{"id":325,"date":"2010-02-14T14:26:32","date_gmt":"2010-02-14T19:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jefflambkaraoke.com\/?page_id=325"},"modified":"2017-02-23T21:30:39","modified_gmt":"2017-02-24T02:30:39","slug":"jeffs-book","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jefflambkaraoke.com\/?page_id=325","title":{"rendered":"Jeff’s Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

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[The Following is an excerpt from Jeff’s book, “I Used To Be A DJ” Available NOW<\/a>!!]<\/p>\n

I Loved The Perks Of Radio<\/h1>\n

There were two people that I wanted to meet more than any other two on earth.\u00a0 One was Johnny Carson.\u00a0 I never got the chance to meet him.\u00a0 The other was Muhammad Ali.\u00a0 In 1990, for some reason, he was coming to town to do something with one of the hospitals in town.\u00a0 I HAD to meet him.\u00a0 I begged loudly enough that the station set it up and got me press credentials for the event.\u00a0 I took my brother-in-law, Scott, with me.\u00a0 We sat in this room waiting for Muhammad Ali to arrive.\u00a0 Then the doors opened and there he was, larger than life!\u00a0 His Parkinson\u2019s was pretty bad but he still moved okay but talked very little.\u00a0 He pretty much stood there as his spokesman did all the talking.\u00a0 But it was Muhammad Ali!\u00a0 After the presentation I went up and spoke briefly with him and asked if he would mind posing for a picture.\u00a0 He stuck his fist up to my chin and posed.\u00a0 Scott took the picture and then Scott and I traded places for his picture.\u00a0 It was awesome!\u00a0 There was a little boy maybe 10 years old just standing there and staring at Ali.\u00a0 Ali saw this and started staring back.\u00a0 Then he grabbed the kid by the collar and said, \u201cDid you call me a nigger?\u201d\u00a0 The kids eyes got huge and he said, \u201cNo sir!\u201d\u00a0 Ali saw that the kid was scared so he immediately gave him a big hug and a smile and everybody broke up laughing. \u00a0Then he did some magic tricks for the kid.\u00a0 It was a great moment.<\/p>\n

The next day, he was still in town and scheduled to sign autographs at the Southwick Mall.\u00a0 I had gone to a one hour place to get 8X10\u2019s printed of the pictures we had taken.\u00a0 When I got to the mall, there was a huge line as you would expect.\u00a0 I stood back behind the table where Ali was signing and just took it all in.\u00a0 There was a very large black man, built like a brick you know what who had just come up to Muhammad\u2019s autograph.\u00a0 Ali said, \u201cAre you a fighter?\u201d\u00a0 The man said he was.\u00a0 Ali held up his hand and said, \u201cLet me see what you\u2019ve got.\u201d\u00a0 The man threw a jab into Ali\u2019s hand and Ali said, \u201cThat\u2019s pretty good, do that again.\u201d\u00a0 The guy threw the jab out there, but before it could hit Ali\u2019s hand, Ali, quick as a cat used that same hand for his own jab and slapped the guys face.\u00a0 It was LOUD!\u00a0 The crowd roared!\u00a0 No one knew that Muhammad Ali was still fast.\u00a0 We all just assumed that because he moves so slow now that he was always just slow these days.\u00a0 His spokesman was standing next to me and told me, \u201cOh no, he\u2019s still very fast when he wants to be.\u201d\u00a0 No kidding!\u00a0 He also saw my pictures in my hand then remembered me from the day before and took me up to get them signed.\u00a0 Ali asked my name, and signed, \u201cTo Jeff, love Muhammad Ali 1990.\u201d\u00a0 He didn\u2019t just sign \u201cLove,\u201d you could actually feel the love he had for everybody there and life in general.<\/p>\n

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Muhammad Ali, just before I knocked him out<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll tell you a Muhammad Ali story that has nothing to do with me or that experience.\u00a0 A friend of mine from high school, Gary Zittle, went away to college and his room mate kept claiming that he lived next door to Muhammad Ali.\u00a0 Gary didn\u2019t really believe him but listened to the guys stories.\u00a0 One day his room mate said, I\u2019m going home for the weekend, do you want to come home with me and meet Ali, if he\u2019s home?\u00a0 Gary said, \u201cSure!\u201d\u00a0 They got to the guys house and the next morning they got up and his friend says, \u201cLet\u2019s go meet Ali.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Ali lived in Al Capone\u2019s old house in the very southwestern corner of Michigan.\u00a0 Gary and his friend walk through the hedge into Ali\u2019s back yard and there he was, sitting outside with his trainer, some handlers and some other people.<\/p>\n

