Periodically, I go through a period of getting annoyed at shock jocks (For example, see here). Curiously, I don’t typically get worked up at Howard Stern. I couldn’t tell you why, except he’s perhaps never seemed as “mean” as the others.
A couple weeks ago, there was a profile of The Junkies, one of the replacements for Stern on broadcast radio. One of the issues about shock jocks that’s interesting is the way that race is handled:
The Junkies cover a much wider range of subjects than Stern, though they use some of the same politically incorrect language when they talk about women and gay men. They’d already incorporated race-based humor into their show at WJFK, where they had a segment called “What the Brothaz Be Sayin.” This involved dispatching a “reporter,” Mike Brown, to interview black men in Prince George’s [County in Maryland] about politics, sports and popular culture. Brown, a 33-year-old African American security guard from Forestville, describes his role this way: “I’m coming from the ‘hood, keeping it real, talking to the homies about bin Laden, the Redskins, whatever the guys in the ‘hood talking about.”
Brown, who started listening to the Junkies in 1998 and calling into the show in 1999, says he never considered “What the Brothaz Be Sayin” or anything else the Junkies did on the air racist. “White communities talk about black communities,” he says. “Black communities talk about white communities. I never take it seriously. It’s all for fun . . . They just funny white dudes.”
When E.B. needles Lurch on-air one day about the fact that his mom used to date a black man, J.P. demands, “So what? He was a good man.” J.P. gets particularly steamed when E.B. dismisses black neighborhoods as crime-ridden. “He’ll say things like, ‘I wouldn’t go to that neighborhood because it’s shady, because it’s all brothers.’ That bothers me.”
“There’s a grain of truth to it,” E.B. insists.
“To what?” J.P. snaps.
“An all-black neighborhood potentially being a disaster, in my opinion,” says E.B. “That doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed. There’s nothing wrong with black places in general.” He pauses and says, “This is the [expletive] that will get us fired.”
Of course, there’s always the example of Doug “The Greaseman” Tracht:
When Stern was fired [in 1982] for criticizing DC101′s management, Tracht took over. His Greaseman act — filled with sexual innuendos and wacky, improvised stories — eventually exceeded Stern’s ratings, dominating Washington radio though the 1980s. But his performances drew fire from civil rights groups, especially in 1986 when he said, in reference to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday: “Kill four more and we can take the whole week off.” He later apologized for the remark.
Then, in 1999, the Greaseman played a song clip by black hip-hop artist Lauryn Hill and commented, “No wonder people drag them behind trucks.” It was a reference to the way James Byrd Jr., a black man from Jasper County, Tex., had been tortured and murdered by a group of white men.
The next day Tracht faxed a written apology to The Washington Post: “In the course of my show, split-second judgment is made over ad-libs. This remark was a grave error in my judgment.” He acknowledged several days later that he’d sounded like a racist and that “in my heart I have been guilty of racist comments.” But his expressions of regret counted for little. The radio station fired him, and the Greaseman became an industry pariah.
He’s back on the air. All in good fun, don’tcha know…
There’s a vibe — and I won’t spell it out, but you tell me — that rubs me the wrong way. Really, the whole thing is almost more interesting for what it tells us about the listeners to this material.
Tags: radio, shock jocks, Howard Stern, Don Imus, Doug “The Greaseman” Tracht, The Junkies, What the Brothaz Be Sayin’
6 Responses
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T. Carter Says:
The thing I’ve never gotten about Doug Tracht is that after the Lauren Hill comments if he’d killed off the Greaseman persona entirely and developed a new on air personality, his contrition would have at least seemed more sincere. Yeah, he apologized, but a few years later he’s back with the same persona, schtick, and tired gags.
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The Pop View Says:
So, either Doug “E. Fresh” Tracht genuinely loved the Greaseman character or he didn’t want to give up the brand equity and start from scratch. Either way, nice, huh?
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T. Carter Says:
Honestly, I think he simply can’t do anything different. Greaseman is less a character than a facet of his personality and he’s pretty much doesn’t know what to do if he can’t be the Greaseman.
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Qarimi Says:
What is the big deal anyway …… what is wrong with nappy hair? black people just have a very big problem with their identity. Many of their women put on blonde braids and some even dye their hair blonde – shame!.
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G. MONEY Says:
as one who knows Doug and Don, not only on a professional but also on a personal level. In major market radio there are many racist personalities, regardless of the media hype to the contrary neither of these men rises anywhere that level. Shock radio as many call it, i prefer personality Radio is a dying art. Then ability to be entertaining, funny and on the cutting edge (with the edge always moving) is extremely difficult.
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The Pop View Says:
More recently, Phil Nugent drew a fair amount of attention for a post (“Making Carefully Nuanced Distinctions Regarding the Totally Unacceptable“) which really didn’t focus on Imus, so much as shock jocks in general. He did a much better job of explaining what deep-rooted feelings these guys tap into. He then followed up nicely with another post (“There Is Only One Thing Worse Than Being Talked About“), which included this great line:
…the sound of politicians and pundits sucking up to Big Hat (“Ha, ha, I-man, you rascal–I guess in some ways I am a spineless money-grubbing Jewboy. Touché!”)