41 & Done: Becoming Family With Listeners
One of the things John DeBella loves the most about being on the radio is being on the radio. The medium is so personal, he has found himself becoming family with listeners over the years.
Radio DJs become part of your life. As it stands right now, a lot of listeners have never even been in the studio, but you have, in your head, what the room looks like. And what Steve and John look like. You don’t get that relationship in print. You may read something, but you have no idea who that person really is. The same goes for when you’re watching television. You see people on TV, and you accept them, but you don’t have any kind of real friendship connection with them.
With radio people, whether it’s John or anybody else who’s on the air, you have a connection to them. You end up becoming your friends. People like DeBella are with you each and every day. And the reason why this is important is because of something that happened to John some time ago.
For this edition of 41 & Done, John tells the story of a listener who used The Morning Zoo and The John DeBella Show to get through some really tough times. Becoming family with listeners has been one of the greatest honors of John’s career.
John DeBella 41 & Done
John DeBella Interviews Pete Townshend In 1993
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
I know you.” And that’s when John knew this would be good.
It was the longest and probably best interview of his career, according to John. Well at least, that’s definitely what he was thinking in the moment. It was then he realized his lifelong idol was sitting at the table across from him and he was just as drunk as John was. Pete kept a copy of the interview on his own desk for years.
Mick Jones And Lou Gramm With The Morning Zoo
Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
For this edition of 41 & Done, our very own John DeBella tells the story about the Morning Zoo’s dinner with Foreigner’s Mick Jones and Lou Gramm. Find out why to this day, John’s wife Lisa’s favorite rock star of all time is Mick Jones from Foreigner because he was her champion.
Becoming Family With Listeners
Photo by William Thomas Cain
For this edition of 41 & Done, John tells the story of a listener who used The Morning Zoo and The John DeBella Show to get through some really tough times. Becoming family with listeners has been one of the greatest honors of John’s career.
On Stage Announcement During Pink Floyd Show At JFK
Photo by Brian Mark
John sat with the press at the absolute top of JFK Stadium. At some point, there was an intermission in the show. All of a sudden, there was an announcement: “John DeBella, would you please come to the backstage area? Please come to the backstage.” He gets to the backstage area where Gilmour says, “come here, come here. We’ve got a problem.”
Mungo Jerry In London
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There happened to be some musicians in there helping with the show, so they had some instruments set up. When in Rome, right? Instruments, Mungo Jerry, a captive audience. DeBella figured, why not ask? So he convinced him to do a song. And the whole group is going along with it. Everybody in the restaurant was listening to it.
Hawaiian Shirts And Nikki Hoi
Photo by Mike Johnson
For this Friday edition of 41 & Done, John celebrates Hawaiian shirt Fridays. It was a tradition he wanted to let go of. Something he was maybe a little embarrassed by. For years, DeBella avoided all things Morning Zoo.
Comedian Bob Marley
Photo by John DeBella
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, John loves comedians. The first time comedian Bob Marley came into the studio, DeBella did not know what to be prepared for. But there is no one comic like Bob who provides enough gold for a flashback. We laughed just as hard at it as we did the first time listening back to these. When John saw him in the club the first time he came really close to yelling out “Stop, stop!” Because he was in so much pain from laughing.
Takin’ It To the Streets And Robin Williams
(Photos by Jason Kempin/Getty Images, Mark Mainz/Getty Images)
In 1978, Warner Brothers decided to throw a debut party for the new Doobie Brothers album, Minute by Minute. The Doobie Brothers had been on A roll for the past couple of albums. A couple of years earlier, they had the single “Takin’ It To The Streets” out and Warner Brothers decided to have a “takin’ it to the streets” party. They closed off the intersection of Mulberry and Mott streets in the middle of Little Italy in Manhattan. These parties were always special, but DeBella was used to going to them. John assumed that this would be like any other party, but for some reason, this one became a huge Hollywood event. There were more actors at this party than there were radio and record people.
Braces To AARP
Photo by John DeBella
When you do this for a living, you don’t necessarily on a daily basis understand how involved people are with the radio program. Since he made the retirement announcement, though, John has gotten e-mails from people that have brought him to tears. Here is one that reminded him why he loves radio.
