Posted by chicagomedia.org on June 04, 2009 at 09:15:37:
Seven Questions with...
Steve & Johnnie
In this month's edition of "Seven Questions," we chat with the duo behind WGN's overnight show, Steve King & Johnnie Putman.
1. What was your most memorable on-air moment?
Too many to pick just one but, here are just a couple...
1) Getting engaged ON AN ELEPHANT during a commercial break at a remote broadcast from "King Richard's Renaissance Fair." We were the "King" and "Queen" for the day. It was very authentic with lots of velvet and a lace-up corset. You guess who wore what.
2) Talking live with someone who was in Berlin at the Wall as it was coming down. We didn't need pictures to feel the excitement.
3) (Steve) The first time I got to interview Les Paul. As a guitar player/collector and, most of all, FAN, this was one of the few times I was nervous doing an interview. That this interview has turned into a lasting friendship still amazes me to this day.
4) (Johnnie) The night Steve and our then producer, Paula Cooper, surprised me with an on-air birthday call from Bobby Sherman. He was my first love and I cried on the air after hanging up because he was as wonderful as I imagined he was when I was 13. Oh! He did sing his hit "Julie, Julie, Julie Do You Love Me" as "Johnnie, Johnnie, Johnnie Do You Love Me" *sigh*.
2. Where's your favorite place to be in Chicago?
Our back yard. Especially on a mid-summer weekend night with the garden in full bloom, food on the grill, friends, family, guitars, homemade desserts ... it just doesn't get much better.
3. What's the best and worst part about working with your spouse?
The best part IS working with your spouse! Why marry someone if you don't want to hang out with them?!? Frankly, we're not sure either of us could have survived the night shift for almost 25 years without the other to fall back on.
The worst part? It's impossible to be mad at or hold a grudge against the other when you HAVE to turn on the mic and talk to each other. No "freeze out" when you're being paid to communicate with each other.
4. If they were to write a song about your life, what would the title be?
(Johnnie) "It's A Southern Thang." If I'm especially goofy or say something off the wall intended to be wise, but no one gets it, I just write it off to being a southern thing!
(Steve) "Guitars, Comics and a Cute Blond Babe." Need I say more? Hmmmm ... wonder if Kenny Chesney is taking song submissions.
5. What's your favorite vacation spot?
The front porch of our lil' yellow house in Panama City Beach, Florida. We look at, what may turn out to be, the only plots of trees left in town after the building boom. We saw it coming and grabbed the land to keep it natural. The birds thank us. We thank them.
6. What's something listeners would be surprised to learn about you?
That we "ghost wrote" part of a broadcast for Paul Harvey. He wanted to do a tribute to Les Paul and asked us for some details on Les' life. Mr. Harvey liked what we sent him so much that he just used it in his broadcast. And, speaking of writing, for years we've joked about writing a book, but now we really are. You heard/read it here first.
7. So, we have to ask...when do you sleep? When do you eat "dinner"?
Sorry, you're going to have to define that "sleep" word for us and use it in a sentence. We're not sure we understand. Now, if you're asking when do we nap, the answer is for a couple of hours in the morning (Usually about 8 till 11am) and a couple of hours in the evening (Usually, 6-9pm). In between, we're working on show prep and doing those things the rest of the world thinks can't be done at 3 AM. Besides, we'd be a little busy then. "Dinner" usually happens somewhere around 3pm as we're watching our, just recorded, favorite soap opera, "As The World Turns."
(WGN Newsletter, "The Voice")