John & Gordy dive deep into the early days of the Onion, and DPW's Graeme Zielinski.

John: "I've always been a big fan the Onion, especially in the very early days. Gordy and I interviewed two onion representatives, Democratic Party of Wisconsin's former spokesman Graeme Zielinski and Rich Dahm (I believe that's his last name) and dug deep into the headlines. Straight faced and serious, the Onion stayed true to its purpose; being the first report stories no one else noticed. Zielinski's sharp edged humor is more than apparent here."

John & Gordy's Media World remembers Night Owl Movies 2

John: "Just more stuff from the old Night Owl Movie, where the movies were so bad we had no choice but to unmercifully sell Rural Route 1 Popcorn over and over and over. It was still fun."

Gordy "Ok...John's right, the movies were so bad that they were becoming a drag...we should have resorted to wearing masks and drinking large quantities of alcohol...at least I still had my mullet..."

John & Gordy's Media World remembers Big Sky Theatre movie show.

John: "The Night Owl Movie officially came to an end, making way for The Big Sky Theater, in tribute to the outdoor theater of the same name where Fox 47 is now located. We pretended to be concession guys on a budget. See the special appearance of New Orleans Takeout's John Russos, who came by for some campaign contributions. Gordy pursues PM Magazine's Sarah Van Allen, stopping her from taking our sponsor away."

Gordy: "OK, I have to admit that during this time period, I had a crush on Sarah Van Allen..(so did a lot of guys!)..I had briefly worked with her at WTSO/Z-104 when she was a night time DJ on WTSO...John & I were thrilled she agreed to do this little comedy bit on the show...People in Madison probably remember her best as a TV spokesperson for Smart Toyota...She eventually moved to Sacramento, California and had a successful career as a KCRA-TV anchor named Sarah Gardner..."

John & Gordy Night Owl Movie 3 a Retrospective of Pops.

John: "Night Owl Movie's were horrible, so Gordy and I did everything we could to distract away from the main attraction. We took a look back at the 60's, when we first interviewed the owner of RR1 Popcorn. Very groovy. But Gordy grilled our sponsor and practically ran him off the set.

By the way, that was my actual apartment at the time, and my huge spool top table."

Gordy: "Sorry, I just about peed my Depends watching this clip!...

What's really amazing when I think about this, is how much the management at Fox 47 let us get away with, mainly because it was aired late at night...they were happy that we had a sponsor, and we got away with murder...(yes, we actually murdered a few people in the crew over the years...but that's another story..)"

John & Gordy and the Night Owl Movie with Stu Hopfensberger.

John: "Here's a string of the Night Owl Movie breaks featuring Gordy and me. You can see we were nearing the end of the series run. The final debate over Rural Route One Popcorn's superiority, with special guest sports guy Stu Hopfensberger, is bizarre."

John & Gordy with more of Dave Gray and Mike Mercury.

John: "As I promised more of the late Dave Gray and his friend Mike Mercury, who's alive and I think is still touring. Dave went on tear about losing his Fox 47 music show, Hot Tonight, and his continued job struggles.

I also tortured them with my honeymoon videos, and a special appearance of Ann, my wife."

John & Gordy with the Madison's Ivory Library.

John: "Here's one of my favorite songs of all time, by local group Ivory  Library. When I grew up in Milwaukee, everyone followed the local groups, and when I came to Madison...it was like local group heaven.

Here's just a partial list; Skunks, Tony's Tygers, The Robbs, Woodbine, Susan and Richard Thomas, Messengers/The Movies/Morgan & Barnes, The Legends, Baroques, The Coachman,  Destinations, Hardy Boys, Harvey Scales and the Seven Sounds, the Invaders, Next Five, Monroe Doctrine, On Broadway, Pat McCurdy & Yipes, Shaprels, Bogus Chimes, Snopek, Speedy & the Alkaseltzers, Spooner, O'bros, Soup, Sidewalk Skipper Band, Spooner, Thee Prophets, Toy Factory, Trodden Path, The Wrest, Weisenheimers, Underground Sunshine....etc. And that doesn't even include the great local Chicago groups."

