- Best Of The Week: Rob Corddry. 05/17/13. 6:00am
First up on Best of the Week we heard Jason Kaplan introducing the Rob Corddry interview segment. Here's what they played:
Rob Corddry Visits. 05/15/13. 7:10am
After the break we heard a prank call Sal and Richard made to two guys selling similar cars and connecting them to talk to one another. Fred also played Rihanna's ''Diamonds'' as they were coming back.
Howard said that Rob Corddry is coming in. Howard said he knows that Rob is in a lot of shows but he's one of those guys that you don't know. He said you see him a lot and say ''Hey, that's that guy.''
Rob said he knows that he's like that. He said that when he was in college he and his friends said they wanted to be ''that guy.'' Rob said he's been in 6 movies and he plays small parts. Howard said he was in that zombie movie that he liked. Howard said it's a cool movie. Howard said he was in that movie. Rob said he's the bald guy from the stuff. Rob said maybe that's his agent's fault.
Howard said Children's Hospital sounds interesting to him but he doesn't even know it's on. Rob said it's half a cable network and it's only on at midnight. He said that's what Cartoon Network turns into at night.
Howard asked Rob about how that came about. He said he heard that they offered him a half hour but Rob only wanted 15 minutes. Rob said he directed the first season which was a web series. Rob said the show is probably rerunning now. He said he must be terrible at promoting stuff. Howard asked what it's about. Rob said it started out as a parody of Grey's Anatomy and things like that. Now it's a parody of TV in general. He said it's about doctors fucking each other but they're in a children's hospital. Rob said they don't really care about the kids or anything. Howard said that's probably accurate. Howard asked if he's angry at a family member that was a doctor. Rob said he's not. He said he might just be angry at doctor shows.
Rob said about 5 or 6 years ago there was a writer's strike so they did this web series. He said that was a way to do cheap development. He said theirs was the only show that the model worked on. Howard asked if they show two shows every night. Rob said they don't. He said they're paired up with another show that's produced by a friend of his.
Howard asked Rob about the character he plays on Children's Hospital. Rob said now he's in a clown race. He said that's what it has snowballed into. Rob said he doesn't fuck anyone on the show. He said he's the last person to edit it and he doesn't feel good about it. He said he's married and he had to kiss a chick once a couple season's ago and they asked if he wanted to pick the girl. He said he couldn't do that. Howard said that reminds him of when he produced Son of the Beach. Howard said he remembers that Tim Stack's character had to kiss a girl and some of the girls refused to kiss Tim. Howard said that they finally found one and she asked if it paid extra. Howard said he remembers Tim wondering if he was really that bad that no one would even kiss him.
Rob said that it is weird to kiss a girl and pull back to see clown make up on her face. Howard said his wife must get upset about that. Rob said he's not in that position much. He said that he's usually the one who is watching someone doing it.
Howard asked if they're doing another Hot Tub Time Machine. Rob said they are going to start shooting in June. Howard asked if John Cusack said no. Rob said he's not sure what happened there. He said that they're doing this as a really low budget movie. He said John made good money on the first one. He said they made a lot of money with that one and it had a great life on DVD. Howard said that based on the name alone it sounds great. Rob said the title page said ''Based on the incredibly true story'' and that got him. Howard said it made like 50 million at the box office. Howard asked what they're doing with this one. Rob said MGM is notoriously poor and they're doing what they can to do it cheap. He said they'd like to make it for $12 million because they know they'll make money. Howard asked if they're getting back end on the movie. Rob said they are. He said that Adam Scott is now the guy who is kind of taking over that John Cusack role but not really. He said he plays his son in the future. Rob said they get into a tub that goes to the future. Howard said that's something good.
Howard said that if Hot Tub Time Machine 2 came out in 3D and with special effects it would be crazy. He said that they could have this whole futuristic movie. Rob said it takes place like 10 years in the future. He said they have smaller bikinis and nipples are hotter 10 years in the future. rob said they end up missing a guy putting a pug on a hover board and things like that. He said that's the kind of things they'll be doing in the movie.
Howard said he thought for sure that they'd have flying cars by the year 2000 but they got screwed. Howard said the iPad is kind of cool though.
Howard said Rob's mother came out of the closet later in life. Howard said it would be great if his mother did that for him. He did his impression of his mother talking about being a lesbian and talking about her big bush and other women parting the hairs.
Howard asked Rob how old he was when his mother came out. rob said he was 25. He said he had no idea. He said she was a different person. Rob said that his mother said that she just locked it up and put it away all those years. He said his dad was devastated. Howard asked if she always knew that she was gay. Rob said that when his sister was born she remembers having a crush on the nurse at the hospital. He said she never thought about it again. Rob said that they got married really fast too. Rob said he and his wife did that too though. Robin said
''Uh oh...'' Howard said that would be great if it happened to him too. Rob said he has two daughters that he hopes are gay. He said that they like reading and going away to play for hours. Rob said it would be great if they never brought any dick into the house.
Howard asked how his mother is doing now. Rob said she's been with the same woman since she left his father. He said that they're doing great. Rob said he didn't deal with that very well for a while. He said that they thought they were a perfect family growing up. He said he never saw his parents fight. He said then everything was questionable after that. He said he had to go back and parse through it all. He said she used to sleep for like 3 hours in the afternoon and that was from depression. He said he gets that now.
Robin asked how his mother met the other woman. Rob said she met the woman in Seminary. He said she was really into religion for long periods. He said she was searching for something. He said she was going to become a minister and she fell in love there. Howard said he would love to know that whole story.
Rob said that his dad called him once and they were in therapy at the time. He said his dad was quoting ''Men are from Mars Women are from Venus.''
Howard asked Rob if he was living at home at the time. Rob said his brother was. He said his mother called and asked him to come home earlier than he thought he was going to. He said he would. Rob said it clicked to him that she was gay and this was the meeting. He said that his friends thought that he was crazy. Rob said that was it. She picked Father's day to do it. Howard said that's crazy. Rob said they were in the living room and she told them all. Rob said his dad was there and he knew at the time but it was still raw. He said it had just happened to him. He said he's never seen his dad cry before or since then. He said that it was one of the most devastating things to him. He said he was so hurt.
Howard said it would have been funny if Rob had said that it was great and he couldn't wait for the day to talk about it on Howard Stern.
Rob said he grew up in Boston and they're very close minded there. Howard said he thought they were liberal. He said that they're kind of liberal but they're also very segregated. Rob said they used to say ''faggot'' at the dinner table. Rob said he went to school in the 90s and it was very P.C. Rob said he did theater and he met a gay person for the first time. He said he played a gay person in the play they were doing. Rob said you either embrace it fully or walk away from it. Rob said they were nice people and he became friends with some. He said that he would go home and spout this new found enlightenment. He said that his mother seemed to embrace that and maybe he helped her come out. Rob said he felt guilty because if he hadn't introduced her to that then maybe she wouldn't have come out. Rob said one of his childhood friends came out of the closet and his mother got involved in that. He said it was kind of a snowball after that.
Rob told Howard he grew up in Weymouth and how he had to lose his accent to do the play he was in. He said that he was saying ''Maack'' for ''Mark'' in the play so he had to fix that.
Howard said that Rob is a big fan of the show and he was one of the guys who said he wouldn't hire Benjy when he was on Celebrity Super Fan Roundtable. Rob said that he was just piling on. He said that everyone in the industry listens to Howard's show. He said when you have a meeting with someone you either talk about the weather, traffic or Howard Stern. He said that he will slip it into a conversation and they'll end up talking about Ronnie or something.
Howard said that one of the rules in Hollywood is to be professional and be on time. Rob said the thing is that they don't know how Benjy works. He said that they know he's a writer. He said you've got to have a persona that's professional. He said the lateness is fucked up. Howard said Rob was trying to help him by saying that's what the real world is like. Rob said when Howard was talking about retiring people woke up. He said that Benjy should get there early and read a paper like Howard said. He said he could get there 15 minutes early. Howard asked Benjy if he would like to address this. Benjy said he thought they were going to the A-list formula for the show. Rob said he's like the number one guy on the C-list. Benjy said that he's defensive. He said he has been a major part of the show because he's writing a lot of the jokes on the show. Rob said they know that but they don't know which jokes are written by Benjy. He said it's seamless. Howard said that's the way it should be. Howard said Rob is just telling Benjy he should try to be on time. Benjy said he has been on time.
Rob said that they haven't talked about that in a long time. He said that Benjy's presence on the show has to be professional. Howard said Rob didn't get credit for writing on The Daily Show. Benjy asked if he actually wrote for the show. rob said he did but he didn't get a writing credit. Rob said that the people on the show all write the field pieces that they get into. Rob asked if they're in the vortex now. Howard said they are. He said Benjy is sucking him into attacking him. They played an ''Into the Benjy Vortex'' clip to get them out of there.
