Summer 2008 is beginning to acquire a bit of a time warp quality for me. There’s a Gustafsson back in the Capitals’ organization, for instance. Then this morning I was riding up to a neighborhood gas station for my weekly wallet-letting there, and accidentally tuned to DC-101, I was startled to hear the dulcet tones of a seemingly ageless Doug Tracht, aka Nino “the Greaseman” Mannelli.
You really do have to be north of 35 and a D.C. native to appreciate what “Grease” did to and for Washington radio nearly a generation ago (mostly to). I was uniquely vulnerable to his schtict in the early ’80s: adoloscent, thoroughly puzzled (as now) by the mystery of the female, and matriculating through a single-sex high school in suburban Maryland. It was, for four years, a morning ritual among my mates to gaggle over reprisals of Greaseman bits from that morning. His on-air joie de vie can best be summarized, I think, as prurient juvenility. And at 15 and in the ’80s, it sure worked for me and thousands of mostly male Washington radio listeners.
I made my way home from my gas run this Saturday a.m. and back on line at home I wasn’t surprised to discover that there’s a web site chock full of MP3 “Grease” bits from ’80s radio in D.C. For you who grew up here as I did it could be a pleasant stroll down Memory Lane; for newcomers, it’s an effective introduction to a broadcast talent whose likes we hadn’t seen prior to nor after Tracht’s first run at 101. The station now has a Grease page at its site, so this Saturday stint is very much a weekly welcome home party.
Turns out, Grease returned to 101 this April, and he’s on every Saturday from 8:00 – noon. But I discovered his return just this morning. It’s welcome a blast from the past, particularly in our so thoroughly depressed commercial radio times.
The Greaseman arrived on 101 as Howard Stern’s replacement in 1982, Stern by then having obliterated his welcome here with his infamous on-air inanity in response to the Air Florida crash into the Potomac River. Eighties FM radio was very vibrant as media — these were the glory album rock days of the best of Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Rush, an ascendant Springsteen, the not-yet-geriatric Stones, among many others — and big-market stations sought big personalities for morning drive. When Stern left, as much of a relief as that was for most parents in the region, there was a chasm created for DC-101 in a rugged radio marketplace for its most lucrative time slot.
DC-101 recruited Grease from his highly successful radio program in Florida in 1982, and he not only replaced Stern but bettered Stern’s no. 1 numbers, and for some years ranked as the far-and-away no.1 in Washington morning radio. His run at 101 lasted from 1982-1993.
It’d be impossible for me, then or now, to identify a single favorite Grease gag. His “Habledogaga Handbook” he delivered to his listeners to help them “recognize the cheap and tawdry [amorous] moves being made by or upon them,” to acquire “methods with which to cut a quick slice.” In the Handbooks he’d relate his successes donning a priest’s collar and betraying a maiden’s trust at dinner; engage in license-revoking behavior as a medical professional; and author similarly unprofessional behavior while wearing law enforcement uniforms. This latter latitude was ironic in that Tracht had and has a deep and abiding respect and affinity for the men and women in law enforcement — he’s served as a volunteer sheriff in our region in recent years.
His “Holy Roman Empire” foray, showcasing his characteristic creativity, was decidedly unholy.
Nothing was sacred on his show, and ultimately, as with Stern, that was Grease’s undoing. In 1985 he outraged listeners of all backgrounds with an unrepeatable insult about Martin Luther King. He cracked up again in 1999, while broadcasting in small market exile. By 2002, he was relegated to broadcasting from his home in Frederick, Md.
He’s understandably misunderstood and misrepresented as boorish and even racist, but in the totality of his schticts and career he’s seemed, to me, ever to be attempting to defuse society’s prejudices, languishing — most laughably — in the bawdy and lurid all along the way. I know this, my ’80s Washington mornings were made most memorable by him.
For as long as I’ve known his program Grease has signed off his show with “AMF” — Adios . . . fill in the blank. This morning it was nice to say hello to him again.
Contents
RSS
Site Admin
-
Archives
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
Caps Links
- Adventures of a Hockey n00b
- Alex Ovetjkin
- Capital Letter
- Capitals Insider
- Capitals Kremlin
- Capitals Outsider
- Caps Girl
- Caps in Pictures
- Caps Official Site
- CSN Caps Page
- D.C. Sports Bog
- DC Optimist
- DC Pro Sports Report
- Fight For Old DC
- Hershey to DC Hockey
- Hockey Night in Baltimore
- Homer McFanboy
- Ice Pact
- In The Room
- Japers’ Rink
- Joe Beninati’s Blog
- John Walton Hockey
- Love the Game …
- Lovey Land
- Musings of a Hockey Mom
- Net Asset
- Net Asset
- Off Wing Opinion
- Pass Shoot Score
- Peerless Prognosticator
- PennLive.com’s Hershey Blog
- Puckhead’s Thoughts
- Punch in the Face
- Rock the Red.net
- Russian Machine Never Breaks
- Simply Sensational!
