| Dec. 17th,
2005 @ 10:11 am Howard Stern Bids Farewell to the
Censors |
Current Mood:  excited Current Music:
HOWARD 100 News (SIRIUS Ch. 2) FYI from
nytimes.com...
Howard Stern Bids Farewell to the Censors
December 16, 2005
After talking about this moment on
television shows, in magazine and newspaper articles and on his own
radio show for months, Howard Stern finally signed off of
terrestrial radio outside of his studio on West 56th Street in
Manhattan this morning, where the final hours of his show were
broadcast, and headed for the freedom of Sirius satellite
radio.
Thousands of fans - some of whom came from as far away
as Florida and Ohio and many of whom had to get out of bed by 4 a.m.
to even get close to the stage - drank, cheered and waved worshipful
signs despite a cold drizzle.
"Everybody was drinking,
everybody was soaked," said Damian Walsh, 26, who left on the 3 a.m.
train from Long Beach and was still sopping hours after the rain had
ended. "I'm having a blast though."
After Howard Stern
addressed his fans for the last half hour of his show, the
festivities moved to the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, which was
surrounded by a horde of 20-something men who spilled out into the
street trying to get a glimpse of the self-described King of All
Media, who arrived atop a double-decker bus. The lucky ones who
managed to get inside mingled with the usual Stern dignitaries like
Jeff the Drunk, Wendy the Retard, High-Pitch Eric, several strippers
and Lady Bunny, a drag queen.
Martha Stewart, who also has a
show on Sirius, introduced Mr. Stern, who then asked Ms. Stewart to
personally deliver the RoboSpanker and TickleChair to his new
studio. Her response was inaudible.
"This is a historic
move," Mr. Stern said. "I never could have imaged that we would end
up on satellite where we have freedom."
Mr. Stern also
thanked Mel Karmazin, the chief executive of Sirius, his agent, his
girlfriend and his fans, and introduced Sheryl Crow who sang a few
songs.
The move to Sirius takes Mr. Stern outside of the
jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission, which has
levied over $2 million in decency fines on his old bosses at
Infinity Broadcasting and the broadcast stations that carried his
program. But although Mr. Stern speaks of the move in providential
terms and though the symbols is a raised fist, he is hardly leaving
as a martyr. Sirius will be paying him $100 million a year over five
years to produce his own morning show and to program two radio
channels.
Now that the revolt against his old bosses is over,
Mr. Stern will see how many fans buy the Sirius radios and pay the
$12.95 a month to hear his new show. Even among the rabid devotees
at the Hard Rock, there were those, like Mike Assini, a 28-year-old
Staten Islander, who had not yet made the commitment.
"I
thought they'd be giving out free ones," he
said.
~~~
From nydailynews.com
Howard takes his
private parts to Sirius
Saturday, December 17th,
2005
Howard Stern signed off the FM airwaves with a rowdy
party for throngs of rabid fans in midtown yesterday - capping 20
years of pushing the boundaries of taste and legal obscenity on free
radio from New York.
"I am the last of a dying breed," the
granddaddy of all shock jocks told as many as 10,000 people who
waited overnight in freezing rain for the farewell.
"There
will never be another radio show like this. There will never be
another audience like this."
Stern, 51, hung up his K-Rock
headphones and headed out to pioneer pay radio. When his new show
debuts Jan. 9 on Sirius Satellite Radio, he'll finally be able to
say whatever he wants without risking another FCC fine.
The
cost of free speech? $12.95 a month.
Stern urged his fans to
sign up. "Don't break up the family. Stay with us," he said.
"Strippers, crack whores, lesbians - you name it, we've got
it."
But while Stern pulled 12 million listeners on free
radio, only 2 million have signed up for Sirius so far and his
thank-you to fans had the taste of a farewell
address.
"Because of you, I had clout. Because you gave me
the ratings, I was able to go into every general manager's office
and tell him to F off," Stern said. "It was a great run. We broke
every rule known to radio and mankind."
The crowd packed the
long block on 56th St. between Fifth and Sixth Aves., waving
inflatable sex dolls and occasionally yelling, "Show us your
[expletive]" at the elegantly mink-wearing dowagers trying to get to
Henri Bendel.
Fans flew in from all over the country for the
finale. They cheered a parade of Stern's wacky sidekicks - and booed
any mention of the FCC.
Fans described the show as a form of
therapy or, as former regular John (Stuttering John) Melendez put
it, "a temporary escape from our private hells."
"He got me
through my awkward years," said Brad Lazarus, 23, of Long
Island.
Stern rode a hired double-decker bus to Times Square,
where New Year's Eve-worthy crowds awaited his
appearance.
Inside the Hard Rock Cafe, Stern was feted at a
party hosted by new Sirius colleague Martha Stewart, whom he
proceeded to humiliate with glee.
"Now the beautiful Martha
Stewart and I finally get to be together," he said after an awkward
hug with the doyenne of domesticity. "Martha, I want you to bring my
robo-spanker, my tinkle chair and my wheel of sex and deliver them
to my office for me."
Stewart cringed, turned beet red and
vanished. |
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![111 [circa 1965]](http://www.the111experience.org/111_scotch.jpg)
(annoyed - but only
slightly)
