In January 2011, Tom Mele and LJ James came up with the crazy idea of being on the Radio together! The Show Started off at Long Islands Oldest Radio Station WGBB 1240 AM with the idea of doing a Radio Show in a classic style but at the same time it would be a party! The idea was to throw a party and invite everyone on Long Island and see who showed up!
After a month, Tom and LJ where in talks with one of Long Islands FM Rock Stations, to bring their brand of insanity to FM Radio. LJ and Tom took the Saturday Morning 8am to 10pm spot and made the show a Long Island Saturday Morning Comedy Radio Show for the hard working Men and Women of Long Island who work Saturdays to keep Long Island Running.
Tom and LJ gambled that if Monday through Friday Morning Shows where so successful why not a Saturday morning Show? The Show brought to its listeners every Weekend The best Events happening on Long Island, it Spot Lighted Local LI shops and businesses, Interviews with well known and not so well known Long Islanders , Live in Studio each Week the best talent from the LI Music Scene and Long island news and Off the wall Comedy in the way only Tom Mele and LJ James could bring you. Soon the Show was reviewed as 'The greatest thing to happen to Saturday Mornings since Cartoons"
Things went great and the listening audience grew faster then anyone could have hoped for. The Party was getting Crazy. It seemed everyone was showing up to be a part of it! Things seemed perfect.
At first there where a few Suggestions from the Stations management, things like play more of this band, How to sign on and off, nothing out of hand. Then it seemed everyone had a suggestion and then everyone wanted to be involved in how to run the show. All of a sudden there where just too many different people from the Stations management involved trying to make The Long Island Old School Radio Show what they thought it should be.
Even now no one is sure if these people wanted credit for the success of the show or the reason or logic was behind it all. Because of it Chaos ensued. After talking LJ and Tom realized as much as they both Loved being on a well known Long Island FM Radio Station and making Saturday Mornings better for all the working Men and Women of Long Island, They could not continue with the Stations demands and interference. After talking to the Stations owner they parted ways with Long Islands 2nd best Rock Station.
Right away LJ and Tom started going to meetings looking to bring the show some where else. Before they could even get their feet on the ground and catch their breath, Tom and LJ got the phone call that Marc Hauptman the shows web designer, Board operator and close personal friend had crashed on his Motorcycle and was gone!
Have you ever seen the yin and yang symbol? There is a thin line in the middle that keeps yin and yang separated. That line was Marc always between Tom and LJ. With out Marc every thing just blended together into one big mess!
For a while things looked as if the party was over and the Boys would go their separate ways. There where phone calls and meetings with production companies about Radio Shows and TV Shows. With the lose of Marc so fresh neither Tom nor LJ really had their hearts fully into the meetings and it seemed as if they all wanted too much creative control.
After a while Tom and LJ started talking again about a Show and what they wanted to do, neither where ready to do the same type of show again right away. They talked about something different the idea of doing an online show started forming. They told each other that by doing an online show They would have full creative control and they would own everything! After hours of brain storming they came up with a new name for the show "The Tom and LJ Show" With only a very basic idea of what they where doing Tom and LJ started inviting everyone to the new party!.
In truth the online show was more for Tom and LJ to find there way with out Marc in between them. Because both Tom and LJ are too stubborn, or too stupid to give up. Most people who know them would say its 50/50.
Soon Tom and LJ received a call from a guy named Vince Alcarese who said he had the skills and the drive to help them take the online show to the next level. Vince met with LJ and Tom and showed them what he could do. Vince had done Pod cast shows for years and had experience! Vince was also very different then Marc and was exactly what the show needed. There would be no replacing Marc, but there was now a way to move on with the show in Marc's Memory as He would have wanted. Soon Vince was part of the Family and as the shows them song says the Boys where Back in Town!
Things have grown and changed a lot in just over a year the "LI Old School Radio Show" in now "The Tom and LJ Show" and the Tom and LJ Show is now under "Madhouse TV"(MadhouseTV.com) with many new shows looking to come on board with them !
Tom and LJ have had as many ups and downs in just one year as some shows threw in 10 years, the Boys have shown they have the true spirit of the entertainment world and that no matter what the up coming years may thrown at them "The Show must always go on!"
Tom and LJ have built a State of the Art Studio ans with Vince running the Controls. They Curently do a weekly show on Thursdays at 8pm EST. The show might not be for everyone, but for Tom , LJ , Vince and the Thousands of fans world wide who tune in every week for a Show so out there it can not be defined, it is a #1 Hit !
Is a return to Long Island Saturday Mornings a Possibility for Tom and LJ in the near Future? No one can say for sure. But the one thing we do know is that these Boys never left Town. !!!