There is a barn in Ali\u2019s back yard and they invited Gary and his friend into the barn to watch him train.\u00a0 In the barn was a ring and all the fixin\u2019s you needed to have a first class gym.\u00a0 Ali was training for an upcoming fight.\u00a0 They watched as he danced around his sparring partner and threw his lightning fast jabs out there.\u00a0 They were just wrapping up and Ali, leaning on the ropes sweating, looks at Gary and says, \u201cYou wanna go a couple rounds?\u201d\u00a0 Gary said, \u201cNo I don\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 But Ali insisted that he come up and assured him that he wouldn\u2019t hit Gary, but wanted Gary to try to hit him.\u00a0 So Gary gloved up and jumped into the ring.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t lay a glove on Ali and Muhammad was flicking jabs out to within millimeters\u00a0 of Gary\u2019s face, just smokin\u2019 fast.\u00a0 Suddenly, one of the jabs, catches Gary on the nose and broke his nose.<\/p>\n

Ali felt terrible about this accident.\u00a0 He had his corner man, a doctor, set Gary\u2019s nose.\u00a0 Then he insisted on taking Gary and his friend to dinner.\u00a0 Ali took them by limo to Chicago and they ate at the top of the Sears building.\u00a0 What a great story.\u00a0 It was in our local paper in Grand Blanc with pictures of Gary with his nose bandaged up and two black eyes.\u00a0 I would gladly have Muhammad Ali break my nose for a story like that.<\/p>\n

Over the course of my radio career we were fortunate enough to meet many celebrities and rock stars.\u00a0 We interviewed hundreds in person, by phone or satellite through out the years.\u00a0 Ted Nugent was a blast.\u00a0 He was a guy you could just say, \u201cHi Ted.\u201d\u00a0 And he would just start talking.\u00a0 And talking.\u00a0 He knew what he wanted to tell you and he just took off.\u00a0 You felt bad interrupting him to actually ask a question.\u00a0\u00a0 He had a concert coming up at the old sports arena in Toledo and was on to promote that.\u00a0 On the same day we had Mary Tyler Moore on the satellite.\u00a0 He is a big hunter and she is a big animal rights advocate.\u00a0 She was promoting her new book about her life.\u00a0 We mentioned to Ted that she would be joining us later.\u00a0 She had just spent a ton of money to buy a 100 year old lobster from a restaurant, flew it to Maine and had it set free.\u00a0 Ted said, \u201cTell Mary for me that lobster is FOOOOD!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ted Nugent holding my wife, Shelly<\/em><\/p>\n

Ted Nugent Interview
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n[audio:Ted.mp3 | autostart=no | loop=no]\n

Mary Tyler Moore joined us the same day as Ted Nugent and she talked about her new book and some exiting stuff from her impressive career.\u00a0 The highlight for me was the story she told about the Dick VanDyke show.\u00a0 It was the episode where they had a ton of walnuts everywhere.\u00a0 Rob opened the closet door and Mary was to come sliding down a huge pile of the walnuts, walnuts they had been eating all week filling them full of gas.\u00a0 Well, Rob opened the door, Mary came sliding down the pile of nuts and the audience roared.\u00a0 This was lucky for Mary as the laughing crowd completely covered up Mary farting on her way down the hill of walnuts.\u00a0 You didn’t see that story in TV Guide.<\/p>\n

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Mary Tyler Moore
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n[audio:Mary.mp3 | autostart=no | loop=no]\n

Mark always took the lead on the interview if they were musicians and I took the lead of they were actors or comedians.\u00a0 Peter C. always told us to, \u201cLead with your aces!\u201d\u00a0 Mark new music and I knew TV and comics.\u00a0 It worked out well.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a great example of why we did it this way.\u00a0 One day we had Stevie Ray Vaughn on the show.\u00a0 I had no idea who he was.\u00a0 I was a Disco Deejay prior to radio.\u00a0 Mark did a great interview.\u00a0 I threw in a couple \u201cWow\u2019s\u201d and \u201c That must have been great\u2019s,\u201d after a couple of his stories.\u00a0 Stevie Ray died a week or two later.\u00a0 I love his music NOW.<\/p>\n

We had two encounters with Peter Frampton.\u00a0 The first was an in studio interview when he came to town for a concert and the second was a phone interview for the re-mastering of “Frampton Comes Alive.”\u00a0 Peter was a truly great guy and went above and beyond for our station and our listeners.\u00a0 He did the studio interview and agreed to attend a picnic afterwards with a handful of listeners chosen in a phone in contest.\u00a0 The day came that Peter arrived and we did the interview, then had a literal picnic on the front lawn of the “Pickle Palace” that was<\/em> WXKR at one point.\u00a0 He posed for pictures with every one individually and spent a lot of one on one time just visiting with everybody.\u00a0 Later that night, Mark and I introduced him at his concert at the Centennial Quarry.<\/p>\n

