92 KQRS Morning Show
Encyclopedia
The 92 KQRS Morning Show (also known as the KQ Morning Crew) is a popular, long-running radio morning show originating from KQRS-FM in Minneapolis
, Minnesota
. It is currently hosted by Tom Barnard
, and features several other regular personalities. It is also one of the highest-rated local morning shows in America.
station with a reputation for "stoner" music - was acquired by ABC Radio Network in 1985, it decided to bring in a high-performance team to better utilize the station's 100,000 watts of power. It enlisted program director Dave Hamilton, an industry whiz kid, to turn the programming around. Hamilton in turn hired Barnard, a journeyman disc jockey and highly-successful voice-over artist, and Dan Culhane, another veteran local jock, to anchor the vital morning show.
The show quickly generated huge numbers with its mix of irreverent and sometimes tasteless humor and, usually, very little music. The show dropped Dan Culhane in 1987, and over the years accreted a collection of other characters, with Mike "Stretch" Gelfand and Terri Traen joining in the early 1990s to anchor the rest of the cast.
In 1997, competing station WBOB (100.3FM) picked up the syndicated version of the Howard Stern show, giving Barnard his sternest test yet. After a year and a half, Barnard became one of the few local morning shows in the country to best Stern in the local ratings; WBOB changed formats and dropped Stern.
At around this time, Barnard and the Morning Show were recognized as the top-rated morning show in the country, in terms of audience share; the show had a higher percentage of local radio listenership than any other major-market morning show in the US.
. As a Roman Catholic, Traen often defends the church when others are more eager to criticize it. When anyone from Britain
is interviewed during the show, Traen often asks them if they ever knew, or met, Princess Diana. Also, during interviews with experts in any given field, a soundbyte of her asking if they "ever look[ed] for the F. Scott Fitzgerald
" is played which references a gaffe made by her years ago confusing the author with the sunken ship SS Edmund Fitzgerald
.
with listeners as well as a weekly football pick segment. He has no problem making fun of others, but gets noticeably irritated and offended if anyone takes a jab at him. Like Barnard, Gelfand is a voiceover artist and a member of the Film Actors Guild. He was a winning contestant on Wheel of Fortune, but was unable to solve the bonus puzzle “from top to bottom.”
, joined the morning show with Jeff Passolt after the departure of Mark Rosen, and is known as "Sanny" by the listeners. He has also served as a city council member of the suburb of Orono
, where he and his wife Mary run a miniature horse
ranch https://www.enchantedhollow.net/Home_Page.php, and hosted a social-commentary segment on KSTP-TV
called "Sansevere Sounds Off" until February 2008. http://www.kstp.com/article/237/
news co-anchor who, like Sansevere, provides insight on news and sports topics being discussed. He was once urged by Barnard to run for political office (in much the same manner as Mark Rosen years earlier).
, Minnesota Vikings
, and Minnesota Wild
games.
Dave Mordal
all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy
all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy
all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy
all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy
all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy
all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy ..
and in the fall of 2001 launched the station's precursor to Tone E. Fly's morning show.
and Rob Schneider
have caused them to never want to appear on KQ again. Lassman also created the Call of the Day Challenge in which listeners would send him ideas for prank phone calls. Perhaps the best known of these prank calls was one affectionately titled "Mooseburger," in which a man named Mooseburger thinks that comedian Jack Benny (by that time "Benny" was deceased) is the one making the prank phone call. He is now a programming director at CBS
-owned Twin Cities stations WLTE
and KZJK
.
at KUPD
in Phoenix, AZ. Currently is the 5, 6, and 10pm weekday news anchor at KPNX
in Phoenix.
after that station had flipped formats to active rock
. His stay was short-lived, however; he managed to alienate Dennis Green
during an interview at the 1997 Vikings
training camp
, and on December 1, the morning of a seminal Monday Night Football
game between the Vikings and the Green Bay Packers
, aired a bit that allegedly found Brett Favre
in a hotel room with a woman that was not his wife. After protests from Favre, Packer fans, and the Packers organization, Cabé revealed the bit to be staged, and he apologized and was subsequently fired. That same week, he was a guest on the Howard Stern Show
, where he proceeded to rip into the staff at KQ for making him take the fall.
tribes, respectively, and the American Indian Alliance that raised concerns from the tribes. The tribes mounted several protests throughout October, and the station again issued a public apology.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. It is currently hosted by Tom Barnard
Tom Barnard
Thomas 'Tom' Barnard is an American talk radio host and former voice-over talent. He is currently the host of The KQ92 Morning Show broadcast in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.-Personal:...
