For much of the last 22 years, Drew Lane and Mike Clark had a winning formula that dominated morning radio in Detroit.
Their mojo is not easy to categorize. It combined commentary on sports, news and pop culture that could be both insightful and lacerating. Lots of irreverent humor. Celebrity interviews. A certain amount of misogyny, homophobia and right-wing politics. Frequent discussions of bathroom habits, sex practices and such politically incorrect questions as whether listeners could dismember a body if their lives depended on it and if Jane Fonda, at 75, is still “doable.”
The resulting radio stew gained them more listeners than most Detroit radio programs, made millions of dollars for WRIF-FM and earned them paychecks of around seven figures, putting them in the 1 Percent.
Morning radio in Detroit is a harsh world, though, and it’s now suddenly over. The station confirmed Wednesday that the Drew & Mike Show will cease to exist on 'RIF after May 17. It was widely reported that Lane and Clark will be replaced by Dave and Chuck The Freak, a popular duo who abruptly left Windsor-based station 89X in November.
Drew and Mike could be both naughty and nice, and their program had unusual range. They loved the Beatles, ESPN, cops, Will Ferrell, Charlie LeDuff, criticism of Scientology, celebrity gossip, super market tabloids and any suggestion that John Travolta is secretly gay.
They disliked liberal Democrats, unions, Obama Care (and Obama), Daniel Day-Lewis, Ray Lewis, Occupy Wall Street and assertive women.
When a man was arrested with multiple bags of heroin in his rectum this year, they were on the phone, talking to his grandfather. When a 320-pound man was discovered trying on lingerie in a sex shop, they had a conversation with the clerk. Their show was filled with humorous recorded outtakes that are dropped in over live conversations, and they often played parody songs and self-produced take-offs on “Masterpiece Theater.”
Lane and Clark are in their early 50s, and their show had seemed fatigued at times in 2013. Clark, who served as sort of a class clown to the well informed Lane, was off for much of the year, reportedly caring for his aging father. Lane had taken a couple of lengthy leaves in the past.
Yet they still could rise to the occasion: The show’s sharp and abundant coverage of the Kwame Kipatrick trial this year showed why they had ruled the dial for so many years.
Lane and Clark devoted more time to trial coverage than virtually every other Detroit radio station, and they frequently took appealing trips into the weeds of the proceedings, aided and abetted by Kilpatrick connoisseur M.L. Elrick of Fox 2, who won a Pulitzer, along with Jim Schaefer, for their coverage of Kilpatrick at the Free Press.
Lane, a voracious reader, had lots of insights into sports, current events and music, but the program’s expert guests, like Elrick, and its free-swinging style – some might call it ribald cynicism – added value and created a force that overwhelmed the inane chatter on many other stations.
In addition to Elrick, Drew and Mike over the years had many other experts, including Mickey Redmond talking about hockey, the late Tom (Killer) Kowalski discussing the Lions and Mr. Skin, the operator of an R-rated website that features movie sex scenes, talking about actresses’ breasts.
Women had it tough much of the time on the show, especially if they were forceful, lacking in “rackage” or had the misfortune to have been involved with Kilpatrick. Carlita Kilpatrick was the mayor’s “fat-assed wife” and any number of female public figures were “sluts” and “whores” if they were perceived as being too adventurous. Drew and Mike regularly referred to Hilary Clinton as a “bitch.”
Clark often talked about his obsession with women who wear high heels and black thigh-highs, and asked female callers to discuss their bra size. He did “Butt Mike” skits in which he farted into the microphone, interpreting the noise as his anus talking.
Discussing the unwanted sexual advances of Lenny Dykstra, the troubled former major league baseball player, a producer on the show remarked recently, “Being a chick would suck, man, having to deal with boners all the time.”
The program’s news reader, Trudi Daniels, generally laughed along with the boys, rarely challenging them.
Politically, Lane and Clark rolled with a certain amount of middle-class-white-guy resentment, leaning far to the right on many issues, especially capital punishment, which they frequently advocated as a solution for freshly arrested suspects in high-visibility crimes who were just beginning their trip through the criminal justice system.
In the end, WRIF management refused to discuss reasons for not renewing Drew and Mike’s contracts. But their replacements, Dave Hunter, Chuck (The Freak) Urquhart and Lisa Way are younger, more plugged into 21st Century media – they have their own video game app – and bring with them a built-in fan club from their 11 years on 89X.
Drew and Mike had their moments recently, but in 2013, older straight guys mimicking stereotypical gay lisps sounded kind of old school. Station owner Greater Media might have thought so.
