Eddie Trunk
Encyclopedia
Eddie Trunk is an American
music historian
, radio personality
, talk show host, and author
best known as the host of several hard rock
and heavy metal
themed radio and television shows.
radio station Q104.3 (WAXQ)
FM
. Trunk also hosts Eddie Trunk Live on the XM satellite radio station "The Boneyard" (Channel 38)
and is a music host and interviewer for the MSG Network
, a cable network based out of New York City. Trunk is also the host of That Metal Show
, which airs weekly on VH1 Classic
.
until the radio station underwent a format change in 2003. He was also a regular disc jockey
on Q104.3 before joining WNEW-FM and was a VJ who hosted the weekend episodes of Metal Mania
on the cable television channel VH1 Classic
.
He had also hosted a weekly Saturday four hour program on XM Radio's Boneyard
Channel. Trunk was suspended after an interview with New York Mets
catcher
Mike Piazza
. In that interview, Piazza was critical of XM Radio's programming on the Boneyard Channel 1. Trunk was not heard on XM again until late November 2006 when he appeared on the Ron and Fez
show to announce his return to XM. He began hosting Eddie Trunk Live on the Boneyard beginning the first week in December 2006.
In May 2006, Guns N' Roses
lead singer Axl Rose
made a surprise visit on Eddie Trunk's Q104.3 radio show. Rose walked in unexpectedly to Trunk's radio studio in New York and spent two and a half hours live on the air with Trunk and other guests.
. He grew up in Madison, New Jersey
, where he attended Madison High School
. As a teenager, he became obsessed with Kiss
, Raspberries
, and other bands including Aerosmith
, Rush
, UFO
and Black Sabbath
. Eddie has stated that he has never cared about which bands are "cool" and endured teasings for listening to Kiss during the 80s when they fell out of fashion. During high school, he began to write reviews of records for school credit and soon found his passion in music.
Trunk's first exposure to radio was when he learned about a local college radio station that would allow high school students to work there during the summer while the college kids were at home. He volunteered but the program was scrapped because of security concerns but the idea that he could make a living in radio remained. Eddie then attended a local community college but dropped out because he decided that it was not for him. He did get a job at a record store right across the street from WDHA-FM, his favorite New Jersey radio station. There he got to know many of the DJs and other radio station employees and would often consult him on which hard rock/heavy metal songs to play though the Program Director resisted this.
From a friend, Trunk learned of a pirate radio station that was illegally broadcasting from someone's basement. Trunk went over and played a few records and did a few shows. He made some tapes that were not all that impressive and showed them to WDHA. His enthusiasm along with the increased popularity of the metal genre earned him an invitation to "hang out" at WDHA. After about of year of working at the station as an unpaid intern, he finally convinced management to do a hardrock/metal specialty show. For ten years he worked part time and eventually hosted, produced and programmed it.
Around 1986, Trunk became an employee of Megaforce Records
which had signed both Metallica
and Anthrax
. He became Vice President of the company at 25 years old. During that time he earned executive producer credit on some works from the following bands: Anthrax
, Raven
, TT Quick, Manowar, Overkill
, King's X
, Prophet
, Icon
and Ace Frehley
. In fact, Eddie was the main driving force behind reviving Ace Frehley's career, convincing Megaforce Records head Jon "Jonny Z" Zazula
to sign Ace to a solo deal.
In 1994, Trunk devoted himself to radio full time and was hired by a radio station called Pure Rock Q104.3
in New York. He wanted to do a metal show but was not permitted to do so because there were rumors that the station was going to be sold. These rumors proved true and the station was sold a year into Trunk's career there. During the last shift of the station, Trunk abandoned the playlist and played requests. Phone lines were jammed and the last show was a great success, but many thought that it would be the end as Pure Rock Q104.3 became Classic Q104.3. Quite the opposite was true, the new management were so impressed that they allowed Eddie to stay. He spent two years there and became incredibly popular.
Around 1997, WNEW FM was looking to become a more "heavy" station and move away from their classic rock playlist. Trunk was one of the first hired because of his experience and willingness to be a team player. He immediately wanted to do a metal show like the one he had with WDHA and eventually Saturday Night Rocks was born. Then WNEW made a drastic change into talk radio and Eddie's show was one of the few retained. Eddie Trunk was able to program his own show after the format flipped and was the only music show on an all talk radio station that featured the Opie and Anthony
and Ron and Fez
shows. WNEW made a format flip in the early morning hours of January 27, 2003 to a soft-rock station, firing all on-air talent.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
music historian
Music history
Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is the highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies the composition, performance, reception, and criticism of music over time...
, radio personality
Radio personality
A radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk radio show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather,...
, talk show host, and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
best known as the host of several hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
themed radio and television shows.
Current work
Trunk's current work includes the nationally syndicated radio show Eddie Trunk Rocks, which is recorded at the New YorkNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
radio station Q104.3 (WAXQ)
WAXQ
WAXQ is a radio station with a classic rock format in New York City. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications.-WFDR:...
FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
. Trunk also hosts Eddie Trunk Live on the XM satellite radio station "The Boneyard" (Channel 38)
Boneyard (XM)
Boneyard is a channel featuring a classic-based hard rock format on Sirius XM Radio channel 38 . Prior to the Sirius-XM merger, it was XM channel 41, which became Hair Nation....
and is a music host and interviewer for the MSG Network
MSG Network
The MSG Network, now shortened to simply MSG, is a regional cable television and radio network serving the Mid-Atlantic United States. It is focused on New York City sports teams...
, a cable network based out of New York City. Trunk is also the host of That Metal Show
That Metal Show
That Metal Show is a talk show hosted by Eddie Trunk with co-hosts Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson. It premiered on VH1 Classic on November 15, 2008. New episodes air on VH1 Classic on Saturday nights and are rebroadcast throughout the week....
, which airs weekly on VH1 Classic
VH1 Classic
VH1 Classic is a television network, launched on May 8, 2000. It is operated as part of MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom and primarily features music videos and concert footage from the 1970s through the mid-1990s, though it formerly included a wider range of genres and time periods...
.
Former work
Trunk had hosted "Friday Night Rocks" and "Saturday Night Rocks" for WNEW-FM in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
until the radio station underwent a format change in 2003. He was also a regular disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
on Q104.3 before joining WNEW-FM and was a VJ who hosted the weekend episodes of Metal Mania
Metal Mania
Metal Mania is a block of classic heavy metal/hard rock music videos on VH1 Classic, sometimes hosted by Eddie Trunk.Musicians who have appeared on the show as guests include Rob Zombie, Black Sabbath, Geoff Tate , and the founding members of Judas Priest.The show also includes news of upcoming...
on the cable television channel VH1 Classic
VH1 Classic
VH1 Classic is a television network, launched on May 8, 2000. It is operated as part of MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom and primarily features music videos and concert footage from the 1970s through the mid-1990s, though it formerly included a wider range of genres and time periods...
.
He had also hosted a weekly Saturday four hour program on XM Radio's Boneyard
Boneyard (XM)
Boneyard is a channel featuring a classic-based hard rock format on Sirius XM Radio channel 38 . Prior to the Sirius-XM merger, it was XM channel 41, which became Hair Nation....
Channel. Trunk was suspended after an interview with New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
Mike Piazza
Mike Piazza
Michael Joseph "Mike" Piazza ; born September 4, 1968) is an American former Major League Baseball catcher. He played in his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres and the Oakland Athletics....
. In that interview, Piazza was critical of XM Radio's programming on the Boneyard Channel 1. Trunk was not heard on XM again until late November 2006 when he appeared on the Ron and Fez
Ron and Fez
The Ron and Fez Show is an American radio talk show hosted by Ron Bennington and Fez "Marie" Whatley.After long popular runs in Tampa, Florida, New York City, and Washington, D.C., Ron and Fez are now heard on Sirius XM Radio's the Opie and Anthony Channel, located on XM channel 105, and Sirius...
show to announce his return to XM. He began hosting Eddie Trunk Live on the Boneyard beginning the first week in December 2006.
In May 2006, Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
lead singer Axl Rose
Axl Rose
W. Axl Rose is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist and only remaining original member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he enjoyed great success and recognition in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before disappearing from the public eye for several years...
made a surprise visit on Eddie Trunk's Q104.3 radio show. Rose walked in unexpectedly to Trunk's radio studio in New York and spent two and a half hours live on the air with Trunk and other guests.
Biography
Eddie Trunk was born on August 8, 1964 in New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. He grew up in Madison, New Jersey
Madison, New Jersey
Madison is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, in the United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the population was 16,530. It also is known as "The Rose City".-Geography:Madison is located at ....
, where he attended Madison High School
Madison High School (New Jersey)
Madison High School is a four-year public high school serving students in grades 9-12 in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Madison Public Schools. The school is located in the borough of Madison...
. As a teenager, he became obsessed with Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
, Raspberries
Raspberries (band)
Raspberries is an American power pop/pop rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. They had a run of success in the early 1970s music scene with their crisp pop sound, which Allmusic later described as featuring "exquisitely crafted melodies and achingly gorgeous harmonies." The members were known for their...
, and other bands including Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
, Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
, UFO
UFO (band)
UFO are an English heavy metal and hard rock band, who were formed in 1969. UFO became a transitional group between early hard rock and heavy metal and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal...
and Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
. Eddie has stated that he has never cared about which bands are "cool" and endured teasings for listening to Kiss during the 80s when they fell out of fashion. During high school, he began to write reviews of records for school credit and soon found his passion in music.
