We already know Ted Nugent is one-of-a-kind. This phone call came right after he made his less-than-politically-correct commentary about the President.  Now, I may not agree with all of Ted’s political views…but the man is undeniably one of the greatest guitarists to ever pick one.  And I believe that fact tends to be overshadowed by his outrageous personality. Of course, Ted disagrees…

Love him, or hate him, Ted always gives good phone.

Let’s face it…Gene Simmons loves himself. It’s not a shocker. I’m not trying to badmouth him when I say it. Gene is an absolutely honest representative of pure, unadulterated, straight-up, P.T. Barnum hucksterism.  He has built an amazing empire. There can be no doubt that he’s a classic, American success story. You don’t believe it?…just try to talk to him without having him mention how successful he, and KISS are. Hell…*I* owe him a debt of gratitude myself. Gene is partially responsible for my growth as an interviewer.

It was July 3rd, 1988. I was 20.  Just really getting my feet wet in radio. A friend who worked for their record company (Hello Mike if you’re reading this!), called me on the phone and asked; “What are you doing tomorrow?” I replied, “Getting shit-faced! What did you think I’d be doing on the 4th?” He said, “No! You’re not. You’re going to be at my house at 7AM. We’re going up to New Hampshire to see KISS! Bring a tape-recorder.”

Long-story short…I got a chance to sit down with Gene Simmons, and absorb about 20 minutes of his opinion on everything from cars, to speed metal, to why he couldn’t care less about how credible people find KISS’ music.  It was a lesson in being prepared. If you’re going to sit down with someone who believes they’re more intelligent than you (and probably was), you’d better be prepared. You can’t say anything stupid (I did).

24 years later…We had a chance to catch up.

Dee Snider, is simply one of the best guys in Rock.

He’s unpretentious, outgoing, and treats everyone with respect & grace. He’s one of those guys that you wish *every* famous person you come in contact with, could see deal with people, and then feel shame about the way they interact.

We’ve met a few times over my career. But, it’s been 13 years since I’ve had him on the show. As I usually do afternoons at the stations I’ve been with, it’s customary to drive all the guests to morning shows. Just sort of how the game works.

Dee never pulls punches. We spent almost two hours hanging out. Now, we had to play some music (FYI…according to KDKB Assistant Program Director; Matt Spaetzel, we played exactly *3* songs…if you don’t count Dee’s version of “The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd.” I would counter with “Yeah…but they were “Heartbreaker/Livin’ Lovin’ Maid,” “Iron Man,” and some other song we used as time-filler. So “NYAAAAAH!”).

I cannot say enough about how much fun it was to have Dee in. I think you can hear it in the audio. It *is* about 43 minutes (Spaetz wondered who’d be able to get a word in. Answer: Nobody) once you edit out the commercials, and music (which BTW…we’re not allowed to include Dee’s music in the interview re-post. Something about licensing, and clearances. Go buy the “Dee Does Broadway” CD. It’s awesome!).

And, of course, I would be remiss, if I didn’t mention that Dee also hosts “The House Of Hair” every Saturday Night on KDKB!

Enjoy!

You wanna talk about a driven, multi-talented guy? Let me introduce you to Hal Sparks…

Hal can pretty much do it all. I told him when we first met, that I never really thought of him as a stand-up. I’m so used to him doing “Talk Soup,” the “I Love The…” series on VH1, and a bunch of TV & movie roles. It never even crossed my mind that he was a real “stand up” comic. I guess I sort of overlooked “Charmageddon” as not-really-what-he-does.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I knew he was a big metalhead. Hal knows his Heavy Metal. He’s often seen at the Revolver shows, and pals around with Brother Zakk, as well as other Hard-Rock / Metal folk. But then…I learned Hal’s an accomplished martial artist, and now has a kick-ass band of his own!

So…listen in…as we get to know more about Hal Sparks!

Can’t tell you how much fun it was to have Tommy in-studio. You may not know this, but Tommy is a *huge* fan of Rock, and knows his stuff. A lot of the time, I wish we had tape rolling for the stuff we talked about off-the-air. Make no mistake…Tommy is no dummy. He played up the goofy, stoner role on “That 70’s Show.” But he knows exactly what is going on in the world. When I told him I was originally from South Boston, he dropped all kinds of “Whitey” Bulger stuff on me. It was cool in an indescribable way. Here’s what actually *did* make it to air…