Search the FAQ Archives

3 - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M
N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
faqs.org - Internet FAQ Archives

FAQ: The Greaseman


[ Usenet FAQs | Web FAQs | Documents | RFC Index | Property taxes ]
Archive-name: greaseman-faq

See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge
Q:  Who is the Greaseman?

A:  The Greaseman is a radio personality on the Infinity Broadcasting
	network.  He broadcasts from his studio in Rockville, MD
	to Washington DC.  He is known for his bits and song parodies.  
	He also has his own vocabulary which he uses to avoid trouble with 
        the FCC.  Before, he broadcast out of DC on DC/101 where he competed 
	and beat Howard Stern on a consistant basis.  


Q:  Who else is part of the Greaseman show?

A:  His producers are Bill Scanlan, and Jim McLure.


Q:  What is the Greaseman's real name?

A:  Doug Tracht.  He prefers to keep his radio life and his personal life
	separate.  He goes by the Greaseman, Jonny Bulky, Jonny Avocado,
	Jonny Doodads, the Doodad Daddy of the Airwaves, and his
	favorite, Bingo!


Q:  Why does Howard Stern hate the Greaseman so much?

A:  Howard worked for DC/101 until he resigned.  When the Greaseman was 
	hired to take Howie's place he not only held on to Howie's audience
	but increased it.  Then when Howard syndicated in DC he competed 
	with the Grease until the Grease moved to Infinity where they now
	are co-workers for the Broadcasting Giant.  As Grease put it one
	time, they are "Boss Jock Buddies".  You can probably find more
	information about this in Howard Stern's book "Private Parts".


Q:  Which one was the Grease in the Village People?

A:  He WAS NOT REALLY in the Village People.  But in the bit, he was the
	construction worker.  


Q:  How can I get in touch with him?

A:  Call him between 0600 and 1000 EST at 202-432-ROCK
	He can also be reached by email at GreaseShow@AOL.com.  I am pretty
	sure that his producers screen them.


Q:  What bits does the Greaseman do?

A:	Fudgeman-	Fudgeman and his chicken assistant throbin
			save the world from deviant behavior
	Back in time with an uzi-
			the Grease uses the equipment in the radio
			studio to return to key moments in history
			with his uzi
	Carlos the International Terrorist-
			Episodes of running into the famed and heavily
			armed terrorist, Carlos
	Medical Man-	Stories about when Nino was the pompous 
			Dr. Greasemaneli
	Bet the Bomb Bays-
			Try to stump the Grease, but if you don't, you best
			drop them pants....
	Sgt. Fury-	the Grease relives his time in Viet
	Deliverance 101-
			a class in which the Grease analyzes the movie
			Deliverance.
	Clinton-	a look at how life would be if the Grease and 
			Clint Eastwood got a knock on the head and decided
			to live alternative lifestyles
	Law Man-	the Grease tells about life as a law man
	Big Dick Brannigan-
			the Grease tells about his flashback to his past
			life as a private dick
	Emperor Tocasfacius-
			the Grease tells about his flashback to his past
			life as a ruler of the Holy Roman Empire
	Irving Greasemanawitz-
			the Grease tells about his flashback to his past
			life as the first Yiddish Lawman
	West Virginia-	Greaseman shows his respect for the people of WVA
	My Daddy-	Description of how Oscar Greasemaneli gets into trouble
	Ugly Women-	Recounts of how The Grease and his daddy picked up
			and enjoyed ingus with ugly women
	Good Ship Grease-
			stories about how the Grease spends his lesiure time
			in his boat.
	South of the border-
			stories about how the Grease spent time in Mexico
	Toe Monster-	The dreaded Toe Monster is exposed for trying to
			eat the Greaseman's toes
	Blastapiece Theatre-
			stories told by Sly Stalone
	Sylvester Stalone sings the classics-
			Sylvester Stalone sings the classics.
	Rag Nad-	stories about Grease's half space alien love child
	Six Minute Workout-
			A unique workout for men
	Baby talk-	Conversations with the unborn
	The Greaseman Quiz (formerly the morning quiz)-
			Watch out Alex Trebek, here comes the Greaseman
	Hobo-doo-ga-ga Handbook-
			Methods to which recieve ingus.
	Damien-		The Grease has occasion to run into the "dark master"
			while he is trying to perform his duties.
	



Q:  What other gigs did Grease do on the radio?

A:  Like any other up-and-coming DJ, Grease worked at other stations in
	other markets to develop his unique style.  They include:

	Washington DC (WRC-AM 980) 1974 - 1976
	Jacksonville, Florida (WAPE) 1976 - 1981
	Washington DC (WWDC-FM 101.1) 1981-1993

	This is an incomplete list, I have emails from many people who 
	have had Grease sitings at other stations over the years, and I 
	just need to sort throught them and list them.


Q:  Did he always leave on good terms?

A:  In almost all cases, yes.  The one notable exception was WRC, when
	management decided his morning personality wasn't quite right, 
	and gave him a choice between dropping the "Greaseman" character 
	and leaving.  Grease chose the latter.  If you ask about it 
	today, he will joke about the time he was collecting unemployment 
	insurance in DC and would "stay up to watch the moon rise and 
	CURSE THE NIGHT!" although I'm sure at the time it was somewhat 
	unsettling.  

	Although he left Florida voluntarily to take the better offer at 
	DC-101, he did offend some bible-belt types during his stay.  
	The Florida gig was important to developing the Grease as a 
	"god-fearing, truck-driving redneck," though. The Florida 
	station has since gone to religious music ("From Grease to 
	Grace" was their motto for a while).  Their loss.  


Q:  Are there any good biographies or other comprehensive stories about
the Greaseman?