Trunk's first exposure to radio was when he learned about a local college radio station that would allow high school students to work there during the summer while the college kids were at home. He volunteered but the program was scrapped because of security concerns but the idea that he could make a living in radio remained. Eddie then attended a local community college but dropped out because he decided that it was not for him. He did get a job at a record store right across the street from WDHA-FM, his favorite New Jersey radio station. There he got to know many of the DJs and other radio station employees and would often consult him on which hard rock/heavy metal songs to play though the Program Director resisted this.
From a friend, Trunk learned of a pirate radio station that was illegally broadcasting from someone's basement. Trunk went over and played a few records and did a few shows. He made some tapes that were not all that impressive and showed them to WDHA. His enthusiasm along with the increased popularity of the metal genre earned him an invitation to "hang out" at WDHA. After about of year of working at the station as an unpaid intern, he finally convinced management to do a hardrock/metal specialty show. For ten years he worked part time and eventually hosted, produced and programmed it.
Around 1986, Trunk became an employee of Megaforce Records
Megaforce Records
Megaforce Records is an American independent record label which was founded in 1982 by Jon and Marsha Zazula to publish the first works of Metallica. It has offices in New York and Philadelphia. The label is distributed in the U.S. by Sony Music Entertainment/RED Distribution...
which had signed both Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
and Anthrax
Anthrax (band)
Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene...
. He became Vice President of the company at 25 years old. During that time he earned executive producer credit on some works from the following bands: Anthrax
Anthrax (band)
Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene...
, Raven
Raven (band)
Raven are an English heavy metal band associated with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. They had a hit with the single "On and On", and refer to their music as "athletic rock".-Formation:...
, TT Quick, Manowar, Overkill
Overkill (band)
Overkill is an American thrash metal band, formed in 1980 in New Jersey. They have gone through many line-up changes, with singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and bassist D.D. Verni remaining from the original lineup. Along with Anthrax , the band is one of the most successful East Coast thrash metal...
, King's X
King's X
King's X is an American hard rock band that combines progressive metal, funk and soul with vocal arrangements influenced by gospel, blues, and British Invasion rock groups. The band's lyrics are largely based on the members' struggles with religion and self-acceptance...
, Prophet
Prophet (band)
Prophet was an American Melodic Rock band from New Jersey, United States. The last lineup of the group was Russell Arcara , Dave DiPietro , Ken Dubman , Scott Metaxas , Joe Zujkowski and Jim Callahan...
, Icon
Icon (band)
Icon is an American heavy metal/glam metal band that formed in 1981, disbanding in 1990.-Formation:Originally known as Schoolboys, Icon was formed in 1981, in Phoenix, Arizona by high school friends Dan Wexler , Stephen Clifford and Tracy Wallach . They were joined by David Henzerling and John...
and Ace Frehley
Ace Frehley
Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Kiss. He took on the persona of the "Spaceman" or "Space Ace" when the band adopted costumes and theatrics...
. In fact, Eddie was the main driving force behind reviving Ace Frehley's career, convincing Megaforce Records head Jon "Jonny Z" Zazula
Johny Zazula
Jon Zazula, also known as Jonny Z or Jon "the well is dry" Zazula is the owner of New Jersey's legendary Rock'n Roll Heaven record store and founder of record label Megaforce Records...
to sign Ace to a solo deal.
In 1994, Trunk devoted himself to radio full time and was hired by a radio station called Pure Rock Q104.3
WAXQ
WAXQ is a radio station with a classic rock format in New York City. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications.-WFDR:...
in New York. He wanted to do a metal show but was not permitted to do so because there were rumors that the station was going to be sold. These rumors proved true and the station was sold a year into Trunk's career there. During the last shift of the station, Trunk abandoned the playlist and played requests. Phone lines were jammed and the last show was a great success, but many thought that it would be the end as Pure Rock Q104.3 became Classic Q104.3. Quite the opposite was true, the new management were so impressed that they allowed Eddie to stay. He spent two years there and became incredibly popular.
Around 1997, WNEW FM was looking to become a more "heavy" station and move away from their classic rock playlist. Trunk was one of the first hired because of his experience and willingness to be a team player. He immediately wanted to do a metal show like the one he had with WDHA and eventually Saturday Night Rocks was born. Then WNEW made a drastic change into talk radio and Eddie's show was one of the few retained. Eddie Trunk was able to program his own show after the format flipped and was the only music show on an all talk radio station that featured the Opie and Anthony
Opie and Anthony
Opie and Anthony are the hosts of The Opie & Anthony Show, a talk radio program airing in the United States and Canada on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Since the merger of the two satellite companies, this is now called Sirius/XM...
and Ron and Fez
Ron and Fez
The Ron and Fez Show is an American radio talk show hosted by Ron Bennington and Fez "Marie" Whatley.After long popular runs in Tampa, Florida, New York City, and Washington, D.C., Ron and Fez are now heard on Sirius XM Radio's the Opie and Anthony Channel, located on XM channel 105, and Sirius...
shows. WNEW made a format flip in the early morning hours of January 27, 2003 to a soft-rock station, firing all on-air talent.