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Peter Frampton Interview<\/p>\n[audio:Peter.mp3 | autostart=no | loop=no]\n

We got a chance to talk to Buddy Epsen within the last year of his life.\u00a0 I still have that interview.\u00a0 It was kind of sad, he had trouble hearing us.\u00a0 We had just gotten his book he was promoting the day of the interview so neither one of us had read it yet.\u00a0 He had some interesting stories to tell.\u00a0 One of which was him being the original \u201cTin Man\u201d in the \u201cWizard of Oz.\u201d\u00a0 They used and aluminum paint to make him look metallic.\u00a0 He breathed a lot of that aluminum dust and it gave him instant emphysema and put him right in the hospital.\u00a0 He had to leave the movie after six weeks of shooting.\u00a0\u00a0 Jack Haley took over the part.\u00a0 Buddy also told us about working with Shirley Temple.\u00a0 She got a joke book while shooting one of her movies and would memorize jokes and do twenty minutes of standup before they could start shooting.\u00a0 The cast and crew would gather around and she would rip off one joke after another.\u00a0 They were corny jokes but they would all laugh.\u00a0 These stand up sessions would put shooting behind but no one seemed to mind.\u00a0 What a great story.<\/p>\n

One of my favorite people to interview was June Foray.\u00a0 She was the voice of \u201cRocky The Squirrel\u201d on the \u201cRocky and Bullwinkle Cartoons.\u201d\u00a0 She was also, \u201cNell\u201d and \u201cNatasha\u201d and \u201cGranny,\u201d of \u201cTweetie & Granny\u201d and countless other voices you know the second you hear them.\u00a0 She would break into these different voices for us and tell us great stories about radio in the early years.\u00a0 We heard about her days working with Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, Stan Freberg, Chuck Jones and Bill Scott.\u00a0 All the people who made up the cartoons we all watched as kids.\u00a0 We talked several times on the air.\u00a0 In 2002, my brother Bob and I went out to California to pitch \u201cBuffalo Dick\u2019s Radio Ranch\u201d as a cartoon to NBC.\u00a0 While we were out there, I called June and asked if she\u2019d have lunch with us.\u00a0 She did and we had a lovely time.\u00a0 We asked her if she would be interested in doing voices on \u201cBuffalo Dick\u201d if we actually sold the show.\u00a0 She said she would love to and she would do it for \u201cscale\u201d which is the least she can charge under union rules.\u00a0 She\u2019s still working.\u00a0 I have spoken to her several times in the past few weeks and she had just finished working with Stan Freberg the week before our last chat.\u00a0 I love June Foray.\u00a0 She\u2019s everything good about Hollywood.<\/p>\n

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June Foray, \u201cThe Voice\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

June Foray Interview<\/strong><\/p>\n[audio:June.mp3 | autostart=no | loop=no]\n

We had the actor Kevin Pollack in the studio for over an hour.\u00a0 He had just done \u201cA Few Good Men\u201d with Tom Cruise and Demi Moore.\u00a0 He was performing at the \u201cToledo Comedy Club\u201d that weekend.\u00a0 He was a riot and as nice and accessible as anybody we\u2019ve talked to.\u00a0\u00a0 He was certainly one of my favorites. \u00a0He told us a great story about working on \u201cGrumpier Old Men\u201d, the sequel to \u201cGrumpy Old Men.\u201d\u00a0 He was already comfortable with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemon.\u00a0 They added Sophia Loren to this sequel and she was Hollywood royalty.\u00a0 Everyone was very intimidated and didn\u2019t want to do or say anything to offend Ms. Loren.\u00a0 They were going to do a first read through on the screenplay and for come reason Walter Matthau was in New York and could come to them.\u00a0 So the studio sent the cast on a charter plane to Walter and New York for the read through.\u00a0 It was a very quiet flight out of reverence to Ms. Loren.\u00a0 The got to New York and to an office where they were all seated around a giant conference table for the read through.\u00a0\u00a0 Walter was not there yet.\u00a0 They were waiting for his arrival.\u00a0 And arrive he did.\u00a0 Walter had never met Sophia.\u00a0 The door flies open, Walter blasts into the room, right up to Sophia and he says, \u201cSophia, nice to meet ya, can\u2019t wait to eat ya!\u201d\u00a0 Needless to say, that broke the ice.<\/p>\n

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Kevin Pollack and me<\/em><\/p>\n