, and features several other regular personalities. It is also one of the highest-rated local morning shows in America.
History
When KQRS - formerly a sleepy classic rockClassic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
station with a reputation for "stoner" music - was acquired by ABC Radio Network in 1985, it decided to bring in a high-performance team to better utilize the station's 100,000 watts of power. It enlisted program director Dave Hamilton, an industry whiz kid, to turn the programming around. Hamilton in turn hired Barnard, a journeyman disc jockey and highly-successful voice-over artist, and Dan Culhane, another veteran local jock, to anchor the vital morning show.
The show quickly generated huge numbers with its mix of irreverent and sometimes tasteless humor and, usually, very little music. The show dropped Dan Culhane in 1987, and over the years accreted a collection of other characters, with Mike "Stretch" Gelfand and Terri Traen joining in the early 1990s to anchor the rest of the cast.
In 1997, competing station WBOB (100.3FM) picked up the syndicated version of the Howard Stern show, giving Barnard his sternest test yet. After a year and a half, Barnard became one of the few local morning shows in the country to best Stern in the local ratings; WBOB changed formats and dropped Stern.
At around this time, Barnard and the Morning Show were recognized as the top-rated morning show in the country, in terms of audience share; the show had a higher percentage of local radio listenership than any other major-market morning show in the US.
Terri Traen
Terri is the only on-air female crew member. Terri is famous among listeners for her many broadcasting gaffes. She also helps to promote the show by appearing in numerous spots (such as stores and bars) throughout the Twin CitiesTwin cities
Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time...
. As a Roman Catholic, Traen often defends the church when others are more eager to criticize it. When anyone from Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
is interviewed during the show, Traen often asks them if they ever knew, or met, Princess Diana. Also, during interviews with experts in any given field, a soundbyte of her asking if they "ever look[ed] for the F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
" is played which references a gaffe made by her years ago confusing the author with the sunken ship SS Edmund Fitzgerald
SS Edmund Fitzgerald
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that made headlines after sinking in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29. When launched on June 8, 1958, she was the largest boat on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains...
.
Mike "Stretch" Gelfand
Short, middle-aged, Jewish man who married his mother and a self-proclaimed social liberal & atheist. He frequently interrupts Tom Barnard with his attempt at humor when commenting on an issue and runs the show's dead poolDead pool
A dead pool, also known as a death pool, death watch, dead cert or ghoul pool, is a game of prediction which involves guessing when someone will die. Sometimes it is a bet where money is involved...
with listeners as well as a weekly football pick segment. He has no problem making fun of others, but gets noticeably irritated and offended if anyone takes a jab at him. Like Barnard, Gelfand is a voiceover artist and a member of the Film Actors Guild. He was a winning contestant on Wheel of Fortune, but was unable to solve the bonus puzzle “from top to bottom.”
Phillip Wise
A former NFL player and the lone African-American crew member who is almost always referenced when a news segment or topic is about African-Americans (who Barnard jokingly refers to as "Philly's cousins"). Despite the show's racial humor element, Wise and Barnard have been good friends since childhood. Wise is often the subject of racial teasing and plays into the jokes, referring to himself as "a black man in America today".Bob Sansevere
Sansevere, a sports columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer PressSt. Paul Pioneer Press
The St. Paul Pioneer Press is a newspaper based in St. Paul, Minnesota, primarily serving the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Circulation is heaviest in the eastern metro region, including Ramsey, Dakota, and Washington counties, along with western Wisconsin, eastern Minnesota and Anoka County,...