Howard said that Benjy has improved at being on time. Benjy said this is going to be the best part of the interview. He said that Rob is being kind of boring. Robin told Howard to turn off his microphone. Howard said that immediately and played a vortex song parody.
Howard took a call from a guy who said that Rob is making a good point but he's not getting the point across. He said that Benjy's work doesn't come across that clearly on the show. Howard said Fred is a writer on the show too and he doesn't get any credit either. Howard said production people and others on the show write for the show. Howard said they have writing meetings and pitch meetings. He said Rob is making a point about how to act in the work place and Benjy got embarrassed. Howard said he gets that.
Benjy said he agrees with the being late thing. He said that's not what he's arguing about. Howard said saying that Rob is boring is ridiculous. He said that he just talked about his mom being gay. Benjy said that he was being attacked on his comedic ability. Howard said he did not. Howard wondered if he's being dragged into the vortex again.
Rob said that Benjy's thing is that the joke is that there isn't a joke. Benjy said he'd love to have Rob's mother on the show as a guest. He said that she might be interesting.
Howard brought up Scott DePace's wife who is a producer on The Daily Show. Howard said he heard Rob had a crush on her. Rob said that he thought she was attractive. He said she's very nice and she's got freckles that are cute. Howard asked if that makes Scott want to go home and fuck his wife. Scott got on his microphone and said it does. He thanked Rob for that.
Howard took a call from Eric the Actor. Howard said that Rob is there to say hi and he has an extensive background. Howard said that Rob has his show Children's Hospital that's coming back in July. He's also in that movie ''Warm Bodies'' that's really good. Howard said the movie didn't do that well. Rob said he thinks it did. He said that it was a hit. Howard said he loved it.
Howard got to Eric who said hi to Rob. Howard said that he had to do this quickly. Howard said he made a mistake picking up on him. Eric said he's trying to say something. Eric said Johnny is on the line snoring. Howard asked if he's at his house. Eric said he's on the phone at his own house. He's on a conference call. Rob said that's professional. Howard said it's great to hear a guy snoring. rob said he loves when he picks up someone snoring and leaves them on for a half hour.
Howard asked Eric to make a brief statement. Howard said he wanted to talk to Rob about working with Michael Bay. Howard said he heard he was a terror. Eric asked if he was going to get his 30 seconds. Howard said yes but he wants to move on. Eric said he enjoyed talking to Rob at the block party and he wondered how he was doing. Robin said that she knew he was going to have a personal conversation. Rob asked Eric how things have been going since then. Rob asked how the family is doing. Eric said he's just dealing with idiots on Twitter. Rob asked how the weather is. Howard said Eric had nothing to say. He said that Johnny has more to say and he's sleeping.
Eric said that one of the shows Rob was on got canceled. He said it was the show that Don Johnson's daughter was on. Howard wondered why he was talking to Eric.
Howard asked about working with Michael Bay. Rob said that he did an audition with Ashton Kutcher and he was getting in his face a little bit and Ashton smacked him in the face. He said he thinks that he only had to audition for one thing at the time and that was ''That 70s Show.'' He said he thinks that Ashton was nervous. He said he's done reads with people like that before and this was what they call a ''Chemistry Read.'' He said that he thought it was weird and his friend was shaking his head. He said Ashton smacked him again and they ended up getting the movie. Rob said he wasn't even talking about the same thing in the scene but he worked in that smack.
Howard said that he would punch a guy if he did that to him. Rob said he got punched in the face a lot as a kid. Rob said that Ashton just didn't know how to audition. He said he got along with him just fine but he wasn't used to auditioning.
Howard said Rob is a great guy and he doesn't get along with Benjy that well. Rob said he might like him if he hung out with him. Howard said he's not sure he'd get along with him. Howard asked if he makes any money from his 15 minute long Children's Hospital. Rob said he's making a lot of different paychecks from that show but you wouldn't usually.
Howard said he appreciates Rob taking part in the Celebrity Super Fan Roundtable show. He thanked him for coming in and went to break a short time later.
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- Best Of The Week: Rod Stewart. 05/17/13. 6:45am
Next on Best of the Week we heard Will Murray introducing the Rod Stewart interview segment. Here's what they played:
Rod Stewart Visits. 05/13/13. 8:00am
After the break we heard a prank call Sal and Richard made to a Swap Shop show trying to sell a plaster mould of Johnny Carson's taint. Fred also played Rod Stewart's ''(I Know) I'm Losing You'' as they were coming back.
Howard came back and said that Rod Stewart is there and he wants to come in and talk to them. Howard said he has a new album out called ''Time.''
Rod came in and said it's so weird to see him because he's such an icon. Rod said Howard is too. Howard said that when he thinks of Rod the most remarkable story is about how he almost didn't put the song Maggie May out. because he didn't like it. Rod said it wasn't him that thought it was shit. He said it was the record company. He said that he didn't think it was that good because it was so rambling. He said it didn't have a catch chorus. Howard said it could have been a huge mistake not putting it out.
Howard said that if you think about music too much it can make you crazy. Howard said that if you get caught up in it then you can go crazy. Rod said he knows that.
Howard said he thinks that's why so many rock stars turn to drugs. Howard said Rod was a big partier. Howard said that Keith Moon could out drink Rod.
Rod said he likes to keep himself fit and he never indulged that much in drugs. He said that he was afraid of losing his voice too so he would stick stuff in his ass. Rod said that Ronnie was having problems with his nose so he would empty cold pills out and stick them up their bum. He said they'd get their high that way and it worked.
Howard asked Rod about his voice and if people always told him that he was too raspy to be a professional. Rod said the only time that happened was back in the 60s when he tried to sign with a record company that turned him down. He said that they didn't sign him and he wrote about that in a song he put out.
Howard said that can wreck your spirit. Rod said his dad kept him going. He said he was very supportive. Howard said that he can see them telling him that he should be doing a manly job like digging coal or something. Rod said going into singing wasn't something that you did back then but his whole family supported him in it.
Howard asked him what turned him on to music. Rod said he liked Otis Redding and performers like that. He said he went to see the Stones perform and they only had like 15 people in the audience. Rod said that he was invited by Mick's girlfriend at the time. They weren't well known at the time either.
Howard asked Rod about going to school and if he was conforming. Rod said he was. He said he was there every day trying to learn even though he wasn't that smart.
Howard asked if he wanted to give up at any point and got discouraged. Rod said there were many times like that. Howard asked if it's true that he was discovered singing on the train tracks somewhere. Rod said that's true. He said he would sing in the train stations and he would ask for money from people. He said that he was playing harmonica on the floor and the guy who discovered him approached him with this nose sticking out and he asked him to join his band as a back up singer.
Howard said the next big thing was Jeff Beck. He said Rod hooked up with him. Rod said there were a couple of other bands before that too. Howard said Jeff Beck can play guitar very well but he can't sing. Howard said he heard he's a very bitter guy and he would yell about Led Zeppelin ripping him off and things. Rod said that they love and hate each other. He said that they never stopped talking to each other. He said they were like brothers.
Howard said Keith Richards says such shit about Mick Jagger. He said that they have enough money but at some point you'd think Mick would sit Keith down and tell him to shut up. Rod said that they might have everyone fooled. He said he'll have to ask Ronnie (Wood) about that.
Howard said Rod would travel with guys who would call him ''The Dick'' but not because he was a bad guy. He said that he was very large in the penis department. Rod said that his wife says it's not large but it's very pretty. Howard said what throws him off is that back in the 60s they had a plaster cast made of Jimi Hendrix's penis. He said that Rod was so blown away by the size of it that he said he would never get one done. Rod said that's right.
Howard said it was a cool thing to be a musician back in the 60s and 70s. Rod said things were new back then. Howard said it's not the same thing now. Rod said that you can't shock anyone anymore. Rod said they would go to a hotel and displace the furniture in the hotel rooms. He said they would put the furniture in the service elevator and send it down to the kitchen.
Howard said he heard that Billy Joel wrote the song Los Angelinos for Rod but he never gave it to him. Howard said Billy was intimidated by him so he never gave it to him. Howard asked if that pisses him off. Rod said that he understands why he'd be intimidated. He said that there was something scary about the band. Howard said they were kind of scary at the time. Howard said there are some bands that look like pussies but Rod and his guys were scary. Howard said he seems okay now though.
Howard asked Rod about becoming close with Elton John. He said the new super group was going to be Elton, Rod and Freddie Mercury. That never happened though. Rod said he'd like to tour with Elton. He said that didn't happen either. He said that he'd like to do that now and maybe he's listening now so they can go out and tour.
