Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!faqserv From: jcastro@mason1.gmu.edu (Carlos Castro) Newsgroups: alt.fan.greaseman,rec.radio.broadcasting,alt.answers,rec.answers,news.answers Subject: alt.fan.greaseman FAQ Supersedes: Followup-To: alt.fan.greaseman Date: 22 Apr 1994 11:20:37 GMT Organization: George Mason University, Fairfax Virginia 22030 Lines: 247 Approved: rrb@airwaves.chi.il.us, news-answers-request@MIT.edu Expires: 5 Jun 1994 11:15:52 GMT Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: bloom-picayune.mit.edu X-Last-Updated: 1994/03/26 To: news-answers@MIT.edu Originator: faqserv@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu alt.fan.greaseman:707 rec.radio.broadcasting:4649 alt.answers:2549 rec.answers:5094 news.answers:18527 Archive-name: greaseman-faq The Greaseman is a radio personality on the Infinity Broadcasting network. He broadcasts from Los Angeles to New York City, Washington, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and San Jose. He is known for his bits and song parodies. He also has his own vocabulary which he uses to avoid trouble with the FCC. Before, he broadcast out of DC on DC/101 where he competed and beat Howard Stern on a consistant basis. The Greaseman is on by himself most of the time, though sometimes you hear his producer, Bill Scanlan cackling in the background. Q: What is the Greaseman's real name? A: Doug Tracht. He prefers to keep his radio life and his personal life separate. His radio name is Nino Greasemaneli. Q: Why does Howard Stern hate the Greaseman so much? A: Howard worked for DC/101 until he got fired. When the Greaseman was hired to take Howie's place he not only held on to Howie's audience but increased it. Then when Howard syndicated in DC he competed with the Grease until the Grease moved to Infinity where they now are co-workers for the Broadcasting Giant. Now, mentions of the Greaseman on the Howard Stern show appears to be just an act in part of Stern. Q: Which one was the Grease in the Village People? A: He was not really in the Village People. But in the bit, he was the construction worker. Q: What is this Bingo that the Grease dislikes so much? A: The Greaseman's college nick name... Ask him about it. Q: How can I get in touch with him? A: Call him between 1730 and 2200 EST at 1-800-544-9294 and 1-213-850-0986 (FAX) and BTW do not address him as "dude". Q: What bits does the Greaseman do? A: Fudgeman- Fudgeman and his chicken assistant throbin save the world from deviant behavior Back in time with an uzi- the Grease uses the equipment in the radio studio to return to key moments in history with his uzi Carlos the International Terrorist- Episodes of running into the famed and heavily armed terrorist, Carlos Medical Man- Stories about when Nino was the pompous Dr. Greasemaneli Bet the Bomb Bays- Try to stump the Grease, but if you don't, you best drop them pants.... Sgt. Fury- the Grease relives his time in Viet Deliverance 101- a class in which the Grease analyzes the movie Deliverance. Clinton- a look at how life would be if the Grease and Clint Eastwood got a knock on the head and decided to live alternative lifestyles Law Man- the Grease tells about life as a law man Big Dick Brannigan- the Grease tells about his flashback to his past life as a private dick Emperor Tocasfacius- the Grease tells about his flashback to his past life as a ruler of the Holy Roman Empire Irving Greasemanawitz- the Grease tells about his flashback to his past life as the first Yiddish Lawman Wheel Chair Warrior- Super Hero fights for the rights of the handicapped West Virginia- Greaseman shows his respect for the people of WVA My Daddy- Description of how Oscar Greasemaneli gets into trouble Ugly Women- Recounts of how The Grease and his daddy picked up and enjoyed ingus with ugly women Good Ship Grease- stories about how the Grease spends his lesiure time in his boat. South of the border- stories about how the Grease spent time in Mexico Toe Monster- The dreaded Toe Monster is exposed for trying to eat the Greaseman's toes Blastapiece Theatre- stories told by Sly Stalone Sylvester Stalone sings the classics- Sylvester Stalone sings the classics. Rag Nad- stories about Grease's half space alien love child Six Minute Workout- A unique workout for men Baby talk- Conversations with the unborn The Greaseman Quiz (formerly the morning quiz)- Watch out Alex Trebek, here comes the Greaseman Hobo-doo-ga-ga Handbook- Methods to which recieve ingus. Damien- The Grease has occasion to run into the "dark master" while he is trying to perform his duties. Q: What is the alarm that is sometimes heard in the background when the Greaseman talks? A: The Geeze alarm. This goes off when the greaseman starts geezing. Q: What other gigs did Grease do on the radio? A: Like any other up-and-coming DJ, Grease worked at other stations in other markets to develop his unique style. They include: Washington DC (WRC-AM 980) 1974 - 1976 Jacksonville, Florida (WAPE) 1976 - 1981 Washington DC (WWDC-FM 101.1) 1981-1993 Q: Did he always leave on good terms? In almost all cases, yes. The one notable exception was WRC, when management decided his