1. Doug Tracht's father was a native New Yorker, who sold dental supplies; his mother was a Lutheran immigrant from Germany who stayed home to raise her two children until they were in high school, then became an educator.
24 Facts About Doug Tracht
1. 2.
Doug Tracht majored in broadcasting at Ithaca College and landed a job at the college radio station.
3.
Doug Tracht got a job at WTKO, a low-power top-40 station in Ithaca.
4.
Doug Tracht graduated from Ithaca College in 1972 and married Marie Massara, who was the sales secretary at WENE.
5.
Doug Tracht went through a string of stations including WAXC in Rochester, New York, WRC in Washington, DC, and WPOP in Hartford, Connecticut.
6.
Doug Tracht lost his job at WPOP when that station switched its format from pop music to all-news in 1975.
7.
Doug Tracht found a home at WAPE in Jacksonville, Florida, in August 1975 and became a major radio personality in northeast Florida.
8.
Curtains were hung in the window of the broadcast booth, a TV interview showed only his lips, and Doug Tracht wore a gorilla costume at personal appearances.
9.
On May 25,1979, Doug Tracht gained national attention when he mocked convicted murderer John Spenkelink, who was due to be executed in "Old Sparky," the Florida State Prison electric chair, that day.
10.
Doug Tracht aired a recording of sizzling bacon and dedicated it to Spenkelink, telling him to get used to the sound.
11.
Doug Tracht remained in Jacksonville almost seven years, then moved in 1982 to WWDC-FM in Washington, DC, where he replaced Howard Stern.
12.
Doug Tracht purchased a home in nearby Potomac, Maryland, continued working out, and overcame his dislike of public appearances.
13.
In January 1986, Doug Tracht prompted outrage by joking about the new federal holiday, Martin Luther King Day.
14.
Doug Tracht was suspended from the station for five days and publicly apologized.
15.
Doug Tracht's show was syndicated by Infinity Broadcasting Corporation for five years, from January 1993 until January 1998.
16.
Doug Tracht moved to Los Angeles, where his show was aired on KLOS; it was carried by stations in Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, among others.
17.
On February 24,1999, after a year at WARW, Doug Tracht again made national news for a racist remark.
18.
Doug Tracht intended to make a new start, but when local residents found out about it, they objected.
19.
Doug Tracht had a part in the Discovery Channel's show The FBI Files and appeared in an infomercial for an internet dating site in 2000.
20.
In 2002, Doug Tracht returned to the air from his home studio, broadcasting on WDMV AM 700 near Frederick, Maryland, and was afterward syndicated to numerous other stations in the region.
21.
Doug Tracht then held the morning-show slot on WMET AM 1160 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, until November 2,2007.
22.
On September 29,2008, during the Bubba the Love Sponge show, it was announced that Doug Tracht would be returning to Jacksonville to do an afternoon show.
23.
From 2010 through 2018, Doug Tracht hosted programming on the internet radio station Web Radio Classics from 6 pm until midnight Eastern time, with The Greaseman's Ring Dang Doo running from 6 to 10 pm and The Greaseman running from 10 pm until midnight ET.
24.
Doug Tracht appeared in two television movies produced by his close friend Brian Dennehy: Jack Reed: A Search For Justice and Jack Reed: Death And Vengeance.