June 24, 2025 • 30 mins
After overcoming alcoholism, epilepsy and a failed legal career to become one of the most popular radio voices in Denver, Alan Berg suddenly needed a job. And he landed in the perfect place at KOA, one of the city's biggest and most prestigious radio stations. But Berg didn't take the awesome opportunity lightly, engaging and antagonizing listeners and callers at every turn. Especially when it came to religion.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Live Wire is a production of iHeart Podcasts and Modulator Media.
Previously on live Wire, The Loud Life and Shocking Murder
of Alan Burg.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
He worked in a shoe store. He had a great
fascination of clothing, and first in a shoe store, he
got fired from there for some remarks he made, and
then he decided to open a shirt store in downtown Denver.
One of his customers was a man named Lawrence Gross.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
And they want to know if he would come and
talk about something on the radio.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
What is this man? He's an addictive personality. Okay, I
consider myself an addictive personality who used alcohol as a
way of self indulgence. Would you consider coming back next Sunday?
All right, you'll come back and we'll continue this discussion.
It's really very interesting.
Speaker 5 (00:48):
We're talking with someone that is more than intimately involved
with it.
Speaker 6 (00:51):
I think he just knew it. I think was intrinsive.
I'm just tell you what I observed. But he was
what we call flamethrower.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
We don't want you on the air anymore. Out there
was a big hassle in town. A sorry written about
me in the paper. Do you know how cantankerous one
has to be to get banned off of ebs. It's
not easy to get fired for doing charitable work.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
After years of struggling through one career or another, one
relationship or another, one addiction or another, alan Berg had
finally found his calling on talk radio, and just as
he was finding his footing as an on air personality
in Denver, he needed a job badly, and his search
took him as far as Detroit and Oklahoma present leave Denver.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Well in the city, I don't think I can hear you.
It looks pretty certain right now. I told my husband
last night, we're gonna have to find an awfully powerful radio.
You can't make the work. Well, that's a compliment I
rarely received. You should have heard me. In Oklahoma. They
wanted an interpreter for me. I was in Detroit last week,
in fact, that I almost went to work with x
y Z. Really. Oh yeah, you don't know how close
(02:01):
for w x y Z. But that's a long story
I can't explore in the air because of possible legal ramifications.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Alan Berg had resigned himself to starting over in a
new market, but those fears were put to rest when
an opportunity came up at Win of Denver's biggest radio stations, KOA.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Around the clock. KOA gives you live news so you
know what's going on, coming the news, this live talk
so you know who's thinking, what and why I get
on the bot, and live coverage of your favorite Denver
sports rebond a t r all the time. KOA gives
you all the news you need, traffic and weather reports.
KOA News Talk eighty five Live Radio.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Oh that's my new theme, A new show, a new day,
a new time, and particularly enjoying being with you here
on KOA. So we're gonna be talking today and I
kind of feel like I'm an intruder of sorts, but
we're gonna get you going on my side hopefully if
we can. But we'd like to talk to you today with
all the commotion that's going on in this town. Much
of this understanding about things that have happened, So we
do want you to join us here.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Whereas his previous employers were five thousand watt directional daytime
stations with limited reach, KOA was a monster, a fifty
thousand watt station that served as the local affiliate for NBC.
It was exactly the kind of platform alan Burg had
been searching for since first getting into radio.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
And do you think it's amazing that a person with
Mike qualification is allowed to speak on I mean, you know,
a five hundred why station is where I started, Okay,
then I went to a five thousand, I went back
to one thousand, up to fifty. Does that mean anything?
It's kind of like the way the stock market is
running right now.
Speaker 6 (03:42):
Back when traditional call letters were handed out, Koa's designation
was King of Agriculture KOA and that goes back to Roosevelt,
that goes back to the foundation. The FCC is fifty
thousand watts clear channel. And that's when Berg went on
to night. Well you're you can hear KOA in LA
(04:03):
I mean, which is beams and Idaho. It was like
coming in from next door. And so it was a
fifty thousand, the voice of the Broncos, the voice of
the cu Buffs, the morning news back when it counted.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
That's Peter Boyles, a long time on air colleague and
arrival of Alan Berg's. Peter eventually followed Alan to Koa.
Speaker 6 (04:25):
And he got me there. I mean, he legitimately got
me there. He had done everything that we had done.
I was working kaw doing nights, and this opening took place,
and he went to Joel and he said, go get Peter.
And they took me to breakfast, and it was yesterday
and they offered the doe, and Berg's giving me this
(04:47):
and take mornings. And I'm looking at him and I
know he's not going to take mornings because we had
been together and I had nine to Noon which later
becomes Noon to one, the crossover show. And we were,
I mean, we were really really doing financially well, but
into ratings we were skying it. Who were killing him?
He was that good.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
I'm filmmaker and journalist tal Pinschewski, And this is Live
Wire episode two, First day at KOA. In his first
appearance on a radio station that was by far the
(05:27):
biggest broadcaster he'd ever worked for, Alan appeared timid at first.
He even admitted to being nervous.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Hey, I'm talking pretty bad, just like me. Of course,
I'm nervous and I'm neurotic. It's the start of a
new thing in a new show.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Fearless as he was on the air, Berg had reason
to be nervous. He had been controversial enough in his
previous radio jobs. That is hiring at KOA was met
by protests from many listeners, but Alan was ready to
confront that backlash.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
I do want to make a race wrong officis on
this today. And know a lot of people who have
been criticizing the continually KOA. They've written letters in mass
I do want to talk to as many of those
people today as I can, maybe to clear some groundwork
here because today's the day. I do not want to
make a continued effort here on KAE. I want to
get into some other kinds of talk, news talk, obviously,
entertainment talk, many different things that I do, and today
would be the day, and I'm going to try to
(06:14):
give preference today if I can. In the calls to
the people who are angry with me being here, I'd
like to discuss it with you if you want to
have a rational discussion with me. Obviously I don't know
why you're calling here to begin with. I'm not a
well person.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
This wasn't just a response to those angered by his hiring.
