David Lee Roth on Replacing Howard Stern | Joe Rogan

And the DJs no longer picked their own records. Program directors picked the records, okay? And it became very specific. Target demo, we want to home in and whatever. Now keep in mind when Howard Stern left regular radio, terrestrial radio for the stratosphere, I got his job in New York City. Oh, that's right. I was broadcasting in seven different cities. I forgot you did that. Okay, Dallas, New York, Philly, I think I was in, etc, etc. And it turns out I think what they wanted was a version of Howard Stern. Okay, great. I'll be a third class Howard Stern or a first class David Lee. My approach to it is very different than his would be. We're two very different people. He's a personality. It's all about interaction. I see myself as show people. I'm music first, okay? So the first thing I'm going to pick when we throw a barbecue is not the food or the guest list, but what's the music? Right. Well, white people listen to Bob Marley when we're on vacation. And when we celebrate things, we listen to Kool & The Gang. And I would play those and the ratings were going up and they were pissing off management. Really? Well, they said, we feel that Leonard Skinner and Nickelback are more appropriate for your audience. So the ratings were going up and they were upset? Yes. And because you couldn't rein me in, okay? Now keep in mind, I hired Kool & The Gang to open for V and Halen tour before it last. You have never seen so many people dancing in one place because that's the sound of every wedding bar mitzvah from bachelor party. Because this is ladies night and the feeling, oh, oh, what did I... And you got to sing that. You look at each other as you're driving going, oh, what did I... So what did they say to you before you took the job? Like what was the conversation when you agreed to do it? What did you think was going to happen as opposed to what did happen? Well, what you say and what is real. Yeah, that's the problem, right? We discussed doing commercials, for example. And I don't feel comfortable doing commercials unless it's something I actually use, like sunglasses or cigarettes. Beyond that, you know, Vermont Care Bear kind of a thing, I don't know. So it was uncomfortable from the beginning. I got fired for playing too much ethnic music and for late night humor too early in the morning. But that was Howard Stern's whole deal with late night humor. No, it's not. It's not? It's kind of humor. What was your deal as opposed to his? Well, whenever we brought on porn stars, I actually knew them. There were no... We'd already gone through the getting to know you phase seasons earlier. Did they expect you to do all talk or did they want you to play music as well? It's just my sense of humor is different, it's unique, as is his and as is yours. We have a league of imitations in our end of the business in broadcasting, okay. But there's no snare drum in hi-hat, nor is there for Howard, you follow. He's very... Again, I start with the music. I start with the ambiance. And if humor arises or personalities arise or we have guests, great. If we don't, that's fine too. And I think they expected other. What I showed up with was it also ranged... It wasn't always funny, okay. Do you think that it was just maybe something you would excel at if they had different expectations? Like instead of following Howard Stern, they just did the David Lee Ross show. Oh, you bet. Do you think you'd still be doing it? Yes. Really? Yeah. Wow. One of the other considerations was the funny, the funny, interview the guests, have pop culture funny guests. Right. And the subject matter, just as we've touched on subjects here that are hilarious and subjects that are pretty dense. Yeah. As I call it, it's gonna detonate halfway down the turnpike. Oh, that's what he fucking meant. It's not stuff that's gonna go away real quick. Do you have any thought about doing that now? Like what if Apple came to you or one of these streaming services came to you and wanted to do something like that? They always arrive with expectations and the expectations, just as we discussed three phases of Anna Nicole Smith and Elvis. Yeah. Which Dave are you referring to? Right, right, right. Well, I just think, just with someone like you, I mean, I'm not a program director, but if I was, I would say just let him be him. Just figure it out. Just let it, give it time to grow. That's what people don't do. They meddle. They meddle. Look, from what I know of you, you're gonna do your best at everything. Everything you do, you're gonna do your best. If I was gonna hire you, that's what I would say. Everybody get the fuck away from him. He's gonna do his best. Now let him hire who he wants to hire and do what he wants to do and put what he wants to put on and let him figure it out. But you hired David Lee Roth. You didn't hire Mike Fitzgerald and Ken Buchanan, whatever the fuck the other people are that work in the office that also want to jizz in the soup. No, you hired David Lee Roth. Let David Lee Roth be David Lee Roth and let it find his legs. That's a difficult entity because it comes with a lot of history. Yeah. You know, and then people will start, folks will start conducting, well, you gotta play this. You gotta play this. And it has a very specific expectation usually.