Art's comments: "I trimmed this from the original interview because it didn't pertain to the narrative of Eric's career, and I felt I was a bit long-winded (very unusual). However, it's a great story! I really thought there was a chance I might even get to write this one up for Rolling Stone at the time."
Links:
Allow a few seconds for buffering.For over 25 years, Eric Von Haessler has had a conversation with America from behind a radio microphone. For much of that time, he ridiculed everyone and everything in his path to hilarious effect. In recent years, he's shared his more serious and well-considered thoughts on everything from politics, to science, to NASCAR, to his favorite band, Drivin' n' Cryin'. These days he can be heard on his podcast, "The Show," and weekly WSB radio show, "The Von Haessler Doctrine."
Eric sits down with Art and recounts the history of his top-rated former morning show, The Regular Guys, which was the toast of the L.A. FM talk radio scene in the mid-1990's at KLSX, and was a consistent ratings winner for its 16 year run in Atlanta on 96 Rock and Rock 100.5. He also shares the experiences and lessons of his rough-and-tumble youth, such as visiting his father in prison, dropping out of high school, living with heroin users, and ultimately finding a way up and out through comedy. 2 hours 22 minutes.
Art's comments: "It's crazy to think in December of 1997 I was on an egg crate mattress in L.A. trying to tune in this cool new show I'd read about, and in 2015 one of the hosts is in my house. If you're a Regular Guys fan, this is a fantastic oral history. Eric has told these stories on the air, but this is the first time they've been told as one narrative. And if you make it through my opening comments, you'll feel like you just sat through all 16 years of the Regular Guys' run in Atlanta.
"By the way, Larry Wachs was always nice and even encouraging to me personally, except that time he blasted me on his blog, which I found merely hysterical."
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