radio man

i had my SECOND EXPERIENCE of conjuring a celebrity in the wild by reading their wikipedia page (the first being the legendary moment when i manifested jane krakowski in a carvel by reading about the 30 rock episode where jenna maroney scams carvel and gets banned for life). a few days ago i was reading about radio man, an extra with over 300 credits and a local new york celebrity. then, yesterday i was leaving my dermatologist and who did i see outside the office but RADIO MAN IN THE FLESH complete with a red radio around his neck!! i went up to him and told him what a fan of him i am (my first ever interaction with a celebrity) and we had a lovely chat, which brought me back to his wikipedia page.

radio man is a real (former) homeless man who would seek out movies and tv shows filming in new york using no parking signs and tips from teamsters. he would heckle the crew and refuse to move, so in 1989 he got his big break in the fisher king with robin williams. i know radio man as “moonvest”, a reference to former cbs ceo and current sex pest who resigned in disgrace les moonves .

les moonves is basically irrelevant because he was a ceo and now he is unemployed, but he is relevant to me because HE is the force of evil that ended janet jackson’s career. EXTREMELY FAMOUSLY janet jackson had a wardrobe malfunction while performing at the super bowl (in fact - the term “wardrobe malfunction” was created by jackson’s pr team to explain the situation to the press). it’s unclear whose fault it was (justin timberlake’s? sloppy wardrobe? publicity stunt?) but the fuck ass media of 2004 pounced on jackson, in large part because of LES “SEX OFFENDER” MOONVES. moonves requested a formal apology for the incident and apparently ms jackson (I am nasty) didn’t do enough. he became obsessed with ending her career and ordered that her music videos and singles be blacklisted from all viacom media entities, including cbs, mtv, and many regional radio stations. janet jackson lost out on a movie deal and a performance with luther vandross at the grammys and ultimately was reduced to a national punchline. i even made a janet jackson reference in my last wikipedia blog post on jaye p. morgan!

this one goes out to janet jackson. they could never make me hate you. just watch.

jaye p. morgan

today i started my wikipedia journey with jaye p. morgan. i was on my commute home and spotify recommended the song "keepin' it to myself" and i HAD to know why this diva was named jaye p. morgan. turns out it's because she was the treasurer of her high school! go figure.

other than her music career she was known for her performance as a panelist on the gameshow "the gong show" which actually seems kinda funny. it was an amateur talent show that had acts of "dubious talent" perform for a prize of $516.32. even though the whole point was watching people's shitty talents, they launched many relevant peoples' careers!! cheryl lynn (who we all know from the hit song "got to be real" and also from her background vocals on "georgy porgy" by toto (we all know this)) was signed to columbia records after her 1976 appearance! kevin peter hall, a 7'2" actor who played the original "predator" also became known after his appearance on the gong show.

i clicked on johnny paycheck (one of the show's regular panelists) because i thought his name was funny. then i found out he sings the song "take this job and shove it"! then i found out he probably did statutory rape to a 12 year old :( classic wikipedia type of emotional rollercoaster.

i found jerry maren because he was the little person wearing a suit who threw confetti on the winner, but he actually was famous for being the last surviving actor to play a munchkin in "the wizard of oz". zach said that his wikipedia photo looks like the blueberries going bad in his fridge.

i got to my stop right as i was reading about stanley tookie williams, who was the co-creator and leader of the crips. tookie led the crips from its inception in the early 1970s until 1979, when he was put on trial for killing four people during separate robberies. shortly before his arrest and trial, tookie appeared on "the gong show" as a body builder. unfortunately, he was sentenced to death in 1981. governator ARNOLD SCHWARTZENEGGER denied his appeals for clemency and the state of california executed him in 2005. kind of a grim ending to my wikipedia hunt for the day.

the last fact i will leave you with brings us back to jaye p. morgan, who was banned from "the gong show" in 1978 for flashing her boobs! the trails she blazed for janet jackson.....

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