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From: [e-mail] (Carlos Castro)
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Subject: FAQ:  The Greaseman
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Archive-name:  greaseman-faq

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 [e-mail].  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 <[e-mail]> 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.