(I used to write a bi-weekly
column, RadioRadio, for Players magazine in the Tampa Bay area.
The following story appeared in 1990.)
Interview: Fast Eddie
By
Bob Andelman
Fast Eddie Slows Down
They bid him farewell with a medley of Neil Diamond/Air Supply/Johnny
Mathis and then "Fast" Eddie Yarb - master of voices,
traffic, game shows from hell and song parodies - was gone.
"First place and you're leaving now, Eddie?" kidded
Ron Diaz. "When we were in 12th place, that was
the time to leave."
Perhaps the timing was ironic - Fast Eddie bid farewell to
his buds at WYNF (95 FM) on July 19, just one day after the latest
Arbitron ratings showed "Ron & Ron" had risen to
the top of the Tampa Bay area morning ratings heap in virtually
every category.
But for Eddie the chance to become creative director at easy
listening WARM (107 FM) was too good to pass up. Besides, he
may be leaving the station with the top-rated morning show but
he's signing on with a new station that has the highest overall
ratings in the market.
"It is a position that I always wanted, a golden opportunity,"
he says. "I've never really (wanted) to be on-air. I have
no desire to do what these guys do, to be pressed to make ratings.
Money was a small, very small part of it. Matter of fact, they
counter-offered me very nicely. But I'm looking to see what creativity
I have in the real world."
Yarb has now completed his second cycle at YNF. He began at
the station in 1983 as an intern/assistant to Diaz, who was then
doing middays. "I made sure his office was in order,"
recalls the formed flunkie. When Diaz joined up with Jack Strapp
in the "Breakfast Flakes," Yarb started doing "goofy
things" for them. He left in '85 for a stint as creative
director at WTOG-TV (Ch. 44), then returned in '87 as a producer
of Russ Albums' short-lived and under-appreciated morning show.
That's when he was "Eddie Moore," as in "Albums
and More."
That rolled into Diaz's return from a brief stint in Los Angeles
and back to the a.m. and subsequent teaming with comedian Ron
Bennington. As "Ron & Ron" emerged, so did Fez
Whatley, Becky "Flash" Gordon and "Fast"
Eddie, on-air traffic reporter and behind-the-scenes production
and creative whiz.
"A lot of the game show themes are mine," says Eddie.
"A lot of the concepts are developed by me and fleshed out
on a group basis. 'Andy's World' was my idea, although I blatantly
ripped off (Saturday Night Live's) 'Wayne's World.' 'Catholic
Jeopardy' was all mine. So was 'Pick the Pervert.' 'Awful Options'
- done to the American Bandstand theme - was my first
attempt at harmonies."
"I give him all the ideas for the morning show,"
interjects Charlie Logan, who eavesdrops on all of Eddie's telephone
calls.
"Being a producer," continues Eddie, "my job
was to take voices and concepts and jazz them up. I can't take
credit for 'Dykes on Bikes,' but I gave them the format."
A pick-up group he calls Eddie & the Idiots - mostly Eddie
- did the singing on most of "Ron & Ron's" most
famous bits.
One bizarre Fast Eddie concept was "Silk 'n' Jeans."
"My favorite," says Logan, picking up the phone
again.
"'Silk 'n' Jeans' sounds like every bad spot you would
hear over on WRXB or TMP," says Eddie. "It's your Don
Cornelius (host of Soul Train) voice with a lot of echo.
My latest is one is 'Silk 'n' Jeans' having a Marion Barry sale."
An excerpt: " ... Clothes designed to cover up all your
crack problems ..."
"I think Eddie was a good player in the morning show,"
says Program Director Tom Marshall. "He brought a lot more
to the show than just the traffic reports. He'll be missed, but
we'll move onward." (Marla Stone will do afternoon traffic
with Logan; no full-time replacement for Eddie in the A.M. will
be named immediately.)
Eddie - whose 1988 wedding to Karen a one-time YNF secretarial
temp, their honeymoon and the birth of daughter Melissa three
months ago were all chronicled by Ron & Ron - says he'll
miss YNF.
"We really put something together," he says. "It
was tough to make the decision but I'm just looking down the
road for myself. I'm really proud of what we created on the morning
show. It's been 100% blast."
He Called! Finally heard from Randy Wynne at WMNF (88.5
FM), who confirmed the hiring of Greg Musselman as the new station
manager of the alternative community station.