- Stackthe Pads
- Storming the Crease
- Talk Hockey To Me
- Ted’s Take
- The Hogs.net
- Thoughts on Goal
- Tic Tac Toe Hockey
- Two Minutes for Blogging
- WNST Ed Frankovic
Favourite Reads
General NHL
- A Theory of Ice
- All Things Hockey
- Bangin Panger
- Barry Melrose Rocks
- Brochu is Hockey
- Color of Hockey
- Curl and Drag
- Fanhouse
- Forum Ice
- From the Rink
- Goon Blog
- Greatest Hockey Legends
- Hockey Blog in Canada
- Hockey Fights
- Hockey Independent
- Hockey Leaks
- Hockey Primetime
- Hockey Week in Review
- HockeyAnalysis.com
- HockeyBarn.com
- HockeyNation
- icethetics
- IllegalCurve.com
- Mike Chen’s Hockey Blog
- NHL Arena
- NHL Digest
- NHL Hot Stove
- Puck Stops Here, The
- Puck The Media
- PuckUpdate
- The Strangest One Of All
- Toe Drag
NHL Atlantic
NHL Central
NHL Northeast
NHL Northwest
NHL Pacific
NHL Southeast
Other
Yardbarker
Categories
-
15 Comments
Waddle Doodle….no wonder they drag them behind trucks! Apollllooggizzzzeee!!
LINGER LONGER!
It’s interesting that he’s been in exile for the better part of 20 years. You compare what he said with what Don Imus said, and wonder if the punishments were appropriate for both. Of course, this was also a “one-off” for the Greaseman while Imus has made similarly racist comments numerous times.
I do know that the Greaseman had numerous fans at my all-Black high school, and most of them forgave him much faster than Imus.
After the DC/101 years, he had a night time national radio show heard locally on WJFK. He broadcast a series of shows with a live audience at the DC Improv and I was able to attend. While fun to listen to on the radio, it was more fun to attend with a large group of people…. oh.. and beer, too.
Time to update my Hobble de gaga Handbook!
As one of those aficionados of the ring-dang-doo “north of 35,” I really dug this article. “Big Dick Brannigan” was personally my favorite grease character, but I loved them all. For the couple of years he was broadcasting on barely-audible AM WMET 1160, he also podcasted his show, a godsend for those of us out of range and/or at work during his show.
It’s a mystery that Imus and Stern would say in a single month numerous things far worse than the couple of bits that got Tracht fired. Hopefully he’ll be back. LONG LIVE THE GREASE!!!
I remember hearing Greaseman utter something about a “California potato chip”.
If you remember what a “California potato chip” is, then you probably can describe an “upper decker” as well.
“Upper decker” killed me when I first heard him talk about it back in the late ’80s. “California potato chip” was new to me and had to look it up. Oh my.
Bleh. Why did I look up “California potato chip?” I should have known better.
DCSC,
Curiosity killed the cat.
I am surprised that you were still listening to Greaseball at the age of 15. It took the mentality of a 14 & under with an I Q of 70 & under to be entertained/ by an idiot. Trying to compare Imus, stern & all the other sleezeballs to Greaseball is like comparing the scumballs in sink traps to pond scum.
To add another dissenting view — I happened across this guy two Saturdays in a row while driving out of town and turned it off after a few minutes both times. I didn’t know who it was until this post, so I guess thanks for giving me a name for who to avoid in the future. His voice/shtick is awful.
Those who don’t “get” Grease have no appreciation for the deft use of the English vocabulary. He was the Urban Dictionary of his day. Way ahead of the curve in the deployment satire and skilled innuendo. Sgt. Fury was my favorite bit. Still can’t get those Asian chants out of my head..
You don’t need to be north of 35 to have memories of Nino Grease Minelli; I was a bold-faced lad of a tender age when I started to listening to Grease. While my friends were still playing with their toys, I was dreaming of making runs south of the boarder, taking trips to West Virginia, and cutting zesty slices with the lunch lady. Perhaps it was my early expose to the Habbledega Handbook that made me so popular with the ladies.
Does anyone remember those kick-ass DC-101 TV spots featuring Grease in various costumes (police uniform, poncho with bandellaro, etc.)? I believe it was set to REO Speedwagon.
I never understood why the rest of the radio community gave him such a hard time; while Don and Mike were still doing their own wacky brand of morning zoo radio, Grease was blazing uncharted radio territory. There hasn’t been an act like his since.
I remember the “Greaseman” when he was on the air here in Rochester NY and was surprised that he only lasted 9 months. It seemed he was here longer, he was good though.
Post a Comment