Why Savage is the best; politics has nothing to do with it; show excels in boring Bay Area; Friday pulse

Once and a while I get a lot of heat for my unabashed love of the Michael Savage show. My "LIB-er-ral" friends chide me and complain that I've lost my sense of values, (yea, me and values--what a combo) "How could you listen to that ass----? and so on and so on.

I'll tell you why.

Savage is entertaining. Savage is refreshingly FUNNY and unpredictable and utterly brilliant. His monologues are so outrageous, so unrelentingly compelling and listenable, I make it mandatory that I listen to them no matter how many times I shake my head and say, "Is this for real?"

And politics? Politics has the least to do with Savage's rants. Oh sure, he borders, (no pun) on extremes dealing with the immigration debate, the Obama administration, Islamic fundamentalism, the whole GOP talking points, but get this? Politics are the least isms of Savage's rantings. Politics are merely the tentacles of his audio theatre.

If his show, (syndicated and heard locally on XTRA Sports 860 AM 3-5PM, 6-9AM) was strictly a politically-oriented program, then I'd tune him out, much like I tune out Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Limbaugh, and the other PREDICTABLE ultra-right minions who do the same, lame show every day and don't add anything to the radar.

I didn't use the word "debate" for a reason. Savage doesn't debate much--its HIS show all right and if you disagree, you're on thin ice and both he and you know it. But you LISTEN. And you listen intently even if you do disagree because Savage's shtick is appointment radio. Like popcorn at a movie.

There are things he says that are crude  and intolerable, but you get the feeling that Savage has a wink in his eye. He likes to use the word, "vermin." That's pretty loaded and there's times when he goes off, it gets sort of scary, but call me a sicko, I laugh and cringe at the same time. Its a Savage speciality. In the very next moment, after vermin, he might be talking about what "Teddy", his dog, is eating. I'm not kidding.

Savage is not for everyone. I get it. But I'm slightly left-of-center and listen to him daily. Am I supposed to be ashamed of that? Hell no. He's ENTERTAINING, caps intended. Too bad his colleagues have this huge vendetta against him because they're jealous of his enormous popularity, ( third-most-listened-to radio talk host according to Talkers magazine)

A few weeks ago, Savage opened his Monday show with his trademark Fats Domino, "Blue Monday" song. It was a show that typically illustrated the brilliance of Savage's theatre. He didn't like the fact it was a slow news day and proceeded to talk about the lack of great Italian food in SF, his boat, and that "Teddy" was moody.

I have never laughed so hard in my life. You want to eff with me because this guy is nuts, go ahead, make my day! Imagine a Levin or Beck spending three hours spewing forth on the lack of decent Italian food. Yeah, right! Couldn't happen, wouldn't happen.

Those guys are the same old song every day. They never talk about anything else. It's "rip Obama" and "he's a 'socialist", 24/7. These guys have no second or third act in their repertoire. They beat the same drum every show, and in a way, so does Savage and yet Savage keeps me glued. He's that good.

Savage has his critics and most of them work in the industry. He's at times, unbearable and highly agitating, which usually is the case with a very talented artist. Many of my radio friends detest him; one, a good buddy, was the recipient of a Savage heckle some years back. From what I heard, it was pretty bad, but I point out that I can only judge Savage on a professional basis and his radio show is easily the most, yes again, entertaining show in the market.

This week marks the one-year anniv. of an episode that Savage says almost ruined his life. He was officially placed on a "ban list" in the UK. Savage is still on the list and has done numerous shows about how he could end up on a list with terrorists and notorious characters. He blames not only the British, but the US Govt. itself.

Savage got a lot of heat from industry critics that he milked the story for ratings attention, but I sort of doubt he needs more ratings. His show is immensely popular. He's in the May issue of Playboy magazine and he was recently featured in a cover story in the New Yorker.

As indicated earlier, he's not for everyone. But if you'd dare want to venture out of the usual boring Bay Area radio bubble, then Savage is your chance to explore the fun and depth of a quality show that doesn't disappoint on a daily basis.


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