Frequent guests introduced during this stage include Ol' Dirty, a listener from the South Bronx, who would give his opinions on current events from the 'hood perspective, as well as teach them some ghetto slang (e.g. "shoot a trey up in that piece"). There is also a listener by the name of Patty, who likes Opie - I mean really likes Opie - so much that she would go as far as visit the building where the show emanates from. When she did stop by, she always claimed she was visiting a friend of hers who works at 1010 WINS, an all-news station which is also housed in the same building, located at 57th Street and 7th Avenue. Eventually, she would earn the nickname "Stalker Patty".
Anthony's dead-on impressions of such New York figures like Rev. Al Sharpton, Regis Philbin, Mayor Giuliani, and the Mad Dog have become a staple of the weekly shows, and are just one contributing element to their rising ratings.
With time, their show became the highest-rated show on the station. Meanwhile, the musical backbone of the station was quickly deteriorating, as it has been for the last decade. In May 1999, an official statement was released, stating a format change from music to talk would be imminent by the end of the year. At that point, Opie celebrated by giving away CD's from "the world's largest rock and roll library", as WNEW called it. On Monday, September 13 at 3 PM, WNEW, "The Rock of New York", was now known by the less mundane identity of "FM Talk @ 102.7: Talk You Can't Ignore". The Opie and Anthony show was extended an extra hour, and they continued to take "musical breaks", but under those circumstances, the station would be known only as "102.7". Opie called the show "the only talk show in America that plays music - don't try to figure it out, just go along with it."
"102.7" continued to play music on the weekends, too, while during the week, rock jocks were jettisoned in favor of radio talent, including "The Radio Chick" Leslie Gold, as well as shock jock Tom Leykis. Opie and Anthony found out that Tom had stolen their "WOW" promotion (he calls it "Flash Friday"). Only three days into the new talk format, they ripped each other on their respective shows. Since then, Leykis was referred to on the Opie and Anthony show as "Tubby Tom". (Eventually, Tom's show would be canceled, only to return on a pre-recorded, weekend basis.)
During the fall season came the concept of "Lesbian For A Day", which was somewhat inspired by MTV's "I Wanna Be A VJ For A Day". The purpose of L4AD: two (maybe more) female listeners are invited into the studio to sit on the "lesbian couch" and explore each other's sexuality.
A couple of noteworthy events during this time include a successful "Homeless Shopping Spree" at the Short Hills Mall in New Jersey - picture it, a group of dirty, disheveled bums going Christmas shopping at a high-class mall. There was also a controversial promotion, in which the person who can do the sickest thing wins a trip to Hawaii. The winner consumed five living feeder mice live on the air.
Actor and comedian Jay Mohr has become well acquainted with Opie and Anthony during this time, and has been their most coveted and frequent celebrity guest to date. Other well-renowned friends of the show include singer/songwriter Stephen Lynch, rock band Godsmack, comedians Lewis Black, Adam Ferrara, Jeffrey Ross, Brian Regan and Jim Breuer, and "Sopranos" star Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
In January 2000, the station dropped the "FM Talk @ 102.7" moniker, and was known once again as simply "102.7 WNEW". Opie and Anthony practically spearheaded a "new" look for the station, with Tubby Tom long gone and new talent being ushered in. Currently, clips of Opie and Anthony's show are being heard daily back in Boston on WBCN-FM - once a rival of WAAF; nowadays, it's the other way around. Meanwhile, chants of "Syndication Now!" are abounding from faithful listeners in the tri-state area, but will they ring true? Only on the promise that they "behave", Opie once said.
- OK, terrific!