Kevin Pollack Interview – Part I<\/strong><\/p>\n[audio:Kevin-Part1.mp3 | autostart=no | loop=no]\n

The biggest asshole we ever had on the air was Jackie Mason.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t really belong on a rock station as a guest but he was coming to town and also, the service we used to line up some of our guests really frowned on you saying no to their guests.\u00a0 So to stay in their good graces, we agreed to have Jackie on the air.\u00a0 He was very dry and dead pan.\u00a0 Not in a funny way, rather in an extremely boring way.\u00a0 We kept nudging him to do some of his material.\u00a0 Finally he says, \u201cWhy should I do my material for you for free?\u00a0 I get paid to do my material.\u201d\u00a0 That really pissed me off.\u00a0 We were giving him free publicity for his upcoming show on the number on morning show in the city where he was about to appear.\u00a0 I reminded him that he was very old and most of our listeners don\u2019t remember him and he might want to show them what it is that he does.\u00a0 Then I said, \u201cNever mind.\u00a0 Have a great show.\u201d\u00a0 And we hung up on him.\u00a0 I heard him a few days later do the same thing to Mitch Albom on WJR.\u00a0 Mitch was more gracious than I was but I could tell he didn\u2019t care for the treatment either.<\/p>\n

Melissa Etheridge was a fairly new artist when we had the chance to meet her.\u00a0 She was so new Mark did the lion share of that interview.\u00a0 But as I said, Mark too the lead on most of the rock stars, I did when interviewing the actors, comics and Playmates<\/em><\/strong>!<\/p>\n

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My wife, Shelly, Melissa Etheridge and me<\/em><\/p>\n

Over the years, we had several Playboy Playmates in the studio.\u00a0 They were all very pretty but pretty much what you would expect.\u00a0 Nice to look at but not much to talk to on the air, with one exception.\u00a0 Lisa Matthews.\u00a0 At WIOT, Mark and I sat in two different studios.\u00a0 He was in the main studio playing the music and commercials.\u00a0 I was in a news booth, full of carts (the eight track type tapes) with all my sound effects\u00a0 and music beds for the bits.\u00a0 I had a triple decker cart machine that played the carts when I needed them.\u00a0 Anyway, my booth was very small.\u00a0 Lisa Matthews sat in there with me when she came in that day.\u00a0 She had just jumped out of the shower, her hair was still damp and she smelled wonderful.\u00a0 She was a prototypical example of \u201cThe girl next door.\u201d \u00a0She was Sweet, bright, funny and unbelievably pretty.\u00a0 Lisa didn\u2019t have that edge that the other playmates had.\u00a0 I later found out she was from Peoria.\u00a0 Much later.\u00a0 After I\u2019d lived in and left Peoria.\u00a0 She would have been great to have on the \u201cMorning Mix.\u201d\u00a0 She, too, was one of my favorite radio experiences.<\/p>\n

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Lisa Matthews Playmate of the Month April 1990<\/em><\/p>\n

Tommy Chong of \u201cCheech & Chong\u201d fame was also in the studio for quite a while with us and I truly enjoyed his company.\u00a0 Growing up, I loved Cheech & Chong.\u00a0 They were filthy theater of the mind comedy.\u00a0 I think I knew every album word for word.\u00a0 Tommy was peddling a product called, “Urine Luck.”\u00a0 It was a product to mask pot in your system on a urine test.\u00a0 What else would expect Tommy Chong to talk about?\u00a0 It\u2019s always a thrill to meet someone that was a big part of your life.\u00a0 Every musician we interviewed was like that for Mark.\u00a0 He knew their music note for note.<\/p>\n

Captain Roger Bir is a great friend who was a regular listener to the show.\u00a0 Roger as it turns out was a body guard for Arnold Schwarzenegger.\u00a0 He did this work for the Govenator whenever he held his \u201cArnold Classic\u201d in Columbus, OH, an annual event.\u00a0 Roger set it up on several occasions for me to meet and talk briefly with the king of Caleefornia.<\/p>\n

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Me and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Columbus<\/em><\/p>\n

Who knew that many years after seeing Mr. \u201cT\u201d in the lobby of the Century Plaza Hotel in the Buffalo Dick days, he would join us in the studio.\u00a0 He was a great guy and couldn\u2019t have been nicer.\u00a0 His purpose for being there was to promote the Toughman Contest coming up in Toledo.\u00a0 He spent a lot of time telling our listeners that he was a momma\u2019s boy and they should all respect their mothers.\u00a0 Strange that that\u2019s all I remember from that interview.<\/p>\n

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Mr. \u201cT\u201d Loves his Mamma<\/p>\n

