Armstrong and Getty - Buzzing the Airwaves

We sent Steve LaRosa to chat with Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty, well-known hosts of a popular radio show to see what makes them tick. The morning drive show airs in Northern California on several Clear Channel radio stations, KNEW-AM in San Francisco and KSTE-AM in Sacramento. The “call-in format” talk show is a blend of political commentary, lively discussions on both local and national news and on social issues presented with a sense of humor.

Steve La Rosa: Four hours every day. Holy crap! When you get off the air, are you wired or tired?
Joe: Every day we experience post-orgasmic fatigue. I can barely hold my head up.

SL: Unless you’re already up from the previous night, it’s been scientifically proven that it’s impossible to be funny at 6 a.m. Your thoughts?
Joe: Coffee and desperation. That’s how I feed my kids. There’s absolutely a feeling of being onstage. If you can’t focus when there are tens of thousands of people listening, you’re in the wrong business.

SL: What’s the philosophy of the show?
Jack: Laugh and cringe…
Joe: …in terms of what we put in…what we find most amusing or interesting… Jack: …and don’t be boring.

SL: What have you learned about people? How smart? How stupid?
Jack: They’re much stupider than I ever guessed. There are a lot of smart fascinating people and a lot of morons. They all have phones.

Joe: A good solid moron is often very entertaining.
Jack: There are more mentally ill people amongst us than we realized.
Joe: We have a good screener.

SL: How do you feel about “Thank you for taking my call”?
Joe: Unless somebody is a jerk, I let them know we’re honored they called.

SL: You guys are obviously intelligent. What do you do to feed the meter?
Jack: Read all the books. Watch all the shows.
Joe: What we’d be doing anyway.

SL: Jack, on many occasions, you’ve displayed major cojones in terms of honesty and self-revelation.
Jack: I think that I believe that the more honest you are, the more relatable you are. I wish I had the guts to be five times more honest, but it would make my family miserable.

SL: It’s one thing to say something funny. It’s another to have a quick comeback. Joe, you are the maestro of the quick comeback. Allow me to illustrate with the following examples from past shows:
Jack: We assume nobody’s listening after 9 a. m., so we half-ass it.
Joe: I’m usually drunk by 9:05.
Jack: The big one (earthquake) could happen in 5 minutes or 50,000 years.
Joe: Plan accordingly.
Jack: Al Davis is 79 years old.
Joe: (Looking at a picture in the paper) He’s not a fresh 79.
Joe: Comebacks…I couldn’t have remembered those at gunpoint. My grandfather and dad were very funny people. All my life, my favorite people have been funny. Life has always been funny to me. This show is a chance to let your id run wild. I would never be the on-air version of me in real life.

SL: Joe, Jack has an easy laugh. How gratifying is that?
Joe: It works both ways. It’s one of the primary reasons we got together. I can’t think of anyone who makes me laugh more.

SL: The pacing is excellent. Who’s digging for topics?
Jack: Both of us and the whole staff. All day. Every day.

SL: Speaking of pacing, like a great song or piece of music, the spaces are important. I love those spaces you guys are brave enough to roll with. You can almost hear your wheels turning in the silence.
Jack: It takes a long time to get comfortable enough to have spaces.
Joe: I actually like it. I like to draw it out to an uncomfortable length. And it’s real.

SL: The station promo goes... “We don’t cater to the left, the right or anyone.” Do you subscribe to this notion? The reason I ask…your politics are conservative, correct? How does that affect the catering?
Joe: We’ll call conservatives idiots...and if the left is right, we’ll say they’re right.
Jack: I certainly feel no allegiance to Republicans or Democrats.

SL: Palin?
Jack: Jury’s still out.
Joe: I’m afraid she’s a horrible mistake. A lot of people are disturbed that we’ve hurt her chances. We calls ‘em as we sees ‘em.

SL: I do a lot of thinking in the bath…so, the other night I’m soaking in a tub full of tomato juice and…and…can you please explain this obtuse reference to our readers…
Joe: We live on the edge of the county. My dog thinks he’s protecting us from skunks. He got nailed twice in the last week and a half. We bathed him in tomato juice to get the smell out. He still smells.

SL: And Jack on his recent honeymoon flight had his own traumatic experience with a passenger sporting his own personal musk...What is it with your guys and olfactory issues?
Joe: I’ve had to learn the attitude – embrace the uncomfortable…it will make a great story. Be a visitor at the human zoo…do not turn away from the animals.

SL: I printed out the 12 labors of Hercules…which task do you think compares to your recent trials?
Joe: The cleaning of the stables. It’s like a lot of life. It’s doing the work. Like the proverb about unfulfilled genius...you’ve just got to show up and do the work.
Jack: I like anything that involves nymphs.

SL: What’s your LuxLife Extravagance?
Jack: I have a lot more expensive musical instruments than I should have. I have a ’53 Fender Telecaster.
Joe: Golf. We belong to the Catte Verdera country club. I own roughly 50 golf shirts.

SL: What does the LuxLife mean to you?
Joe: Enjoying your success. We’ve worked our way up from the bottom. Whatever luxuries I can enjoy, I enjoy a lot.
Jack: On my honeymoon we flew first class and paid for the first time.
Joe: Money is freedom in a lot of ways.

Just recently Armstrong & Getty added two more hours to their schedule. They are on KFBK each night.