Howard asked Rod about what he does when he hangs out with Elton John. Howard said he would feel pressured to make conversation. Howard said he couldn't do that. He said he'd be very uncomfortable. Rod said that Howard would know what to say to him. Howard asked what would happen if they stopped talking. Rod said that wouldn't happen. He said that they'd just talk into the night.
Howard asked Rod where he lives. Rod said he's in the United States most of the time. He said that he is going to England tomorrow to promote the new album.
Howard asked Rod about the hot chicks he's banged in his life. He said that he was married to Rachel Hunter and Alana Hamilton. Rod said that he's married to another woman now. He said he won't cheat on this one. Howard asked what the hunger is with the women he was sleeping with. Rod said that the grass is always greener on the other side. Rod said he got married at 35 and his dad told him he was too young to marry. He said it turns out he was right.
Howard said he saw Rod on a show, maybe the Ed Sullivan show, and he saw him singing to Britt Ekland. Howard said he thought she looked like trouble to him. Rod said he wrote a song about her. He said she did turn out to be trouble in the end. He said that his roving eye took over and they went their own ways. He said that they were in love for a while. Howard said she wasn't his wife but she wanted to sue him for Palimony. Rod once said that he should just give a woman his house after a first date instead of marrying them. Howard said that it must have blown his mind when Britt tried to sue him. Rod said he can see why she'd be upset. He said that she wasn't happy that she had been turned down for another woman.
Howard said Rod wrote that a music executive once told him he wasn't a good song writer. That's why he stopped writing songs for 20 years. Rod said that's what happened. He said that when someone does that it takes you down a peg or two. He said he figured he might as well not write more songs. Howard said he has been listening to this new album and he loves it. He said he's back to the old Rod Stewart. Howard asked how a music exec can knock him down like that. Rod said it wasn't just that one person. He said there were other things that worked into that.
Howard asked Rod if he was obsessed with music. Rod said that everyone wants to be a success. He said it wouldn't make him ill with worry if he had an album not do very well. He said he's had plenty of failures and a lot of success. He said he tries to treat both of them equally.
Howard asked Rod what he thinks about the music business now. Rod said it's not even what it was 5 years ago. He said it's disastrous but it doesn't stop them from putting music out.
Howard asked Rod if he's going to go out with the new album and tour. Rod said of course he will. Howard said he figured that some people assume that they're going to sell albums based on their name but that just isn't true. He said that you still have to go out and tour. Howard said Bowie didn't go out and tour. Rod said that there might be medical reasons for that. Howard and Robin asked if that's true. Rod said he's going to take that back and said he shouldn't have opened his big mouth. He said he knows nothing.
Howard said that Rod has 8 kids and his son has been on the show. He said his son Sean was on the show. Howard said the kid was a great interview. Howard said he thinks that he talked about jerking off to Rachel Hunter. Howard said he'd be doing that too. He said he would be so confused. Howard asked Rod if he ever thought about that. Rod said the kids were very protected. He said that he went out with a famous girl in Britain and his kids took everything of hers out of the house and put it down by the front gate. He said they were just trying to protect him. He said they were right because this girl wasn't the one he was supposed to be with.
Howard asked Rod about having kids later in life. Rod said that it keeps him young. Howard asked if he's a better father now than he was before. Rod said he is. He said with Sean and Kimberly he was making his career. He said that everyone has to do that when they're making a career. Rod said he was in debt with the IRS and he had to work hard. He said he had to get himself out of debt so he was working around the clock.
Howard asked Rod about the IRS thing and if money was being stolen. Rod said it was. He said it was all smoke and mirrors. Howard said he would have had a nervous breakdown. Rod said he just figured he had to get on with it. He said that Sting had the same thing happen to him recently. He said he lost $5 million.
Howard asked Rod what he's worth. Rod told Howard to tell him what he's worth. Howard said he's just a disc jockey. He said he's worth like $100,000.
Howard said that the confusing thing about Rod's career was when he was in The Faces and he went off and did his solo career. Rod said he was doing the solo thing first. Rod said that he would have never have left the band. He said he loved the guys. Rod said he knew that Ronnie was going to go so he didn't want to stick around after that. He said he knew he was going to go to the Stones and he wasn't upset about that. He said that he loves Ronnie.
Howard asked Rod if it's weird to have his own children who have no idea what his life was like. Rod said he has a fine line of spoiling them and not spoiling them. He said that he does invest in their careers to help them out. He said he won't give them piles of cash. He said he will help them out though.
Howard asked Rod if the best part of being a rock star is the women or the access you have. Rod said it's everything. He said you just enjoy what you're doing.
Howard asked Rod if he ever had women in bed who would tremble when he met them. Rod said he's never looked at it like that. Howard said that being a rock star was a huge thing and he wanted to be one of those guys. Howard said the expectations must be high with women because he's a huge star. Howard said he has never heard that he was shitty in bed. Rod said he was in Australia once and the guys in The Faces left him with a chick he was wondering about and it turned out to be a guy. Rod said that they set him up. He said that was fair enough. Rod said he didn't get up and beat the shit out of him or anything. Howard asked if he kissed him. Rod said he didn't. Howard said he must have. Rod said he may have given him a peck on the neck. Howard said he heard that the guy sued him for Palimony after that.
Robin asked how it happens that he dates all of these high profile women. Howard said he must have gone on J-Date. Rod said he was a rock star and that's what they do.
Howard asked Rod if he could open a magazine and pick a chick out and make a call to get them. Rod said he never did that. He said he was turned down by a couple of people. He said it didn't always work out. Howard asked who they were. Rod said that he's not going to tell him that.
Howard asked Rod about that woman who sort of ripped off his sound. Rod said that he loves her and he wasn't upset about that at all.
Howard asked Rod what it is about Britain that brings out so much great music. Rod said he's not sure. Howard said it doesn't make sense but there is a lot of talent over there in an area that's no bigger than Philadelphia.
Howard asked Rod if he listens to new music. Rod said he listens to Adele but not much else. He said he's tired of music. Rod said he loves Adele though.
Howard asked Rod if he sits down and writes every day or is it casual. Rod said in the old days it was like that. He said things have changed and he loved writing the words on this album and he can't wait to write more. Howard asked if he has to write stuff down right away. Rod said that you have to keep singing it or call and leave a message on a phone. He said he doesn't have a phone though so he can't do that. Rod said that he will take his kids out to dinner and all 6 of them will be texting. Rod said he was up singing one night and all of the kids were there texting during his performance.
Howard asked Rod why he's resisting technology. Rod said he likes emailing and his computer but he can't be bothered with the phone. He said he has a person who gets in touch with him when he needs that.
Howard said he thinks Rod is a good looking man. Rod said he has to be kidding. Howard said he's surprised that Elton never came on to him. Rod said that he did get a kiss on the mouth the other night while he was out to dinner. He said he is the finest and most generous person on this planet. Howard said he heard about the gift he got him which was a Rembrandt. Howard said Billy Joel told him some stories about the gifts they would give and how he gave Elton a motorcycle that he brought on tour with him. Howard said Elton doesn't care about motorcycles though.
Howard said he feels like Rod has come a long way. Howard asked Rod if he ever thinks that he should have thought of a really good song when he hears it on the radio. Rod said he's never really thought that. He said that he never gets jealous of another song like that.
Howard talked to Rod about how he keeps his voice going without blowing it out. Howard said he used to go into new markets and he'd get sick and lose his voice. He said he learned that if he put compression on his voice in his headphones that he'd keep his voice. He said that's the way he does it now.
Howard asked how many albums he's sold in his career. Rod said it's over 200 million. He said he doesn't keep his awards on display or anything. Howard said he should do that. Howard said that he could hang them on his wall proudly and embrace it. Rod said he would rather put up a wonderful painting on the wall than a gold record. He said that he knows they're significant but they're ugly things. He said he's been to so many rock star houses with gold records all over. He said he's seen enough of that. Rod said he'd rather have a beautiful painting on his wall.
Howard asked Rod if he can imagine the day when he has to stop singing. Rod said it will happen one day but right now it's his identity and he's going to keep doing it.
Howard asked Rod about his wife, Penny, and if they're still having sex a few times a week. Rod said they are. He said it's not easy with the kids around but they fit it in. He said they have four kids living with them right now. He said that he has two little ones but they have a massive house. He said the house is still noisy though.
Howard asked Rod about how often he gets to his Florida house. Rod said he gets down there a few weeks a year. He said that they're in California most of the time. Rod said he turned professional at 19 and he started saving up for a sports car. He wanted to get that to get the girls. Howard said it's good he never got into the hard partying scene. Rod said he's been into self preservation forever.