Brian Gump was a local restaurant owner and good friend of mine.\u00a0 I had written and sung the jingle for \u201cThe T-Town Boys.\u201d\u00a0 Brian would come over to my in home studio once a week to cut a new commercial for his place.\u00a0 He told me that he was bringing Leon Spinks to \u201cAmigo\u2019s\u201d, Brian\u2019s restaurant, for some promotion he was doing and he invited me to come up and meet him.\u00a0 Of course I did.\u00a0 Not the most articulate man I\u2019ve ever met but a nice enough guy.\u00a0 He stayed at Brian\u2019s house when he was here.\u00a0 After he left Brian found a pile of chicken wing shrapnel behind his recliner.\u00a0 I guess it didn\u2019t dawn on old Leon to get up off his ass and throw them in the trash.<\/p>\n

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Leon Spinks just before I knocked him out<\/em><\/p>\n

The WWF was in town and we were really trying to get involved as a station because they were just huge and it just made sense for our male dominated audience.\u00a0 They told us that we couldn\u2019t do the ring announcements because after so many bad DJ\u2019s around the country, they\u2019ve just decided to make a rule that DJ\u2019s can\u2019t ring announce.\u00a0 That was their official policy.\u00a0 I guess someone from the WWF was listening to our show and heard me do Vinnie \u201cBoom Boom\u201d Cappuccino, the sports guy.\u00a0 It cracked them up and waved their rule and asked me to do it.\u00a0 So I did.\u00a0 This was nationally televised from Toledo and I wasn\u2019t supposed to get on the tube.\u00a0 But apparently the tail end of me announcing did and they caught a lot of flack from a bunch of the stations they wouldn\u2019t let in the ring.<\/p>\n

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Vinnie \u201cBoom Boom\u201d welcomes the crowd at the WWF<\/p>\n

Mark and I were asked if we wanted to introduce George Carlin at the Stranahan Theater.\u00a0 We said sure!\u00a0 So the night came and we popped out on stage and gave George a heartfelt welcome.\u00a0 We were both fans.\u00a0 Then we hustled off stage and down to our front row seats.\u00a0 By the way, front row seats are always for the listeners.\u00a0 The jocks never get seats like that.\u00a0 So this was a special treat.\u00a0 I had my camera with me.\u00a0 I was taking pictures, one, right after the other.\u00a0 Click Click!\u00a0 After a few minutes George stops his act.\u00a0 Comes to the front of the stage where I was, bent over and started screaming at me.\u00a0 \u201cAre you ever going to run out of fucking film? Do you know how fucking annoying that is?!\u00a0 I\u2019m up here making faces to punctuate JOKES.\u00a0 Not so you can have a nice collection of George faces!\u201d\u00a0 Wow, was that embarrassing.\u00a0\u00a0 He continued, \u201cIf you take one more fucking picture, I\u2019ll stop my fucking show and walk off this fucking stage you prick!\u201d\u00a0 Wow, it\u2019s still embarrassing!\u00a0 \u201cFurther more, you\u2019re blinding me with your fucking flash!\u201d\u00a0 Flash?\u00a0 Oh, my God, I didn\u2019t know that the flash was on.\u00a0 There was plenty of light from the spot light.\u00a0 Oh crap!\u00a0 He ripped me a new one for two or three minutes.\u00a0\u00a0 I can\u2019t remember ever being so humiliated.\u00a0 Mark was slouched down in his seat so no one would see that he\u2019s with the asshole that George was lighting up.<\/p>\n

As we\u2019re leaving the theater, Mark was pointing at me saying, \u201cHe\u2019s the asshole with the camera.\u201d\u00a0 He was loving this moment.\u00a0 He milked that on the air for years.\u00a0 It was so stupid on my part.\u00a0 I had it coming.<\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t the last time I\u2019d be reamed by a celebrity.\u00a0 I went to Lakeland, Florida to cover the Detroit Tiger\u2019s spring training.\u00a0 It was my first time doing this and I was really looking forward to it.\u00a0 I got to the field an picked up my press pass.\u00a0 They assume you\u2019re not an idiot and KNOW the protocol.\u00a0 The do\u2019s and don\u2019ts.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t.\u00a0 The first thing I did was ask Bo Jackson for an autograph for my nephew Nicholas.\u00a0 Bo was sitting in the Kansas City dugout and I walked up with a pen and paper and asked if he\u2019d sign it for Nicholas.\u00a0 He took it, signed it then threw the paper and the pen on the dugout floor and said, \u201cMan this is bullshit.\u201d\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know that reporters don\u2019t and aren\u2019t supposed to ask for autographs.\u00a0 The Tigers Public Relations director came up to me and explained that if I did it again they would revoke my press credentials.<\/p>\n