It was a mandate he brought with him to his
new job that would guide him as he took full
advantage of his awesome opportunity.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Yeah, I think that's exactly why I was hired here
to be alan Burg. But Elan Burke is growing up,
and I really hope I have. I think I've done
some horribly childish things in the history of my talk
radio career. I think I've learned from them. And I
said earlier, I think a lot of good things have
happened with me with Beaz. We've had a lot of fun,
We've had a lot of last we did some interesting
series over there, and we're going to do a lot
of them here. So I can only ask you to
(06:58):
do this for you folks who liked listen to me
a little bit and see if you like it. If
you don't hate, it's your choice not to listen. Obviously,
that's everybody's choice in the world. But don't be hateful.
It doesn't have to be hateful. I'm not really a
hateful person. I think you'll find that out. Let's get
back to the phone at one thirty eight in the afternoon,
Flying three, You're on KOA good afternoon.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Alan Berg didn't just tell angry callers to bring it on.
He also set an objective for himself to run towards confrontation,
engage head first in arguments, that's how he was going
to make great radio.
Speaker 6 (07:28):
There was no texting or no cell phones or he
wrote me a letter and he came in and you know,
cigarette going and that hair, and it was before he
had the dog, and I just sat down and I
just I fell in love with him. He was like
he was like I had worked in professional wrestling, and
I realized that he was just a professional wrestler and
(07:53):
he had charisma yet torch he had, and he was
memories on scold. He never went to radio school. He
didn't do what I did. I was a traffic reporter
and reading the news and playing records and never did
any of that. He literally sat down in the seat
and did it. That's a gift.
Speaker 7 (08:11):
He was the first and the original shock jock.
Speaker 6 (08:15):
That's the way I describe it.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
This is another one of Allan's KOA colleagues, Tom Martino, and.
Speaker 7 (08:21):
He was genuinely not genuine I don't even know how
to say that, but he was exactly what he was
that night. You could not define him by a show,
because the next night he could be completely on the
other side of an issue. Alan did not care what
(08:45):
you thought about anything. He really didn't care what he
thought about anything or not. For radio, he didn't or
he didn't try to push it on us. I mean,
I don't even know what his deep seated beliefs are,
and I knew him pretty well long conversation. So he
was the kind of guy that was on radio to
(09:05):
be on radio and to stir conversation, not to change minds.
He didn't have a mission except to entertain.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Allen's colleagues described him as an entertainer, as a flamethrower.
But what really set Allenberg apart was his versatility. He
was great at reading ads live on the air and
holding court at station sponsored events. And most importantly, there
wasn't a single topic that didn't inspire some sort of
fiery opinion from Berg.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
What I the government? Abortion? Oh? I made a list.
I don't have a wish they had it with him
by twenty key talk show subjects that you can make
book if you're hurting, go to one of those. Capital
upon eischment, they said abortion, almost sexuality. I mean there's
a whole series of them. Drug problems. Currently child abuse
seems to be the only subject that is occurring in America,
and certain Stobbi's gifts hot at certain times.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
I just that I had to meet with every single
talk show host every single day with a stack of papers,
with a stack of ideas. What are we going to
talk about today? The trick was is to talk about
the topics people were going to discuss at lunch, to
keep them engaged, to keep them tuned. So I'd walk
in with a stack of papers.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
That's Kowa producer Susan Rightman.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Well, I wasn't in the day where you could actually
go online and go digital and just see everything that's
going in the world. You so really was. I would
spend I would make sure that I would go out
for coffee every morning and kind of listen to what
people were talking about beside me out to lunch. But
it really was the newspaper we were reading at that time,
the Rocky Mountain News, to see what's going on. I
(10:42):
read and read and read, and then would try to
match whatever topic was going on with whatever personality, because
each one's unique to themselves. It was just crazy. Just
I read once about this murderer that went on I
don't even remember where now, but one of the witnesses
was a parrot that I witnessed the murder and we
(11:05):
were laughing about that, and I said, well, why don't
we try and interview on one of the witnesses. And
he said, let's interview the parrot. I can't interview a parrot.
But that's how his mind worked. Alan understood what made
people want to listen and stay tuned. I always remember
(11:28):
Alan say, you know, I agree with me, disagree with me,
but just don't sit there. And I love that about
Alan is he just knew how to give people all
riled up. Went on the air one night and he
decided he was going to tell everybody he was gay.
Speaker 6 (11:55):
And he comes in and we're going to break and
I remember the news guy was on their side of
the glass. He said, work with me. I said, what
do you want to do? He said, I'm gonna tell
people I'm gay. I'm looking at you knowing him, okay,
And so we did a it's called a crossover where
the other guy comes in and sits in a studio
with you and then you leave it. He stays, he said,
(12:16):
I want you to know I'm gay, and he wants
me to play it. I'ment, man, my god, and I said,
I don't want to work with you. You know, we did
this thing I'm not going to stay with you, you know,
Dad plus Ireland, and he's given me this, you know, more,
bring it more, bring more. And I'm saying, you know,
what's wrong with you? It's disgusting, you know, which I
never thought it was anyhow, but he's given me the
amp sign, you know. And he said, well, you know,
(12:38):
I don't know. So I storm out and he burns
up the phones. I'm gay, I'm gay.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
And he went on the air and told everybody he
was gay for four hours and everyone was outraged. And
in that day it was not really as as acceptable
as it is now. It was it was foreign and
it was that was a funny show. That was a
funny show. But that's how his mind worked.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Again worth taking into context that this is in the
early nineteen eighties.
Speaker 6 (13:09):
So Channel nine KUSA sends a film crew down to
KWBZ on West Princeton Avenue and about he was off
at four and the sports guy started at four, I
don't know, five to four, ten to four. He said,
it's a word, just a word. I'm happy, you know,
I'm not gay, I'm happy. But and you could feel
(13:31):
the air go out of the room. So he snakes
that when he pulls it off and gives me the elbow.
He pulled stuff like that that was so cool.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
The crazier, the better, the more out of the box,
anything that you could think of. But he, you know,
he liked to get people riled up. He liked to
get them angry because he would get to another side
of these listeners that you know, a true, the true
side of all of us, where eventually angry, you're going
(14:00):
to tell the truth. And he would, he would grill
them and he would just hang up on people. I'd
call him idiots, just we've just gone the people. He
riled people up, He made people think, he made them
so angry, and you either loved him or hate him.
But there was very little middle ground. There wasn't there
(14:22):
was a lot of gray about Alan.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
And what's most remarkable about the topics Alan most frequently
discussed on his program, they're almost all the exact same
topics we are still debating forty years later in today's
vast and fragmented media landscape. But there was one topic
that seemed to elicit a particularly aggressive response out of Alan,
yep Religion.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
Good morning, how are you today? I'm wonderful?
