One day after WBCN began streaming, controversy has made it's way from Boston, through the Internet and back to our fair city. At about 2:20 PM today, as a pretext for a his coming 40th birthday party, Crash Clark discussed his financial woes(1,071 KB, 1:09). Coincidentally, AJC Feature Reporter and Radio Blogger Rodney Ho listened and wrote about Crash's financial problems, pretty much as the on air conversation took place.
Being unemployed was not good for Crash Clark. Crash, out of a job for several months after 99X fired him in December, he was hired in early June by Boston’s rock station WBCN-FM with Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb. He told Boston Listeners today that his house is in foreclosure in Atlanta. He also said he's a month away from away from filing bankruptcy.
About 20 minutes later, an angry Crash, having seen Radio Talk, responded:
Rodney Ho, you're an asshole*...First of all my house is not going to be foreclosed on. Second of all, I'm not going to file bankruptcy. Third of all, Rodney, they take more taxes out of my pay check than you will ever earn, so take that you piece of crap.
Apparently that wasn't enough because he called Ho, off the air, a couple of hours later to yell further.
It's been an odd few weeks for Rodney Ho and the old TJ&L Show. Three weeks ago, Rodney got an angry email from Leslie Fram's husband/manager Lanny West for Ho's article about 99X. Yesterday, Jimmy Baron posted a blog taking Ho to task for Rodney's Peach Buzz review of Jimmy's Late Night Lounge.
In the interest of full disclosure, I'm friends with Rodney Ho. In the interest of further disclosure, I devoted a substantial amount of time and money trying to save Crash's job at 99X. To my ears, it doesn't sound like Crash was joking. I suspect that it's one thing to air certain types of dirty laundry in a city where few know you, it's another thing in a city where everyone knows you. I guess that's the downside of being on a national program. On the upside, Crash is now part of a national program.
*Toucher tells me he dumped this part, so it's not clear how much of this actually went out on the airwaves.
