-
10 Questions with ... Walton and Johnson
February 21, 2012
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
John Walton and Steve Johnson
1) What were your first jobs in radio?
(Walton) Mine was working the midnight-6a ... Saturday night on KOMA in OKC while going to college in Norman, OK.
(Johnson) My first job in radio was in little ol' Jena, LA. 1978. Fresh out of broadcast school I moved from Houston ... Two million people then, to Jena... Two thousand people then. It was good training, working automated FM and live shift AM at the same time!
2) You've been at it for over 25 years. When and how did you meet and what led to the creation of the team and show?
(Walton) We actually started the show in Feb. 1983 ... so next year is actually the 30th of the show's continued string of success. The show was accidentally created when Johnson would come in early while I was doing the morning show and just start messing around with an open mic ... we were having so much fun (sure as Hell weren't doing it for the money back then) that Tom Durney and Phil Zachary from WQUE/ New Orleans heard the show while scouting another show and offered us the gig instead ... the rest is, as they say, history.
(Johnson) We were working at the same station in late '82 and by Feb. '83 we were just goofing around during John's morning shift and we decided to see what would happen. We got some attention from the folks in NO pretty quick. By June we were in the air in the Big Easy!
3) How would you describe the show?
(Walton) A twisted take on current events laced with a heavy dose of politically incorrect opinion and BS. A fast-paced, tit-for-tat exchange of comments ... well-titted
(Johnson) It's changed over the years. It was more characters and jokes and silliness. Now it's more current events-based. I still do the three basic characters and we both sprinkle in others when appropriate. It's all spontaneous and still goes all over the road, which we like because we have a short attention span.
4) How many stations run the show now?
(Walton) I think it's 14 markets now from our flagship in Houston...
5) Who are the other cast of characters on your show and what roles to they play in the flow of the show?
(Walton) Mr. Kenneth does the Hollywood left-wing perspective ... Billy Ed does our Tea Party perspective...Mr Eaux does our Hip-Hop perspective...we also have Barack Obama and Bill Clinton as frequent quests
(Johnson) " ". With the Gay, redneck, and black perspectives nobody agrees with each other so we can rep many sides of each issue.
6) Do you two spend a lot of time together off-air?
(Walton) Do people married 30 years hang out together much? Neither do we.
(Johnson) Not much ... Just work events like now. Hanging out with celebs at Mardi Gras!
7) Who is a favorite guest of the show and why?
(Walton) For me, it's comedy music guys ... Steven Lynch, Kip Attaway, etc.
(Johnson) I also like the comedians. Stand up and musical. And bands when they play live.
8) Who would be your dream guest on the show?
(Walton) Barack Obama... since 2007 we have had a standing offer for him of a million dollars to be on the show ... provided that he allowed us to hook him up to a polygraph while on the air ... one false answer and he forfeits the money ... so far he seems reluctant to accept the offer.
(Johnson) Bill Clinton would be great, too. He's so bulletproof. I want to learn from him
9) Where do you get your ideas for bits, topics and content for the show
(Walton) Topics are today's events in the news ... bits we don't really do for the most part. We both come in with our prep so that each of us might be amused or surprised by what the other brings...our producer (Sarah Esenwein) and engineer also contribute in the form of live on the fly research and suggestions...
(Johnson) From the news. Politics and Hollywood. And our listeners send us lots of stuff, too.
10) What sort of new developments can we expect looking ahead for the show?
(Walton) How about continued employment? That would be the best. Even though I have been at this since August of 1971 and I think Steve started just a few years after that, I have not made plans for other ways to pay the rent.
(Johnson) We hope (need) to keep working until we are independently wealthy ... Or till Sandra Bullock tells me she can't live without me. So ... we will be at it a while, it looks like. We change with the way society changes. Who planned all this reality TV? We just mirror what we see!
-
-