Howard and Rod bonded over their settling down. Both of them have found women that they can settle with. Howard asked if he went to therapy. Rod said he did and the therapist told him that once you've seen one cunt then you've seen them all. Rod said he swears that's what he told him. Howard said Donald Trump once met him and told him that he could do much better. Rod said he did that.
Howard said Rachel Hunter was up there once and then the second time she came up she pulled some shit and walked out so he called her a cunt. Howard said he thinks Rod is better off without her. He said Trump was right.
Howard said he read that Rod had said that one of his therapists came on to him. Rod said that was the same woman who told him to get a dog or a cat instead of a woman. Howard said that's not going to help. Rod said that's common advice apparently. He said that you need someone to cuddle with so get a dog or a cat.
Howard said that he wanted to talk about some of the tracks on his album. He said that his album is called ''Time'' and he's going to play ''It's Over'' off the album. Rod said this one is about divorce. Howard played the song and said he likes the beginning. He let it play through and said it sounds good. Robin said she was about to cry. Howard said that was beautiful. Robin said it tears at the heart strings. Howard said this is good stuff. He said the kids today are fucked up and don't know how to write a good song. Rod said it takes living life a little bit sometimes.
Howard talked to Rod about the song ''Finest Woman'' which Rod said is about his wife Penny. Rod said that she's 6' tall and 6'4'' tall in heels. Howard said Rod is pretty tall but he looks short because he always dated very tall women. Rod said he finds them athletic looking and that's very appealing to him. Howard asked if it took a long time to get into Penny's pants. Rod said she made him wait, don't you worry.
Howard played Rod's song ''Finest Woman'' and kept quiet during most of the song. Howard said that was definitely not about Rachel Hunter. Howard said it must be about that Tranny whose dick he felt. Robin asked if he knows when a song is sexy. Rod said you work toward that groove but he's not sure about the sexy part though. Robin said she can see that song being a hit with strippers.
Howard asked Rod if he thought that his life was over when he got the tumor on his thyroid. Rod said it can be pretty scary. He said that it's one of the easiest ones to treat though if you catch it early. Rod said that he loves his life and he'd like to be around. Robin asked if he did any of the weird treatments where they wash the blood or anything. Rod said he didn't do that. Howard asked if he gets colonics and things. Rod said he does do that. Howard said that's nuts. He said he would never do that himself. Rod said he's just saying that because he's never tried it.
Howard asked Rod if he saw anything good come out when he got the colonic. Rod said he saw Christmas dinner from 4 years ago. Howard said it must be embarrassing when you get that stuff done. Howard asked if a woman did it. Rod said it was a woman. He said he's had a colonoscopy so it's no worse than that. Howard said you're unconscious during that. Rod said he stayed awake for his. He said he was just interested. He wanted to watch the camera. He said he had that done with his knee surgery too. Howard said that's insanity. He said he must be afraid of being unconscious. Rod said he's not. He said he's just interested in the medical side of it.
Howard asked Rod what's up with his obsession with model trains. Rod said he has a big set up at home. He said he'll build something on the road and bring it home. He said you have to be a painter and sculptor when you're into model trains. He said he's been into that stuff since he was about 12. Howard asked if he wears engineer outfits. Rod said he never has. Howard asked if he will invite him over to see his trains going by. Rod said that you can see it in Model Railroader. He said that it's a wonderful hobby. Howard said he can't imagine that. Howard said he's into photography. Rod said that men need a hobby. He said that he can be in his train room for 7 hours at a time. He said it's very easy to spend that kind of time in there.
Howard asked Rod why he never tried acting. Rod said it never interested him. He said he was approached a couple of times but music is what he was put on this earth to do.
Howard asked if Janis Joplin tried to fuck him. Rod said he never did that. Howard said she wasn't hot. Howard said he should have thrown her one.
Howard asked if Rod was a fan of Keith Moon's. Rod said he loved Keith. He said he was a great guy. Howard asked Rod how he can be around a guy like that and if it was exhausting being around him. Rod said it was. He said they'd go out to parties and stay up all night. He said he went to one with Keith and by 6 in the morning he was ready to go home.
Howard asked Rod about the drugs he's tried. Rod said he tried heroin by accident once. Howard said the same thing happened to him. Rod said he walked around the block hoping he didn't die. He said that he didn't want to fall asleep because he thought he would die.
Howard said that he has been listening to his Rod's new album and it's been great having him there today. Howard said he was afraid of Rod and he didn't approach him at a party they were at. Howard said he had just gotten divorced and he was there single. He said he had been sequestered in his house for years. Howard said someone said that Rod was there at the party and he was there with Rachel Hunter. Howard said Rod was like King Tut and he didn't bother the guy. Howard said he heard that Rod wanted to say hi to him and wanted him to go over to Rod. Howard said he wanted Rod to come to him. Howard said it was too intimidating. Rod said that doesn't sound like something he'd do. Howard said now they've had a proper conversation and it's been great. Howard said it's great that he's back to writing music.
Robin asked what was up with him covering standards. Rod said that his family would play and they were tremendous singers.
Howard asked Rod to do an F, Marry Kill with Paris Hilton, Beyonce and Carrie Underwood but Rod refused to play along. Howard said that they barely touched the surface of this iceberg of Rod's life.
Howard asked Rod if it was tough getting up in the morning. Rod said he's used to it. He said he's up at 7:30 to get the kids to school. Rod said he drives them to school in the Rolls Royce. He said he used to drive his son to school in the Ferrari but he hated it. He said now they love it though.
Howard asked Rod about his house and if he has a movie theater there. Rod said he does. He said he gets movie screeners to watch. Howard asked how he gets those movies. Rod said he's on the Beverly Hills movie circuit. He said that they send the movies over to him and he gets to watch. Howard said he has to get over to his place to see what's doing. Howard said he has those trains too. He said he probably has a real train. Rod said his mind will be blown when he sees the trains. He said he doesn't let anyone up there but Howard will see. Howard said he could talk to him all day but he has to let him go. He gave him some more plugs and went to break a short time later.
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- Best Of The Week: Roger Daltrey. 05/17/13. 8:15am
Next on Best of the Week we heard Gary Dell'Abate introducing the Roger Daltrey interview segment. Here's what they played:
Roger Daltrey Visits. 05/15/13. 8:00am
After the break we heard a prank call Sal and Richard made to a guy who advertised a bear massage. Fred also played AC/DC's ''You Shook Me All Night Long'' as they were coming back.
Howard came back and said that the legendary Roger Daltrey from The Who is there. Howard said he has a lot to talk to him about. Howard said Roger is looking good. Howard told him to put on the headphones because the microphone is built in.
Howard said that he had Rod Stewart in there talking about caring for his voice. Howard said that he was thinking about Roger and how Pete would make fun of his singing abilities. Howard said that he's the lead singer. Rob said that Keith used to make fun of him but he could kick his ass. He said that it's like a fight for control of the band.
Howard said he read a story about Roger being hit over the head with a guitar by Pete and he punched him out on stage. Roger said that it was a very silly fight. He said they were rehearsing Quadrophenia and they had hired a film crew to film them. He said the crew were all sitting on the boxes watching the show. He said that he asked if they could start filming because they were almost at the end. He said Pete was just getting to the end of his second bottle of Brandy. He said Pete started poking at him in the chest. Roger said that he was very fiery in the 60s and when he started poking him the other guys jumped on him instead of on Pete. Roger said Pete was spitting at him and poking him. He said he was very drunk at the time. He said Pete told them to let the fucker go and he just stood there when they did. He said that's when Pete hit him with the guitar. He said that he just glanced him in the shoulder. Roger said that Pete started throwing punches but he can't punch very well. He said he threw a right and he dodged it. He said Pete lost his balance and he gave him an upper cut. He said he credited him with giving him that bald spot on the back of his head when he hit the floor.
Howard said that if someone on the show hit him he doesn't think he could patch it up and get back to being band mates. Roger said that you would if it was like a brother. Howard said he was reading about Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and they say it's not like being brothers. They're just band mates. Howard said that a brother would treat you better. Roger said he wouldn't know because he doesn't have a brother.
Howard said he thinks that the problem is that Pete is frustrated that he has to have Roger sing his songs. He said he thinks that drives him up a wall.
Howard said he read about how Roger sat around waiting for Pete for 5 hours one time. He said that Roger slugged him. Roger said he doesn't remember that one. He remembers slugging a producer though.
Howard said he has a lot of questions for Roger about their music. Howard said on this song they brought in Jimmy Page. Roger said they didn't do that, it was a producer. Howard said that's on ''I Can't Explain.'' Roger said Jimmy plays the solo in the song. Howard asked why they brought him in. Roger said they did it live and they needed that to keep the continuity going. Howard said that's a major deal to have Jimmy on a song like that. Roger said it kind of made sense at the time. He said the backing vocals weren't theirs either. He said they had a group there to do that. He said they had to do that to do it live.
