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From DallasVoice.com Life+Style Lead Story Get the 7-second delay ready: Dallas’ favorite bomb thrower Jack E. Jett gays up the AM dial
Still haven’t bought into the satellite radio craze? Well, Jack E. Jett (a.k.a. Jack Pinson) is going old-skool on us. On Saturday, the Grand Prairie native launches a weekly two-hour broadcast on Rational Radio, a new “progressive talk” station on KMNY 1360, which is on the AM dial. “Progressive” and “AM radio” are two terms that don’t usually go together. But if anyone could make them stick, Jett’s probably the best candidate. In 2004, Jett began hosting “Queer Edge” on the Q Television Network, which started out in Haltom City. In 2005, when the network transferred to Burbank, Calif., Jett teamed up with Sandra Bernhard. Together, they filmed about 40 episodes before the network folded in May 2006. While it lasted (and there are plenty of clips on YouTube), Jett and Bernhard were on fire — zany, provocative and a little dangerous. But Jett and his husband share a home in Dallas. And after the demise of QTV, he moved back home. While in Big D, he’s kept his edge sharp as an Internet gadfly — contributing to Radar online, Queerty.com and famously ripping apart his arch nemesis, Julie “Bible Girl” Lyons, the former Dallas Observer editor and fundamentalist Christian blogger. So how will a fringe shock-jock like Jett mesh with conservative AM radio personalities like Glenn Beck and Mike Savage? “One of the first things they told me is that I’ll have a seven-second delay,” Jett explains. “But I’ll be able to freely express what many liberals feel — that George Bush is a dickhead and Dick Cheney is evil. And that Dallas is cooler than people think, and Texas is the homeland of Ann Richards and Mike Judge, not just Tom DeLay and Harriet Miers.” Jett’s recipe is to keep the show equal parts pop culture, underground, political commentary and celebrity obsession. But mostly, Jett will be monitoring the media. Some of his segment titles include: “Hey, There is a War in Iraq,” examining how CNN and FOX focus on Michelle Obama’s visit to “The View” instead of reporting on body counts; and “MSN Bitches,” which Jett will keep “Daily Show”-like tabs on Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough and Rush “Vicodin Man” Limbaugh. Jett also promises to keep the “kook factor” fresh: His wish list of “freaky interview subjects” includes Matt Trample, a guy who likes women to step on him. “I’ll ask him about the differences between being trampled by a Republican or Democrat,” Jett says. His interview segments will be stitched together with audio clips from various educational programs, “Like films from the ’50s that told kids to ‘Stay off the dope or end up a gay man,’” Jett says. And for a contributing “voice character,” Jett is also trying to coax local actor Paul J. Williams to revive his drag role as Edna Garrett from the Uptown Players’ recent production of “The Facts of Life.” But Jett isn’t planning on tailoring the show for a North Texas audience. His long-term goal is to have “The Jack E. Jett Show” syndicated. TUNE IN “The Jack E. Jett Show” on Rational Radio broadcasts on KMNY 1360 AM. Jett’s inaugural show will be broadcast live from JR.’s Bar and Grill, 3923 Cedar Springs Rd., on Sept. 6 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The show re-airs at midnight. Listeners can call in at 972-572-1360 or 800-277-1637. JETT’S GUEST BOOK
Jett says future guests will be documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy, punk TV host Henry Rollins and Mike Jones, the gigolo who exposed Ted Haggard. This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition September 5, 2008. © Copyright by DallasVoice.com |
