D&D Primer Course #2 - The 94.7 WCSX Days

Here's the history of The Deminski & Doyle Show (at least to the best of our knowledge):

1993 or 1994-1999 -- NJ 101.5-FM WKXW
1999-2007 -- Detroit 97.1-FM WKRK (changed to WXYT-FM in Oct 2007)
2008 -- "Non-compete" year, remained off the air due to clause in WKRK contract
2009 -- Detroit 94.7-FM WCSX (classic rock station)
2010-2011 -- "D&D Fill-In Tour" in Philly, New Orleans, Minnesota, California, & Miami
July 2011-present -- Back at NJ 101.5-FM WKXW

Last weekend we highlighted some classic D&D moments from the WKRK 97.1 days...this weekend, we're going to expose new D&D listeners to the WCSX year of 2009. Jeff and Bill took over the morning slot in January, 2009 with high expectations, but the format of the "new" D&D show was vastly different than what their old fans were used to and the management of the new station often pushed back against their formula that worked so well for so many years in the drive time afternoon slot. They parted ways with WCSX after the holiday break at the end of the year and they were given the rare chance to say goodbye to Detroit for what would turn out to be the final time on January 4, 2010. There were many scattered, fragmented days during 2009 that many may consider forgettable, but there were a ton of hilarious moments as well, largely thanks to their supporting cast -- screener / asst. producer / all around "show bitch" Rudy DeSantis, "benign tumor" weather girl Nicole Salem, producer and Louie Anderson impersonator Jim O'Brien, and the "sports guys," Jason Carr, and Jamie Samuelsen.

During the first two weeks of 2010, we compiled our favorite shows and segments from the boys' previous year at WCSX. The "Top 9 of 2009" list was honestly more than nine moments -- it included reposts of some full-show podcasts (remote broadcasts, special edition shows, etc.), as well as some of our favorite moments from various shows. Here are links to those posts from early 2010 -- all podcasts have been reposted to Mediafire and are noted with "***New 2011 mirror link" or similar notifications.

Top 9 of 2009 Countdown:
(be sure to CLICK each link to go that entry's full post and podcasts)

#9: September 24, 2009 -- "Give Away Everything That's Not Bolted Down Day" -- This date didn't specifically stand out, but this day featured a ton of prize giveaways, something that has always been a staple of the D&D show over the years. Bonus clips included other memorable giveaway moments from throughout the year as well as the two-part Jeff Deminski vs. Tonya Harding story.

#8: August, 2009 -- "BikeGate" -- Jeff and Bill (ok, fine, mainly Jeff) pissed off a bunch of "militant" bicyclists in August with their segment about cyclists' unwillingness to share the road properly. They read a bunch of the nasty e-mails they received on the air; many were from people who had never heard of the show nor heard the "offensive" segment. "Bikegate" was capped by an interview with one of the Bicycle Taliban members. Bonus clips included a few from July 15: Rudy's Jager Challenge, Jim O'Brien's on-air tai-chi fail, and Rudy's bike crash and Harry Potter fandom.

#7: 3/11/09, 4/10/09, & 10/30/09 -- "Live Pistons & Tigers Broadcasts" -- The show aired a handful of remote broadcasts in 2009 and these three were all sports related. They broadcast live from The Palace of Auburn Hills twice and one from The Elwood Bar & Grill for the Tigers' home opener. Bonus clips included a bunch of other Pistons- and Tigers-related interviews from throughout the year.

#6: April - May, 2009 -- "Red Wings Playoff Giveaways" -- Jeff and Bill did not have any remote broadcasts from Joe Louis during 2009, but the station did have a close relationship with the Red Wings. Chris Chelios did about a dozen weekly interviews with D&D, and they had a ton of ticket giveaways during the Wings' run to the Stanley Cup Finals which are highlighted here. The April 16 show is reposted in its entirety (this included the hilarious "Fatwa!" segment) and bonus clips included the other playoff ticket giveaways, various Red Wings interviews, and a couple of random segments (Rudy's spelling bee quiz / Pfister hotel discussion and Jeff and Nicole's Kwame text reenactments).