John & Gordy take a look back at Triple M radio.

John: "We reveal a behind the scenes peak at Gordy's "Thought for the Day," his morning radio feature on Triple M, that most people couldn't wait to hear. Check out the staff in the early days at a Halloween open house, after Gordy and I ushered in Triple M's current block buster format. Unfortunately, we quickly wore out our welcome with the sales department. It was ugly."

Gordy: "This is bizarre for me to watch, because I have absolutely no memory of this open house Halloween party at Triple M...it could be that at this point in our career, John had resorted to using an imposter playing my part...I wouldn't put it past him... I remember virtually nothing of the radio station...the deejays were all cool, but the rest of the place was like working in an alien world..."



This is one of those rare moments where an advertiser hired us to host Super Bowl 27, at Babes.

John & Gordy Listen to theme song ideas from the O'bros!!!

John: "Local group the O'bros stopped by with a song and a few catchy John & Gordy themes songs.  Fun stuff and real ear worms."

John & Gordy spread rumors and review movies.

John: "We often times exposed those media celebs who made the news involuntarily, all the while keeping their identity a secret...kinda. See for yourself. What I forgot these many years was how cutting edge we were, for pretty much introducing radio talk guys to cable access. Remember Chicago's Steve and Garry?

We also showed movie clips and gave brief reviews that made viewers flock to Siskel and Ebert for something better. Mission accomplished."

Gordy: "I always thought John's movie reviews were spot on...especially on the radio "Johnny at the Movies" was great, every time...There was never any doubt about whether he liked a film or not, and the production values of the review were top-notch...the music, the clips...great stuff.

As far as Steve & Garry goes...we were well aware of what they were doing, but we never copied them. We just really, really liked working with each other, and had so much fun...there was no need to copy anybody..."

John & Gordy with former PM Magazine Host Dan Smith.

John: "Former PM Magazine host and local producer Dan Smith joins the program for a look at a few outtakes."
Gordy "Sometime after this appearance, Dan called me up out of the blue one day and asked me to audition to do weekend weather at WMTV...I said, 'I don't know anything about weather, Dan'...he said, 'That's OK, neither does Elmer Childress, and he's been doing it for 30 years'!...He was right, and I ended having a 20 year career doing TV weather...Dan was great to work for..what a funny guy!

John & Gordy with Sly

John: "Here's a fun interview with Sly, who at the time, was doing the morning show at WIBA-FM. He replaced be after new management came in and fired me for being to controversial. Really?

We both haven't changed much over the years either...okay, maybe in the looks department, but that's it. Sly is now back on the air at Big FM, 93.7 WEKZ in Monroe, Wisconsin. The show is now called "Driving Home with Sly."

Gordy: "When I first met Sly, he was doing overnights at 92FM-WMAD (this was the first time I worked there, about 1982)...off the air, Sly was a funny, sarcastic guy-we got along fine...on-air, he was a serious FM rock jock, but he wasn't ready to speak his mind on the air much yet-that wasn't the format we had anyway...he found his voice years later when WIBA-FM let go of John for being "too controversial" and replaced him with Sly, who they thought would be "safe" and would just "shut-up and play the music"...the rest is history..."

John & Gordy with Comedians Mike Mercury and Dave Gray.

John: "Dave Gray passed away in 2002. So here's a glimpse of Dave with fellow comedian and friend Mike Mercury. Dave was always trying to take our time slot, and host the show as a fill-in. It was kind of running gag with us. I really miss his nonstop dialog. There's more of Dave to come."

John & Gordy with Sarah Van Allen and Night Owl Movies.

John: "This is a clip show, where we brought in a few special moments from our old Night Owl Movie and Big Sky Theater shows. Bad yes, but no ones forcing you to watch. Like an accident though, you might be tempted anyway. A special appearance of Sarah Van Allen."

John & Gordy with Fred Gratton's scene stealing movie role in No Mercy.