The next day the Tigers were playing Cincinnati.\u00a0 I was down on the field before the game, mostly watching.\u00a0 I was too intimidated to interrupt these guys.\u00a0 They were working after all.\u00a0 Then I saw Johnny Bench sitting in the Cincinnati dugout get his mike put on him and there was a camera guy focusing on him.\u00a0 He was doing play by play for the Reds and getting ready to shoot a pre-game package.\u00a0 So I went over and leaned on the dugout to watch.\u00a0 I took a picture (NO FLASH) and then just watched. \u00a0I was a catcher as a kid and Johnny Bench was one of my sports idols.<\/p>\n

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Johnny Bench<\/p>\n

Out of nowhere he looks at me and says, in a loud voice, \u201cDo you NEED to be there?\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cNo, I\u2019m just hanging out.\u201d\u00a0 Probably not a great answer but I was a little shocked.\u00a0\u00a0 Then he starts yelling, \u201cThen get the fuck out of here.\u00a0 Just go fuck off!\u201d\u00a0 Wow.\u00a0 Not only did he say it loud enough for the outfielders to hear.\u00a0 I was sure the Public Relations guy would have heard that and I\u2019ll be kicked out for sure now.\u00a0 I could feel my face flush with embarrassment.\u00a0 What do I do now?\u00a0 What a dick he was.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t have to yell that.\u00a0 All this was going through my mind as I walked over to the batting cage and tried really hard to get invisible.<\/p>\n

I stood there waiting to get thrown out when I felt a hand on my shoulder and a very friendly and familiar voice say, \u201cHow ya doin\u2019?\u00a0 I\u2019m Ernie Harwell.\u201d\u00a0 I turned around and here\u2019s the guy I listened to my entire life.\u00a0 The voice of the Tigers, Mr. Ernie Harwell. \u00a0\u00a0I said, \u201cHi Mr. Harwell I\u2019m Jeff Lamb from Toledo.\u201d\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t have been nicer.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure if he\u2019d heard the whole Johnny Bench tirade but I sure hoped he hadn\u2019t.\u00a0 He went on to talk about how much he liked Toledo and asked me how often I get to a Toledo Mud Hen\u2019s game.\u00a0 It was a great conversation.\u00a0 It was like talking with a wonderful Uncle.<\/p>\n

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Ernie Harwell<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t say a word about the \u201cJohnny Bench thing.\u201d\u00a0 We just talked and visited for what seemed like 15 minutes.\u00a0 Johnny Bench was now done with the package he was shooting and heading in our direction.\u00a0 Not to us, but walking past us.\u00a0 Just as he\u2019s about even with us, Ernie says, \u201cHey Johnny, I\u2019d like you to meet a good friend of mine.\u00a0 This is Jeff Lamb from Toledo.\u201d\u00a0 Now Johnny looked a little embarrassed.\u00a0 He stuck out his hand and said, \u201cHi.\u00a0 Nice to meet you.\u201d\u00a0 Then he just kept walking.\u00a0 Of course Ernie had seen the \u201cThing.\u201d\u00a0 This was his way of defusing it.\u00a0 He made me feel better and I think gave Johnny and uncomfortable moment.\u00a0 To this day, Ernie Harwell is the classiest man I\u2019ve ever met.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t his \u201cGood friend,\u201d but Johnny didn\u2019t know that.\u00a0 I will say that Ernie makes everybody feel like his good friend.<\/p>\n

Later I was sitting alone eating lunch in the press lunch room and Ernie came in.\u00a0 All the reporters called out, \u201cHi Ernie,\u201d and waved.\u00a0 Ernie smiled and waved back and came up to me and said, \u201cMay I join you Jeff?\u201d\u00a0 He remembered my name and he picked me to sit with.\u00a0 We talked some more about baseball, radio, and nothing at all.\u00a0 When he got up, he wrote his home phone number down for me, in case I ever needed to do an interview about baseball.\u00a0 I had a new hero.\u00a0 And for the record, Johnny Bench is an ass.<\/p>\n

In 1993, while at WXKR, Mark and I went to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremonies in Los Angeles.\u00a0 They were in the ballroom of some big hotel out there, I don\u2019t remember which.\u00a0 We popped over in the afternoon to see the lay of the land.\u00a0 When we walked into the ballroom, Eric Clapton was standing with Bonnie Raitt just talking.\u00a0 They were the only ones in there.\u00a0 So we wandered up and visited for a few minutes.\u00a0 \u00a0Both were very nice.<\/p>\n