Morning Zoo And Paul Chan
(Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
During the course of the year, the Morning Zoo did the Atlantic City broadcast and also a week of shows in London. When in London they heard about this guy. He had the “Graceland Chinese restaurant.” Graceland? What the heck did those two things have to do with each other? They went to the restaurant and Paul Chan, who was the owner, was also a huge Elvis fan. And performs an Elvis show every night. In his restaurant.
Christopher Walken
Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival
In 2011, The John DeBella Show got to speak to Christopher Walken. And in that conversation, John asked him about who does the best impression of him. Because everybody at that time was doing impressions of him and, well, the conversation went like this…with a big surprise.
Led Zeppelin In A Bar
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Any night of the week, you could go to a club and see any a band that was coming through town. DeBella’s friends and him frequented this place called The Action House more than any of the others. It was close by. They wouldn’t check our ID and we could drink. Yeah, they were underage drinking. Someone said they heard good things about this band that was playing at The Action House that night.
Warren Zevon And The Morning Zoo In Atlantic City
Photo by John DeBella
When The Morning Zoo would do the shows in Atlantic City, Warren Zevon would come. When people would come in, they would come in the afternoon before they were going to appear. They’d get themselves settled in and then they would rehearse with the Flaming Caucasians and they would figure out what songs they were gonna do the next day. The Caucasians could do anything. There was nothing you could throw at that band that they could not do.
Bill Wyman In Studio
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You have to have this piece of context before you listen to the interview. Paul McCartney once told a story about how him and John Lennon were walking down the street and a cab came by. It was Keith and Mick inside. The two of them said, “Hey, give us a lift!” So, they jumped in the cab with them. They started talking about music. At the time, Paul was working on, “I Wanna Be Your Man.” The Stones were looking for a song. Listen to Bill set the record straight.
Partying At Bob Marley’s House In Jamaica
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So this one particular year DeBella was going to stay at a hotel most musicians hung out at. A man was outside the hotel waiting for John to arrive. He said, “Don’t check into the hotel. Bob Marley has made arrangements for you to use one of his properties.” They drive a little further up the road and off the beaten path, and they pulled up to this really nice house. If Bob Marley wants to take care of you, you’re gonna let Bob Marley do that.
Some Guy Peed On John DeBella
Photo by John DeBella
John was doing his business. Some guy, drunk out of his mind, comes in and needs the urinal also. The thing was 20-some-odd feet long, but where does he stand? Right next to John. Standing is really in question, as well, because he was weaving from side to side. DeBella made the mistake of turning and looking to his left to make sure the guy wasn’t going to tip over. At that very moment, the guy turned his head and saw John. In 1984, John’s notoriety in town was really beginning to build. So he wasn’t the most anonymous person on the planet. As he turns and sees John, there was a look of recognition.
Calling John Entwistle
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On this one particular day, when Roger Daltrey was there on the show, John said, “Tomorrow, Kenny Jones is going to be here, and Pete was here the other day. You’re here today and the one person we unfortunately weren’t able to get a hold of was the ox. So we have his phone number here. So what we’d like to do is call him.”
Final Chris Epting Hit
Photo by Chris Epting
John touts Chris as hands down, one of the most interesting characters he has ever had on his radio show. Their bond was definitely one that was destined to happen. Over the years, the two got close by swapping rock stories. He is one of John’s favorite recurring guests ever.
Jon Anderson In Atlantic City
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John was not gonna let an opportunity pass. John thought if he could get Jon Anderson to sing, it would be epic. When they came down to Atlantic City, they thought they were coming to do a live radio show. Or, a live show from a radio station. They didn’t realize that the show itself was being broadcast as well.
John Oates Set John DeBella Up On A Date
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Things went relatively smoothly at first. But, John was definitely dressed wrong for the club. Not that he looked unhip. He was wearing too much clothing. It was hot in the club and he was sweating bullets. To calm himself down, he decided to drink Jack Daniels. So we’ve got nerves, overdressed, hot room, bourbon.
Jerry Seinfeld In Studio
Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images for Comedy Central
When he came in, this was at the time when most radio stations and people weren’t putting comics on the air. Most of America really didn’t know about him. But he had just been on The Tonight Show. It was one of his earliest appearances. We got him to appear in Atlantic City as well years later because he always loved Philly. This clip is likely from 1984/85. Jerry Seinfeld in the studio.