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Oh are you.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
How are you Jesus freak? Well, I'm hope I am
at Jesus freak in order, it said, but the hole
I come quickly, and my reward is with me.
Speaker 8 (14:59):
Oh believe that.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
God, Oh God, what's and his point up for my people?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
You believe that?
Speaker 4 (15:09):
And the day every panter you believe that, I know
they got to do. They gotta take you away in
that little jacket.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
As with a lot of the topics Berg discussed on
the air, his approach to religion drew on his own
personal experiences. Alan Berg was raised Jewish, but at no
point in his radio career did he ever strongly align
with the religion he was raised in.
Speaker 6 (15:30):
He always told me his mother was Irish. Ruth and
who I've talked to you many times on the phone
and he said, I, so, well, you know my mother's Irish.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Peter Boyles didn't learn the truth about alan Berg's mother
until his funeral.
Speaker 6 (15:42):
And Alan's brother, Marty Sachs s a c HS and
we're in the rabbi's office and I said, well, given
that Ruth is Irish, double take on me And I said,
what are you talking about it? I said, well, you know,
Ruth being Irish. It's first not Irish.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Berg demonstrated contempt for organized religion and Christianity in particular,
but there's a historical context to keep in mind here too.
At this particular time in America, talk radio isn't the
only emerging force in national media. Religious programming featuring charismatic
preachers was also experiencing unprecedented reach and popularity, and Alan
(16:23):
Berg was more than happy to single out these so
called televangelists.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Big Jim Baker, he's on what the seven hundred Club? Now?
He's down the Praise of the Lord Club? Isn't he?
Seven hundred?
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Is the other guy?
Speaker 6 (16:36):
I care?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
I love those shows, just love them.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Look I tell you, I played these records at night.
I'm trying to find the Lord.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
I will hear recall.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
But I had once Calledlaura Roberts on the air Beck
at the old station I was with, and I asked
him to come and heal Denver. He didn't cooperate, he
didn't get here. I don't know why I didn't come.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Berg occasionally referred to Christians as Jesus freaks, but when
it came to aggravating them on the air, there was
one exchange that reigns supreme. I mean, here's Berg's former
Choe colleague Tom Martine.
Speaker 7 (17:04):
Really, really really, I don't believe, you know, he would
say something like that. He would just just something to.
Speaker 6 (17:09):
Stir people up.
Speaker 7 (17:10):
I don't believe in God. God doesn't exist, you know.
Or one night he'd say, I'm sure I believe in God,
my God the way I believe it, I believe God
is a big fat black woman. Or he would say
stuff like that and then change it the next day.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
Hey, I understand that. I'm like to know what your
opinion is of christ Jannity. Well, Jenny, I'm on a
subject right now. I've done so many shows on Christianity.
I don't believe in Christianity. I think it is a
legend at best, okay, And I am an agnostic minimally
and therefore, as simply as I can put it, I
(17:48):
don't believe in the doctor of Christianity.
Speaker 8 (17:51):
Could I ask you another question, sure, what opinions God
do you believe in God?
Speaker 4 (17:57):
I don't know. You don't have a real simple answer
was not to say one. I find Christians absolutely certain
that they know something that actually is unprovable. I only
lay out one. I lay out the possibility that thing.
A lot of things could be that I don't know about,
but I have no objective proof to determine them until
the day I see the proof. Then I will have
to presumptively say there's not enough evidence at this point
(18:18):
to say for sure there's anything.
Speaker 7 (18:20):
And he he would say things like, well, I have
a listener, she's on the line now, says god Fielder,
gas tank, and they would do a whole thing on
how god Fielder guess ting can one more?
Speaker 5 (18:31):
And I must go.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Okay, I went to the gas station and I'm I'm
all kidding in the car, rearing up on the fine
wheels and says, oh God, I'm here. And Jenny, baby,
I went into the gas station. I don't know these people,
of course not j okay, I don't know. Jenny will
get regularly and he's going to get off against every night.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Man take it in the gas station, I leave it.
Speaker 6 (18:58):
I go on to take.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
I'll tell you a little girl. I thought possibly you
were in therapy. I had a bad idea, Jenny. I've
been there, Jenny, I'm not kidding anybody. I'm not there.
Last night I sawt psychiatric help.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
On the air, you.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Up there.
Speaker 6 (19:18):
So I said, oh, God, you're gonna have to take
care of the fact.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
And then God got money from the sky. They said,
somebody came in pay for nobody knows me there it
would have been forty five dollars, but somebody came in.
Mysterious stranger walked in and paid your billy. Damn. Maybe
I'm wrong.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
Maybe I had a boy.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
It shouldn't happen to me. I'll pay you something. I'll
tell you why, I'll do Jenny, I'll prove really, Joe,
I'm going to sell you a deloreate. See if you
could drive it.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Alan Berg made scant references to his own Jewish upbringing,
both privately and on the air, but despite that, he
refused to stand for antisemitic comments from Colling. Such comments
typically came in the form of conspiracy theories involving either
communism or some duplicitous world order. Stop us if this
sounds familiar, yes, and I want to read you one.
Speaker 8 (20:14):
This makes the and drop off oriance definitely interesting, since
I drop off, according to several Soviet intelligence inspectors, as
Jewish on his mother's side, the family name with Ernstein
on his father's Andropian and Armenian name. It was recissided
to become an drop off what was written by uh
I don't alt Rocky Mountain ames.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
The caller is making reference to Yuri and drop Off,
who at the time was the General Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Allenberg loved America, particularly
the First Amendment rights the country afforded him, and the
suggestion that Jews were somehow colluding to undermine the country
seemed to really piss him off.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
It was back Andropoff had Jewish brought him, and what
would that prove about the wish?
Speaker 8 (21:01):
I think that a still in control of the Soviet Union.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
I think the responsible Christians.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
I think you're sick.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
I think I think your ability to reason and use
any lodge you gain, you are a Nazi by your
very own as much it's good, that's right. You heard.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Berg had no way to know it at the time,
but the way he so viciously shot down these conspiracy
theories would figure prominently in the investigation into his murder.
But we'll get into that more in another episode.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Now I'm not getting I want to kick on religion,
but you go right ahead if you want we have
no no reservation. Of course I will, okay. I like
a little respect, though, and I want to say something.