Howard said the song ''I Can See for Miles'' is a song that Pete feels is his biggest disappointment because it didn't go to number 1. Roger said that it's such a great record. He said that he was upset about that. Roger said that they never did have a number 1. He said they ended up going to write albums instead of singles. Roger said that they would hope that they'd have a number one song but that was the one straw that broke the camel's back. Howard said you can get caught up in that and it'll make it hard to progress as a band. Roger said that they went on to do Tommy and it was more explorative. He said that they tried that and moved on to something else.
Howard asked Roger about when the Beatles albums came out and if they went and listened to that and figured they had to do something else. Roger said they didn't have to buy it. The songs were everywhere. He said he doesn't think he had to buy an album after 1965 because they were given so many. Roger said you can hear the roots of that music in the music of today. He said he doesn't particularly like the music of today but there are influences in there.
Howard asked Roger if he wanted to be a singer and he had to get out there and do that. Roger said that it was Elvis and the Everly Brothers who got him into that kind of stuff. Roger said that it was the Beatles who made the group thing work. He said that's what made it possible to have a band. He said they changed that. Roger said that they were a band when they heard ''Love Me Do.''
Howard asked Roger about Keith Moon and if he was draining on him. He said that sometimes a death can be a relief in a sense. Roger said that's not what it was like for him. He said it wasn't a relief. He said Keith was an enormous character. He said he was way up there with his personality. He said that it was like fireworks. Howard said it was like his nerves were exposed to the world.
Howard asked about the smashing of the hotel rooms and what that was. Roger said that he thinks Keith may have been autistic. He said that he may have had a very addictive personality too. Roger said that Keith would take these black bombers pills and one pill would be plenty for some people but he'd take a hand full.
Howard asked Roger about the amount of drugs Keith was doing. Roger said that Keith wasn't the worst. He said that this guy Oliver Reed was a big one too. He said that Moon challenged Oliver to a drinking contest. He said that Oliver lived in a monetary for a while and he had a pub at the end of the lane. He said they got a bottle of brandy and had 3 bottles each. He said that Oliver passed out and Moon got up and said he was going to the pub for a drink.
Howard asked Roger about the kind of help they tried to get for Keith. Roger said they tried. He said he once took a monkey tranquilizer. Howard asked what that is. Roger said he's not sure what it was. He said he passed out the second they were on stage and he was out for 24 hours. He said the next day they had to push him around in a wheelchair. He said his mouth was still working but his legs weren't. Roger said it used to destroy him when he did it. Roger said Keith would get upset when he would let them down. He said that they would get pissed at him because they cared about him. He said that he seemed to have 9 lives though. Roger said that they saw him dancing on an air conditioning window unit 16 floors up. Howard said it sounds like he had a death wish. Roger said he doesn't think that's it.
Roger told Howard about Keith going to the airport and he'd strip naked for security. Then he'd run around the airport. He said he just didn't care and everyone loved him for it.
Howard asked if he was married at the time. Keith said he thinks that he was in the process of getting divorced. He had a son around that time and now his son is playing drums just like his dad.
Howard asked Roger about going in to sing a song for Pete and how he would make it work for him. Roger said he had to know the lyrics. He said he can't sing off a sheet. He said he has to learn and have them in his head. He said that Pete would let him change some things but he would go to the press and tell them that he didn't do that.
Howard asked if Roger gets upset when he sees Pete say something about him not singing well. Roger said he's allowed to say that if he wants to. Howard said he would get so upset if that happened to him. He said he reads about Keith Richards and Mick Jagger saying things about each other and he'd be so upset about that. Roger said he never used to worry about it and he still doesn't. Roger said that Keith wrote a song that he wanted sung quietly and he didn't hear it that way so he did it in his own way. He was talking about ''Love, Reign O'er Me'' so Howard played some of that song while they talked about that. Roger said he felt that when you talk about love you don't do it quietly. You scream it.
Howard asked if Roger is sick of singing Who songs. Roger said he's getting tired of ''Don't Get Fooled Again.'' Howard said Billy Joel has talked about getting sick of some songs too. Roger said that they still do the song because people want to hear it.
Howard played ''My Generation'' and asked Roger about the stutter in that song. Roger said he used to stutter a lot when he was younger. He said it worked for that song. He said the joke at the time was about speed and you'd stutter a lot when you were on speed. Roger said it was written that way so that's why he did it like that.
Howard asked if it would be great to have video of their recording sessions so you could see them talking about singing the song like a guy on speed. Roger said these days they do that. Robin said the music is shit today though. Howard said it really is. Roger said back when they were starting out all they had was music.
Howard said Roger has said he doesn't have a cell phone. Roger said he actually does but the phone is ancient. Howard said Pete is way into the tech stuff. Roger said he actually doesn't like the Twitter stuff. He said that he's not that keen on it now.
Howard said he keeps comparing them to the Stones. Howard asked if he would like to be on tour more than Pete does. Howard said he thinks that the Stones always work things out. Roger said they do too. He said that they have to go away for a while all the time. He said that the fans get sick of you and you have to take a break.
Howard asked about the CSI shows and how they use their music on three of the shows. Roger said they all get money from that. He said that Pete gets more because of the publishing.
Howard asked Roger about John Entwistle. Roger said he had a strange relationship with him. He said he cared about him a lot and he hated to see him dying. He said he went grey in the last 5 years of his life. He said he didn't do much about his heart problems and he started drinking a lot. He said that was a hell of a way to go though.
Howard said that Roger saw him slipping away and he couldn't say to him that he wanted to help. Roger said that they couldn't change him. He said they didn't call him ''The Ox'' for nothing. He said that there was no way to change him. He said that he lived the rock and roll lifestyle and he didn't change. Howard said that some people would quit smoking if they were told they had cancer but John would have smoked more.
Howard said he was shocked by Roger coming out against these TV shows that are on now with music acts. Howard said he agrees that most of the stuff is crap because the kids haven't put in the time. Roger said he thinks it's the formula, not the performers. He said that it's the voice too. He said that you hear someone like David Bowie and you know it's him. He said these other people aren't recognizable. He said there are a lot of great voices out there though.
Howard said Roger auditioned to be a judge on American Idol. Roger said he didn't audition. He said he went to meet the producers. He said he never would have done it. He said it was his agent that brought him in. He said he didn't even know what was happening. He said he had a meeting but that's what you do in Hollywood.
Howard asked what he thought of Steven Tyler doing it. Roger said he only saw one show he did but he thought he did fine and he thinks it did him a lot of good. Howard said Roger would have been a good judge. Howard said he knows the business and he wouldn't be afraid to tell a kid he sounds like everyone else. Roger laughed and said he would destroy the rest of that person's life. Howard said he's done that for many people on America's Got Talent.
Howard asked Roger about music today and what's going on in the business. Roger said there is a band called The Stripes coming out of Ireland and they're great. He said they didn't have a lot of original music but they're working on it now. He said if he were a teenager now that's the album he'd be buying.
Howard played The Who's ''Pinball Wizard'' and asked Roger how that song came about. He heard that a reviewer was into pinball so Pete decided to write a song about it and get the guy to like their stuff. Roger said it did go something like that. Howard asked why Pete says this is the most clumsy song he's ever written. Roger said he'd have to ask Pete that.
Howard asked Roger if the song ''Behind Blue Eyes'' is about himself. Roger said a bunch of them in the band had blue eyes so it could be about any of them. Howard asked if Pete handles fame well. Roger said he thinks that Pete might have more trouble than he does. Howard said he's kind of a recluse.
Howard asked who keeps his stuff together. Roger said his grand kids do. Howard said that fame can be a trap and you can get caught up in being alone and then you feel lonely. Howard said this is some song though. ''Behind Blue Eyes'' was still playing. Roger said he likes to change the songs up so they breathe a little bit. He said he'll mix it up in the concerts.
Howard asked Roger how they voted in the band if they had 4 guys in the band. Roger said that it wasn't that bad. He said they didn't fight that often. He said it was like 3 minute flashes of fighting.
Howard asked Roger if he ever thought it would last this long. Roger said they never thought they'd last to the end of the week. He said they named themselves The Who 50 years ago.
Howard said that Roger hates synthesizers. Roger said he doesn't hate them. He said that what he hated was when Pete wouldn't play a guitar solo and he'd play some awful sounding synthesizer thing. He said that he loves this song Howard was playing. Howard was playing ''Baba O'Riley.'' Howard said that no one could sing like Roger. Pete was singing at the point Howard said that. Howard said he meant the song overall.
