FAQs

Q: What's your Xbox Live handle?
A: Actually, I lied. I won't be posting that here, but I did answer this question on the show some time back. This is what you get for not being a faithful enough listener. Shame!

Q: What is the Emerson Army?
A: The Emerson Army is a band of right-thinking individuals who formed in the aftermath of the Coffee Cup Crusade. They spread the Emerson word through random, street-level, frequently covert activities. They strike, and then they sink back into the night. One of their number may work in the cubicle right next to you. Fear them!

Q: Is Rick seethingly bitter about Adam Carolla getting the morning gig on KUFO?
A: No. Really. Honest. I swear. In all truthiness, I think Carolla's the right man for the job. CBS Radio had some very, very general talks with me about it, but in the end, they picked a guy who's pretty damned amusing, if you ask me. Besides, taking that gig would be like walking into a helicopter blade. As I always say, I don't wanna be the guy replacing Howard, I wanna be the guy replacing the guy who replaces Howard. 'Nuff said.

Q: What's up with the Booby Doctor?
A: Well, he's not in puberty yet, I don't think, so my guess is you could find him online at this very minute. The best part is that I don't think he has any idea how famous he is.

Q: How many coffee cups did Entercom receive during the Coffee Cup Crusade?
A: I don't have an exact tally, but many, many hundreds. Early on, I was getting private Entercom emails leaked to me by a mole; that leak was eventually plugged, but not before I read several "don't let this give you a nervous breakdown" memos that went out to the staff over there.

Q: Whatever happened to Betsy?
A: She still hangs out with Clyde, I think. She got a realtor license and, as such, had little time left for our show, so she kind of gradually faded away. No hard feelings---she just had other crap to do.

Q: Did Sarah know that Entercom was going to can the show/station? She sure seemed to leave at the right time.
A: No. The story goes like this: Sarah was doing mornings on KNRK, and then walking across the hall to do my show. In early April, she got an offer to start doing morning TV on KOIN, which she would have been a fool to turn down. She told the KNRK folks she was leaving the morning show, and, in a fit of pique, they told her that she was therefore not allowed to keep her gig on our show. You'd think they'd have wanted the cross-promotion, but what do I know? Her punishment for leaving KNRK was being forced off of The Rick Emerson Show---after all, when you want to discipline your kid, you take away what they love the most. We fought to keep her, but we were overruled. In the end, it almost didn't matter, because management decided shortly thereafter to change the station's format. Good times.

Q: Who are your biggest influences?
A: In no particular order, my primary influences (there are many) are talk radio host Alan Berg, activist Abbie Hoffman, Mad Magazine, Sam Kinison, Henry Rollins, George Carlin, and Rush Limbaugh (seriously). I also credit Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for changing my whole life at an early age.

Q: How did you get into radio?
A: When I was 14, I basically volunteered to be a wage-free slave at the local radio station. I got coffee and changed records for free for a long time, and eventually worked up to weekend overnight shifts. If you want a radio job, take anything they offer you. If you wait for the brass ring, you'll never get it... so take anything they offer and go from there.

Q: How long have you been working with Clyde Lewis?
A: Since 1995, when we met in Salt Lake City. Shortly thereafter, I gave Clyde his own show. Ground Zero has since become massively popular, and was nationally syndicated.

Q: Did you know you look just like Richard Belzer?
A: Yeah. Thanks.

Q: Did you ever go by another name? Why?
A: Actually, this is a good story. When I was 15, I was about five minutes away from my first airshift on a "real" radio station. (For those who care, it was Y-106, a now-defunct country station in Kennewick.) Anyway, Jim, the DJ who was on before me said, "Hey, I'll tell the audience to stay tuned for you. What's your name?" I told him, and he informed me it was "really bad for the radio". He tossed a phonebook at me, and said "Pick another one," I literally opened the phonebook and stabbed my finger down. The name it landed on was Taylor.

I said, "How about Rick Taylor?", and he said, "Much better." He introduced me as Rick Taylor, and that's the name I went by for many years in many different cities.

Eventually, I realized that Rick Taylor was about the worst name I could have picked, because it's SUCH a good radio name that a million other guys use it. (Seriously... look on Google sometime, and you'll find 500 other DJs named Rick Taylor.) And so, eventually I dumped it. Best move I ever made. (At least I didn't spend eight years as Rick St. John or something even worse...)

Q: Did you ever have a cheesy "radio voice"?
A: Oh my stars, yes.

Q: So, what's the story with the syndicated show? Why did it go off the air?
A: Well, without dragging it out into a big soap opera, some serious issues about the "direction" of the show came up, and there were a lot of differing views about the best way to fix things. At the end, it became clear that no one was happy, or in agreement about much of anything, except that it was better to throw in the towel and begin again. No hard feelings - that's just the way it goes.

Q: Will the show be national again? When?
A: Don't rule it out, but right now, I'm focusing my skills on pandering to the Portland audience. I mean, all the good drugs are here and everything.

Q: Why do you always refer to the year as "the year of our Lord"?
A: It's an old thing from Catholic school. I'm afraid if I stop doing it, they'll show up and beat me.