I'll get my way. I'm sorry, go ahead, okay. Not
a skeptic. I'm a believer. I wanted to Oklahoma City.
I became a reborn Christian. So I pick up it,
(21:58):
the book the Believer. I cut your picture up. You
are to brave. You have very bad that I could
stand to look at.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
As you could imagine, these kinds of spirited exchanges, some
of which escalated into anger, made Alan a pretty divisive
figure anywhere Kaway's broadcast signal landed. So how divisive was
Alan Berg in and around Denver?
Speaker 2 (22:24):
There was a poll taken in Denver about who was
the most liked and the most disliked Maybia personality in town.
He won both awards.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
This is Alanberg biographer Steve Singular. Steve passed away in
twenty twenty four, and this series was produced in his honor.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
That kind of sums up his personality in certain ways.
In that little nutshell, people liked him, people didn't like him,
but people were listening and he was stirring up something
within them. As he told me, you know, I just
want to make people feel. I want to make people think.
I want to provoke, I want to get a reaction.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Sure, Ellenberg wanted to stir the pot. He wanted to
inspire heavy discussion. He wanted to make people think, even
while openly questioning the average human beings ability to do so.
But he was also human, a human whose entire on
air persona had been shaped by a lifetime of insecurities,
insecurities that sometimes emerged live on the air.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
I don't like my body in the new it out
there right now. I like to clothe myself a lot.
I don't particularly like you. I don't like to think
I'm so crazy about myself. I get up in the morning,
I get sick looking at myself in the mirror. Okay,
then why do they want because insecure people do this.
See if I keep you off base, then you can't
(23:56):
make a fool of me.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Okay, Hey, Alan Burg wanted to be liked.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Alan was the kindest guy I have ever had the
pleasure to know, and it really broke his heart in
a lot of ways that people disliked him, like the
time that he went to the Nuggets stadium and was
supposed to be their behalftime and the crowd beat him.
(24:24):
It was heartbreaking. I wish I had a video of that.
But he got what he wanted. He wanted to get
people riled up. He wanted to get a reaction, and
he did, but unfortunately it wasn't always good.
Speaker 6 (24:37):
We're all driven, I mean, I think that's where we connected.
Was there our own insecurities in a business that you're
only as good as your last book, your last ratings.
And the great line of management and radio is so
what have you done for me lately? Or the other
slogan is when win or when you know, and he
(24:58):
was a winner.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
As ali Burg Star continued to grow, his public profile
expanded with it, especially around Denver, where he swiftly became
one of the city's most recognizable media personalities. It certainly
didn't hurt that his physical appearance was just as distinct
as his disposition on the air, With his gray bull
hair style, an array of stylish suits and shoes, and
(25:21):
an uncontrollable display of physical ticks and mannerisms, it didn't
take long for alan Berg to get noticed in public
around Denver, and that's typically when things got interesting.
Speaker 6 (25:34):
True story, we're in a place that was owned by
a guy named Joel Barron, and it was called the
tally Ho as a prime rib joint. And I can
see into the bar and here comes this woman. She's
bee lining oh man, here it goes. And I don't
think she's bee lining me. I think she's bee lining him.
And right behind her comes her husband. This guy's used
(25:55):
you guys, a gorilla. I don't know correct. He's not
a fighter, and he's gonna get and we had I'm
drinking and there's this true starres a wine bottle on
the floor and I grab it by the neck, said
I if I have to hit this guy, I'm gonna
hit him. I'm not gonn let him beat alan up.
And she gets to the table and she starts up
on him with her finger, and the guy's right behind her.
Guy's big me and here we go, and so you
(26:18):
have to understand. He goes, sir, sorry, he's talking over
her shoulder, sir, and he's got a cigarette going. I'm
thinking he's got the balls of an elephant. And I'm
thinking we're gonna get a fight with this guy. And
he says, sir, what do you do for a living?
I think guy was like a block format or has
I'm gonna do with laying bricks? All right, here's what
(26:39):
we're gonna know. You can order my house tomorrow and
lay brick and I'll talk to your wife. And any
guy does this, watch again. I'm sure they're drinking. He
takes the old lady and leads her back to the bar,
and I'm going I'm looking at him like people can
whistle down dogs and stuff, And I'm going like, how
did you do that? And I think and he said no, no,
I'm fine, okay, but I thought for sure we're going
(27:00):
upside down. I'm looked at him, going how'd you do that?
It was him, he could do it.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Alan Berg seemed to have attained a new kind of celebrity.
He wasn't an actor or a musician, but he was
definitely an entertainer, a local figure with national exposure who
is as prominent and influential as any politician. And bear
in mind, this is pre influencer, pre social media, pre internet.
How this is pre cable and alan Berg was starting
(27:30):
to get a whole lot of attention, much of it positive.
I think you're the most obnoxious, disgusting, infuriating commentator and
sometimes You're rude and inconsiderate, and I very seldom disagree
with you.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
But I really agree that I love to hear you
disagree with people.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
And that's very very well said. I didn't like the
first part. The last part I that was therithmic. Alan.
Speaker 5 (27:54):
Yeah, I just wanted to call and tell you that, Masami,
you are my.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
Favorite person next to President of Reaguan. I'm your favorite person.
That's hard to put together in one head, that Reagan
would be your favorite and I would be your second favorite. Now,
how did you come to that conclusion?
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Well, I've listened to your show every day.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
Yeah, but you don't get to listen to Reagan every day.
I should have an edge you're spending that much time
with me. I think I should definitely be first and
he should be second.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
But a lot of the attention being heaped on Alan
Berg as he elevated his on air profile could be
negative and very angry, which for a complex person like
Alan could be difficult at times.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
No, I agree with you. There are times I jump
calls and I very much abuse them at times, and
it's something I do recognize as one of my true families,
no question.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
And often Alan Berg got himself into the most trouble
by talking about women.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
I love talking about women, breastfeeding in public. That was
always a tough time of it. Women and Google Go
Go Boots. You love women in Go Go Boots.
Speaker 8 (29:04):
I think you do.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
You like your sex life to be much more adventurous.
Speaker 5 (29:07):
And here's this rather predictable.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
He does pretty much the same way with the same
anous But I'll know it's time. How would you put
the paint bridge down? I'd like to get started now
because I have an early appointment.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
I have a day.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
H that's next time on live Wire, The Loud Life
and Shocking Murder of Alan Berg. Live Wire is a
production of iHeart Podcasts and Modulator Media. For more podcasts
from iHeart Podcasts, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
(29:45):
wherever you get your podcasts.