Howard said that Roger has that powerful sound. He said Pete can do some but he can't really do what Roger does.
Howard played ''Who Are You'' and said that Pete doesn't remember writing that one. Howard said that's so crazy. Howard let that one play for a few seconds.
Howard said that Roger was at Woodstock and asked if there was something special about that day. Roger said they were supposed to be flown in by helicopter but he was driven in by Volkswagen. He said to them it was just another show. He said it wasn't a big deal to them. Roger said they were on the bill with the other bands that they were there with all the time. He said that's why they wanted to do it.
Howard asked Roger if Janis Joplin ever came on to him. Roger said she never did. He said that they used to call her roach because she always had one on her. He said she had a clip on her all the time and it was almost guaranteed she had a roach on her. He said that was almost guaranteed. Howard said he must have known Jimi Hendrix pretty well too. Roger said he knew him too. He said he was more friendly with his wife. Howard asked if he was blown away by Jimi's guitar playing. Roger said everyone was. He said he was a very gentle man too. He said that Jimi tried to get his wife the same night he did but he got lucky.
Howard said Leslie West and Mountain were at Woodstock but their manager told them not to put them in the movie. Howard said Roger and The Who were in it. He played some of their performance from the movie. Roger said that there was a strange echo there. He said they performed without monitors and it wasn't very easy. He said he thought it sounded out of tune but listened for a few more seconds and said it's in tune.
Howard said that Roger is out promoting this charity Teen Cancer. Roger said they started this in England 23 years ago. He said they realized that teens were suffering from cancer and they get the most rare and aggressive cancers. He said they suffer a lot from late diagnosis too. Roger said that this is about care and not medication. He said that from 13-25 they are very different. He said they're not children and they're not adults. He said in Britain they've isolated this group. He said over here they have a group like that but it's 13-40. He said here in the States they're caring for a group that they can isolate and study so they can figure out how to help. Roger said when you turn 18 you become an adult and you get different medication. He said in England they figured that they could give pediatric treatments that they wouldn't have gotten before. He said they have a better success rate with that. He said they want to do the same in America. He said that they need to isolate this group and focus the medicine.
Roger said that if you see a teen in a room with an old fart like him then it's kind of depressing. He said that they need to isolate the teens. Howard said you can find out more at TeenCancerAmerica.org.
Howard asked Roger if he thinks about getting old. Roger said he really doesn't. He said we're all just balls of energy that move once we die.
Howard asked Roger if he had any bands he didn't like for competitive reasons. Roger said they liked a lot of the bands for their music. He said he didn't have a lot of bands that they didn't like. He said Marmalade was kind of teeny bop stuff and that wasn't so great.
Howard asked Roger if he ever wanted to be a lead singer for any other bands. Roger said he would only want to be in The Who. He said he would hate to be his age singing other songs. He said he'd hate to be singing some of the Rolling Stones songs. Howard said that he'd probably hate singing ''Satisfaction.'' Roger said that's what he's talking about.
Howard said he could ask Roger a million questions. He said he thinks he already did. Robin asked how much money Roger has. She said he can't be poor. Roger said he isn't poor at all. He said he's not complaining but he does have to work. Howard said they split the tour money equally. Roger said they did. He said he has to work or he has to make one tour last 4-5 years. He said he has a large family to support.
Howard said some of the guys must get upset that they don't tour more often. Roger said they have to take a year off once in a while. Howard asked if he has gone to see the Rolling Stones at all. Roger said he hasn't seen them in many years.
Howard said he heard that Pete got upset about Roger singing Who songs with an orchestra. Roger said he did that but he felt he was honoring Pete. He said that he thought it worked brilliantly too. Howard said maybe Pete wanted to be involved. Roger said that he could have asked if he wanted to be involved. Roger said he was turning 50 and he thought he'd come. He did come but he showed up late.
Howard asked Roger if he would ever go to therapy. Roger said he wouldn't do that. He said he would never want to change things. Howard asked if Pete respects him the way he respects Pete. Roger said he thinks he does. He said Pete is a different guy now and they don't hang out like they used to. He said they used to fish and do things like that together. He said Pete can be wonderful company too.
Howard said he upset Pete last time he was on. He said that he asked about the thing he didn't want to talk about. He said he would like to talk to him some day. Roger told him to write him a note. Howard said he'd ask him for his address but Roger probably doesn't have it either. Roger said he might have to hand deliver it.
Howard gave Roger another plug for the teen cancer thing and wrapped up with him. Howard said he's a hell of a guy and a great interview too. Howard thanked him for coming in. Roger asked what happened to the jokes today. He said they used to have a lot of jokes. Howard asked how big his cock is. Howard said he's too interesting to waste time with jokes. They went to break a short time later.
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- Best Of The Week: ZZ Top. 05/17/13. 9:25am
Next on Best of the Week we heard JD Harmeyer introducing the ZZ Top interview segment. Here's what they played:
ZZ Top Performs Live. 05/14/13. 7:35am
After the break we heard Cliff Palate singing AC/DC's ''For Those About to Rock'' and a ''Schindler's List on Broadway'' commercial parody. We also heard a prank call the guys made to a show using clips of Howard asking how many inches the guy had. Fred also played Queen's ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' as they were coming back.
Howard came back and said he knows who that is. He said that's Queen but he has in the studio one of his favorites of all time, ZZ Top. Howard said that they're looking good and sharp even at this time of morning.
Howard said that the microphones aren't working. He said with all of that set up they had they're not working. Howard asked if they have a speaking microphone set up. There was all kinds of noise in the studio and everyone was talking. Howard said there's an echo and it's a nightmare. Robin said Scott was about to take a bow. Howard said he wants to get out of radio and start selling Grit magazine.
Howard asked Scott what's going on. He said he kind of left him hanging there. Howard said Scott was in there giving an acceptance speech and now he's left him hanging. Scott said they're good now.
Howard said hi to the boys and everything was up and working. Howard said that the guys were saying that they were up all night so they didn't have to get up in the morning. The guys said that it's just about bed time for them.
Howard said that he's honored to have them there. Howard said that he has given up on rock and roll because of the music they play on radio these days. Howard said that Billy acts like it's simple to be a rock star. He said that he has said that it's the same 3 guys wit the same 3 chords. Howard said it's really not that easy to write a hit song though. Howard asked if he had a fall back plan if this didn't work out. Billy said that it just worked out this way. One of the guys said that he was going to play somewhere.
Howard said Billy was opening for Jimi Hendrix before he met these guys. Howard asked what that band was. Billy said that it was The Moving Sidewalks. He said they had 4 guys in the band. Billy said that the other guys were in another band that split up when two of the guys went into the service.
Howard asked Billy and Frank if they like each other. They said they have friends. Howard said that bands are infamous for getting on each other's nerves. Howard asked if they ever hang out with each other. He said he heard they have their own tour bus. Billy said that they have a card game that they play and they have radios on the busses so they can communicate. Dusty said that they wouldn't be together if they had to travel on the same bus together. Howard asked if it takes all 3 to write songs. Billy said it does. Howard said when they get into a room the still write together. Billy said that Rick Rubin helps with that. He said that Rick makes you do things over and over and they like doing things over and over.
Howard asked the guys if they wanted a third beard in the band. They said that his name is Frank Beard. Howard said that they have a look so maybe Frank should have one too. Howard said it might look cool. Billy said that Frank had the thing and he let them go with the beards. Frank can blend in while Billy and Dusty can't really go out.
Howard asked where they live. Billy said that he lives on a tour bus. He said he has two homes, one in Texas and one in Los Angeles. Dusty said he has a home in Texas but his real home is Bus #2.
Howard said he can't get a sense of them politically. Howard asked if they get political at all. They said that they're just a rock band. Howard said the guys stay out of politics because you're bound to lose fans if you get involved.
Howard said Billy was engaged last time he was on. Billy said he had to go tie the knot after the last appearance. Dusty is married too. Frank has been married for 32 years. Howard asked if they had fun on the road. Frank said he never cheated on the road. Howard said he can't tell if they're being for real or not.
Howard said that Billy was opening for Hendrix in The Moving Sidewalks. Howard asked if he learned a lot from Hendrix. Billy said he did. He said they weren't exactly straight shooters at the time but they weren't completely screwed up. He said Hendrix was doing things on the guitar that you never saw before. Howard said he heard that Clapton saw Hendrix and said he never wanted to play guitar again after seeing how good he was. Billy said that he could do that to you. Billy said he used to see this console record player being brought into Jimi's room. He said he was learning Jeff Beck's record and learning it by listening to it. Howard said the guy was a savant and a genius. Billy said ''Yeah man.'' Howard asked if he could mimic some of the things he could do. Billy said he did. He demonstrated one of the things he learned from him.
