This article is about the fictional radio host. For the singer, actor and comic, see Dickie Valentine

Dickie Valentine

Dickie Valentine was an English pop singer in the 1950s.-Early life:Valentine was born Richard Maxwell , though Valentine was known as Richard Bryce as his mother later married Bryce and gave her young son the same name. He was born in Marylebone, London...

. Dick Valentine is also the stage name of a saxophonist, leader of the Seattle quartet Far Corner. Dick Valentine is also the stage name of Tyler Spencer

Tyler Spencer

Tyler Spencer , also known as Dick Valentine, is a vocalist, best known for his role as lead singer for the six-piece Detroit-based band Electric Six...

 the lead singer of Electric Six

Electric Six

Electric Six is a six-piece metro Detroit-based band that plays what has been described as a brand of rock music infused with elements of "garage, disco, punk, new wave, and metal." The band met recognition in 2003 with the singles "Danger! High Voltage" and "Gay Bar", and subsequently recorded...

.

Dick Valentine was a fictional radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 call-in show host played by actor and comic Richard Belzer

Richard Belzer

Richard Jay Belzer is an American stand-up comedian, author, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as John Munch, which he has portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as in guest...

 on segments of The National Lampoon Radio Hour

The National Lampoon Radio Hour

The National Lampoon Radio Hour was a comedy radio show which was created, produced and initially written by staff from National Lampoon magazine. The show ran weekly, for a little over a year, from November 17, 1973 to December 28, 1974...

, aired on some 600 U.S. radio stations between 1973 and 1975.

His callers, played by other Radio Hour regulars including Bill Murray

Bill Murray

William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...

, were subject to Valentine's tart-tongued responses to their predictably obtuse opinions, typically capped by his addressing them sarcastically as "Babe". In one classic exchange, Murray's call-in character expresses irritation that inmates of a New York State maximum security hotel, recently the scene of the Attica Prison riots

Attica Prison riots

The Attica Prison riot occurred at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, United States in 1971. The riot was based in part upon prisoners' demands for better living conditions...

, are being given connubial visiting privileges which he disagrees with. Belzer's character inquires if the caller knows what the phrase "boned up the a**" means. When Murray admits that he does not, Belzer pithily suggests that he has no idea what he is complaining about.

In another exchange, a man with a clipped British

British English

British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...

 RP

Received Pronunciation

Received Pronunciation , also called the Queen's English, Oxford English or BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms...

 accent tells Valentine that he has wrongfully accused a hired servant of stealing some personal property and asks if there some way he can contact him to apologize. The caller describes the wronged individual as "a colored man" to which Valentine pointedly asks "What color is he?"

Several of these radio bits were released on National Lampoon

National Lampoon Inc

National Lampoon, Incorporated is a company formed in 2002 in order to use the brand name "National Lampoon" in comedy and entertainment. In the words of its prospectus, the role of the company is to "develop, produce, provide creative services and distribute National Lampoon branded comedic...

records in the mid and late 1970s including The White Album.