Live Wire is a production of iHeart Podcasts and Modulator Media.
Previously on live Wire, The Loud Life and Shocking Murder
of Alan Burg.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
He worked in a shoe store. He had a great
fascination of clothing, and first in a shoe store, he
got fired from there for some remarks he made, and
then he decided to open a shirt store in downtown Denver.
One of his customers was a man named Lawrence Gross.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
And they want to know if he would come and
talk about something on the radio.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
What is this man? He's an addictive personality. Okay, I
consider myself an addictive personality who used alcohol as a
way of self indulgence. Would you consider coming back next Sunday?
All right, you'll come back and we'll continue this discussion.
It's really very interesting.
Speaker 5 (00:48):
We're talking with someone that is more than intimately involved
with it.
Speaker 6 (00:51):
I think he just knew it. I think was intrinsive.
I'm just tell you what I observed. But he was
what we call flamethrower.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
We don't want you on the air anymore. Out there
was a big hassle in town. A sorry written about
me in the paper. Do you know how cantankerous one
has to be to get banned off of ebs. It's
not easy to get fired for doing charitable work.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
After years of struggling through one career or another, one
relationship or another, one addiction or another, alan Berg had
finally found his calling on talk radio, and just as
he was finding his footing as an on air personality
in Denver, he needed a job badly, and his search
took him as far as Detroit and Oklahoma present leave Denver.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Well in the city, I don't think I can hear you.
It looks pretty certain right now. I told my husband
last night, we're gonna have to find an awfully powerful radio.
You can't make the work. Well, that's a compliment I
rarely received. You should have heard me. In Oklahoma. They
wanted an interpreter for me. I was in Detroit last week,
in fact, that I almost went to work with x
y Z. Really. Oh yeah, you don't know how close
(02:01):
for w x y Z. But that's a long story
I can't explore in the air because of possible legal ramifications.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Alan Berg had resigned himself to starting over in a
new market, but those fears were put to rest when
an opportunity came up at Win of Denver's biggest radio stations, KOA.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Around the clock. KOA gives you live news so you
know what's going on, coming the news, this live talk
so you know who's thinking, what and why I get
on the bot, and live coverage of your favorite Denver
sports rebond a t r all the time. KOA gives
you all the news you need, traffic and weather reports.
KOA News Talk eighty five Live Radio.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Oh that's my new theme, A new show, a new day,
a new time, and particularly enjoying being with you here
on KOA. So we're gonna be talking today and I
kind of feel like I'm an intruder of sorts, but
we're gonna get you going on my side hopefully if
we can. But we'd like to talk to you today with
all the commotion that's going on in this town. Much
of this understanding about things that have happened, So we
do want you to join us here.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Whereas his previous employers were five thousand watt directional daytime
stations with limited reach, KOA was a monster, a fifty
thousand watt station that served as the local affiliate for NBC.
It was exactly the kind of platform alan Burg had
been searching for since first getting into radio.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
And do you think it's amazing that a person with
Mike qualification is allowed to speak on I mean, you know,
a five hundred why station is where I started, Okay,
then I went to a five thousand, I went back
to one thousand, up to fifty. Does that mean anything?
It's kind of like the way the stock market is
running right now.
Speaker 6 (03:42):
Back when traditional call letters were handed out, Koa's designation
was King of Agriculture KOA and that goes back to Roosevelt,
that goes back to the foundation. The FCC is fifty
thousand watts clear channel. And that's when Berg went on
to night. Well you're you can hear KOA in LA
(04:03):
I mean, which is beams and Idaho. It was like
coming in from next door. And so it was a
fifty thousand, the voice of the Broncos, the voice of
the cu Buffs, the morning news back when it counted.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
That's Peter Boyles, a long time on air colleague and
arrival of Alan Berg's. Peter eventually followed Alan to Koa.
Speaker 6 (04:25):
And he got me there. I mean, he legitimately got
me there. He had done everything that we had done.
I was working kaw doing nights, and this opening took place,
and he went to Joel and he said, go get Peter.
And they took me to breakfast, and it was yesterday
and they offered the doe, and Berg's giving me this
(04:47):
and take mornings. And I'm looking at him and I
know he's not going to take mornings because we had
been together and I had nine to Noon which later
becomes Noon to one, the crossover show. And we were,
I mean, we were really really doing financially well, but
into ratings we were skying it. Who were killing him?
He was that good.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
I'm filmmaker and journalist tal Pinschewski, And this is Live
Wire episode two, First day at KOA. In his first
appearance on a radio station that was by far the
(05:27):
biggest broadcaster he'd ever worked for, Alan appeared timid at first.
He even admitted to being nervous.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Hey, I'm talking pretty bad, just like me. Of course,
I'm nervous and I'm neurotic. It's the start of a
new thing in a new show.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Fearless as he was on the air, Berg had reason
to be nervous. He had been controversial enough in his
previous radio jobs. That is hiring at KOA was met
by protests from many listeners, but Alan was ready to
confront that backlash.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
I do want to make a race wrong officis on
this today. And know a lot of people who have
been criticizing the continually KOA. They've written letters in mass
I do want to talk to as many of those
people today as I can, maybe to clear some groundwork
here because today's the day. I do not want to
make a continued effort here on KAE. I want to
get into some other kinds of talk, news talk, obviously,
entertainment talk, many different things that I do, and today
would be the day, and I'm going to try to
(06:14):
give preference today if I can. In the calls to
the people who are angry with me being here, I'd
like to discuss it with you if you want to
have a rational discussion with me. Obviously I don't know
why you're calling here to begin with. I'm not a
well person.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
This wasn't just a response to those angered by his hiring.
It was a mandate he brought with him to his
new job that would guide him as he took full
advantage of his awesome opportunity.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Yeah, I think that's exactly why I was hired here
to be alan Burg. But Elan Burke is growing up,
and I really hope I have. I think I've done
some horribly childish things in the history of my talk
radio career. I think I've learned from them. And I
said earlier, I think a lot of good things have
happened with me with Beaz. We've had a lot of fun,
We've had a lot of last we did some interesting
series over there, and we're going to do a lot
of them here. So I can only ask you to
(06:58):
do this for you folks who liked listen to me
a little bit and see if you like it. If
you don't hate, it's your choice not to listen. Obviously,
that's everybody's choice in the world. But don't be hateful.
