Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2007 > July > 07
Saturday, July 7, 2007
7/8: Clark on Lucky Yates
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lucky Yates, an actor and puppeteer who does a monthly talk show at the Laughing Skull Lounge next to the Midtown Vortex, brought in Clark Howard as his lead guest Saturday night.
Here’s Clark with Yates on stage. CREDIT: Rodney Ho
Naturally, Howard and Yates combined were a hoot.
“Everybody knows this man,” Yates introduced Howard. “Everybody loves this man. He has a super hot wife sitting in the second row. [That’s Lane Carlock.] You are a ladies man!”
Bart Hansard, Yates’ sidekick and an actor on “House of Payne,” cracked, “In this city, it’s not just the ladies!”
“The toast of Midtown!” Lucky exclaimed.
They talked about how his syndicated show is now in 227 stations. “The best part?” Clark said. “I own the show!”
“I own this show!” Lucky said. “I make tens of dollars a month. I can pay a bill!”
Then he got to the subject everybody was thinking:
“Where are you going from this point, mayor of Atlanta?”
The full house of a crowd applauded loudly.
Clark said Creative Loafing broke the story a few weeks ago about him pondering a mayoral run after Shirley Franklin steps down after her mandatory two-term limit in 2009. Then the AJC called to ask about it. Howard said, “That’s news to me.” He said he considered it in 1997 when Mayor Campbell was around. But he admitted “I might run for mayor someday.” And there was the headline.
Naturally, he said if he ever announces any political campaign, he has to give up his lucrative radio career due to campaign rules.
Howard then said he is considering lieutenant governor, which didn’t impress Yates. “Come on! he said. “Shoot high man! You’d get elected governor.”
“Nobody knows me in south Georgia,” Howard noted.
“Start with the mayor, turn the city around, then move higher,” suggested Yates.
Clark then outlined some priorities. He wants to split the police department into a traffic/safety division and true cops working on real crimes. He also would like more help for the homeless. And he’d get smart traffic lights that would sense when a car is there so you won’t sit there at a red light when nobody is on the cross street. And he’d cut the Atlanta city employee base, which he said is one of the fattest per capita in the country. “It’s like a make-work program,” he said. He also would like to improve the city schools, which he calls “a jobs program” not meant to serve the public. But he admitted a lot of these issues are not easy to resolve.
On a less serious note, he admitted being a lightweight with the liquor, saying one and a half beers and “I’m DUI city!” He noted this after talking about an early date he had with his current wife Lane Carlock. They met at Mellow Mushroom and he bought a $1.99 pitcher of beer. By the time he was done with the second beer, he was buzzed big time. “I’m a cheap drunk!” he said. So tonight, he drank one Heineken, then switched to a Diet Coke.
Someone in the audience asked that classic question: boxers or briefs?
“Definitely briefs,” Howard said. “They’re a lot cheaper.” Then he noted he buys them at Wal-Mart during a “tax-free holiday.” Nine briefs for $6.84, no tax.
“Lord help me!” his wife said, shaking her head.
Another audience member asked how he and Lane met. She was working as a producer for Gary McKee back on June 17, 1994 and Clark said he was taken off the air because of O.J. Simpson being chased in his Bronco. They got to talking and “that was it!”
“Thank you O.J.!” Yates joked.
Permalink | Comments (26) | Post your comment |
7/7: Project 9-6-1’s new morning host
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It took Project 9-6-1 and program director Chris Williams seven months to find a morning host. His name? “Giant” Brian Carothers, a sidekick and producer for the classic rock station 102.9 WMGK-FM morning show in Philadelphia led by John DeBella, is joining Project 9-6-1, according to The Philadelphia Daily News. It’s the last item.
Carothers, a Pittsburgh native, is a standup comic.. He worked on a morning show on WBZZ-FM in Pittsburgh earlier in the decade.
Here’s his myspace page.. And he appears to have a holding page for his Giant Show which has the date August 6, 2007 on it, possibly his start date since he leaves his Philly show July 27. Since he has never been a solo morning host before, presumably he wasn’t a budget breaker for Project’s bean counters. He did have a weekly podcast, the last one from May 3, but as of July 10, he had taken the podcasts down..
I just text messaged Williams for his thoughts. He first joked to me about Giant’s height. “How do you say no to a giant!!! The guy is like 7 feet tall!” he texted me at 12:40 a.m. Saturday morning. When I asked him whether the guy will do a personality-based morning show or merely focus on music and what is it about Carothers that made him so special, Williams opted to be coy. “Those are great questions that I cannot wait to find out the answers, too. Lol! But seriously, in the meantime, it does me no good to broadcast my programming moves to the rest of the Atlanta programmers. The audience will meet Brian when the time is right.”
He says August 6 “isn’t an official date but sometime before the fall book to be sure. When we set a date in stone, I will give you plenty of notice.” (The fall book starts September 20, 2007).
Here are a couple of shots of Carothers at a Veteran’s Radiothon for Philly’s WMGK-FM from the station Web site.
Here he is with George Lopez. I think he’s more like 6 foot 4 not 7 feet, as Williams joked.
And an image from his Web site:
