When - How - Why (did you start listening to the Best Show)

[Omar]

While I was vaguely aware of the S&W comedy duo (and I knew of W from Superchunk) as far back as 1997 after reading a blurb about "Rock, Rot, & Rule" in Flagpole , it was this February 2004 Fluxblog post that led to my The Best Show fandom.  I immediately started going through the archives and began listening live every week sometime in mid-2005. 

[John Junk]

I had an insanely boring job and I listened to realaudio archives of radio shows non-stop.  I had been listening to WFMU since I was like 12 or 13 thanks to my older brother, but now it was about ten years later and I was revisiting stuff I knew then just to get through the day.  I listened to like every Joe Frank archive KCRW had to offer (when they offered them) and after awhile I wanted to commit suicide.  I then rediscovered Seven Second Delay, which I used to listen to as a young, TMBG & R.E.M. obsessed New Jersey teenager.  After exhausting their archives and actually re-listening to a lot of them a few times, I finally got around to discovering TBSOWFMU because of an interview with Jimmy McDonaugh, the author of Shakeythe Neil Young biography.  I must have heard snippets of the show before, encouraged by cross-promos from Terre T. and the like, but I didn't really "get it" yet.  The interview was the right bait for me to sit through a Kevin call that I thought was 100% for real.  I admired the way Tom handled himself.  So awkward!  So kinda take-charge all the same.  I followed up the next week to see if Kevin would call back and just what was going on here,... and I was hooked.  I think TBSOWFMU, The Cherry Blossom Clinic, and Seven Second Delay are the Holy Trinity of WFMU.

[LostInReno]

The first time I ever heard the best show while watching tv in my bedroom. My brother in the next room was laughing so loud I had to see what the commotion was about. That is when I heard Phillyboy Roy talking about his job at the pencil factory and the way he said yeah made me laugh when Tom would ask him a question.

My brother he had all these different sound clips on his computer. I asked for more and Bryce was what he played me.
I haven't stopped listening ever since.

[tommert]

I stumbled upon this electronic music-maker named PROTMAN and found a link to one of his sets on OCDJ's show a while back.. thought the station was pretty cool and the next time i came to listen i tuned in early and caught Toms show. Hooked

[Purple-Shit]

I was out  riding my bike and lopping the heads off parking meters and I get arrested. The officer just happens to be listening to TBSOWFMU.  The rest is history.

[bruce]

Like little Johnnie Junk it was the interview with Jimmy McDonaugh which got me hooked. Not knowing the true scope of the Kevin character and just thinking holy shit that is one strange dude.

[Josh]

The Sound of Young America.

[Chris L]

I first heard the show sometime in 2001.  I had been listening to a few of the WFMU Real Audio archives for a while, while languishing in rural Maryland, when I stumbled across the Best Show.  It was the lead-in to Nickel & Dime Radio, one of my favorite shows at the time.  Eventually I checked out the "Tom gets royally screwed by Perry Ferrell show."  I was stunned when a guy called up complaining about all his Jane's Addiction-related disappointments - starting with their album Rich Hall Will Hit Y'all - and I assumed Tom was just humouring some random wiseass.  I think the notion of brilliant, elaborate comedy routines built around obscure music trivia seemed too good to be true at first.  After a while I got wind of the show's real premise and would check it out here and there, until a year later when I got broadband instead of dial-up and started listening regularly.

[Richard_From_CHI]

June 10, 2003 Tom learns to play drums and duets with Officer Tom.

I had taken to listening to WFMU in my studio in grad school and suddenly Tom playing the drums came on, and it was so utterly funny and out of control that night I was hooked.

[Amplituden]

I read the article with the Danielson famile in Pitchfork and was intrigued.

The first episode I heard was on July 25 when Philly Boy Roy called in about the death of Harry Oliveri.  That is still my favorite Philly Boy Roy call to this date.

Its fun learning about Jersey and Eastern seaboard area, I am going to go to Vinnie Tendinos, and then go hit the Grease Trucks at Rutgers and finally go to a Wawa some day.

[Emily]

i was just wondering - i know some of you are also 7SD fans. any old fans of Aerial View with Chris T?

[Richard_From_CHI]

I did love lady talk, particularly when they picked fights with Tom.

[moonshake]

I got turned on to FMU because of Yo La Tengo's connections- sometime in 2004. I would randomly listen to the live internet streams whenever I had time. I got into 7SD right away. I also listened to Bronwyn C, Ken and Michael Goodstein on and off.

I had heard the name of the show but I didn't know what it was about and had never bothered to listen. Then on April 19, 2005 I just happened to be listening live and it was Tom interviewing Bishop Pablo Fontana! It was the funniest interview I'd ever heard. I was very puzzled that there was a Bishop out there with such encyclopedic pop-culture knowledge. I was immediately hooked. It took a little bit of browsing the archives and lurking on the message board the next day before I figured out what exactly was going on.

[Matt]

Then on April 19, 2005 I just happened to be listening live and it was Tom interviewing Bishop Pablo Fontana! It was the funniest interview I'd ever heard. I was very puzzled that there was a Bishop out there with such encyclopedic pop-culture knowledge. I was immediately hooked. It took a little bit of browsing the archives and lurking on the message board the next before I figured out what exactly was going on.

That's the show that got me hooked as well! I found TBSOWFMU by flipping through the radio dial that night. I've listened to every show ever since. No other radio show comes close!

[John Junk]

I used to love Aerial View and actually I remember getting hooked on that show as a teenager.  Eventually Aerial View lost its appeal for me.  A little too much bitter punk-rocker for my tastes I guess.  I haven't heard what Chris T is doing on the web-only content.  Is it good?  is he still doing it?

I was a big fan of Lady Talk also.  They usually gave pretty good advice.  They would get a lot of sad hippies calling that show.  I thought Kelly Jones was pretty damn funny.  I kinda stopped listening after awhile, but my suspicion was that that show fell victim to a post-boobgate windfall.  Am I right?