It doesn't have to be hateful. I'm not really a
hateful person. I think you'll find that out. Let's get
back to the phone at one thirty eight in the afternoon,
Flying three, You're on KOA good afternoon.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Alan Berg didn't just tell angry callers to bring it on.
He also set an objective for himself to run towards confrontation,
engage head first in arguments, that's how he was going
to make great radio.
Speaker 6 (07:28):
There was no texting or no cell phones or he
wrote me a letter and he came in and you know,
cigarette going and that hair, and it was before he
had the dog, and I just sat down and I
just I fell in love with him. He was like
he was like I had worked in professional wrestling, and
I realized that he was just a professional wrestler and
(07:53):
he had charisma yet torch he had, and he was
memories on scold. He never went to radio school. He
didn't do what I did. I was a traffic reporter
and reading the news and playing records and never did
any of that. He literally sat down in the seat
and did it. That's a gift.
Speaker 7 (08:11):
He was the first and the original shock jock.
Speaker 6 (08:15):
That's the way I describe it.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
This is another one of Allan's KOA colleagues, Tom Martino, and.
Speaker 7 (08:21):
He was genuinely not genuine I don't even know how
to say that, but he was exactly what he was
that night. You could not define him by a show,
because the next night he could be completely on the
other side of an issue. Alan did not care what
(08:45):
you thought about anything. He really didn't care what he
thought about anything or not. For radio, he didn't or
he didn't try to push it on us. I mean,
I don't even know what his deep seated beliefs are,
and I knew him pretty well long conversation. So he
was the kind of guy that was on radio to
(09:05):
be on radio and to stir conversation, not to change minds.
He didn't have a mission except to entertain.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Allen's colleagues described him as an entertainer, as a flamethrower.
But what really set Allenberg apart was his versatility. He
was great at reading ads live on the air and
holding court at station sponsored events. And most importantly, there
wasn't a single topic that didn't inspire some sort of
fiery opinion from Berg.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
What I the government? Abortion? Oh? I made a list.
I don't have a wish they had it with him
by twenty key talk show subjects that you can make
book if you're hurting, go to one of those. Capital
upon eischment, they said abortion, almost sexuality. I mean there's
a whole series of them. Drug problems. Currently child abuse
seems to be the only subject that is occurring in America,
and certain Stobbi's gifts hot at certain times.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
I just that I had to meet with every single
talk show host every single day with a stack of papers,
with a stack of ideas. What are we going to
talk about today? The trick was is to talk about
the topics people were going to discuss at lunch, to
keep them engaged, to keep them tuned. So I'd walk
in with a stack of papers.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
That's Kowa producer Susan Rightman.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Well, I wasn't in the day where you could actually
go online and go digital and just see everything that's
going in the world. You so really was. I would
spend I would make sure that I would go out
for coffee every morning and kind of listen to what
people were talking about beside me out to lunch. But
it really was the newspaper we were reading at that time,
the Rocky Mountain News, to see what's going on. I
(10:42):
read and read and read, and then would try to
match whatever topic was going on with whatever personality, because
each one's unique to themselves. It was just crazy. Just
I read once about this murderer that went on I
don't even remember where now, but one of the witnesses
was a parrot that I witnessed the murder and we
(11:05):
were laughing about that, and I said, well, why don't
we try and interview on one of the witnesses. And
he said, let's interview the parrot. I can't interview a parrot.
But that's how his mind worked. Alan understood what made
people want to listen and stay tuned. I always remember
(11:28):
Alan say, you know, I agree with me, disagree with me,
but just don't sit there. And I love that about
Alan is he just knew how to give people all
riled up. Went on the air one night and he
decided he was going to tell everybody he was gay.
Speaker 6 (11:55):
And he comes in and we're going to break and
I remember the news guy was on their side of
the glass. He said, work with me. I said, what
do you want to do? He said, I'm gonna tell
people I'm gay. I'm looking at you knowing him, okay,
And so we did a it's called a crossover where
the other guy comes in and sits in a studio
with you and then you leave it. He stays, he said,
(12:16):
I want you to know I'm gay, and he wants
me to play it. I'ment, man, my god, and I said,
I don't want to work with you. You know, we did
this thing I'm not going to stay with you, you know,
Dad plus Ireland, and he's given me this, you know, more,
bring it more, bring more. And I'm saying, you know,
what's wrong with you? It's disgusting, you know, which I
never thought it was anyhow, but he's given me the
amp sign, you know. And he said, well, you know,
(12:38):
I don't know. So I storm out and he burns
up the phones. I'm gay, I'm gay.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
And he went on the air and told everybody he
was gay for four hours and everyone was outraged. And
in that day it was not really as as acceptable
as it is now. It was it was foreign and
it was that was a funny show. That was a
funny show. But that's how his mind worked.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Again worth taking into context that this is in the
early nineteen eighties.
Speaker 6 (13:09):
So Channel nine KUSA sends a film crew down to
KWBZ on West Princeton Avenue and about he was off
at four and the sports guy started at four, I
don't know, five to four, ten to four. He said,
it's a word, just a word. I'm happy, you know,
I'm not gay, I'm happy. But and you could feel
(13:31):
the air go out of the room. So he snakes
that when he pulls it off and gives me the elbow.
He pulled stuff like that that was so cool.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
The crazier, the better, the more out of the box,
anything that you could think of. But he, you know,
he liked to get people riled up. He liked to
get them angry because he would get to another side
of these listeners that you know, a true, the true
side of all of us, where eventually angry, you're going
(14:00):
to tell the truth. And he would, he would grill
them and he would just hang up on people. I'd
call him idiots, just we've just gone the people. He
riled people up, He made people think, he made them
so angry, and you either loved him or hate him.
But there was very little middle ground. There wasn't there
(14:22):
was a lot of gray about Alan.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
And what's most remarkable about the topics Alan most frequently
discussed on his program, they're almost all the exact same
topics we are still debating forty years later in today's
vast and fragmented media landscape. But there was one topic
that seemed to elicit a particularly aggressive response out of Alan,
yep Religion.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
Good morning, how are you today? I'm wonderful?
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Oh are you.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
How are you Jesus freak? Well, I'm hope I am
at Jesus freak in order, it said, but the hole
I come quickly, and my reward is with me.