, joined the morning show with Jeff Passolt after the departure of Mark Rosen, and is known as "Sanny" by the listeners. He has also served as a city council member of the suburb of Orono
Orono, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,538 people, 2,766 households, and 2,196 families residing in the city. The population density was 468.9 people per square mile . There were 2,909 housing units at an average density of 181.0 per square mile...
, where he and his wife Mary run a miniature horse
Miniature horse
Miniature horses are found in many nations, particularly in Europe and the Americas. The designation of miniature horse is determined by the height of the animal, which, depending on the particular breed registry involved, is usually less than as measured at the last hairs of the mane, which are...
ranch https://www.enchantedhollow.net/Home_Page.php, and hosted a social-commentary segment on KSTP-TV
KSTP-TV
KSTP-TV, channel 5, is the ABC affiliate for the Twin Cities. Its transmitter is located at the Shoreview Telefarm. It is the flagship station of Hubbard Broadcasting, which also owns several other broadcasting properties across the United States....
called "Sansevere Sounds Off" until February 2008. http://www.kstp.com/article/237/
Brian Zepp
The show's sound effects operator and South Dakota native, a motorcycling enthusiast and Army veteran who is very open about his love for beautiful, large-chested women.Jeff Passolt
Local KMSP-TVKMSP-TV
KMSP-TV, channel 9, is the Fox-owned-and-operated television station serving the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota designated market area, owned in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WFTC...
news co-anchor who, like Sansevere, provides insight on news and sports topics being discussed. He was once urged by Barnard to run for political office (in much the same manner as Mark Rosen years earlier).
Justin Severson
The show's producer. He also moonlights as a beer vendor at Minnesota TwinsMinnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
, Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
, and Minnesota Wild
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
games.
Dave MordalDave MordalDave Mordal is a comedian from Elk River, Minnesota.- Career :He was a contestant on the first and third seasons of NBC's Last Comic Standing. He was fourth eliminated in the first season after losing in a head-to-head competition to Dat Phan, the eventual winner of Last Comic Standing season 1. He...
all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boyall work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy
all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy
all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy
all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy
all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy ..
Tony Lee
Lee was the show and segment producer from its debut through early 2000, when he left amid a contract dispute. His most significant contributions were the "Tony Tunes," a series of song parodies written and performed largely on his own, and putting together the year-end compilation CDs that were released from 1989-2001. After his departure from KQ, he helped Radio One create urban station KTTBKTTB
KHTC is an American radio station in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. KHTC's nickname is "96.3 Now". The station airs a rhythmic contemporary music format and its main competition is KDWB-FM. The station is licensed to Edina, Minnesota.-Origins:...
and in the fall of 2001 launched the station's precursor to Tone E. Fly's morning show.
John Lassman
Lassman is most known to listeners for his character The Chucker, a bumbling jock who did off-air interviews and almost always mistook the interviewee's identity. It is rumored that Chucker interviews with (among others) Dennis MillerDennis Miller
Dennis Miller is an American stand-up comedian, political commentator, actor, sports commentator, and television and radio personality. He is known for his critical assessments laced with pop culture references...
and Rob Schneider
Rob Schneider
Robert Michael "Rob" Schneider is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and director. A stand-up comic and veteran of the NBC sketch-comedy series Saturday Night Live, Schneider has gone on to a successful career in feature films, including starring roles in the comedy films Deuce Bigalow:...
have caused them to never want to appear on KQ again. Lassman also created the Call of the Day Challenge in which listeners would send him ideas for prank phone calls. Perhaps the best known of these prank calls was one affectionately titled "Mooseburger," in which a man named Mooseburger thinks that comedian Jack Benny (by that time "Benny" was deceased) is the one making the prank phone call. He is now a programming director at CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
-owned Twin Cities stations WLTE
WLTE
WLTE is a radio station in Minneapolis-St. Paul that carries a "Lite rock" adult contemporary format and has done so for more than two decades. WLTE is owned by CBS Corporation, which also owns WCCO radio today...
and KZJK
KZJK
KZJK is a radio station broadcasting the adult hits "Jack FM" format in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region of Minnesota. The current format took to the air on the morning of April 21, 2005, following more than four years of a 1980s-centered playlist...