Howard said Noel Redding was Jimi's bass player and people say that he wasn't that good. Billy said that he was like the glue that kept the band together. He said Noel had another band called Fat Mattress. Robin said they weren't very good at naming bands back then. Howard asked if Jimi or Noel played bass on the records. Billy said that Noel did. Howard said the guy got a bad rap then. Billy said he did.
Howard said he heard a story about Billy and how he saw BB King record a record with his father. Billy said it was ''I'm Tired Of Your Jive.'' Howard said after in his life he got to perform that song with BB King. Billy said he met BB and he had told him when the song was cut and where it was cut. He said he told BB the story about seeing him record the song with his father. Howard asked if he gets nervous playing in front of BB. Billy said BB wanted him to sing with him but he told BB that he's white and asked if he's sure about that. Billy said there is a clip on YouTube where he and BB performed. He said they told some stories in that clip too.
Howard said that the guys are going to play La Grange for them and he wondered if this is still fun for them. Billy said he thinks it is. Howard said there is nothing like watching these guys play. He said he has seen them live before and it's such big sound coming from 3 guys. Howard said it's amazing. Howard asked if Cream was a big influence on them. Billy and Dusty said they were. Howard said Frank has said that it's good having 3 guys because they can vote and have an outcome without a tie. Howard asked who decides which songs go on the album. Billy said that Rick Rubin is the guy. He said they had 20 tracks for this album they put out and they pulled the songs out of a hat. Howard asked if that bothers them at all. Billy said he took it as ''they were all good.'' He thanked Rick for that.
Howard said he talked to Rod Stewart yesterday. He said that a record exec didn't want Maggie May on the album and it turned out to be a huge hit. Howard asked if they ever had a song like that. Dusty said that there was a song on Eliminator that they didn't like and it turned into a hit. He said that those people don't remember not liking it back then.
Howard asked the guys if they remember recording songs and how quickly they came about. Billy said that they did ''Tush'' in one take. He said that they just started playing and Dusty came out with the words. They talked about how they had the name of the song already but they came up with the lyrics just going along.
Howard asked about La Grange and how that one came about. Billy said they had the riff and they were just playing and messing around. Then they took a lunch break and came back and did it.
Howard had the guys play some of a riff they had come out with and started throwing out some lyrics of his own. That only went for about 3 seconds.
Howard asked the guys about being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and what that was like. They were inducted by Keith Richards. They said that was pretty cool. Howard asked if Keith is a great guitar player or just a great song writer. Billy said he's both.
Howard had the guys play their song ''La Grange.'' Howard said he's going to sit back and enjoy this. They did a long version of the song. After the song Howard said he just shot a load. He said he loves this band. He said he has to get into a band himself. Howard said they're some fucking musicians.
Howard asked Dusty about playing bass and if he plays chords on his bass like Jack Bruce did. Dusty said you have to fill the holes with something. Howard said that's a different version of the song than he's ever heard. Howard asked if they have to go into the studio to figure it all out. He asked if it's just rehearsed a lot. Billy said that's what it's evolved into over the years. He said that's just what the song has turned into.
Howard said Frank was great with the drum and Billy was great on guitar. Howard said it's so good to see them playing. Howard said that they're out on tour now. Howard asked how long they're on the road. He said they must never see their families. Dusty said they go home before they go to Europe. He said they'll have like 5 days at home.
Robin asked if they have kids. Howard said they don't even know. dusty has a daughter. Billy doesn't have any kids. Frank had a kid there with him. Howard gave the guys a plug for their tour and said they have a box set of CDs coming out in June (The Complete Studio Albums 1970-1990). You can find tour dates on ZZTop.com
Howard asked the guys about their stuff being remixed back in the day when CDs were coming out. Billy said they're going back to the originals with the box set. Howard said the box set is in stores on June 10th.
Robin asked the guys if they have any feelings on vinyl vs. CD. Howard said he hopes not. The guys said they think it's cool. Billy said he still listens to vinyl. Howard asked if they listen to their own stuff. They said they do that once in a while.
Howard said that the guys are going to play Chartreuse next. Howard said they did this one on their last album ''La Futura.'' Howard said that he loves the clothes they wear. Howard asked if they have a fashion consultant. Howard said Frank obviously doesn't. Howard said Billy and Dusty appear to be trying not to care but they dress very well. Billy said it's John Varvatos to the rescue. Howard said his stuff is cool. Howard said if they had a fashion look it would be that.
Howard had the guys perform their next song ''Chartreuse.'' After the song Howard asked the guys when they started playing and knew they were good. Billy said he started at 13. Frank said he started at 14 and he was making a living at 15. Howard asked how long it took to write that song Chartreuse. They said that was another 2 minute song.
Howard wrapped up with the guys and asked if they ever got caught up in the drug thing. They were saying that they couldn't recall.
Howard said he has a lot of people on the phones with questions. Howard said someone wonders if they're sick of playing any songs. They said if they were sick of them they'd stop playing them. Howard said Billy Joel said that he will never play ''Just the Way You Are'' ever again because he's burnt out on that.
Howard read more of the questions people had and there were some comments about how great they are. Howard said it's something else to see them performing live. Robin said their videos were really fun back in the day too. Howard said it's weird how the whole video thing is gone now. Howard asked if it's true that Paula Abdul choreographed one of their videos. They said it was ''Velcro Fly'' that she helped out on. Billy said they asked for her to sing for them as a back up singer too. They said that's what got her going back then too.
Howard asked if they met Beyonce years ago too. Billy said they met her at a recording studio. He said they were sharing a recording studio and they got to be friends with some rappers. Billy said they would hang out in the middle room at the studio. That's how they got to know people there.
Howard asked if they ever dropped out of school. Dusty said he was out at 14. He said he kept flopping and going back home. He said he wouldn't suggest it to anyone. He said that's not the thing to do. Howard said it worked for Dusty. Howard said his problem is that he stayed in school. Howard asked if he wishes he had stayed in school. Dusty said he went to a reunion. He said he doesn't know why he went though. He didn't graduate and saw the people he didn't like back then and still doesn't like now.
Howard said he appreciates the guys getting up early and coming in. He said they actually stayed up all night. Howard said they were something else. Howard wished them continued success and said that it's definitely a highlight. They went to break after that.
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- Best Of The Week: JJ Abrams. 05/17/13. 10:20am
Next on Best of the Week we heard Steve Brandano introducing the JJ Abrams interview segment. Here's what they played:
JJ Abrams Visits. 05/13/13. 7:10am
After the break we heard a JD Harmeyer for Mayor of New York commercial parody. Fred also played ZZ Top's ''La Grange'' as they were coming back.
Howard came back and said that ZZ Top will be in tomorrow to perform. Howard said they have so much gear in Scott's studio it's crazy. Gary said they were there sound checking yesterday. He said they're doing their new song and also doing La Grange. Howard said he loves those guys. Jimmy said he doesn't think they'll show up. He said they don't seem to be morning people. Jimmy said he heard a story about how they were supposed to do a show at 10pm and didn't show up until 4 in the morning.
Howard said JJ Abrams is there and he's huge in the movie business now. Howard said he remembers him when he was doing ''Felicity.'' Howard said now he's a huge deal.
Howard said that they were just talking about how out of control things are with JJ. He said that he has the new Star Trek movie coming out and Jimmy liked that. Howard said he wasn't just saying that because JJ is there. Howard said the fans are fucking assholes so they'll be comparing this one to the first one. Howard said that JJ must be burnt out. JJ said he is from traveling so much for the press tour. Howard said he sounds awful. JJ said thanks. He said that he really loves Howard and he wants to be there so just imagine if he didn't want to be there.
Howard said JJ must hate the fame now. He said that he has to go out and do all of the promotion and stuff. JJ said it's actually a lot of fun. He said that he likes going to Moscow and things like that.
Howard asked JJ what the worst part is about making films. JJ said that he loves that he's able to just make the films. He said that the truth is that the producing part is the hardest. He said that he doesn't like doing the casting. He said he can't give everyone a part. He said that he's only seen one person who came in and did an awful audition but he turned it around. He said that this guy was a guy who was playing a bad guy in Alias. He said he was way overboard with the character so he asked him to tone it down. He said the guy was able to turn it around and he pulled it off doing the quieter guy. He said it was amazing.
Howard said that casting Star Trek must have been a little easier. He said they cast that Spock guy. JJ said they cast him first. Howard asked if JJ is upset about Shatner calling him a pig for taking over the Star Wars franchise. JJ said that he's not upset about that. He said doing the first Star Trek without him must have driven him nuts. He said that they told Shatner that his character died in the movie so they were just going with that.
