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Radio personality Doctor
Rock( A.K.A. John Ando)
broadcasts a radio
programme called Rock
Show International on
WCLM 1450 AM located in
Richmond, Virginia, USA.
The subject of the Doctor
Rock's radio show is rock &
roll music. The programme
How long have you been in the radio broadcast business?
I've been in the business for over two years now. I had no experience in
radio before that. I just knew useless rock and roll trivia and tried to do
something with that. I wanted to put that knowledge to use and help
humanity. Chris Bopst of the Bopst Show asked me to do a show and I
became famous, and it has changed my life.
Have you ever been in a band?
I've been in bands before, but came to the realization that I was never
going to be able to sing like Robert Plant. When I realized that I was never
going to sing as good as Plant, I had to take second best with a radio show
on WCLM on the AM.
You are the host of a local radio show here in Richmond. Is it called The
Rock Show or Rock Show International?
Yes we were known as The Rock Show until that fateful day when we took
a call from Canada. Everything was different after that, we have people
listening from all over the world, Australia, Iceland, England and all over
the US. I decided why be Rock Show, because Rock Show International is
better.
You have co-hosts that work with you sometimes on the show- Randy
Baby Randy and The Nurse.
Yes. The Nurse is no longer with the show, but Randy Baby Randy is.
We have known each other a long time and are both from Pennsylvania. I
have know Randy since the seventh grade and we stuck together over the
years. We are partners in crime.
Describe the format of your
show.
Sure. Have you ever read
Cream Magazine back in
the 70's?
Yes, I was one hip 10 year
old! (laughs)
I try to make the show like Cream Magazine but a radio version.
Ridiculous, funny, tenderoni type of show. I try to make it entertaining.
Its ironic, the people know that they are cool, but they understand the irony.
I guess to a degree. Usually the humor is at the expense of myself. Its a
little self deprecating humor.
Cute!
Is that cute? Thank you.
Were there any trivia questions that really got a big response from
listeners, anyone ever get stumped?
There was this one time that I played a mystery group and was giving
away a set of X tickets.
No one could figure it out.
Yea, the answer was The all Swiss punk rock group Kleenex. It was an all
girl group, great band.
I remember that one.
The question that got the biggest response was from the question " When
The Who played on The Smothers Brothers show in the sixties, at the end
of the clip Keith Moon got a stage hand to put about ten times the amount
of explosives in his drum kit.
Oh wow.
Yea, when the explosion went off, it
caused Keith to go deaf in one ear.
There was a very famous actress who
was back stage and fainted when this
happened. The actress was Betty
Davis and she fainted into the arms of
Mickey Rooney. That trivia question
really had people calling in to guess the
actress who fainted. Everyone kept
guessing Elizabeth Taylor.
Do you get stats of who is listening on
the radio or on-line?
Yea it can be checked on the
internet...but no one really checks the
numbers. I like to go by the number of
calls to gage how many people are
listening. The are allot of the same
people who tune in. If there is a night
when the phones are dead, then not
many are listening. There are a lot
listeners who like to call in and talk to
me.
Do you like to put callers who request songs on the air?
I get allot of stalkers, irrational people, or even people I owe money to who
call in. I get afraid that I would pick up the phone and it would be one of
them. You know what I am saying?
Right,exactly.
There are a lot of regulars who call in and say " Hey what the fuck's up"? I
really should put them on the air.
Do you like to communicate with your fans / stalkers?
I email fans and use myspace. It's crazy being a celebrity, its fraught with
danger. (smiles).
What has been your response to the Tenderoni of the month contest?
Excellent.
It was very spur of the moment.
Yes Maia, the first tendoroni winner, looks like a long distant relative
twice removed. (smiles).
It's kind of been in the works, we
have been planning this campaign
for a while.
We, meaning you. (smiles) I had
nothing to do with it.
Yes, she has nothing to do with any
of this.
I just showed up and was like sure
I'll pose for you.
I know you don't want to be associated with a big radio show.
Oh sure I do.
One of the interesting people you have interviewed for your radio show
was Alan MacDonald, who is the author of Prisoner in the Hole, 20 Years
at Hustler Magazine". What was that experience like?
The thing that was interesting to me about Alan MacDonald, wasn't just
that he just worked for Hustler magazine, but that he was involved in the
Los Angeles punk rock scene back in the late 70's. Alan lived at the
Canterbury, it was a big apartment building where all of the punk rockers
lived, liked the Go Go's and the Germs. Alan was the head of Hustler
Magazine for twenty years, he was Larry flints right hand man. Alan had
some very fascinating stories. His book was great.
How do you feel about satellite radio versus terrestrial radio?
Gosh I don't know, do you have satellite radio?
Yes, XM radio. I love it.
I have Serious. I think satellite radio is the future of radio. I do like being
on terrestrial radio, there are only so many people you can reach on the
AM and over the Internet.
What has been your favorite moment so far during the last two years in
radio?
Probably the most
entertaining thing
we did on the show
was when we gave
away tickets to the
Pogues show in
DC. The band
reunited and was
on the road again.
The Pogues had a
really good
following and all of
the shows were
tickets to their show.
Do you feature local bands on the show in studio or play their songs?
Sure, I have played Maia's songs, had Horsehead in studio. I basically
can do what ever I went with the format of the show.
What is the best part about being on air radio personality?
The fame, the acclaim...
The P*ssy. (laughs)
The best part is getting to go in and play some of my favorite songs. I
have a wide variety of tastes in music. I love the Cardigans, Randy Baby
Randy says I am growing a uterus every time I play them because they
are so feminine. I love playing Bruce Springstein, and punk rock music.
What is the biggest challenge to being a radio DJ?
Getting listeners. Carrying in all of my equipment when I get to the
studio, that's pretty hard. (straight face)
(laughs) That's tough. You were featured on a PBS documentary series
called The Virginia Currents, they gave a behind the scenes look at your
show. How did that turn out, was it fun to watch yourself on TV?
Yea it was great. I was hoping that it would be a full half hour, but it was
about 5 minutes long. They filmed me for two nights. They came to my
apartment and showed me getting ready and putting the whole show
together. They showed me lugging all my shit to the studio, its very old
fashion, I use records, and CD's. I take 500-600 CD's to every show.
What do you like about living here in Richmond?
Its cheap to live here, the crime rate isn't too high. There is good people
here. Its great that I can have a show like mine, here in Richmond.
I love this town!
Yea, I've been here for twenty years.
Where would you like to see your career go to next?
I would like to do satellite radio. Satellite is the future and everyone is
going to be listening to satellite radio.
Here is the fishbowl question, it comes from fellow radio personality Chris
Bopst of the Bopst Show. Chris would like to know:
What is your favorite moving story and what music would best
accompany that story?
Chris Bopst and I worked at Starving Students Moving Company for a
while together. There was an elderly Spanish woman who kept saying
over and over " You loose me time, you loose me time!" There was a
band that Chris and I had called Nipplefarm that we were in. Chris and I
wrote a song called "Moving Blues" about this woman. It was an inside
joke.
Nipplefarm?
Yes. (laughs) Chris would call me all the time and just say " you loose me
time" and hang up. You know its the little things that you do in life to
make things extra special.
Go to www.myspace.com/doctorrock
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