By Greg Prato
Few radio personalities have changed the medium as dramatically as Howard Stern. Long before he became the nationally syndicated “King of All Media” and eventually made the leap to SiriusXM, Stern was already making an impression on listeners with an approach that seemed almost completely foreign to traditional radio. He didn’t simply introduce records or play the role of a polished disc jockey — he spoke his mind, challenged the conventions of the format, and made listeners feel as though they were hearing a real person rather than a carefully constructed radio personality. For many aspiring broadcasters, that honesty and unpredictability proved enormously influential.
The following recollections, drawn from The Great American Nightmare: An Oral History Of The Howard Stern Show, capture the impact Stern had on those who heard him, worked alongside him, or found themselves competing against him. Matt Pinfield, Eddie Trunk, Keith Roth, Jimmy Fink, Danny Bonaduce, and others offer firsthand memories of Stern at different stages of his career — from his early days at WNBC to the period when his influence was becoming impossible to ignore. Together, their stories reveal why Stern wasn’t simply another “shock jock,” but a singular radio personality who fundamentally changed what listeners expected from the medium.
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MATT PINFIELD [Radio personality, DJ, former MTV VJ]: I first heard him in the ’80s. And I absolutely liked him. I thought Howard was entertaining, and I was a fan really early on.
EDDIE TRUNK [Radio personality, DJ, co-host of That Metal Show]: One of the things that was really eye-opening to me – and very influential to me growing up and getting into radio – was the fact that you hear somebody on the radio and they present like they love every single song that they’re playing. And I used to always as a kid be like, “Can somebody really like every single song that they’re playing?”
And then I remember clearly one day listening to Howard on WNBC — back in the days when he played records — and he came out of a record, I forget who the artist was. He goes, “Geez, that song really sucked.” I was like, “Oh my God, somebody actually just said how they really felt about something on the radio!” You just didn’t get that at that time.
KEITH ROTH [Radio personality, DJ]: I remember one time, this order came in from that auto parts place. And usually our jurisdiction…this was in Metuchen, New Jersey. So, if people know the area, about as far north as Edison, and maybe as far south as New Brunswick. And an order for some part came in, and it was like, right when it closed. And they’re like, “Who wants to take a ride down to so and so for overtime?” So, I volunteer to do it, because overtime is $3.35 an hour. “Man, I’m going to make five bucks for this trip!”
But I remember Howard was going overtime. And he was doing this whole thing with Peau de Soie, and “You shave that thing.” And he had a woman on the phone. And meanwhile, I got to the destination, and I could see the mechanics and all these people waiting for this part…and I couldn’t drop it off, man. I was circling the block until he finished his schtick. And they were fuming, because that was probably another 20 minutes. But that’s how addicting he was — to at least 17-year-old Keith.
JIMMY FINK [Radio personality, DJ]: I was working the 10am to 2pm shift mid-days when Howard came in. And so, this is how I became “part” of The Howard Stern Show – because my shift started at 10:00 in the morning, even though Howard would keep going until maybe 11:00 some days. Nevertheless, at 10am, I walked into the studio. That was my studio. I walked in, and as a result, I sort of became a character for a while on The Howard Stern Show.
And that was a career-changing experience for me. Because after 15 years of being on the radio in New York, I never had more people coming up to me, telling me that they heard me on the radio than when I was part of The Howard Stern Show.
When you’re in the studio with him and he has this twinkle in his eye, no matter what he says about you or anything, it’s just like a friend busting your balls. It’s not really something that you take personally or take offense to. And I was happy to be part of it. And also it sort of changed the way I approached radio. I had been on the air for 15 years already.
I had a style, but that style changed after being part of Howard’s thing. Because Howard was just a real person on the radio — he wasn’t a disc jockey, in that sense. And I think I just became more real on the air and also freer.
DANNY BONADUCE [Radio personality, actor (Danny Partridge on The Partridge Family)]: I was on against him in Philadelphia. And one of the things Howard complained about from beginning to end is about all these disc jockeys ripping off his material. Well, I was going to a CHR station [WEGX] — that’s contemporary hit radio, top-40. So, I wasn’t going to do any of the kind of things that Howard Stern did.
But just to be smart — because it was my first job, and now I’m against Howard Stern – I actually pulled over while driving to Philadelphia to start the show. I called Howard Stern on the air and said, “Listen, I just want to thank you…because I’m going to rip off all your best bits.” And he said, “Oh, that’s great! If you’re going to steal from me, you’re stealing from the best.” So, I didn’t really steal anything because you couldn’t do it on CHR radio. But it was a smart move — because he never went after me, after that.
MATT PINFIELD: I never really thought of him so much as a “shock jock.” I think that’s when people need a label, and you’re easily lumped in. But I think Howard was definitely in a league of his own. And his longevity and just the reach and audience has always proven that. He’s such a fascinating human being. But I also think there’s that part of him that was self-deprecating, that we loved.
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