Jerry would rail about hacks and cronies, fees, fines, and taxes, and Gov. Dukakis running for President ("Unelectable...", sang one of Jerry's listeners, to the tune of "Unforgettable"). Sound like a modern liberal to you?
By the way I read someone's comment about Margery Eagan's recent column about Jon Keller's new book The Bluest State--apparently there's a bit in there about angry libs marching to Barbara Anderson's house to protest her involvement in trying to reduce taxes (Citizens for Ltd. Taxation). They're suprised to find this big conservative figure had a really...modest...house in Marblehead (and wasn't home, she was at work).
My God! The big bad conservative actually wasn't living in a mansion? She was out...working? (not on a trust fund like the libs!) :)
The article does mention the activism Jerry had engendered: get out there and call your Legislator! Not necessarily used these days.
Nynex= the then-current name for the local phone company.
Lehigh felt apparently that talk radio hosts like Jerry (and Barbara and Howie, regular guests at the time) would be "cutting their own throats" because people would be angry for a different reason: tax cuts would mean many service cuts. In other words, big government is what really matters, acc. to him.
And (conservative) talk radio has NOT died...
>>It was, as the State House idiom goes, "classic Howie." Which means two things: funny and unfair.
No, funny and COMPLETELY fair. Unfair in the minds of the hacks, maybe.
Howie: ""My feeling is I am like a sports fan at a game," Carr said. "I pay my money to get in here, I pay my money every week in taxes, I think I have a right to boo who I want to boo since I bought the ticket."
Howie Carr list ping. Scroll down in this article to see what was written about Howie in 1989, before he got his regular
show. (Keep in mind it was from the Globe, though...)
After doing a morning show on WRKO Howie moved to WHDH AM
850 which I believe was made the sister station of WRKO
at that time—Howie was placed in afternoons, right
opposite Jerry, despite the common ownership IIRC). Then
Howie came back to ‘RKO (it was right around this time
of year, Sept. of ‘94 I think?) in what WAS Jerry’s slot.
Jerry was moved to mornings and then weekends and then
off the air.
Wish I’d saved the tape, but I did tape part of Howie’s
first show back on WRKO (I remember John Sebastian’s
“Welcome Back” was played as bumper music, etc.)
WHDH 850 (heritage call letters) was scuttled the weekend
before (complete with a toilet flush) and the sports
programming of WEEI 590 moved to 850. Rush and Howie
moved from 850 to 680 as part of the move.
oops, that should say interesting info about HOWIE and the man who got him into radio!
here’s Howie’s column from today’s Herald.
Baby Flats busted in ex-prez lane
by Howie Carr/Boston Herald/ 9/9/07
The hack du jour is former Boston City Council president Michael Flaherty. Key word: former.
Baby Flats, as he’s known to distinguish him from his father, ex-judge and ex-Rep. Michael “Flats” Flaherty, is still a city councilor. And this third-generation payroll patriot pulled a vehicular variation of the old do-you-know-who-I-am routine at the funeral of hero firefighter Paul Cahill in West Roxbury on Thursday.
Baby Flats used an expired city parking placard to park where he shouldn’t have, blocking a Boston Fire Department vehicle for his own convenience. If you or I had pulled such a stunt, we’d have been towed. But then, they don’t know who we are, do they?
Most pols instinctively understand that you have to be on your best behavior at a funeral. At the wake, you arrive either very early or very late, to avoid having to wait in line to pay your respects. At the funeral itself, you sit either at the very front or the very back of the church, the better to be observed in pious reflection by your constituents. Most importantly, you never, ever block anyone else’s car, especially a public-safety vehicle.
I’m sure Baby Flats would have preferred an inconspicuous parking space. But the mourners were SRO and, dammit, he is a Very Important Person. This is a guy whose staff once called the Coast Guard to demand that they hunt him down on a fishing boat.
Don’t you know who he is?
Here’s what happened Thursday. After the emotional funeral Mass for Cahill, his casket was placed in the hearse and the funeral procession departed for the cemetery. Everyone began filing out of the church, including the members of the Boston City Council, most of whom had taken a bus from City Hall so they wouldn’t have to hog a parking space that might otherwise go to a grief-stricken family member, friend or fellow jake.
One of the first people out of the church was Maureen Feeney, who’s the current president of the Boston City Council. Key word: current.
As she walked down the church stairs, a fire captain approached her, and this account is confirmed by two witnesses, although neither Feeney nor Baby Flats returned phone calls Friday.
“Madame President,” the captain said, respectfully. “I have to ask you to please move your car. It’s blocking the arson-squad car.”
Madame President was puzzled. Her car, after all, was parked in the garage at City Hall downtown. She had arrived in Ward 20 on the bus.
“I didn’t bring . . .” she began, before she realized who the real culprit was. “Captain, what kind of car is it that’s blocking you in? Is it an SUV by any chance?”
“A black Mercury Mountaineer,” the captain said. “I thought it was yours. There’s a placard on the dashboard that says ‘City Council President.’ ”
He was right about that. But right under ‘City Council President’ was the number ‘2006.’ Do you care to guess who the council president was last year?
Feeney scanned the crowd streaming out of Holy Name. Down on the sidewalk she spotted Baby Flats.
“Mr. President,” Madame President told him. “Move your car!”
And he quickly slithered away.
The thing about being president of the City Council is that it is the ultimate nothing job, unless the mayor decides to take a powder in the middle of his term, the chances of which in Mumbles’ case are slim, fat and none.
The late Freddy Langone once memorably likened being president of the City Council to being an admiral in the Swiss navy. At least give Feeney credit for understanding the status limitations of her position. That’s why she took the bus. As for Baby Flats, the only thing sadder than trying to cash in on the job of council president is trying to cash in on being the former council president.
Baby Flats, forget about ever asking, “Do you know who I am?”
Repeat after me, “Do you know who I was?”
Jerry was at his best when he was railing about the Big Dig. Turns out, he was right. Again, not terribly liberal.
"Not a bad guy"...."I'm getting *out* of the business"..."I never had a dinner" (which turned out to be true).The way RKO fired Jerry was disgraceful!
Scat, he lies.
Actually, they simply adopted Dukasis' chacterization. The Duke's response to their critism was to assert that the Commonwealth had one Governor, not three. When Howie and Barbara were guests on Jerry's show they called themselves "The Three Governors" in dirision.
Can't remember what happened that his name made it back into the spotlight, though.
I lived in Boston during this period and listened to “the governors” regularly.
Do any of these shows survive?