Musselman, who is currently a social worker with a Hillsborough
County youth services program, is a familiar name to the station's
volunteer core and listeners. He's been president of the board
of directors since October and has worked on-air and behind the
scenes himself as a volunteer for the past four years.
The hiring of Musselman ends a nine month search to replace
Lisa McCormick, the embattled former station manager who last
just one year at WMNF.
"I think a lot of people are hoping - because of the
past experience - people are nervous about somebody they don't
know," says Wynne. "Lisa was hired from out of town
and they feel she didn't have an appreciation for what the station
was about."
Musselman takes the conn Aug. 20.
From the Heart of Tampa Bay! I'm real late in reporting
this but long-time WTMP (1150 AM) jock Mark Vann split the station
in April for WYLD AM/FM in New Orleans. Alfonzo "The Fonz"
Blanks picked up his slot and can be heard nightly from 7-11
p.m.
Anybody Remember? ... Dr. Chuck Stevens, former music
director and on-air guy at WLCY? WYUU (92 FM) is bringing him
back on Sun. July 29 to do all-new editions of "Breakfast
with the Beatles." The show will air weekly from 8-9 a.m.
and feature Moptop tunes, rarities and information.
Alert the Media! Have you ever heard WYNF - a.k.a.
95, 95 YNF, YNF or even the Pirate - ever called "Y95"
? Me either, yet the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg
Times insist on referring to it that way.
Question for Mike Welch of St. Petersburg! What's the
frequency?
Say Goodnight, Ed! Famous Fast Last Words: "Meet
a couple of guys who are number one in your hearts and they've
got the ratings to prove it ... Ron & Ron!" (Fast Eddie's
final intro, July 19, 1990.)
Ratings Blarney! Next issue, we'll do our quarterly
dissection of the latest Arbitron ratings. By now you've probably
heard the basics, anyhow: 95's "Ron & Ron" swept
nearly every morning category for the first time; the Q Morning
Zoo and the rest of 105's lineup continue their tailspin; Power
93 is losing ground; and WARM and country kicker WQYK (99 FM)
have shot to the top.
Here's a few harsh notes from program directors around the
dial on the latest ratings:
Scott Robbins, U92: "WHBO did not show! They're
gone. They're not in the book.
"I'm sorry to see it happen. I am. Hey, I like Howard
(Hewes) and Marvin (Boone). But they did it to themselves."
Greg Mull, 98 Rock: "We're happy that we're still
moving up. It wasn't (as much as) I expected.
"The one thing I get out of the book is there's only
one morning show in this town in all formats. Until somebody
puts a morning show on, all the Top 40 (listeners) are going
to YNF.
"Cleveland - there's a big vacuum over there (at Q105)
where he's sucking real bad. And the Pig - they're doing what
we're doing, playing a lot of tunes."
Tom Marshall, 95 YNF: "We try to be entertaining
and informative to the listener but we also try to give them
what they want. The ratings show the people prefer us over 98
Rock, at least in the demos we're after.
"I think some of (the morning increase) is coming from
Q105. The guys are hot. They may even be bringing in people who
haven't been listening to radio. And I think we're getting people
listening longer.
"(Power 93) spent a lot of money on cash giveaways and
yet they dropped down. Maybe they've peaked a little bit. Maybe
it's just the audience sampling. Maybe because Q105 is going
dance and urban, even though their numbers were down.
"(Q105) probably realized it's a different situation
than it was a few years ago. The heyday of Q105 is gone. The
market is tougher and more fragmented. It's tougher for any one
station to dominate the way they had in the past."
95! 95! 95! One place 98 Rock has been hurting 95 is
in the evenings and at night.
"Nighttime has been a challenge for us," says Tom
Marshall. "It's not unusual for a station like 98 Rock to
do well at night. When AOR was core 18-24 adult, (night) was
core. As they aged up, it was harder to get them to listen at
night, they're watching TV, playing with their kids."
Marshall began a new assault on late-night listeners on July
23. He and Charlie Logan are fine-tuning the music from 7 p.m.
on and adding something called "Revvin' at Eleven"
at 11 p.m.
"It'll be an opportunity to air more new music and local
music. It'll be more sizzle, a little more of an attitude,"
says Marshall. "Sometimes it could be a whole hour, other
times it will be 20 to 30 minutes."
Scott Phillips, Robert Reed and Don "The Hitman"
Capone maintain their positions as the overnight guys.
©2003,
All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced without the
express written permission of the author.
|