but it ' s also really important that we find creative fulfillment and those two are often at odds . I think a lot of people who start businesses face this . The way we ' ve dealt with this is through humor . We ' re still drinking beer in the basement but we ' re also reviewing which corporate insurance policies we want to buy into ( laughs ). It ' s just a bit of a trip . It ' s really sad if you ' re unable to see the humor in all of it .”
It ’ s a crossroad lots of longstanding bands face . Do you keep going for the tried-and-true method to sell more records ? Or do you risk that and go for something different that may be more fulfilling ? It ’ s a tricky balance . It would ’ ve been easy for PUP to take the safe route , make a sequel to their last album , and coast off of it . Instead , they pushed themselves to keep growing . Yet , they still wanted to ensure they didn ’ t “ alienate every single PUP fan .” “ We were really trying to thread this needle of pushing the boundaries of what we ' re able to do , but at the same time , holding on to the parts of the band we think are special and trying to make this sound undeniably like PUP but a new version of PUP . That ' s a pretty tall order , but that was kind of the
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to keep growing as a band , which is really exciting for me because I would like this to be a long career ,” says Babcock . “ I would like this band to age gracefully and not just be a band that keeps making the same record over and over . I think it ' s a step in the right direction .”
THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND may be an unconventional PUP record that sees them going on a slightly different path , but one thing remains the same : a group of friends who “ love each other so much ” and “ fucking hate each other ” who just want to get together , laugh , and make music . And that ’ s part of what makes PUP the band . “ It ' s not the tricks that we ' ve used in the past like the gang vocals . That doesn ' t make it sound like PUP . It ' s the four of us in a room together and all of our personalities coming together in a way that shows all the dichotomies of the band . We ' re very serious about trying to make a really great record , but also , we think it ' s ridiculous we get to do this . So , it ' s all fun and love and hate and being upset with each other and just being in awe that this is our lives . That ' s what makes it sound like PUP .”
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such an escape ,” he says . Dave ’ s journey to the radio booth is an incredibly unique one . His might be the only radio career in history launched through a broadcasting museum .
“ Back in the early 2000s they were looking for some young blood ,” he says , “ and at the time they had much older board members like Steve Allen , Angel Harvey , and Betty White . I was asked to be a spokesperson because I was a younger face , and I started doing regular appearances on Dean Richards show back in 2004 . I also guested on shows like Spike O ’ Dell ’ s , Steve Cochran ’ s , and Garry Meier ’ s show , and on other radio stations too , like Mancow ’ s . At first , it was all about the Museum .” That all changed ten years ago this month . Plier is happy he answered the phone that May morning . “ Dean was in LA for an awards show and his phone line crapped out ,” he explains . “ So they called me and said to come in and do the show . It was like 7:30 in the morning . They wanted me to host with Dean on the phone . I had to come in right away . ‘ We need you in 20 minutes ,’ they said . I didn ’ t even have time to take a shower . I did the last three hours with Dean , and it was a blast .
Tom Langmyer and Bill White were the management guys then , and they encouraged me to take a shot doing this . I co-hosted an overnight show with Bill Leff , and he taught me a lot of the fundamentals . He said , ‘ bring some guests to the table .’ The first guest I brought was Betty White . When I called her and asked her to be my first guest , she said , sure , ‘ But it ’ s been a long time since
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ferent on Sunday mornings . He wanted to do a Sinatra show and asked me what I would do if I got that show . I ’ m a big geek when it comes to music , but I also loved , revered , and got to meet Don Rickles , his road manager who was also Sinatra ’ s road manager , and Tom Dreesen , who opened for him all those years , and I thought to myself I ’ d like to include some conversation about the man in addition to the music . So we sprinkle in stories about him as we play his music . Stories about his very colorful personal life , his movie career , and his love of Jack Daniels . You name it .”
Despite the full-time gig as a CEO and his full weekends at WGN , Dave is also still heavily involved in the Museum of Broadcast Communications . In fact , he ’ s the boss there now . “ I took over for Larry Wert as Chair back in the summer of 2019 and 6 months later we were in the midst of a pandemic . No easy task leading a nonprofit for the last couple of years .” But the museum is on the way back . Several events are already planned . “ We have an inaugural award The Bob Newhart Award For Excellence in Television we will launch this fall with Bob . We have a Radio Hall of Fame event this July where we will celebrate Top 40 Radio Personalities from the ' 60s and ' 70s . The Radio Hall of Fame takes place in Chicago in October .”
The man who is running those events can be heard every Friday night 6-10 pm , on Saturday afternoons from 1-3 pm , and Sunday mornings from 7-9 am on WGN Radio .
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