The following was written for our original website, created back in 1996. Upon reflection, it is amazing how accurate it still seems!
"A Delightful Alternative To Dead Air!"
Our 281-day career in Radio!
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Two weeks after we moved from Los Angeles back to our native Philadelphia in 1993, radio personality John Debella (our friend of more than a decade) left his longtime employer, 93.3 WMMR-FM. His departure from 'MMR was the culmination of 3 or 4 years of abuse and ratings erosion at the hands of "King of All Media" Howard Stern.
Thus started 14 months of occasional meetings between us and John to discuss various publishing, television and radio projects. The meetings were a relaxed hybrid of business and pleasure.
In the fall of the following year, (less than a year later) John was approached by Infinity Broadcasting head Mel Karmazin to return to radio as the afternoon-drive host on Classic Rock WYSP. Eventually John and Mel hammered out an agreement whereby John would work "ratings magic" from 2 to 6 weekdays, on the Philadelphia outlet of his old arch-rival Stern. John's show was originally conceived as a re-invented, slightly more mature version of his old "Morning Zoo" show. The Zoo had been arguably one of the most successful shows in the history of broadcasting (radio or television). Infinity's ultimate plan was to syndicate the show, in much the same way they had done with Stern's show.
Traci and I were the natural choice as the "creative team" for John's new venture. A mid-November start date was set. After some minor grovelling by John (he had to "beg" Howard for the opportunity to re-enter the radio business), we started what we dubbed "The John DeBella Show...A Delightful Alternative to Dead Air." John chose a producer and engineer from his old days at WMMR, and ' YSP Operations Manager Tim Sabean welcomed the entire DeBella entourage to the station's Bala Cynwyd studios.
We plunged into the wacky world of radio comedy writing with enthusiasm. We would write and prepare the day's show for four hours in the office, and then we would repair to the studio for the next four hours. During the show, we would write more material, cook up ideas for "stunts," develop ideas and strategy for future shows or promotions, and write questions for over-the-phone or in-studio interviews. Our on-air role was minimal.
Within five months, our relationship with DeBella deteriorated to the point where we opted to write from our home and fax our material in. This deterioration began soon after the show was launched. We mistook it as nothing more than an expected friction between a radio personality and his writers--a natural by-product of the creative process. We frequently jousted over such matters as the quantity and the quality of the material, the creative direction of the show and the delegation of responsibility. Again, we perceived these confrontations to be a natural part of putting together a radio show--a necessary evil in a creative venture. No single event precipitated our shift in working arrangements. It was, rather, a series of events--a week of them--to be exact. Our week in Las Vegas was the catalyst.
It was generally agreed among the folks back at WYSP that the week of live broadcasts from the Hard Rock Hotel-Casino was the finest week in the show's short history. John's interviews with Engelbert, Chicago and Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) were among his best ever. The parade of guests, the pre-produced pieces, the engineering and the comedy material contributed to an overall atmosphere which managed to capture the excitement of the Hard Rock in particular and Las Vegas in general. We were sad to see the week end. Perhaps we sensed what awaited us upon our return to Philadelphia.
What awaited us was a 3-1/2-hour, Tuesday-night meeting which culminated in our decision to work from home--at first temporarily. Eventually it was permanent. The show, as it originally was conceived, was doomed by a combination of several things: 1. We were profoundly unhappy with the overall direction the show was taking, and we took nearly every opportunity to express our unhappiness. This concern over aesthetics was misinterpreted by our host as aggression. This, in turn, led to... 2. "Radio Paranoia" It struck surprisingly early. This well-documented disorder, rampant in the radio industry, is marked by irrational behavior, brought on by the mistaken impression that everyone surrounding you is after your job. It usually strikes only DJ's. In this case, it struck both the DJ and the Producer. The behavior was never more irrational (and the fears never more unfounded), than in this case. We were stunned by the discrepancy between our vision of the show and the vision shared by our producer and our illustrious host. This discrepancy led to frustration, anxiety and the aforementioned paranoia. And, as we all know, the first to go are the writers!
Post Script: We continued to faithfully submit material, faxing it in at noon every day, missing only one day due to a death in the family. We continued in this mode until August 21, 1995, when we were fired, via a perfunctory phone call from The Mustachioed one himself. It had been ten months, almost to the day, since we embarked on our adventure. John continues to host from 2 to 6 PM weekdays on WYSP. The show has not yet been syndicated.
Post Post Script: John has since switched over to mornings on WMGK, a Philadelphia classic rock station.