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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > March > 20
Monday, March 20, 2006
99X bids morning guy Toucher adieu in style
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Most radio folks, from Bandy & Bailey at Kicks to Southside and Rhodes on 96rock, just disappear with no on-air explanation.
But rock station 99X gave Fred Toucher a proper — and Guinness-packed — send-off at Fado Irish Pub in Buckhead on Friday.
After 500-plus people grooved to metal band Skid Row, a teary-eyed Toucher thanked 99X and its fans for seven great years at the station, including 2 1/2 years in mornings. “I love 99X,” he told Buzz after the show. “This is where I started, and they taught me everything I know about radio.”
He also did an amusing on-air “tribute” to his time at 99X, interspersing favorite moments into the Green Day song “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” On the surface, it sounded sentimental. The twist? The bits were fake, including a “bowl-athon” for cancer and Toucher engulfing 18 hot dogs.
Among the partygoers at Fado wishing Toucher off: former 99X’ers Christopher “Crash” Clark (traffic guy), Christopher Calandro (producer) and Jeremy “Fat Kid” Powell (stunt guy, now a car salesman).
Toucher, with Crash and former 99X’er Rich Shertenlieb, is shopping a morning show outside Atlanta. Boston’s rock station WBCN-FM is a possible destination.
King speculation rampant
Is CNN ready to dump Larry King?
Speculation began a week ago when an L.A. showbiz blog said “Hollywood insiders” were gossiping about King’s “increasingly frail” health.
To drive home the point, it noted an interview in which he asked Jerry Seinfeld the same question twice. “You’re not listening to me, Larry,” Seinfeld scolded.
Another story, published Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal, cited King’s decreasing audience, his older demographics (bad for advertisers) and his “interest” in celebrities and crime as being out of whack with CNN’s prime-time emphasis.
Then Fox News talkers Greta Van Susteren and Sean Hannity came to King’s defense Thursday. “I think the people over at CNN owe him a debt of gratitude, and the fact they don’t defend him is a disgrace,” Hannity said.
But CNN President Jon Klein did defend him in Friday’s New York Post.
“We’d have to be even crazier than people think TV executives are to even think about moving a legend like Larry out of his time slot — especially when he reliably attracts a very nice audience each night,” Klein said. “There’s absolutely no truth to this idle speculation.”
‘Geek’ gets the gal
Wes Wilson, the Georgia Tech-grad “Beauty & the Geek” geek who ended up getting the girl, got a shock watching the final reality-show episode earlier this month when finalist and Woody Allen-esque Josh Herman talked about the size of his package. It was a secret Josh and teammate Cher Tenbush knew that nobody else did. “I was really embarrassed by that, and I’m completely avoiding the topic,” Wes told Buzz.
Nonetheless, Wes, eliminated halfway through the WB show, was thrilled that Cher won the $250,000 (split with Josh) since the romance that blossomed during the show has continued. He left Atlanta for Los Angeles, and the pair are planning to move in together. Take that, “The Bachelor”!
Dialing for ‘Idol’ results
Jim Hellriegel Jr., an IT guy in Cleveland, created a speed-dial program last year to help “American Idol” fans vote. This year, he began posting percentages of calls that had a busy signal, indicating popularity. With this method, he predicted the ouster of 10 of 12 semifinalists. Last Wednesday, at www.dialidol.com, his results indicated weakness for both Ace Young and Lisa Tucker hours before the results show placed them in the bottom three.
But “Idol,” which is supersecretive about voting results, sent him a “cease and desist” letter that forced him to shut his site down that evening. “Waging litigation against ‘Idol’ could cost me up to $100,000 I don’t have,” he told Buzz on Friday. Dialidol.com “probably won’t come back in any real form.” It was a great idea while it lasted.
Butch brings in the bacon
Van Halen didn’t bite. Neither did Alice in Chains. So CBS, for the second season of “Rock Star,” cobbled together Atlanta’s favorite party hopper Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), Jason Newsted (Metallica) and Gilby Clarke (Guns N’ Roses) for a supposed “supergroup” Supernova. Contestants will vie to be lead singer.
The direct Atlanta connection: Rocker and producer Butch Walker will write and produce songs for the band.
But his manager, Jonathan Daniel ,said he didn’t want the usually gabby, quotable Walker to do any press. “I don’t want the impression Butch is an old metal dude,” Daniel rationalized. “It bums him out to be too associated with that stuff.”
Daniel said Walker still wants to be known in Atlanta more as a rock star, less as a producer, although producing really pays the bills. (Just ask Pink, Avril Lavigne and Bowling for Soup.) And this show will pad his checking account, too. Walker was also offered to be a judge onstage, but he chose to forgo the airtime, Daniel said.
When his next solo album comes out in July, about the time “Rock Star” returns on CBS, Daniel said Walker will be ready to talk.
Random bits
In a shocker, the Flavor Flav “Bachelor” takeoff called “Flavor of Love” drew VH1’s biggest audience in its history, with 5.9 million viewers, March 12. …
One of the oddest acts in recent history, the reggae Jew Matisyahu, debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard sales charts last week, the highest-ranked reggae album since Nielsen SoundScan began measuring sales in 1991. …
Motley Crue’s Vince Neil, who cut short last fall’s Philips Arena concert after injuring a hamstring, came back with the band for a makeup concert last week and attempted to mine humor out of his injury. “The paramedics here were very cool,” he told the crowd. “They gave me some good drugs.” But attendee Lara Thompson left unamused: “Vince only sang about every other line to a song, and kept having earphone problems.”
Celebrity birthdays
Producer Carl Reiner is 84. Actor Hal Linden is 75. Actor William Hurt is 56. Drummer Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake and Palmer is 56. Director Spike Lee is 49. Conyers native and actress Holly Hunter is 48. Model Kathy Ireland is 43. Actor Michael Rapaport (“War at Home”) is 36.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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