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10 Questions with ... Paul Fuller & Al Matthews
July 21, 2020
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Paul:
BORN: Indianapolis
RAISED: Los AngelesAl:
BORN: Brooklyn, NY
RAISED: Long Island, NY1. What was your first job in radio?
Paul: Overnight cosmic DJ on wonderfully eclectic AOR station, WABB-FM in Mobile, Al. starting in 1975
Al: I started part-time shifts at WBAB, a rock station in Babylon, Long Island, where I grew up. Eventually I got the overnight shift and then worked 7PM to midnight. They’re still rocking to this day.
2. What led you to a career in radio and was there a defining moment, which made you realize “this is it”?
Paul: I headed to law school after college but another radio job opened up and was having too much fun playing rock’n’roll. After I got my first morning show gig and the ratings meant acceptance and security, I never looked back. Best job EVER!
Al: My utter failure in several sciences I tried majoring in, including Geology. But I always signed up to be a part of the campus radio station because I thought it would be fun. You could say I went from rocks to rock!
3. Before we talk about your morning show, can you give us some of the highlights of your radio career outside of WHJY to this point?
Paul: They were mostly low-lights (I got fired twice). I was at WABB-FM in Mobile playing hand-picked album cuts (and catching the occasional buzz!). Q107 in DC where I was music director and morning show news sidekick… but got fired for saying “porn star John Holmes is hanging up his equipment.” I thought it was a clever way to report his retirement; straitlaced ABC station manager disagreed. Oh, if he could only hear our show now! A quick (ill fated) stop in Memphis and then teamed up with Al back at WABB (which had morphed into a hits station).
Al: In my almost 40 years of radio, I was out of work only once. It’s a tough business, and that truly is a highlight. After WBAB, I worked at WAPP in NYC for a short time. I lost that job, but it took almost 1 1/2 years for me to land my next one at WKPE on Cape Cod. A college friend of mine was working at WROR in Boston, and she snagged me an interview, which landed me a job there, working with some radio legends for several years. The station was sold, and I teamed up with a buddy of mine from Cape Cod to host a morning show at WABB in Mobile, Alabama. My partner left after two years, and Paul and I were literally thrown together.
4. You guys have been rocking HJY since 1990 and are celebrating 30 years together on the air. What was the origin of the Paul and Al show?
Paul: I was ‘let go’ of my job as PD in Memphis and Al needed a new partner in Mobile ; I had filled in for a couple weeks as side-kick/news guy at WABB in Mobile the year before and Al and I hit it off really well so it made sense for the company to team us up. We worked a WABB for less than a year when HJY was doing a long job search for a morning show after the legendary Carolyn Fox decided to leave the show to have babies.
Al: We were actually cellmates in a Turkish prison. I wanted it to be called the “Al and Paul Show,” but you know the old saying: Age before beauty…
5. How are you guys celebrating your 30th anniversary at WHJY?
Paul: In a pandemic-kind-of way! A couple of big parties and concerts were on the schedule but, obviously, that’s off the table. We’ll just be picking our most requested bits over the 30 years and playing them. Thank God our producer Kevin is a wicked-anal archivist. He is also a gift from the radio GODS…because he has been the glue that’s kept the show going for so long!
Al: Sadly, the Corona virus has taken care of any huge celebrations we would like to have. It would be great to have an event where we can thank our loyal listeners for hangin’ with us all these years. But for now, it’ll have to wait. I’m OK with a 31 1/2 -year party!
6. Now let’s talk about the show overall. If you were to describe the show to someone who’s never listened…what would you say?
Paul: It’s pretty fast paced now since we all have short attention spans. It’s super topical, because we riff on the news so every day is different. We are into our rock and roll so lots of music-related stuff, and we talk sports a LOT! Jim Shorts (real name Steve MacDonald) has been at the station EVEN LONGER than us…and he has his own wonderful sense of humor. He’s super quick, witty, self-deprecating and a great guy to work with. We do sports breaks twice an hour so he is a huge part of the show. Jenn, our news woman, is also very talented and brings a (much needed) female perspective but she can potty-mouth with the best of them! Our traffic guy, Johnny Skidmarks, brings another super quick, intelligent humor so we are surrounded by incredibly talented people and it’s helped carry us for three decades!
Al: Our old motto was “Nobody’s safe.” And to some extent, that’s still true. We love playing Classic Rock, like ACDC at 6AM! And we talk about whatever’s on our minds or in the news. Our bosses give us free reign. My personal approach is to keep it funny and real. Nobody wants to be preached to…especially early in the morning!