.
Mark Curtis
Former sports reporter for the show who was replaced by Rosen in the late 80's. Went on to work in the same capacity with Dave PrattDave Pratt
Dave Pratt is an American radio personality, known to his fans as the "Morning Mayor," as well as a humanitarian and author. At KZON, he was one of the original shock jocks. His show Dave Pratt in the Morning became the longest running rock and roll morning show in the United States...
at KUPD
KUPD
KUPD is a radio station broadcasting an Active rock format. Licensed to Tempe, Arizona, USA, the station serves the Phoenix, Arizona, area...
in Phoenix, AZ. Currently is the 5, 6, and 10pm weekday news anchor at KPNX
KPNX
KPNX is a full-service television station serving the Phoenix, Arizona television market as the NBC affiliate. Its studios and offices are located in Phoenix and its transmitter is on South Mountain in Phoenix but it is licensed to the suburb of Mesa. It is owned by the Gannett Company which also...
in Phoenix.
Cabé
The Cabé (the radio name of Lee Mroszak) joined KQ in early 1997 by way of Andy Savage's morning show on sister station 93.7 The EdgeKXXR
KXXR is an active rock radio station broadcasting to the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. It is owned by Cumulus Media, which also owns KQRS-FM and the three station trimulcast known as "Love 105"...
after that station had flipped formats to active rock
Active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock plays contemporary rock artists with a mix of songs common in the classic rock radio format.-Format background:...
. His stay was short-lived, however; he managed to alienate Dennis Green
Dennis Green
Dennis "Denny" Green is an American football head coach for the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League...
during an interview at the 1997 Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
training camp
Training camp
A training camp is a place, usually with an army-camp-type environment, where people go to learn skills, usually skills involving physical action rather than book subjects, usually for an armed force or an action sport...
, and on December 1, the morning of a seminal Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
game between the Vikings and the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
, aired a bit that allegedly found Brett Favre
Brett Favre
Brett Lorenzo Favre is a former American football quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League . He was a 20-year veteran of the NFL, having played quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons , Green Bay Packers , New York Jets and Minnesota...
in a hotel room with a woman that was not his wife. After protests from Favre, Packer fans, and the Packers organization, Cabé revealed the bit to be staged, and he apologized and was subsequently fired. That same week, he was a guest on the Howard Stern Show
Howard Stern Show
The Howard Stern Show is an American radio show hosted by its namesake Howard Stern. It gained wide recognition in the 1990s when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from 1986 to 2005...
, where he proceeded to rip into the staff at KQ for making him take the fall.
Dan Culhane
Culhane - originally a co-host during the show's "Tom and Dan" days - was dropped from the show under uncertain circumstances in 1987. He's worked around the radio industry ever since, currently serving as production director for Salem Radio Network's Twin Cities outlets.Bryce Crousore
The show's former producer who also appeared on-air, Bryce is a recovering drug addict who freely spoke about his addiction and recovery. He frequently referenced pornographic films and websites, and was teased when women who claim to have large breasts call in because it gets him aroused.Asian-Americans
On June 9, 1998, Barnard was reading a news item about a Hmong girl that had killed her newborn son. The crew made several derisive remarks; in particular, Barnard stated that Hmongs should "assimilate or hit the goddamn road" and, in response to his reading of the $10,000 fine levied against the girl, "That's a lot of eggrolls." KQRS weathered protests from the Asian-American community and eventually issued a public apology in addition to making several PR-building concessions to the community. In a related concession, Tony Lee's stereotypical character "Tak" was axed from the show.Native Americans
In September 2007, Terri and Tom made comments about the Minnesota Chippewa and SiouxSioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
tribes, respectively, and the American Indian Alliance that raised concerns from the tribes. The tribes mounted several protests throughout October, and the station again issued a public apology.