When we got there for the actual ceremonies, we were instructed that all the stars would be in the lower level \u201cPit\u201d in the center of the room in front of the stage.\u00a0 We, being DJ\u2019s and other non-famous people were to stay along the upper area.\u00a0 Do NOT go into the pit.\u00a0 I thought to myself, when am I ever going to get this close to this many stars?\u00a0 So I grabbed my souvenir program and headed into the pit.\u00a0 Mark didn\u2019t want to take the risk.\u00a0 That was Mark.\u00a0 Great guy but always followed rules (he\u2019s still working today.\u00a0 Hmmm is there a lesson there?).<\/p>\n

The first people I see are Patrick Swayze and Brooke Shields.\u00a0 I walked up and said, \u201cCould I please get an autograph Patrick?\u201d\u00a0 He said, \u201cWrong guy asshole.\u201d\u00a0 It turns out it was David Keith.\u00a0 Okay, let\u2019s forget the autographs and just mingle.\u00a0 This was literally a who\u2019s who of music, TV and movies.\u00a0 Some of the stars were seated, some standing around talking to a famous friend.\u00a0 I saw Bruce Springsteen sitting with paper and pen going over his speech.\u00a0 He was inducting someone that night.\u00a0 I walked up and patted him on the back and said, \u201cHey good luck tonight.\u201d\u00a0 He looked over his shoulder, a little confused and said, \u201cThanks.\u00a0 Thanks a lot.\u201d\u00a0 I was amazed and how solid his back was.\u00a0 It was like patting a brick wall wearing a suit.<\/p>\n

I turned around and bumped nose to nose in to Michael Douglas.\u00a0 This was so cool!\u00a0 Then I looked 5 feet away and there was an odd grouping.\u00a0 Cher was sitting with Pia Zadora and Jason Priestly.\u00a0 Hmmm.\u00a0 But Cher looked tiny and had skin like porcelain.\u00a0 Pale, smooth and much younger than her age.\u00a0 Billy Crystal was inducting his uncle Milt Gabler who was somebody important to the evolution of music.\u00a0 You\u2019ll have to ask Mark.\u00a0 Paul Shaffer was there, the remaining Doors, Eddy Veder sang the Jim Morrison lead with them on stage later.\u00a0 Creedence Clearwater Revival was also being inducted that night.\u00a0 John Fogerty went up to perform Creedence songs with an all-star band of Clapton, Springsteen and a bunch of others while his old band sat and watched. \u00a0\u00a0He would not let his band up on stage with him. Apparently the feud isn\u2019t over.\u00a0 I recall making a list of everybody I saw up close and personal but I have no idea where it is now.\u00a0 Cream, Etta James, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers, Ruth Brown, Sly and the Family Stone and Van Morrison were also installed with The Doors and Creedence that year.\u00a0 Dick Clark was installed in a Non-Performer category.<\/p>\n

In 1994, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductions were in New York.\u00a0 Mark and I got to go to that too.\u00a0 They were held at the Waldorf Astoria Ballroom.\u00a0 Our credentials didn\u2019t get us in the ballroom and I was kind of bummed at first.\u00a0 We sat in the press room.\u00a0 The cool thing turned out to be that after being inducted on stage, all these stars went then to the press room for questions.\u00a0 Mark and I grabbed a front row seat in the press room.\u00a0 In front of us was about a 3 foot high stage.\u00a0 This was going to be great.\u00a0 Now I\u2019ve got a reason to talk to them instead of staring at them like I did in Los Angeles.\u00a0\u00a0 I had to hit the men\u2019s room before the party started so I headed out the door of the press room to cross a hallway to the bathroom.\u00a0 The bathroom was across the hall and to the left of two double doors.\u00a0 As I got halfway to the john, the doors banged open right in front of me and it was Bruce Springsteen and his wife with Paul McCartney and Linda arm in arm four across.\u00a0 All I could do was think WOW!!\u00a0 Then dozens of camera flashes were going off.\u00a0 They stood and posed for about 10 seconds and then hurried in to the ballroom.\u00a0 What a great start to the night!\u00a0 I went in to men\u2019s room and was standing at the urinal and Jeff Beck walked up to the one next to me.\u00a0 In case you\u2019re wondering\u2026I can\u2019t help you ladies, I didn\u2019t look.\u00a0 Now if Tommy Lee were next to me I\u2019d have HAD to look.<\/p>\n

