Jan 1, 2020
#002: Dick Balch was making TV commercials that were both crass and dangerously avant-garde long before punk rock types took up the same aesthetic. Balch gained fame and a small fortune starring in spots for his Federal Way Chevrolet dealership – he played a cackling maniac who smashed cars with a sledgehammer. Balch was destroying the things that made him his living - while appearing severely wasted - eons before Seattle grunge band Nirvana did the same thing on Saturday Night Live. Balch was a wild man.
Also: Rusty the Media Watchdog examines Motor Trend magazine, R.I.P. Ken Shapiro of Groove Tube fame.