Speaker 8 (14:59):
Oh believe that.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
God, Oh God, what's and his point up for my people?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
You believe that?
Speaker 4 (15:09):
And the day every panter you believe that, I know
they got to do. They gotta take you away in
that little jacket.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
As with a lot of the topics Berg discussed on
the air, his approach to religion drew on his own
personal experiences. Alan Berg was raised Jewish, but at no
point in his radio career did he ever strongly align
with the religion he was raised in.
Speaker 6 (15:30):
He always told me his mother was Irish. Ruth and
who I've talked to you many times on the phone
and he said, I, so, well, you know my mother's Irish.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Peter Boyles didn't learn the truth about alan Berg's mother
until his funeral.
Speaker 6 (15:42):
And Alan's brother, Marty Sachs s a c HS and
we're in the rabbi's office and I said, well, given
that Ruth is Irish, double take on me And I said,
what are you talking about it? I said, well, you know,
Ruth being Irish. It's first not Irish.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Berg demonstrated contempt for organized religion and Christianity in particular,
but there's a historical context to keep in mind here too.
At this particular time in America, talk radio isn't the
only emerging force in national media. Religious programming featuring charismatic
preachers was also experiencing unprecedented reach and popularity, and Alan
(16:23):
Berg was more than happy to single out these so
called televangelists.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Big Jim Baker, he's on what the seven hundred Club? Now?
He's down the Praise of the Lord Club? Isn't he?
Seven hundred?
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Is the other guy?
Speaker 6 (16:36):
I care?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
I love those shows, just love them.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Look I tell you, I played these records at night.
I'm trying to find the Lord.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
I will hear recall.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
But I had once Calledlaura Roberts on the air Beck
at the old station I was with, and I asked
him to come and heal Denver. He didn't cooperate, he
didn't get here. I don't know why I didn't come.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Berg occasionally referred to Christians as Jesus freaks, but when
it came to aggravating them on the air, there was
one exchange that reigns supreme. I mean, here's Berg's former
Choe colleague Tom Martine.
Speaker 7 (17:04):
Really, really really, I don't believe, you know, he would
say something like that. He would just just something to.
Speaker 6 (17:09):
Stir people up.
Speaker 7 (17:10):
I don't believe in God. God doesn't exist, you know.
Or one night he'd say, I'm sure I believe in God,
my God the way I believe it, I believe God
is a big fat black woman. Or he would say
stuff like that and then change it the next day.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
Hey, I understand that. I'm like to know what your
opinion is of christ Jannity. Well, Jenny, I'm on a
subject right now. I've done so many shows on Christianity.
I don't believe in Christianity. I think it is a
legend at best, okay, And I am an agnostic minimally
and therefore, as simply as I can put it, I
(17:48):
don't believe in the doctor of Christianity.
Speaker 8 (17:51):
Could I ask you another question, sure, what opinions God
do you believe in God?
Speaker 4 (17:57):
I don't know. You don't have a real simple answer
was not to say one. I find Christians absolutely certain
that they know something that actually is unprovable. I only
lay out one. I lay out the possibility that thing.
A lot of things could be that I don't know about,
but I have no objective proof to determine them until
the day I see the proof. Then I will have
to presumptively say there's not enough evidence at this point
(18:18):
to say for sure there's anything.
Speaker 7 (18:20):
And he he would say things like, well, I have
a listener, she's on the line now, says god Fielder,
gas tank, and they would do a whole thing on
how god Fielder guess ting can one more?
Speaker 5 (18:31):
And I must go.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Okay, I went to the gas station and I'm I'm
all kidding in the car, rearing up on the fine
wheels and says, oh God, I'm here. And Jenny, baby,
I went into the gas station. I don't know these people,
of course not j okay, I don't know. Jenny will
get regularly and he's going to get off against every night.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Man take it in the gas station, I leave it.
Speaker 6 (18:58):
I go on to take.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
I'll tell you a little girl. I thought possibly you
were in therapy. I had a bad idea, Jenny. I've
been there, Jenny, I'm not kidding anybody. I'm not there.
Last night I sawt psychiatric help.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
On the air, you.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Up there.
Speaker 6 (19:18):
So I said, oh, God, you're gonna have to take
care of the fact.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
And then God got money from the sky. They said,
somebody came in pay for nobody knows me there it
would have been forty five dollars, but somebody came in.
Mysterious stranger walked in and paid your billy. Damn. Maybe
I'm wrong.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
Maybe I had a boy.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
It shouldn't happen to me. I'll pay you something. I'll
tell you why, I'll do Jenny, I'll prove really, Joe,
I'm going to sell you a deloreate. See if you
could drive it.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Alan Berg made scant references to his own Jewish upbringing,
both privately and on the air, but despite that, he
refused to stand for antisemitic comments from Colling. Such comments
typically came in the form of conspiracy theories involving either
communism or some duplicitous world order. Stop us if this
sounds familiar, yes, and I want to read you one.
Speaker 8 (20:14):
This makes the and drop off oriance definitely interesting, since
I drop off, according to several Soviet intelligence inspectors, as
Jewish on his mother's side, the family name with Ernstein
on his father's Andropian and Armenian name. It was recissided
to become an drop off what was written by uh
I don't alt Rocky Mountain ames.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
The caller is making reference to Yuri and drop Off,
who at the time was the General Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Allenberg loved America, particularly
the First Amendment rights the country afforded him, and the
suggestion that Jews were somehow colluding to undermine the country
seemed to really piss him off.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
It was back Andropoff had Jewish brought him, and what
would that prove about the wish?
Speaker 8 (21:01):
I think that a still in control of the Soviet Union.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
I think the responsible Christians.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
I think you're sick.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
I think I think your ability to reason and use
any lodge you gain, you are a Nazi by your
very own as much it's good, that's right. You heard.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Berg had no way to know it at the time,
but the way he so viciously shot down these conspiracy
theories would figure prominently in the investigation into his murder.
But we'll get into that more in another episode.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Now I'm not getting I want to kick on religion,
but you go right ahead if you want we have
no no reservation. Of course I will, okay. I like
a little respect, though, and I want to say something.
I'll get my way. I'm sorry, go ahead, okay. Not
a skeptic. I'm a believer. I wanted to Oklahoma City.