John: "Long time friend and fellow Cable Access 4 believer Fred Gratton revealed his secret past as an actor, in a not so secret scene in the Richard Gere movie, No Mercy. Who knew?"

John & Gordy get the inside scoop about Gordy's exit from Fox 47.

John: "After a bumpy start, John & Gordy get back on track with a true rumor, confirmed by the Gord-ster. Goodbye Fox 47 and the Kids Club? He broke the hearts of so many children, and left a cast of puppets unemployed at a time when puppet jobs were tanking."

 

John & Gordy with Jonathan Little!!

John: "Radio legend Jonathan Little stopped by to embarrass us, make us look like amateurs. Oh yeah, we were."

John & Gordy with Marques Bovre and the Evil Twins!

John: "Basement Bands was an idea that started well, but then fell apart due to our own lack of energy. Don't get me wrong, nothing would have been more incredible than to have Madison's best local talent on for entire half hour, but it was a lot to ask when you consider the size of the Access 4 audience.

Marques Bovre and the Evil Twins performed our favorite songs, along with a real oddity at the end of part 2. These guys should have made it nationally. Another missed opportunity in the music world. I'm hoping the remaining band members are okay with his nugget of brilliance featured here. What a time..."

"Marques Bovre died peacefully at his home early Monday morning, February 11, after a long tussle with a malignant brain tumor."

NOTE: A better cleaned up version is now featured at the Marques Bovre website, watch it there:



Here's part 2

John & Gordy's First Show and set Tour.

John: "If you thought our other shows were free form and on the incoherent side, this is that and more, our first show. Ever wonder about the picture behind us? Or the world map? No. Than who cares how bad this is. Since none of the shows are great, here's another one."

 

John & Gordy with Francois Fox and Cowchip Competition.

John: "In this episode, I get to work with a puppet, Francois Fox, from Gordy's Fox 47 kiddie show. We also talk with the guy who put together the annual cowchip throwing competition in Prairie du Sac."

John & Gordy with Cheap Eats reviewer and Cartoonist Jay Rath

John: "Jay Rath, a former local food critic and cartoonist for the Capital Times, appeared behind a curtain to  maintain his secret identity while reviewing restaurants. Unfortunately, Jay kept leaning out from behind the curtain.....

Jay also did our John & Gordy logo, and Pirate Radio audio bit on my former WMAD 92FM morning radio program, "The Family Show." He also help Onion News Radio get its start with founder Scott Dickers."

John & Gordy with Mark and Beth

John: "The famous Mark and Beth from WISC's Live at Five make an appearance with a best of Mark and Beth outtake real. They will never live this down. Mark Koehn is still plugging away with co-host Susan Siman. Fun stuff. Many years before, Mark and Beth participated in a phony Fitchburg Day's Parade, a local city without an actual downtown."

John & Gordy's "Gordy at Large."

John: "Gordy did a few cute stories of his own, professionally edited too, and here's one of 'em. He called it Gordy at Large, and went out and interviewed a few East Side artists who set up the "aVant Garde Museum of Temporary Art" in their front yard. Basically, they ran out of room in their home.

Sorry about the quality, but what did you expect from the 1990's, HD?"

John & Gordy with Pam Tauscher.

John: "WMTV's News Scene 15 anchor Pam Tauscher stopped by without co-host Rick, and puts up with a whole lot here as we struggled to make sense of her appearance. Gordy seems to be a bit angry here as well, and beats up on Pam. Our belated apologies."

John & Gordy with The O'bros

John: "John and Gordy's Media World had a few favorite local groups on, and one of the best, the O'bros, came by and played their latest music video. Keep in mind, my memory has faded considerably since those days, so any help fine tuning what really happened here is appreciated in the comments section.

As always, use the search box for specific guests names if you're wondering if you might just be included here."

Welcome to John & Gordy's Media World.....

John: "We're two old radio veterans kicked out of the business by a corporate media that couldn't afford us.

I wish.

We've got a checkered history in both radio and television, and it's all preserved on video, audio  and in photographs. So we've decided to post some of it for fun, and to embarrass those who shamelessly went along with us."