Alanis Morissette "You Learn"

When you're a morning show producer and the host of the show asks you to get a guest, you better deliver. In the case of Bill Leff, he had an idea for a recurring segment back when we worked together at WNND-FM in Chicago. At the time, our radio station was playing all-Christmas music and Bill wanted to do an on-air Advent Calendar where each day we would turn to a celebrity to reveal what was on the calendar. His pick for the celebrity: Ed Asner. It was 2003 and I had no idea who Ed Asner was, so I went to IMDB and learned he was on Mary Tyler Moore and discovered he was going to be in the upcoming Will Ferrell film Elf. That could help me book him on the show -- or so I believed.

Many unanswered phone calls later, I suggested to Bill that we turn to Plan B. Asner's people weren't interested in doing some silly radio bit. We discussed using a Harry Caray impersonator or Edie McClurg (the secretary from Ferris Bueller's Day Off) or even Chicagoan Bill Kurtis...none of which scratched Bill's itch. Then, one afternoon, I got a voicemail from Asner's secretary who requested I phone her and go into more detail about the bit. I called her and she actually answered. I quickly explained what we wanted to do and then faxed some sample scripts to her. Again, I didn't hear anything. A few days later, she called and said that Ed agreed to do it. WHAT?!? I called Bill and shared the news. He was equally shocked and excited.

We phoned Ed to tape all the segments and he had some trepidation. The script seem off, he told us. "It seems to me that people should be nicer the closer we get to Christmas," he explained. Our script didn't reflect that. "We can do that! You want to do that?" Leff reassured him. The script called for Asner to became progressively angrier with each passing day. Things like "a candy cane" turned into "a ratty-looking elf with an overbite" as each day passed. There was even a day when Asner snarled, "I don't feel like doing one today," and then hung up the phone. We all laughed and sat in amazement that he was playing along. When we aired them back, listeners were confused. Was it really Ed Asner? Why was he so angry? Was he pretending to be so upset? Some folks even kept track of all the items on the Advent Calendar believing it would lead to cash and prizes (it didn't, but we were flattered). For Leff, it was comedy gold. For me, I felt validated for delivering to Leff exactly who and what he wanted.

Barbara Streisand & Neil Diamond - "You Don't Bring Me Flowers"

The morning show I produced back in 2003 had the opportunity to interview Neil Diamond.  While we all knew of Neil Diamond, we really didn't know what to do with the interview.  The host of the show had an idea: the female co-host would do the interview solo but, after the interview, the host would ask Neil a series of questions that Neil would "ignore".  The gist of the bit would be that we received word before the interview that Neil Diamond didn't like the host and would refuse to answer any questions from him.  We taped the interview as planned and played it back.  What followed was an onslaught of Neil Diamond fans who emailed the station complaining about what we had done.  They claimed (falsely) that the interview was completely fabricated because Neil talked about the Cubs instead of the Red Sox (it was true--Neil did talk about the Cubs).  I can only imagine what these same fans did when Saturday Night Live did that Neil Diamond Behind The Music parody.

Kansas - "Dust in the Wind"

Long before Will Ferrell shouted: "You're my boy, Blue" accompanied by "Dust in the Wind", my brother used to perform this Adult Contemporary gem on his guitar each night.  It was the mid-80s and he was taking guitar lessons which meant that our entire household had to hear this song each night for thirty minutes.

Christopher Cross - "Ride Like The Wind"

I missed Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy performing "Ride Like the Wind" with Christopher Cross on Jimmy Kimmel Live.  This song exemplified 1980's Adult Contemporary music.  Thanks for keeping it alive, Ron!