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From: [email protected] (Carlos Castro)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.greaseman,alt.answers,news.answers
Subject: FAQ:  The Greaseman
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Date: 20 Oct 2000 08:25:35 GMT
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Archive-name:  greaseman-faq

Q:  Who is the Greaseman?

A:  The Greaseman is a radio personality on the Infinity Broadcasting
       network.  He broadcasts from his studio in Rockville, MD
       to Washington DC.  He is known for his bits and song parodies.
       He also has his own vocabulary which he uses to avoid trouble with
       the FCC.  Before, he broadcast out of DC on DC/101 where he competed
       and beat Howard Stern on a consistant basis.


Q:  Who else is part of the Greaseman show?

A:  His producers are Bill Scanlan, and Jim McLure.


Q:  What is the Greaseman's real name?

A:  Doug Tracht.  He prefers to keep his radio life and his personal life
       separate.  He goes by the Greaseman, Jonny Bulky, Jonny Avocado,
       Jonny Doodads, the Doodad Daddy of the Airwaves, and his
       favorite, Bingo!


Q:  Why does Howard Stern hate the Greaseman so much?

A:  Howard worked for DC/101 until he resigned.  When the Greaseman was
       hired to take Howie's place he not only held on to Howie's audience
       but increased it.  Then when Howard syndicated in DC he competed
       with the Grease until the Grease moved to Infinity where they now
       are co-workers for the Broadcasting Giant.  As Grease put it one
       time, they are "Boss Jock Buddies".  You can probably find more
       information about this in Howard Stern's book "Private Parts".


Q:  Which one was the Grease in the Village People?

A:  He WAS NOT REALLY in the Village People.  But in the bit, he was the
       construction worker.


Q:  How can I get in touch with him?

A:  Call him between 0600 and 1000 EST at 202-432-ROCK
       He can also be reached by email at [email protected].  I am pretty
       sure that his producers screen them.


Q:  What bits does the Greaseman do?

A:      Fudgeman-       Fudgeman and his chicken assistant throbin
                       save the world from deviant behavior
       Back in time with an uzi-
                       the Grease uses the equipment in the radio
                       studio to return to key moments in history
                       with his uzi
       Carlos the International Terrorist-
                       Episodes of running into the famed and heavily
                       armed terrorist, Carlos
       Medical Man-    Stories about when Nino was the pompous
                       Dr. Greasemaneli
       Bet the Bomb Bays-
                       Try to stump the Grease, but if you don't, you best
                       drop them pants....
       Sgt. Fury-      the Grease relives his time in Viet
       Deliverance 101-
                       a class in which the Grease analyzes the movie
                       Deliverance.
       Clinton-        a look at how life would be if the Grease and
                       Clint Eastwood got a knock on the head and decided
                       to live alternative lifestyles
       Law Man-        the Grease tells about life as a law man
       Big Dick Brannigan-
                       the Grease tells about his flashback to his past
                       life as a private dick
       Emperor Tocasfacius-
                       the Grease tells about his flashback to his past
                       life as a ruler of the Holy Roman Empire
       Irving Greasemanawitz-
                       the Grease tells about his flashback to his past
                       life as the first Yiddish Lawman
       West Virginia-  Greaseman shows his respect for the people of WVA
       My Daddy-       Description of how Oscar Greasemaneli gets into trouble
       Ugly Women-     Recounts of how The Grease and his daddy picked up
                       and enjoyed ingus with ugly women
       Good Ship Grease-
                       stories about how the Grease spends his lesiure time
                       in his boat.
       South of the border-
                       stories about how the Grease spent time in Mexico
       Toe Monster-    The dreaded Toe Monster is exposed for trying to
                       eat the Greaseman's toes
       Blastapiece Theatre-
                       stories told by Sly Stalone
       Sylvester Stalone sings the classics-
                       Sylvester Stalone sings the classics.
       Rag Nad-        stories about Grease's half space alien love child
       Six Minute Workout-
                       A unique workout for men
       Baby talk-      Conversations with the unborn
       The Greaseman Quiz (formerly the morning quiz)-
                       Watch out Alex Trebek, here comes the Greaseman
       Hobo-doo-ga-ga Handbook-
                       Methods to which recieve ingus.
       Damien-         The Grease has occasion to run into the "dark master"
                       while he is trying to perform his duties.




Q:  What other gigs did Grease do on the radio?

A:  Like any other up-and-coming DJ, Grease worked at other stations in
       other markets to develop his unique style.  They include:

       Washington DC (WRC-AM 980) 1974 - 1976
       Jacksonville, Florida (WAPE) 1976 - 1981
       Washington DC (WWDC-FM 101.1) 1981-1993

       This is an incomplete list, I have emails from many people who
       have had Grease sitings at other stations over the years, and I
       just need to sort throught them and list them.


Q:  Did he always leave on good terms?

A:  In almost all cases, yes.  The one notable exception was WRC, when
       management decided his morning personality wasn't quite right,
       and gave him a choice between dropping the "Greaseman" character
       and leaving.  Grease chose the latter.  If you ask about it
       today, he will joke about the time he was collecting unemployment
       insurance in DC and would "stay up to watch the moon rise and
       CURSE THE NIGHT!" although I'm sure at the time it was somewhat
       unsettling.