morning personality wasn't quite right, and gave him a choice between dropping the "Greaseman" character and leaving. Grease chose the latter. If you ask about it today, he will joke about the time he was collecting unemployment insurance in DC and would "stay up to watch the moon rise and CURSE THE NIGHT!" although I'm sure at the time it was somewhat unsettling. Although he left Florida voluntarily to take the better offer at DC-101, he did offend some bible-belt types during his stay. The Florida gig was important to developing the Grease as a "god-fearing, truck-driving redneck," though. The Florida station has since gone to religious music ("From Grease to Grace" was their motto for a while). Their loss. Q: Are there any good biographies or other comprehensive stories about the Greaseman? A: Grease is a very private person, and spent a number of years in DC before finally consenting to an in-depth story about him in the Washington Post Magazine Fall 1987. It's a good resource to summarize his past gigs and overall life story. Also the Washingtonian Magazine did an article on him in the January of 1993 in commemeration of his departure from DC. Grease also appeared on the Larry King Show (early to mid-80's) to talk about morning radio in general. The only down side was that he was teamed with a "Morning Zoo" DJ as a co-interviewee, a format that has become annoyingly ubiquitous on the radio landscape. Transcripts may be available (don't know how to get them, sorry). This is the old Mutual show that ran all night (Grease probably got up early to do it :-), and not the current CNN TV talk show. Q: Are there any albums or compilations of Grease bits? A: There was a 4-part "Best of Grease" compilation, available on cassettes. These became unavailable shortly before he left DC-101. They are now prized collectors items and can only be obtained from private owners. Part of Grease's popularity on a national basis before he went into syndication (and hence part of the motivation for this newsgroup) was the creation and exchange of bootleg tapes among an extended network of fans. Some of his best work has never been republished (although you can occasionally talk him into doing them again on his current show). Q: Did Grease ever serve in the military? A: Like John Wayne, Grease has a deep and abiding respect for everyone who serves in uniform, but never served himself. During the Vietnam war, he was attending Ithaca College in New York, and his draft number never came up. Q: But Grease did serve as a policeman? A: Yes, he did. While working at his gig in Florida, he worked as a reserve police officer on the night shift. Morning staffers would be jolted out of their bleary-eyed state by the sight of Grease doing his show in full uniform with a 44 Magnum strapped to his belt. Q: Is Greaseman a bigot/homophobe? A: Certainly not. Like the program "In Living Color" or even rec.humor.funny, Grease parodies what's funny in everyone, and winds up defusing hatred as a result. Grease respects all of his fans, and wishes well even those who don't like him. Q: But there was that "Martin Luther King, Jr." incident in DC? A: Yes, sometimes there's a fine line between parody and cruelty, and Grease crossed the line only once during his otherwise unmarred broadcasting career spanning over 2 decades. Sometime in the late 80's, he was noting the passing of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday (which had then only recently become a national holiday). Grease said something about "killing 4 more and getting rest of the week off." Grease was suspended, and apologized for the incident on an "Editorial Rebuttal" on WRC-TV in DC. Haven't the rest of you made mistakes or are you all perfect? Q: What does AMF mean? A: Adios my friend. Q: What is the "Bit without an Ending?" A: When Grease was working in Florida, he would be prevented from getting a good day's sleep after his morning gig by thoughtless model-airplane enthusiasts who would buzz their models outside his window. Grease came up with a revenge skit with a model plane of his own that would shoot the others out of the sky. The plane became posessed by Damien and started chasing after him. Grease then got too deep into this bit without a way out (and tried to incorporate this into the bit). After fumbling with the sound-effects, and trying a foray South of the Border, and then calling in Big-Dick Brannigan, he finally gave up groping for a punch line. Grease can usually be counted on to do some of the most impressive ad-libbing and improvisation on the radio today, but at that time his talents failed him. The bit originally aired in the Fall of 1982 from WWDC FM Washington, DC/101. It's considered a classic, and is on Vol. 1 of the "Best of Grease" tapes. He owns the rights to all his bits, and may rerun it on his current show from time to time. Q: What stations carry the Greaseman? A: City Station Time ==== ======= ==== Washington DC 106.7 WJFK 1900-2300 Baltimore MD 1300 WJFK 1900-2300 New York NY 92.3 WXRK 1800-2200 Philadelphia PA 94.1 WYSP 1800-2200 Los Angeles CA 95.5 KLOS 2200-0200 San Jose CA 98.5 KOME 1500-1900 Atlanta GA 92.9 WZGC 0600-1000