Great Moments In Philly Suckage: Hey, Remember The Time Stern Came To Philly And Buried John DeBella?
You know, it’s hard to imagine now, when WMGK runs those limp teasers of John DeBella making warmed-over dick jokes on his current morning show, but DeBella once ran this town. And then, he didn’t. Last week, Sirius ran Act II of “The History Of Howard Stern“, a radio documentary/best-of that covers the holiday break for Stern’s daily show. And submitted for your approval below is the segment on the Philly Funeral for DeBella, wherein Stern, the Wack Pack and then-white-hot celeb Jessica Hahn led thousands in a chant of “YOU SUCK!” outside WMMR’s studios. It was pretty much the end of the Morning Zoo , and one could argue that Philly radio hasn’t been the same since. But maybe not. “This jackass has been lingering like a bad fart in a Mexican locker room,” Stern says at the funeral. Well, more than 20 years later, DeBella still is.
January 5th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Every time I hear Andre Gardner say “Debellaware”, I die a little inside.
January 5th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
That station screwed a hole lot of people’s taste in music up for a generation. Way too much Yes, Genesis, Fleetwood Man and the Eagles. And of course the pastel jump-suited Hooters. Not enough of the Clash. I was working at the station one day in ‘88 when Paul Westerberg and the Replacements turned up for an on-air interview and thinking, “Wow these guys are pretty good. Too bad they never get any airplay.”
January 5th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Pardon all typos (whole, Mac.) I get all choked up when I remember those dark days in Philadelphia music history.
January 5th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
At the Battle of Trebia, the Romans were outflanked and surrounded by Hannibal’s forces, who closed in and slowly, methodically butchered what remained of the Roman infantry. The terror among Roman soldiers was so great that some of them buried their heads in the ground to suffocate rather than face their imminent slaughter at the hands of the Carthaginians.
Such was the Philly music scene of the 80’s.