10 Questions with ... Tom Griswold

1.    What was your first job in radio and early influences?

I was the morning host of a very shaky Top 40 morning show on WETO-AM in Deland, Florida.  It was a great place to have a lot of fun and make a lot of mistakes… because we had very few listeners.  There were only a handful of staff members, so we did everything. We wrote and produced all of the commercials, and most of the time we had to go out and buy records on our own.  The station manager didn’t listen to his own station, so one of our guys even had a “side hustle” playing unlogged commercials and pocketing the cash.  The inmates were running the asylum.   

2.    Can you give us a brief look at your early jobs in radio before The Bob & Tom Show started? 

After WETO I landed in Petoskey, Michigan, a spectacular resort community across the bay from Harbor Springs.  I met Bob Kevoian at WPZ/WMBN there.  The AM was a “live” radio station featuring “Adult Contemporary” music with local oriented programming.  The FM was automated, playing so-called “Beautiful Music” … which was Muzak-like string-heavy ballads and the like. We had to go back and forth between stations changing our vocal delivery to match the formats.  We’d go from cheerful uptempo delivery on the one station, then run down the hall and record the somber delivery required to match the “elevator music” on the other.  Sort of going from Dr. Johnny Fever to Lawrence Welk.The stations were very well managed and quite professional… so, all in all, it was a great learning experience.   

3.    How did the Bob & Tom Show form and what station did it start out on?

Bob and I worked separate shifts at WPZ/WMBN. Occasionally, we would do some talking together as we went from one shift to another… but then Bob left radio and I followed soon after.  After a short while Bob got hooked up with a part-time gig at WJML in Petoskey - a so-called 100,000 Watt Blowtorch - a genuine Top 40 station with a solid crew.  I got a phone call shortly thereafter and was signed on as the news guy.  WJML’s new Program Director, Mike Benson, was cleaning out the former PD’s desk and he found a cassette of me and Bob and liked what he heard… and eventually paired us up to form a talk-heavy morning show.  That’s where the action started for us… so thanks, Mike!

  4.    The show moved to WFBQ/Indianapolis in 1983. How did that move come about?

In 1983 I started getting calls from all over the country asking if Bob and I were available to move.  The calls came in the course of a few days.  It turned out that one of our competitors had presented a tape of our show at a radio convention session called “get your competition out of town.”  (I think I can thank the folks at WKLT for the invisible shove out of the Northern Michigan market). WFBQ in Indianapolis brought us down the next week and we ended up signing on the dotted line.

  5.    Can you give us a few of your favorite highlights of the show in Indy before it became nationally syndicated?

Many… we were “on location” for the shooting of the ending of the movie Hoosiers… we were all over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and interviewed many of the greats in auto racing… we had some of the best comedians in the world come on the air (including George Carlin, Jay Leno, Robert Klein, Garry Shandling, Ray Romano, and Brad Garrett). We produced a couple of charity albums every year (first on vinyl, then on cassette, then on CD).  We even did our own version of the Sgt. Pepper’s cover (and this was before Photoshop).  We made a lot of original music and comedy songs that ended up finding their way to radio stations all over the country.

  6.    Now let’s talk about the syndicated version of the show. When did the first few syndicated stations come on board and how did you tweak the show for your affiliates outside of Indianapolis?

As I noted, our material was being played all over the country … our station owner at the time was Frank Wood, a brilliant guy with a long background in radio.  He led the way with syndication and eased us into markets in Indiana (Fort Wayne, Evansville, and South Bend).  Those early successes led to a broader expansion. As for the show, we limited our local talk to non-network segments…. And it seems to have worked out.

7.    When Bob Kevoian retired in 2015, how was that transition for you and the other Bob & Tom staffers?

Bob had been going part-time for several years, so we were used to his not being there, and we knew his permanent departure might be coming.  When Bob did leave, we spent about five months quietly auditioning “guest hosts” and landed on comedian Josh Arnold.  Josh, it turns out, is a wonderful person… and a hilarious on-the-fly radio guy. I would put it this way:  You don’t replace a guy like Bob. We just reconfigured the show a bit and transitioned to a slightly different on-air staff, which we have been expanding ever since.  

8.    Speaking of staffers, for those who might not have heard the show over the years, who are some of the other players on the air and how long have they been part of the Bob & Tom Show?

Comedian Pat Godwin is our musical heavy hitter.  We do original songs and song parodies every morning.  Pat was, and is, a touring comedian and a radio veteran… originally from WMMR in Philadelphia. My son, Willie Griswold is also a touring comedian.  When COVID-19 hit we were zooming him onto the show from his home in Chicago.  When it became obvious that he was great on the air we had him move back here.

9.    The Bob & Tom Show was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2015, and the show has won five Marconi Awards from the NAB, not to mention the show’s release of over 60 comedy CD’s and DVD’s. How proud are you of these accomplishments?

We’ve had a great time all the way down this road.  We meet great people and every day is a new day full of laughs. This may be the greatest gig in the world (though… actually, I think an afternoon gig would be better).

10.  You recently appeared on a podcast with the Indianapolis Business Journal where you talked about your recovery from heart surgery, working with your sons on the show, and the future of the Bob & Tom radio program. What were the key highlights of that discussion that you can share?

I’ll say this… do your family a favor… take care of yourself and get a regular medical check-up.  I had no idea that I had any health issues, but I went to my family doctor thinking that I might have caught COVID, and it turned out that I had a congenital heart defect. It’s all fixed now, but I would not have known had I not gone to a doctor.  

Ok Tom, I know the Bob & Tom Show is based on comedy, so I hope you don’t mind me asking…who is the funniest person on the show and why?

Everybody is funny… we just take turns being the “Straight Man (or Woman).”

You talk for a living but give us the lowdown on your favorite music…both artists and songs?

My musical taste is all over the place.  I don’t listen to enough music to have a good overview of what’s happening.  I tend to like the traditional song structures found in rock, pop, blues, and country music.  My favorite albums of the last few decades would include “A Few Small Repairs,” by Shawn Colvin, Michael McDonald’s solo stuff, Mac MacAnally, and anything from Little Feat and The Allman Brothers.  I’ve flown all over the place to see concerts by Eric Clapton (I flew to London for the Cream reunion) and Peter Frampton and John Mellencamp. I have small children, so I’m listening to a lot of contemporary pop music and — like it’s always been — some is great, some is not… but it’s all on the radio and one can feel free to change the channel.