A:  Grease is a very private person, and spent a number of years in DC
	before finally consenting to an in-depth story about him in the
	Washington Post Magazine Fall 1987.  It's a good resource to 
	summarize his past gigs and overall life story.  Also the 
	Washingtonian Magazine did an article on him in the January 
	of 1993 in commemeration of his departure from DC.


Q:  What other things has the Greaseman been on?

A:  Grease also appeared on the Larry King Show (early to mid-80's) to talk
	about morning radio in general.  The only down side was that he was
	teamed with a "Morning Zoo" DJ as a co-interviewee, a format that 
	
	has become annoyingly ubiquitous on the radio landscape.  Transcripts 
	may be available (don't know how to get them, sorry).  This is the 
	old Mutual show that ran all night (Grease probably got up early 
	to do it :-), and not the current CNN TV talk show.  

	He has been on the G. Gordon Liddy in 1996 show, and on the Don and 
	Mike show in 1996.  He has appeared in a couple of Jack Denehy Movie
	of the weeks, "A Search for Justice", and "Champion of the Cheap 
	Homoside".  He plays a scumbag in both movies.


Q:  Are there any albums or compilations of Grease bits?

A:  There was a 4-part "Best of Grease" compilation, available on
	cassettes.  These became unavailable shortly before he left DC-101.
	They are now prized collectors items and can only be obtained from
	private owners.  Part of Grease's popularity on a national basis
	before he went into syndication (and hence part of the motivation
	for this newsgroup) was the creation and exchange of bootleg
	tapes among an extended network of fans.  Some of his best work
	has never been republished (although you can occasionally talk
	him into doing them again on his current show).

	He also came out with "Soapin Up With the Grease" in which he video
	taped his bathtime.  "Soapin" also does have a couple of Greaseman
	bits in which you can see him acting out the story he is telling.

Q:  Did Grease ever serve in the military?

A:  Like John Wayne, Grease has a deep and abiding respect for everyone
	who serves in uniform, but never served himself.  During the Vietnam
	war, he was attending Ithaca College in New York, and his draft number
	never came up.


Q:  But Grease did serve as a policeman?

A:  Yes, he did.  While working at his gig in Florida, he worked as
	a reserve police officer on the night shift.  Morning staffers would
	be jolted out of their bleary-eyed state by the sight of Grease doing
	his show in full uniform with a 44 Magnum strapped to his belt.

Q:  Is Greaseman a bigot/homophobe?

A:  Certainly not.  Like the program "In Living Color" or even
	rec.humor.funny, Grease parodies what's funny in everyone, and winds up
	defusing hatred as a result.  Grease respects all of his fans, and
	wishes well even those who don't like him.


Q:  But there was that "Martin Luther King, Jr." incident in DC?

A:  Yes, sometimes there's a fine line between parody and cruelty, and
	Grease crossed the line only once during his otherwise unmarred 
	broadcasting career spanning over 2 decades.

	Sometime in the late 80's, he was noting the passing of Martin Luther
	King Jr.'s birthday (which had then only recently become a national
	holiday).  Grease said something about "killing 4 more and getting rest
	of the week off."  Grease was suspended, and apologized for the incident
	on an "Editorial Rebuttal" on WRC-TV in DC.

	Haven't the rest of you made mistakes or are you all perfect?


Q:  What does AMF mean?

A:  He always claims it means "Adios my friends" though there has been 
	speculation that it might mean something else.


Q:  What is the "Bit without an Ending?"

A:  When Grease was working in Florida, he would be prevented from
	getting a good day's sleep after his morning gig by thoughtless
	model-airplane enthusiasts who would buzz their models outside his
	window.

	Grease came up with a revenge skit with a model plane of his own that
	would shoot the others out of the sky.  The plane became posessed by
	Damien and started chasing after him.  Grease then got too deep into
	this bit without a way out (and tried to incorporate this into the
	bit).  After fumbling with the sound-effects, and trying a foray South
	of the Border, and then calling in Big-Dick Brannigan, he finally gave
	up groping for a punch line.  Grease can usually be counted on to do
	some of the most impressive ad-libbing and improvisation on the radio
	today, but at that time his talents failed him.  The bit originally 
	aired in the Fall of 1982 from WWDC FM Washington, DC/101.
	
	It's considered a classic, and is on Vol. 1 of the "Best of Grease" 
	tapes.  He owns the rights to all his bits, and may rerun it on his 
	current show from time to time.  

Q:  What stations carry the Greaseman?

A:  	City		Station		Time
 	====		=======		====

	Washington DC	94.7 WARW	0600-1000


Q:  Where can I find Greaseman stuff on the internet?

A:  Steve Olsen <olsens@nbtw.com> set one up on 
	<http://www.netcrusader.com/~olsens/grease>.
	The newsgroup alt.fan.greaseman is also a good place to find
	information on Greaseman. 





User Contributions:

1
Joe
Hi,I have enjoyed this site, thanks for having it. About the question of "Are there any albums or compilations of Grease bits?" And the answer was "There was a 4-part "Best of Grease" compilation, available on cassettes."
You might not know it but Grease had an Album in the late 70's when he was at WAPE am in Orange Park Fla. I was in my mid teens and used to listen to him all the time before school & work. As a BIG FAN of his then & now I got one of these albums and went to WAPE to get him to autograph it,which he did. I still have it to this day.
Thanks,Joe
2
USMC0352
I found the whole greaseman thing funny for a short time. Then it became annoying more than amusing. But to each their own. I did believe he was a former member of "The Village People." Which is how I came to this thread in the first place. And it seems clear that he was not.

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:


[ Usenet FAQs | Web FAQs | Documents | RFC Index ]

Send corrections/additions to the FAQ Maintainer:
greaseman-faq-maintainer@jcas.com (Carlos Castro)





Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM