The Free Beer and Hot Wings Show
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| Other names | The Free Beer and Hot Wings Morning Show |
|---|---|
| Genre | Humor, Talk radio |
| Running time | 5:00 - 10:15 EST (in Grand Rapids) 5:00 - 10:00 EST (syndicated stations)[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English |
| Home station | WGRD-FM |
| Starring | Gregg "Free Beer" Daniels Chris "Hot Wings" Michels Eric "Zane" Zeitunian "Producer" Joseph Gasmann Jr. Assistant Producer Steve McKiernan |
| Air dates | since 2004-06-14[2] |
| Website | freebeerandhotwings.com |
| Podcast | Official podcast |
'The Free Beer and Hot Wings (Morning) Show' is a syndicated talk radio show based at WGRD-FM in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The show is hosted by Gregg "Free Beer" Daniels and Chris "Hot Wings" Michaels with Eric "Zane" Zeitunian, "Producer" Joseph Gasmann, Jr, Assistant Producer Steve McKiernan, and Robot. The show is syndicated mostly throughout the Midwest and Eastern United States. The show is distributed by Compass Media Networks.
The Free Beer and Hot Wings Show has also been guest hosts on The Dan Patrick Show on multiple occasions.[3]
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[edit] Origin of names
The names "Free Beer" and "Hot Wings" were chosen by the hosts as "just stupid names that were easy to remember" early in their career, when they never really thought the show would last long. The guys have stated numerous times that they realize the names are not clever, but as of now, it's too late to change them. Since Eric Zane joined the show later,after he was chosen by the god of the under world, he does not have a "dumb food name", as stated by Free Beer. He does however periodically go by Mr. Ten.
Free Beer - One of the founding members of the show since its inception in March of 1997, Free Beer runs the board and sets up most of the bits on the show. Free Beer is known for many verbal screw ups, a vast sports knowledge, and occasionally laughing like Ricky Ricardo from old episodes of "I Love Lucy". Occasionally known on the show by the alternate nicknames "Burn King" and "El Matador", Free Beer spends free time playing basketball, racquetball, tennis and video games and watching movies. Free Beer is married to his lovely wife, Amanda, and has two dogs, three cats, and a lot of fish. Also has a son Due in March.
Hot Wings - Hot Wings is the other founding member of the show and is from Lake Orion, Michigan which, for reasons unknown, is pronounced Or-ee-un instead of Oh-RI-un, like the constellation. Hot Wings, who is also known as "Mayor of Awesometown" and "Minista of Flava", loves muscle cars and hates liberals. He writes daily commentaries about politics and pop culture called "What Hot Wings Thinks" that will likely reference one or both of those things. He is also oddly and prematurely knowledgeable about trees...a skill he picked up from his father who wears black socks and dress shoes with shorts and has a tendency to singe his hair around gas grills. Hot Wings believes he can tell time just by looking at the sun. Hot Wings likes home improvement and knows just enough to be a pain in his own ass, taking on projects that seem easy, but take him weeks (see "Ultimate Sandbox"). Hot Wings is married to Kerri. Together, they have a son named Grayson and an unnamed, mystery-gendered baby on the way. The first kid took 6 rounds of IVF. The 2nd took 2 glasses of wine and hardly any effort. Hot Wings also has 2 dogs (Zak and Bubba) and one cat (Setzer), which was a stray cat that Hot Wings almost ran over and is named after Brian Setzer who was the leader of an '80s band called The Stray Cats. Get it? Gay? Yes.
Eric Zane - Zane got into radio in ninth grade. His high school had a radio station and he wanted in! Highlights included getting drunk on the air and "scratching" records. He'd bust out some old school Public Enemy or Erik B and Rakim and try to "scratch." He sucked. Then he was off to Central Michigan University. Zane worked at the station there and was able to somehow attain enough skill to get a paying gig in Saginaw, Michigan at WKQZ. He worked his way as an on-air DJ playing Ugly Kid Joe and Bon Jovi. Zane was asked to do mornings at about the time that he thought playing records was boring. Zane was going to leave radio to pursue the field associated with his degree (Health Science). But, opted to try the morning show. That was it. Zane has been doing mornings since (1995). Zane's personal stuff: He's an alcoholic. He quit drinking in June of 1996 and has never slipped. Zane has a highly addictive personality that has a potential to get him in some real trouble. His addictiveness makes it so he usually hyper-focuses on a few things at a time, and nothing else. Zane has been married to his lovely wife Diana since July of 1992. They have three children: Jim (13), Jackie (11), and Madison (6). This Bio was written in Feb of 2009 so you may have to make an age adjustment. Zane and his family are very Roman Catholic. Zane's motto: Don't lie. When you are honest, you don't have to remember anything.
Producer Joe - Producer Joe joined the show as a full-time, paid member in 2005 after working for free for several months and living in a glorified squat house with a community bathroom. Initially, Producer Joe was nearly inept, but The Show kept him around because he worked so cheap and was entertaining to watch as he gained and lost weight, earning him the nickname "Joprah". He his also occasionally known as "Donkey Teeth" because of his giant, donkey-like front teeth. Now, Producer Joe is an invaluable and permanent part of the team. Though a lot of what he does takes place behind the scenes and after the show, you will hear him pop up on air from time to time when he thinks of inappropriate things to add to the conversation. He is featured in the weekly segment "What Can Joe Do" where he is asked to spin a wheel with twelve stunts and complete the stunt that comes up. He is an avid rock climber, cyclist, runner, and reader.
Steve - was born and raised in New Jersey...but no one from New Jersey calls it "New Jersey". It's simply "Jersey". I grew up there, went to college there at Monmouth University. After realizing that I had no desire to take Microeconomics, I figured I'd be a Radio major and work for the college radio station, WMCX. Some highlights include interviewing awful bands, saying the F-word on the air a few times and excelling at mediocre radio. It got me a job, though. I worked for a number of years at 105.7 The Hawk, which is where my paths crossed with the Free Beer and Hot Wings show. I started out running the board for them in the morning and eventually ended up being the Assistant Program Director of the station. Then I worked for the NHL in New York City for almost a year. Now I'm here.
I bought my first house last year. Within a month of buying the house, I got a dog. I also put up a white picket fence. I guess it's my own little version of the American dream.
[edit] Show Segments
| Segment | Description | Times |
|---|---|---|
| The Free Beer & Hot Wings Report | Biggest news stories of the day are discussed | Daily |
| Can't Wait To Talk About Blank | Listeners can call in and discuss any topic with the guys | Daily |
| Flashback | A look-back on a funny segment from the past | Daily |
| What Hot Wings Thinks | Hot Wings provides his own commentary about current topics | Daily |
| Dumber Than Zane Trivia | Listeners get their chance to call in and face Zane in a game of trivia. Sponsored by CAT Footwear [4] | Thursdays |
| Name That Blank | Game where listeners compete against each other with questions that encourages them to "name that ____" of audio clips | Fridays |
| Who/What/Where | A game where the other hosts guess what Free Beer is describing through clues | Once in a while |
| Joe Stunts | Producer Joe performs Stunts (Lindsay Lohan Freedom Trip, Get Me out of these handcuffs, Are these your panties, A-hole challenges and Much more) | Once in a while |
[edit] Charity work
In 2006, Eric Zane was approached by a former teacher of one of his children to raise money for the Ataxia-Telangiectasia Children's Project. The teacher has two children who have this disease and told Zane that they needed money for a clinical trial. Zane took the quest to the listeners and the radio show managed to raise $65,000, more than enough money to cover the trial.[5] Zane also followed through with his part of the deal, running the Detroit Marathon and getting the infamous Mr. 10 tattoo.
In 2007, Zane asked for volunteers to join the A-T Army, which was the radio show’s team in the 2008 Walt Disney World Marathon. Each member was asked to raise money and take part in the A-T Children’s Project’s events that weekend. Over forty people signed up and raised almost $50,000. Zane recently participated in the 2009 half-marathon. While in Florida for the event, he presented the A-T Children's Project with a check for that amount. In 2009 Zane also participated in a triathlon for A-T, asking listeners to donate money for every minute he raced. Throughout the race Zane pulled/pushed a listener's daughter that suffers from A-T and the race was completed in just over 2 hours, raising nearly $75,000 for the charity.
[edit] Holiday Break-in
Each December, the show solicits the nomination by their listeners of needy families to be the recipients of the Holiday Break-in for those unable to buy holiday gifts. Once the recipients are selected, participating radio affiliates break-in to the houses of these families (with the assistance of the nominator, a locksmith, and local police) and bring the holidays where there would be none.[6] They decorate and leave presents - in the past, the gifts have included toys for the children, gift cards, paid rent, appliances, and cars. A few of the break-ins occur on the air - most do not. No notification is left as to who the gifts came from; the recipients rarely determine who was responsible for the seemingly random act of charity.
Inspired by the work done by the show, in 2008 local high schools in West Michigan began conducting their own break-ins for needy families. In 2009, representatives of each school appeared on the show and shared stories about the recipients and how the break-ins went.
[edit] Awards
The Free Beer and Hot Wings Show won the Michigan Association of Broadcasters award for Best Morning Broadcast Personality/Radio Team in 2005[7] 2006,[8] and 2007.[9] Eric Zane was recently awarded the prize for "Most Olive Buttholio" at the Michigan State Fair. Michaels won an award in 2009 for "Best Host Show Talk" from Toastmasters International.
Free Beer, Hot Wings, Eric Zane, Joe and Steve all received participant awards for participation and placing 2nd in 2011's world famous Kokomo, IN dodge-ball tourney. They were members of team caveman named after the GEICO Cavemen. Although they planned to participate again in 2012, inclement weather prevented them from being able to travel.
[edit] Robot
Robot joined the show on November 10th 2010 during the great "Barry, berry, bury" debate between Producer Steve and Eric Zane. He quickly became a fan favorite after coming out and with his style of saying whatever comes to mind, similar to Eric Zane, and his Free Beer esque "word scrambles". He usually starts a statement with, "Hey everybody, Robot here...".
[edit] Affiliates
[edit] Past affiliates
| Station | Location | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| KMXN-FM X 92.9 | Lawrence, Kansas | Station changed format in 2009 |
| WDRK-FM 99.9 The Carp | Eau Claire, Wisconsin[16] | Station changed format in August 2009. |
| WXTT-FM eXtra 99.1 | Champaign, Illinois | |
| WYAV-FM 104.1 Wave | Myrtle Beach, South Carolina | Swapped morning shows with WKZQ-FM 96.1 KZQ |
| WODE-FM 99.9 The Hawk | Allentown, PA | |
| KERX-FM 95.3 The Rebel | Fort Smith, Arkansas | |
| WTHK-FM 97.5 The Hawk | Trenton, New Jersey | Station changed format in November 2006 |
| WEGE-FM 104.9 The Eagle | Lima, Ohio[17] | |
| KBZZ-AM The Big Buzz 1270 AM | Reno, Nevada | |
| WAVF-FM 96.1 WAVE FM | Charleston, South Carolina |
[edit] References
- ^ "Free Beer and Hot Wings Info". April 9, 2008. http://www.1049theeagle.com/pages/1527428.php. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
- ^ "June 2004 News and Notes". Michiguide.com. 2004-06-11. http://www.michiguide.com/archives2004/2004/06/june-2004-news-and-notes.html.
- ^ "Barkley, Simms, Harbaugh on tap for Thursday's DP Show". CNN. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/danpatrick/blog/120981/index.html.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "ACTP Updates November 2005" (pdf). http://www.atcp.org/Updates/November%2006.pdf. Retrieved 2008-04-14.[dead link]
- ^ Free Beer and Hot Wings embrace the Holidays
- ^ "Michigan Association of Broadcasters". http://www.michmab.com/awards/awards_be0506.html. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
- ^ "Michigan Association of Broadcasters". http://www.michmab.com/awards/awards_be0607.html. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
- ^ "Michigan Association of Broadcasters". http://www.michmab.com/awards/awards_be2007.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
- ^ a b Slack, Chris (2006-11-24). "Red Meat and Boobies". Nashville Scene. http://blogs.nashvillescene.com/nashvillecream/2006/11/red_meat_and_boobies.php.
- ^ "Grand Rapids Rock Alternative 97.9 WGRD". April 8, 2008. http://www.wgrd.com/. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
- ^ "The Buzz Homepage". April 8, 2008. http://www.1029thebuzz.com/. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (2004-06-14). "WBIX Sold (Again)". NorthEast Radio Watch. http://www.fybush.com/NERW/2004/040614/nerw.html.
- ^ "The Hawk's Free Beer and Hot Wings Page". April 8, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-03-08. http://web.archive.org/web/20080308051907/http://1057thehawk.com/free-beer.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
- ^ "From Animation to Streaming Radio, Cable Interconnect to Web, Region's Diamond Specialist Takes to the Airwaves in a New Way for a New Generation". MyWire. 2006-03-03. http://www.mywire.com/pubs/PRNewswire/2006/03/03/1260260?extID=10051.
- ^ "The Carps Show List". April 8, 2008. http://thecarprocks.com/pages/300015.php?. Retrieved 2008-04-08.[dead link]
- ^ "Free Beer and Hot Wings Info". April 8, 2008. http://www.1049theeagle.com/pages/1527428.php. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