#5: Feb. 13-16, 2009 -- "D&D's RV of Love Weekend for CLF of Michigan" -- This was possibly the funniest couple shows of the year. Jeff and Bill agreed to spend a weekend together on an RV raising money for the Children's Leukemia Foundation of Michigan; unbeknownst to them, they agreed to do it on Valentine's Day weekend. Callers and co-workers had a great time ragging on D&D and their "RV of Love." I even had my own fifteen second of fame when they played a "Guy Love" (song from Scrubs) remix I made on the air. Both the Feb. 13 (Friday) and Feb. 16 (Monday) shows are reposted in whole, and bonus clips included Doyle's opinions on man-touching, an in-studio appearance by Dr. Alan Grodin, DDS after he won a station auction, as well as a bunch of other D&D mashup clips I made throughout the year.

#4: January 5, 2010 -- "First Show on WCSX" -- This entry includes both the Jan. 5 broadcast (the guys' first "official" show on WCSX) as well as their midnight New Years' Eve "non-compete expiration" broadcast. We were actually missing the first 45 minutes of the 1/5/09 show for months until another listener sent us his recording. Bonus clips included D&D's final live show on WKRK/WXYT 97.1 (Dec. 7, 2007) and one of their first ever morning shows after the 97.1 format flip (Oct. 4, 2007). Also included are highlights from Jason Carr's final day at WCSX, highlights of Jamie Sameulsen's first day as Carr's replacement, and some random 1/15/09 clips.

#3: March 17, 2009 -- "St. Patrick's Day at WCSX" -- Yes, even a morning show can have a live broadcast from a bar on St. Patty's Day. They may not have gotten quite the audience that they did at their live St. Patrick's Day afternoon shows at WKRK, but they still managed to get some listeners out there drinking (responsibly!) at 6am. Bonus clips included 17 other drinking-related segments from throughout 2009 as well as producer Jim O'Brien's ROFL-inducing experience with hypnotist Kevin Lepine from June 16.

#2: Sept 9, 2009 -- "Beatles Rockband Listener Open House" -- Open houses were a staple of the D&D Show while they were at WKRK, but they were a rare occurrence at WCSX. One of the best ones was on 9/9/09 when they opened the doors to anyone who wanted to come in and play Beatles Rockband on the day it was released (side note: I have this game and honestly probably haven't played it since 2009). Bonus clips included all the various "Super Bonus Points" moments from 2009 -- a simple misunderstanding by Jeff in an e-mail cost him $300 and made him the butt off jokes for the rest of the year.

#1: May 14, 2009 & July - September, 2009 -- "Faces Not Numbers" & "Workforce Business of the Day" -- Jim O'Brien came up with the idea for the FNN campaign on April 1; listeners who were affected by how the recession hit the auto industry sent in photos and the campaign culminated on May 14 with a live broadcast from Washington, D.C. In my opinion, this was the single coolest thing the show did during 2009. The lack of partisanship in this campaign made for an amazing metaphor for the show and how different Jeff and Bill are from most talk show hosts. The WFBotD campaign from the summer was another way the show gave back to the Detroit community. Jeff asked for (and eventually received) thousands of dollars from the station in order to raffle away a month's worth of free advertising to a random local company. Numerous companies were featured throughout the campaign (one per day); every day Jeff or Bill read an on-air ad for the daily featured company and they often interviewed the owner as well. Bonus clips included various other political interviews from 2009 as well as some other WFBotD-related clips (Nicole's "balut challenge" was one of the most memorable).

BONUS: These two clips were not originally featured as part of this countdown in January, 2010, but they deserve to be heard again. Jeff Deminski's past as a stand-up comic is often obvious, especially during self-depricating moments. His "Tampon Dam" plumbing disaster story from Feb. 9 and his "Bottle Pee Incident" from Mar. 25 will possibly cause you to laugh to the point of pissing, so you may not want to listen at work. Ironically, both stories involve his now-ex-wife; I wonder if the show had a part to play in their divorce? :)