Howard asked JJ if he's invited to Jimmy's wedding. Jimmy said he was on the list. JJ said they'll be there. Jimmy said he and JJ are buddies. Howard asked what they're going to do with the people they don't invite. Jimmy said they invite people they regularly socialize with.
Howard asked JJ about the TV pilots that get picked up every season. He said that he knows he's directing movies and doing the Star Wars thing. Howard asked how he's concentrating on all of the stuff he's involved with. Jimmy asked if he pitches the shows himself. He said he figures that he doesn't even know the titles of the shows. JJ said he has people like Jonah Nolan who comes in an pitches a show to them. He said that they work with him on an outline. He said that he has other people who work at Bad Robot helping out with this. JJ said that they would read the outline and script and find someone to write the script with. He said he has Greg and Jonah who run ''Person of Interest'' for him. He said that he didn't create the show. He said if he did then he'd be on the show helping out. He said that he worked on Fringe but he didn't see every episode of it.
Jimmy said there just aren't enough hours in the day to watch all of them. JJ said he loves Fringe. Jimmy got a laugh out of that. JJ said that he loves what they did with the show. He said it was the same thing with Lost. JJ said he's not saying that he loves what he did with the show. He's saying he loves what they did with it.
Howard said JJ's first big hit was Felicity. JJ said that did put him on the map. He said that Howard's kids were in the show. He said that they did a crazy thing where they put his name on the posters like it meant something. He said that they were making it an event. Then Alias happened and he wondered why they were advertising his name on that.
Howard asked JJ if he wrote the new Star Trek. JJ said he did not. He said it was Damon Lindelof and someone else. Howard asked how long it takes to make a movie. JJ said it's a year and a half. Howard asked how the writing works. JJ said that he'll help with scenes and rewriting. He said that they show up whenever they can on the set.
Howard said JJ shouldn't stop making these movies. He said that he shouldn't be a dummy and stop. JJ said he's not sure what will happen. He said this movie took over 4 years to produce. He said the movie studio didn't like that.
Howard asked JJ what he's worth at this point. JJ said he doesn't know. Howard said it has to be more than $100 million. JJ said he really doesn't know. Howard asked if he's the top Jew in Hollywood now. Howard said he must be worth more than Steven Spielberg.
Jimmy told Howard he has to see JJ's office. Howard said he wanted to go out there but he was sick. He said he couldn't get there. Howard asked what's so great about it. JJ said you can make anything you want to there. He said they have a 3D printer there so they can make anything they want. He said they use it for making props and stuff for movies. JJ said the printers are insane.
Howard said he thinks JJ is a genius. He told Jimmy to jerk him off. Jimmy said he can't even imagine explaining what he wants for a movie. Howard asked how he explains it. JJ said he'll talk to the story board artist and visual effects people. He said they work with amazing people. He said they had a fight that was going to take place on the street but they spoke to the Assistant Director who said it would be great on a moving vehicle. He said it turned into a huge sequence. He said that they have to figure out how it's going to look. He said they want to make it look real. He said they shot it outside to make it look real. He said a lot of times scenes outside are shot on a stage. He said your eye tells you it's not sunlight. He said they did things where they were really movie and out in the real sunlight. He said it feels more real that way.
Howard asked how long that scene is. JJ said it's like 90 seconds. Howard said it must cost a lot to shoot that. JJ said that they had a $180 million budget. He said that's huge but it's not as big as you think it is. He said you still have to make choices. JJ said what they did was film almost everything in one place in L.A. He said that saved a ton of money. He said they kept it in the same location and had a bunch of sets. He said they would walk 2 seconds and they'd be on the next set.
Gary came in and said that Jimmy has to go. It turns out he had to go 10 minutes ago. Howard said goodbye to Jimmy and said he hates to say goodbye.
Robin asked JJ if he cares how people watch his movies. JJ said that it is weird when they shoot a movie on a huge film for Imax and someone watches it on something smaller than the negative. He said he will do the same and get the same experience out of a movie though so it's kind of strange.
Howard said he was reading about how Eddie Murphy had called JJ once years ago. Howard said he had to ask him about this. JJ said he wrote a movie called ''Regarding Henry'' and it was at Paramount. He said he got a call that Eddie Murphy wanted to meet. He said he went to meet Eddie and it was this office with no lights on. He said it was a huge office at Paramount. JJ said he went in and there were big body guard type guys there. He said that Eddie was at a desk and he sat in a chair. He said he's kind of short as it is. He said he sank into the chair. He said Eddie was very serious and very quiet. Howard said that it was dark and the guys who were standing didn't leave at any point. JJ said that's right.
Howard asked if he pulled out a flashlight to see what he was doing. JJ said he didn't but it was very uncomfortable. JJ said that it was like Eddie thought that he had called for the meeting. He said he really doesn't know what was going on. He said he left the meeting thinking that he would remember it forever. He said the meeting didn't go anywhere. He said he met this idol of his and he was scared.
Howard said it's weird to pull someone into a dark office and have a bunch of people there. Howard asked if he's trying to be intimidating or is he genuinely odd. JJ said he doesn't know. He said years later they had a conversation at a restaurant and it was fine. He said Eddie didn't even remember that meeting. He said that maybe an agent called the meeting and Eddie didn't call it.
Howard brought up the Star Wars franchise and how JJ is going to be a winner with that. Howard said that he must have thought of it like George Lucas ruined the last 3 movies. JJ said that the first Star Wars movie blew his mind as a kid. He said he sat down with Kathy Kennedy who is producing the movie and they talked about what they wanted to do. He said that she's the president of ILM now. Howard asked if he had to talk to George Lucas. JJ said he's known him for years now. He said the job is to tell a story. Howard asked how this all came about. JJ said Lucas sold his company to Disney. He said that he has no idea what his contract is. He said that he will be involved on some level. Howard asked how he got the call. JJ said he got a call through his agents and he was working on Star Trek at the time. He said he told them no thank you at first. Then they went to other people and came back to him. JJ said that Kathy used to be Steven Spielberg's assistant. He said that she came over to his office and had a talk with him.
Howard asked JJ if he was blown away that they wanted him to direct. JJ said that he and his wife had this big plan to go away with the kids for 6 months. He said everything was set and then Kathy came in. He said he was going to say no thank you. He said that when the meeting was over he felt he had this once in a lifetime opportunity. He said went to talk to his wife and told her what was going on. He said part of him wanted to do it but he said he wasn't going to do it. He said his wife, Katie, told him that she thinks he should think about it. JJ said she gave him the green light to go with it. JJ said that now they're going to London to shoot the movie. JJ said that they're writing the script right now. He said he's going to direct.
Howard asked JJ about a script he wrote for Superman and how it got leaked onto the internet and he abandoned it. Howard asked how it gets leaked. JJ said it was at Warner Brothers and it was an earlier draft. He said he got an email one morning and he saw a review of the script scene for scene. He said it was this massive review. He said it was the comments after it that were awful. He said that they were saying that he had raped their childhood and things like that. JJ said that Warner pulled the plug on it because of that. He said he thinks that the review of the draft didn't help the situation. He said that's why he worries about leaks now. He said that he hates when he goes to the movies and he knows the whole movie. He said he's not inside the movie if it's been spoiled for him. Howard said he hasn't seen that many of the trailers for Star trek. JJ said they like to keep things a surprises. He said that he hates trailers that spoil things. He said they make him crazy.
Howard said this Star Trek is so important to people. He said that's why he has to keep a script quiet. Howard said the fans are so attached to the characters. JJ said when they were shooting in this one area they had photographers taking pictures but he's grateful that they give a shit. He said he's grateful to every fan like that. He said some of them are insane but there are smart and passionate people out there.
Howard asked if he ever brings in the hard core Trekkies in to get their reaction. JJ said he does. He said that he wasn't a big Star Trek fan but some of the writers are. He said that his producing partner wasn't a fan so he wants to make the movie stand on its own.
Howard said he must have had to go back and watch the early movies. JJ said he did for the first one but he didn't want to do that for the second. He said that he didn't' want to feel like he was trying to imitate it.
Robin asked if he's a big Star Wars fan. JJ said he is. Howard asked where the new ones pick up. He said they take place after the first 3. Howard said that he doesn't have to deal with the bagged of the first 3. JJ said that's all history. Howard said he's getting the high sign that JJ has to leave. Howard said he has to see this movie. JJ said he wants to set Howard up to see ''Star Trek Into Darkness'' but Howard is so busy. Howard said he's working so many hours with AGT. He said he saw 349 acts in Chicago. He said that was a lot of acts.
Howard said JJ must be under a lot of pressure with this movie. JJ said he always feels pressure. Howard said that Gary just came in so they must really want him out of there. Howard wrapped up and went to break a short time later.
This week's Best of the Week was over around 11:00am.
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