After a month, Tom and LJ where in talks with one of Long Islands FM Rock Stations, to bring their brand of insanity to FM Radio. LJ and Tom took the Saturday Morning 8am to 10pm spot and made the show a Long Island Saturday Morning Comedy Radio Show for the hard working Men and Women of Long Island who work Saturdays to keep Long Island Running.
Tom and LJ gambled that if Monday through Friday Morning Shows where so successful why not a Saturday morning Show? The Show brought to its listeners every Weekend The best Events happening on Long Island, it Spot Lighted Local LI shops and businesses, Interviews with well known and not so well known Long Islanders , Live in Studio each Week the best talent from the LI Music Scene and Long island news and Off the wall Comedy in the way only Tom Mele and LJ James could bring you. Soon the Show was reviewed as 'The greatest thing to happen to Saturday Mornings since Cartoons"
Things went great and the listening audience grew faster then anyone could have hoped for. The Party was getting Crazy. It seemed everyone was showing up to be a part of it! Things seemed perfect.
At first there where a few Suggestions from the Stations management, things like play more of this band, How to sign on and off, nothing out of hand. Then it seemed everyone had a suggestion and then everyone wanted to be involved in how to run the show. All of a sudden there where just too many different people from the Stations management involved trying to make The Long Island Old School Radio Show what they thought it should be.
Even now no one is sure if these people wanted credit for the success of the show or the reason or logic was behind it all. Because of it Chaos ensued. After talking LJ and Tom realized as much as they both Loved being on a well known Long Island FM Radio Station and making Saturday Mornings better for all the working Men and Women of Long Island, They could not continue with the Stations demands and interference. After talking to the Stations owner they parted ways with Long Islands 2nd best Rock Station.
Right away LJ and Tom started going to meetings looking to bring the show some where else. Before they could even get their feet on the ground and catch their breath, Tom and LJ got the phone call that Marc Hauptman the shows web designer, Board operator and close personal friend had crashed on his Motorcycle and was gone!
Have you ever seen the yin and yang symbol? There is a thin line in the middle that keeps yin and yang separated. That line was Marc always between Tom and LJ. With out Marc every thing just blended together into one big mess!
For a while things looked as if the party was over and the Boys would go their separate ways. There where phone calls and meetings with production companies about Radio Shows and TV Shows. With the lose of Marc so fresh neither Tom nor LJ really had their hearts fully into the meetings and it seemed as if they all wanted too much creative control.
After a while Tom and LJ started talking again about a Show and what they wanted to do, neither where ready to do the same type of show again right away. They talked about something different the idea of doing an online show started forming. They told each other that by doing an online show They would have full creative control and they would own everything! After hours of brain storming they came up with a new name for the show "The Tom and LJ Show" With only a very basic idea of what they where doing Tom and LJ started inviting everyone to the new party!.
In truth the online show was more for Tom and LJ to find there way with out Marc in between them. Because both Tom and LJ are too stubborn, or too stupid to give up. Most people who know them would say its 50/50.
Soon Tom and LJ received a call from a guy named Vince Alcarese who said he had the skills and the drive to help them take the online show to the next level. Vince met with LJ and Tom and showed them what he could do. Vince had done Pod cast shows for years and had experience! Vince was also very different then Marc and was exactly what the show needed. There would be no replacing Marc, but there was now a way to move on with the show in Marc's Memory as He would have wanted. Soon Vince was part of the Family and as the shows them song says the Boys where Back in Town!
Things have grown and changed a lot in just over a year the "LI Old School Radio Show" in now "The Tom and LJ Show" and the Tom and LJ Show is now under "Madhouse TV"(MadhouseTV.com) with many new shows looking to come on board with them !
Tom and LJ have had as many ups and downs in just one year as some shows threw in 10 years, the Boys have shown they have the true spirit of the entertainment world and that no matter what the up coming years may thrown at them "The Show must always go on!"
Tom and LJ have built a State of the Art Studio ans with Vince running the Controls. They Curently do a weekly show on Thursdays at 8pm EST. The show might not be for everyone, but for Tom , LJ , Vince and the Thousands of fans world wide who tune in every week for a Show so out there it can not be defined, it is a #1 Hit !
Is a return to Long Island Saturday Mornings a Possibility for Tom and LJ in the near Future? No one can say for sure. But the one thing we do know is that these Boys never left Town. !!!
About the Author:
Professor Housier is a big fan of lots Online Show Professor Housier also likes Ed Hardy style shirts. This article, Long Island Old School Radio Show is available for free reprint.