7. Who else is on the show with you guys and what are their roles?
Paul: I think I just answered that…HA!
Al: Jim Shorts is our legendary sports guy, and he’s been with HJY even longer than we have. Kevin Mulhern is our producer, who worked his way up from lowly stunt boy. And Jenn does the news. Being the only female on the show, she keeps us in line and lets us know when we’re acting like pigs, which is every day.
8. Describe a typical morning show for you guys. a) What is the process? b) How much show prep do you do and what are some of the key benchmarks of your show?
Paul: I prepare for the show in the evening for two to three hours; figuring out who/what the ‘targets’ will be for the next day. I usually lay out a dozen or so ideas/news items and in the morning we’ll check our news feeds and The Complete Sheet and we may find some new items that are even more timely. Some of our benchmarks are The Good Morning Blues, Creep of the Week, Dumbsh*t News, Not All Asians Are Geniuses, They’re Out There! Who Does That? Redneck News, Hero of the Day and our one constant is every Thursday we do Stump the DJ. That’s a call-in/post on social media contest that’s basically listeners submitting timely jokes and the best one wins 94 bucks, a sexy shirt and whatever else we can throw in. We do it for two hours and, astonishingly, it’s still going strong each week after 30 years!
Al: We prepare for the show separately. Although Paul and I find many of the same things to be funny, we take a different approach in reaching the punch line. Paul prepares and writes. I outline and ad-lib. What keeps the show fresh is that we come in every morning with “our own stuff,” so we try to surprise each other with it. The more we work together, the tougher that is to achieve. As for benchmarks, the one that everyone knows is Stump the DJ, where the listeners call or write in jokes and try to stump us with the punchline. We do it every Thursday morning, and it’s been an important part of the show for all 30 years.
9. Tell us some of the best and most memorable moments to date on The Paul and Al Show?
Paul: Best in-studio moment was Bon Jovi (before Sambora left the band) coming in a playing an unplugged show that was supposed to be a 20 minute segment but ended up being two hours. They were insanely talented and really interesting guys as well. Another great memory was doing shows live from London; we had a parade of huge British rock stars coming through our set-up (an old venue called the Rock Garden) and playing unplugged and talking to us for hour long segments. Paul Rogers, Ian Anderson, and Ray Davies of the Kinks were some of the guests.
Al: In the old days, we had colorful characters like Gov Bruce Sundlun and Mayor Buddy Cianci join us live in the studio. We had Bon Jovi (the whole band) perform acoustically on our show. It was supposed to be a few songs, and we were all having such a good time, they played for over an hour. We shaved and painted our ultimate Patriots fan, listener Mike Schuster’s, head several times as they headed toward the Super Bowl. Our listeners literally filled RIPTA buses full of food around the holidays for the homeless. Paul’s in charge of The Big Woody golf tournament, wildly successful every year, raising money form the Amos House. A huge list!
10. Finally, who is funniest person on the show and why?
Paul: Ha! Everyone before me! I’m sort of the content director/straight guy. Al comes up with some of the fu*%ing funniest ad-libs and has more incredible voices than any of the famous impersonators. Jim Shorts is also an absolute riot but for totally different reasons, very much lifestyle/observational stuff.
Al: We all contribute equally, I think. It literally is team work that makes the show as successful as it has been. (Is Paul gone now? Of course, I AM!)
Bonus Questions
What do you like to do for fun and excitement when you’re not in radio mode?
Paul: Well, I’m sick and tired of hearing my own voice at 10AM so I do some type of physical activity every day. So it’s the gym or tennis or biking or golf or hiking or yoga class or swimming/body surfing (Rhode Island has the BEST beaches by the way). O also play classical guitar, and read a lot, but don’t watch much TV (so I have some gaping popular cultural gaps!) And I love cooking with my wife, Barbara (we are celebrating 40 years together!)
Al: I have a 13-year-old daughter, so my role as Dad is my #1 priority in life. I love food and I love to travel, and I appreciate a well-made cocktail. I write a food blog: www.livethelive.com. I’ve traveled all over the world and hope to continue that once life returns to whatever normal is. I’m a Master Gardener, and I love to be outdoors, working in the yard, as well as Camping, whitewater rafting, kayaking. And the dog: my buddy, Fellow. He’s awesome. He even has his own website: www.follow-fellow.com.
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