Well, David Lee Roth is back on the air, but it’s not the David Lee Roth who was taken off the air a few days ago. He announced this morning all the things he’s not allowed to be — which was all the things he was. No music. His cohorts are gone. He has to talk about the news and sports. He has to change subjects every X minutes. They will hire him a Robin. They even hired extra security for the floor but I don’t know what they’ll do: keep his sister out? He got a four-page letter from his bosses detailing all these things or there will be “disciplinary action.” He even hints of insipid racism in the orders: “no more black guy, no more black music” is one of the orders, he says.
Even though I thought he was a disaster on the air, I sympathize with Roth — as Stern has. CBS is turning the post-Stern disaster on their air into Roth’s fault. But it’s not. It’s CBS’s fault for hiring him. For there was no way he was going to give them the radio they’re used to. What he came up with was unlistenable, but they should have known that before they put him in front of that mike.
So now he is miserable and he makes them look all the more idiotic.