Paul McCartney was there because John Lennon was being inducted.\u00a0 He and Linda came in the press room after with Yoko Ono, Sean and Julian Lennon.\u00a0 After that Elton John came in with his date Rue Paul.\u00a0 Elton was now a hall of famer.\u00a0 Others included Rod Stewart, The Band, The Grateful Dead, The Animals, Duane Eddy and Ziggy Marley there for his father.\u00a0 Mark struck up a nice conversation with Bruce Hornsby before everything got under way.\u00a0 They talked about Bruce\u2019s twins that had just been born and he was more than willing to go on about his kids.\u00a0 He was a real nice guy and I\u2019ll bet a great dad.\u00a0\u00a0 When it was time to go, we were on the wrong side of the room.\u00a0 Kurt Loder was doing a stand up piece for MTV or some damned thing and he kept screwing it up.\u00a0 Hey, we all do that, but we couldn\u2019t leave until he got it right.\u00a0 He was between us and the door out.\u00a0 He could have just said, \u201cI can\u2019t read, write or adlib, would you like to get through here tonight?\u201d\u00a0 But we waited and he finally got through it and we left.<\/p>\n

The next day the picture of The Springsteens and the McCartneys arm and arm was on the front page of the New York Times and my shoulder was in the picture.\u00a0 So yeah, I\u2019ve been in the New York Times.\u00a0 Smell me.<\/p>\n

About 6 months later, Steven Wright was in town and they asked the station to send someone to introduce him.\u00a0 They asked me and I said sure!\u00a0 Not only did I really like Steven Wright\u2019s comedy.\u00a0 I was able to get a couple more backstage passes and tickets to invite my sister and her husband, Scott.\u00a0 It would be a chance to do something nice for them and impress them with my cool job all at the same time.\u00a0 We were standing backstage waiting for Steven to come out of his dressing room.\u00a0 There is a booth next to the stage where the stage manager sits.\u00a0 He\u2019s an old guy with a hat.\u00a0 You know how I love old guys with a hat.\u00a0 He comes out and says, \u201cSay, aren\u2019t you the guy that George Carlin really tore into?\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cYep, sure was.\u201d\u00a0 Then I tried to change the subject.\u00a0 He went on\u2026.\u201dI\u2019ve seen a lot of things working here.\u00a0 That was really stupid on your part.\u201d\u00a0 Again, I said, \u201cYep, it sure was.\u201d\u00a0 This isn\u2019t how you impress your sister and her hubby.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t done.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, I\u2019ve seen a lot of things.\u00a0 But MAN that was really stupid.\u00a0 He really made a fool out of you.\u00a0 I hope you learned your lesson young man.\u201d\u00a0 I never liked old guys in hats, but I never wanted to punch one before.\u00a0 I\u2019m hearing Archie Bunker in my head, \u201cShut up YOU!\u201d\u00a0 Finally he crawled back in his booth and left us alone.\u00a0 I had to explain what he was talking about.<\/p>\n

A year had passed since the George Carlin \u201cincident\u201d now and he was coming back to town.\u00a0 The powers that be thought it would be funny to send me to introduce him again.\u00a0 I\u2019m back stage milling around and his manager comes up and says, \u201cAre you from the station?\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cYes I am.\u201d\u00a0 He asked if I wanted to meet George before the show.\u00a0 I said why not?\u00a0 So he\u2019s leading me up some steep stairs to the meet and greet where George is.\u00a0 And I was noticing signs everywhere that said \u201cNO PHOTOGRAPY!\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cWhat\u2019s up with all the signs?\u201d\u00a0 I knew full well.\u00a0 I just wanted to hear it.\u00a0\u00a0 He went on to tell me that some asshole had been here last year in the front row taking all these flash pictures of George and it really set him off.\u00a0 He banned ALL cameras at his shows after that.\u00a0 We\u2019re halfway up the stairs and I said, \u201cYou\u2019re gonna laugh!\u201d\u00a0 And I told him that that asshole was me.\u00a0 He turned around slowly and said, \u201cThat was YOU!?\u00a0\u00a0 Whatever you do, don\u2019t tell George!\u201d\u00a0 When he introduced me to George, I think he was actually more nervous than I that he might actually recognize me.\u00a0 Oh the gift that keeps on giving.<\/p>\n

[Read more of these stories in Jeff’s book, “I Used To Be A DJ” Available NOW<\/a>!!]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[The Following is an excerpt from Jeff’s book, “I Used To Be A DJ” Available NOW!!] I Loved The Perks Of Radio There were two people that I wanted to meet more than any other two on earth.\u00a0 One was … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":22,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"two_page_speed":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-325","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jefflambkaraoke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jefflambkaraoke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jefflambkaraoke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jefflambkaraoke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jefflambkaraoke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=325"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/jefflambkaraoke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":844,"href":"https:\/\/jefflambkaraoke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/325\/revisions\/844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jefflambkaraoke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}