       Although he left Florida voluntarily to take the better offer at
       DC-101, he did offend some bible-belt types during his stay.
       The Florida gig was important to developing the Grease as a
       "god-fearing, truck-driving redneck," though. The Florida
       station has since gone to religious music ("From Grease to
       Grace" was their motto for a while).  Their loss.


Q:  Are there any good biographies or other comprehensive stories about
the Greaseman?

A:  Grease is a very private person, and spent a number of years in DC
       before finally consenting to an in-depth story about him in the
       Washington Post Magazine Fall 1987.  It's a good resource to
       summarize his past gigs and overall life story.  Also the
       Washingtonian Magazine did an article on him in the January
       of 1993 in commemeration of his departure from DC.


Q:  What other things has the Greaseman been on?

A:  Grease also appeared on the Larry King Show (early to mid-80's) to talk
       about morning radio in general.  The only down side was that he was
       teamed with a "Morning Zoo" DJ as a co-interviewee, a format that

       has become annoyingly ubiquitous on the radio landscape.  Transcripts
       may be available (don't know how to get them, sorry).  This is the
       old Mutual show that ran all night (Grease probably got up early
       to do it :-), and not the current CNN TV talk show.

       He has been on the G. Gordon Liddy in 1996 show, and on the Don and
       Mike show in 1996.  He has appeared in a couple of Jack Denehy Movie
       of the weeks, "A Search for Justice", and "Champion of the Cheap
       Homoside".  He plays a scumbag in both movies.


Q:  Are there any albums or compilations of Grease bits?

A:  There was a 4-part "Best of Grease" compilation, available on
       cassettes.  These became unavailable shortly before he left DC-101.
       They are now prized collectors items and can only be obtained from
       private owners.  Part of Grease's popularity on a national basis
       before he went into syndication (and hence part of the motivation
       for this newsgroup) was the creation and exchange of bootleg
       tapes among an extended network of fans.  Some of his best work
       has never been republished (although you can occasionally talk
       him into doing them again on his current show).

       He also came out with "Soapin Up With the Grease" in which he video
       taped his bathtime.  "Soapin" also does have a couple of Greaseman
       bits in which you can see him acting out the story he is telling.

Q:  Did Grease ever serve in the military?

A:  Like John Wayne, Grease has a deep and abiding respect for everyone
       who serves in uniform, but never served himself.  During the Vietnam
       war, he was attending Ithaca College in New York, and his draft number
       never came up.


Q:  But Grease did serve as a policeman?

A:  Yes, he did.  While working at his gig in Florida, he worked as
       a reserve police officer on the night shift.  Morning staffers would
       be jolted out of their bleary-eyed state by the sight of Grease doing
       his show in full uniform with a 44 Magnum strapped to his belt.

Q:  Is Greaseman a bigot/homophobe?

A:  Certainly not.  Like the program "In Living Color" or even
       rec.humor.funny, Grease parodies what's funny in everyone, and winds up
       defusing hatred as a result.  Grease respects all of his fans, and
       wishes well even those who don't like him.


Q:  But there was that "Martin Luther King, Jr." incident in DC?

A:  Yes, sometimes there's a fine line between parody and cruelty, and
       Grease crossed the line only once during his otherwise unmarred
       broadcasting career spanning over 2 decades.

       Sometime in the late 80's, he was noting the passing of Martin Luther
       King Jr.'s birthday (which had then only recently become a national
       holiday).  Grease said something about "killing 4 more and getting rest
       of the week off."  Grease was suspended, and apologized for the incident
       on an "Editorial Rebuttal" on WRC-TV in DC.

       Haven't the rest of you made mistakes or are you all perfect?


Q:  What does AMF mean?

A:  He always claims it means "Adios my friends" though there has been
       speculation that it might mean something else.


Q:  What is the "Bit without an Ending?"

A:  When Grease was working in Florida, he would be prevented from
       getting a good day's sleep after his morning gig by thoughtless
       model-airplane enthusiasts who would buzz their models outside his
       window.

       Grease came up with a revenge skit with a model plane of his own that
       would shoot the others out of the sky.  The plane became posessed by
       Damien and started chasing after him.  Grease then got too deep into
       this bit without a way out (and tried to incorporate this into the
       bit).  After fumbling with the sound-effects, and trying a foray South
       of the Border, and then calling in Big-Dick Brannigan, he finally gave
       up groping for a punch line.  Grease can usually be counted on to do
       some of the most impressive ad-libbing and improvisation on the radio
       today, but at that time his talents failed him.  The bit originally
       aired in the Fall of 1982 from WWDC FM Washington, DC/101.

       It's considered a classic, and is on Vol. 1 of the "Best of Grease"
       tapes.  He owns the rights to all his bits, and may rerun it on his
       current show from time to time.

Q:  What stations carry the Greaseman?

A:      City            Station         Time
       ====            =======         ====

       Washington DC   94.7 WARW       0600-1000


Q:  Where can I find Greaseman stuff on the internet?

A:  Steve Olsen <[email protected]> set one up on
       <http://www.netcrusader.com/~olsens/grease>.
       The newsgroup alt.fan.greaseman is also a good place to find
       information on Greaseman.