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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > October > 30 > Entry
It’s over between the two Regular Guys (one says)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Eric Von Haessler, in the wake of the restroom stunt that led to his firing from 96rock last week, said that he and “Regular Guys” radio co-host Larry Wachs are unlikely to pair up again.
Sure, he said the same thing in 2004, after their first firing from 96rock over an indecency snafu. They got back together in 2005. “I was talked into it,” Von Haessler told Buzz last week. “I sort of knew I needed to move on.”
Trouble started for him and Wachs after Wachs taped a conversation between two fellow radio hosts at Viva 105.7, another station owned by Clear Channel, on Oct. 9 in a company restroom. They aired the conversation on the radio Oct. 10, leading the targets — Juan “Yogi” Tapia and Jose “Panda” Carias — to file a lawsuit against Clear Channel, Wachs and Von Haessler, citing invasion of privacy and negligent hiring.
Von Haessler was taken off the lawsuit last Thursday, according to Jamie Hernan, lawyer for Tapia and Carias. Though Von Haessler said that saves him on legal costs, “it’s still a stupid lawsuit.” And he’s still out of a job.
Because Clear Channel boss Chuck Deskins has asked employees not to discuss the case, Tapia and Carias declined to comment. But in a news release, the pair said they’ve been threatened in nasty e-mails and calls from irate “Regular Guys” fans and have hired bodyguards to protect themselves.
At the same time, they refuse to drop the lawsuit unless Clear Channel promises not to hire the “Regular Guys” again and not to retaliate against Tapia and Carias, who are under contract with Viva until 2009, Hernan said.
Von Haessler said he thinks Tapia and Carias are not driven purely by privacy issues or because the “Regular Guys” would make fun of Mexicans and illegal immigrants. “They are getting as much as they can out of their careers on the grave of the Regular Guys,” he said.
Clear Channel, which owns six radio signals in Atlanta, has had major financial and ratings problems locally, fueling rumors that some may change formats as early as today.
‘Rocky’ road to semi-stardom
There’s no easy explanation as to why a 31-year-old low-budget movie about transsexual aliens inspires a theater troupe to re-enact the story in sync with the film every week, word for word, song by song, grope by grope. But that’s what Lips Down on Dixie does with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at the Plaza Theatre on Ponce de Leon Avenue. Buzz checked out the Halloween edition Friday night.
But as costume maker and hostess Candace Weslosky noted, Halloween didn’t change the show, which drew a typical audience of about 100 people, about half of them “virgins” who have never seen it live. “It’s Halloween every week for us,” she told Buzz. The film is ” ‘Battlefield Earth’ bad,” she told the crowd, yet “we do this purely because we have no life.”
The troupe (www.lipsdownondixie.com), which relies on volunteers and donations, has dined on Meat Loaf (as in the movie), mocked Brad and Janet and danced “The Time Warp” again and again for six years at the Plaza. But they’ve had to restrict audience props. No throwing toast, for instance. “When toast gets wet and gets stuck in a place the cleaning people miss, it eventually smells like vomit,” Weslosky explained.
Weslosky, 23 and part of the show since 2000, wasn’t even alive when the movie first aired. But her loyalty paid off. She found love in the midst of such inanity and is now engaged to Chris Miller, who plays Brad.
Road to ‘Hell’s Kitchen’
If you’re a culinary Casanova and dream about getting verbally roasted by Gordon Ramsay on Fox’s summer hit “Hell’s Kitchen,” auditions will be held at the Flying Biscuit in Candler Park from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 2 and at Viking Culinary Art Center, at 1745 Peachtree St., from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 3. (Flying Biscuit baker Jeff Dewberry appeared in Season One in 2005.)
But if you’d rather just watch a reality show live, ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” is going on tour and will hit the Gwinnett Arena on Jan. 26, with contestants actor Joey Lawrence, Lisa Renna, her hubby Harry Hamlin, pop singer Willa Ford, Season Two winner Drew Lachey and singer Joey McIntyre. Tix go on sale Nov. 4.
If carols don’t satisfy you …
Last year, 99X radio held its Christmas concerts over two days at the Tabernacle, with headliners O.A.R. and Our Lady Peace. The names and venue are bigger for the Dec. 6 “Mistle Toe Jam,” starring the Killers, Jet, AFI and OK Go, at Philips Arena. Tickets range from $27 to $49 and go on sale Nov. 4.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Grace Slick is 67. Actor Henry Winkler is 61. Actor Harry Hamlin is 55. Actor Kevin Pollak is 49. Singer-guitarist Gavin Rossdale of Bush is 39.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail rho@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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