I became a reborn Christian. So I pick up it,
(21:58):
the book the Believer. I cut your picture up. You
are to brave. You have very bad that I could
stand to look at.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
As you could imagine, these kinds of spirited exchanges, some
of which escalated into anger, made Alan a pretty divisive
figure anywhere Kaway's broadcast signal landed. So how divisive was
Alan Berg in and around Denver?
Speaker 2 (22:24):
There was a poll taken in Denver about who was
the most liked and the most disliked Maybia personality in town.
He won both awards.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
This is Alanberg biographer Steve Singular. Steve passed away in
twenty twenty four, and this series was produced in his honor.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
That kind of sums up his personality in certain ways.
In that little nutshell, people liked him, people didn't like him,
but people were listening and he was stirring up something
within them. As he told me, you know, I just
want to make people feel. I want to make people think.
I want to provoke, I want to get a reaction.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Sure, Ellenberg wanted to stir the pot. He wanted to
inspire heavy discussion. He wanted to make people think, even
while openly questioning the average human beings ability to do so.
But he was also human, a human whose entire on
air persona had been shaped by a lifetime of insecurities,
insecurities that sometimes emerged live on the air.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
I don't like my body in the new it out
there right now. I like to clothe myself a lot.
I don't particularly like you. I don't like to think
I'm so crazy about myself. I get up in the morning,
I get sick looking at myself in the mirror. Okay,
then why do they want because insecure people do this.
See if I keep you off base, then you can't
(23:56):
make a fool of me.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Okay, Hey, Alan Burg wanted to be liked.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Alan was the kindest guy I have ever had the
pleasure to know, and it really broke his heart in
a lot of ways that people disliked him, like the
time that he went to the Nuggets stadium and was
supposed to be their behalftime and the crowd beat him.
(24:24):
It was heartbreaking. I wish I had a video of that.
But he got what he wanted. He wanted to get
people riled up. He wanted to get a reaction, and
he did, but unfortunately it wasn't always good.
Speaker 6 (24:37):
We're all driven, I mean, I think that's where we connected.
Was there our own insecurities in a business that you're
only as good as your last book, your last ratings.
And the great line of management and radio is so
what have you done for me lately? Or the other
slogan is when win or when you know, and he
(24:58):
was a winner.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
As ali Burg Star continued to grow, his public profile
expanded with it, especially around Denver, where he swiftly became
one of the city's most recognizable media personalities. It certainly
didn't hurt that his physical appearance was just as distinct
as his disposition on the air, With his gray bull
hair style, an array of stylish suits and shoes, and
(25:21):
an uncontrollable display of physical ticks and mannerisms, it didn't
take long for alan Berg to get noticed in public
around Denver, and that's typically when things got interesting.
Speaker 6 (25:34):
True story, we're in a place that was owned by
a guy named Joel Barron, and it was called the
tally Ho as a prime rib joint. And I can
see into the bar and here comes this woman. She's
bee lining oh man, here it goes. And I don't
think she's bee lining me. I think she's bee lining him.
And right behind her comes her husband. This guy's used
(25:55):
you guys, a gorilla. I don't know correct. He's not
a fighter, and he's gonna get and we had I'm
drinking and there's this true starres a wine bottle on
the floor and I grab it by the neck, said
I if I have to hit this guy, I'm gonna
hit him. I'm not gonn let him beat alan up.
And she gets to the table and she starts up
on him with her finger, and the guy's right behind her.
Guy's big me and here we go, and so you
(26:18):
have to understand. He goes, sir, sorry, he's talking over
her shoulder, sir, and he's got a cigarette going. I'm
thinking he's got the balls of an elephant. And I'm
thinking we're gonna get a fight with this guy. And
he says, sir, what do you do for a living?
I think guy was like a block format or has
I'm gonna do with laying bricks? All right, here's what
(26:39):
we're gonna know. You can order my house tomorrow and
lay brick and I'll talk to your wife. And any
guy does this, watch again. I'm sure they're drinking. He
takes the old lady and leads her back to the bar,
and I'm going I'm looking at him like people can
whistle down dogs and stuff, And I'm going like, how
did you do that? And I think and he said no, no,
I'm fine, okay, but I thought for sure we're going
(27:00):
upside down. I'm looked at him, going how'd you do that?
It was him, he could do it.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Alan Berg seemed to have attained a new kind of celebrity.
He wasn't an actor or a musician, but he was
definitely an entertainer, a local figure with national exposure who
is as prominent and influential as any politician. And bear
in mind, this is pre influencer, pre social media, pre internet.
How this is pre cable and alan Berg was starting
(27:30):
to get a whole lot of attention, much of it positive.
I think you're the most obnoxious, disgusting, infuriating commentator and
sometimes You're rude and inconsiderate, and I very seldom disagree
with you.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
But I really agree that I love to hear you
disagree with people.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
And that's very very well said. I didn't like the
first part. The last part I that was therithmic. Alan.
Speaker 5 (27:54):
Yeah, I just wanted to call and tell you that, Masami,
you are my.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
Favorite person next to President of Reaguan. I'm your favorite person.
That's hard to put together in one head, that Reagan
would be your favorite and I would be your second favorite. Now,
how did you come to that conclusion?
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Well, I've listened to your show every day.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
Yeah, but you don't get to listen to Reagan every day.
I should have an edge you're spending that much time
with me. I think I should definitely be first and
he should be second.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
But a lot of the attention being heaped on Alan
Berg as he elevated his on air profile could be
negative and very angry, which for a complex person like
Alan could be difficult at times.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
No, I agree with you. There are times I jump
calls and I very much abuse them at times, and
it's something I do recognize as one of my true families,
no question.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
And often Alan Berg got himself into the most trouble
by talking about women.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
I love talking about women, breastfeeding in public. That was
always a tough time of it. Women and Google Go
Go Boots. You love women in Go Go Boots.
Speaker 8 (29:04):
I think you do.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
You like your sex life to be much more adventurous.
Speaker 5 (29:07):
And here's this rather predictable.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
He does pretty much the same way with the same
anous But I'll know it's time. How would you put
the paint bridge down? I'd like to get started now
because I have an early appointment.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
I have a day.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
H that's next time on live Wire, The Loud Life
and Shocking Murder of Alan Berg. Live Wire is a
production of iHeart Podcasts and Modulator Media. For more podcasts
from iHeart Podcasts, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
(29:45):
wherever you get your podcasts.
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