Post by suelightning on Jan 8, 2024 18:45:59 GMT
So this thread is going to need a lot of context - please bare with me and i’ll try to keep this brief.
The Opie and Anthony show was an American radio show premiering from 1994-2014 that focused on edgy and offensive humor. Most if not every full show from these 20 years have been saved, however, most of the shows from 1999 are missing. This happens. Most of the shows from 1994 / 1995 aren’t saved as well due to the low popularity the duo had starting out. However, what makes the 1999 years unique - and why i’m interested in finding them - Is that it’s the only piece of show audio that was purposefully lost.
Why?
Well this too needs some context. Between the years of 1994-1999 Opie and Anthony were good friends. They were both married with their wives being friends, a great foursome. However, after Anthony divorced his wife in 98, the duo’s relationship became strained. Anthony quickly moved on with a woman known as “Melinda” who created further tension by sitting in studio ala Yoko Ono. Flash forward to around 2005. Opie and Anthony have returned on air after being fired for the last two years. The internet is budding and online forums have become a staple of radio discussion. A website dedicated to the show, OAforums, was a hub of threads dedicated to the show with Anthony as a moderator.
Now here comes some classic internet drama…
On these forums, multiple issues were brought up. The first was that Anthony had a heart attack in 2002 which was covered up. Any reference to this on the forums was banned by Anthony himself. However, the larger issue was that users had found audio from July, 1999 that revealed Melinda, Anthonys current girlfriend, had come into the studio and performed fellatio on a staff member to save a lobsters life. This was before the two had started dating, and any mention of it on the forums would result in an instant ban. Furthermore, the site acted as a hub for tape traders to post and trade clips or full audio of the show. Being that Anthony controlled this aspect, a full ban was placed on all audio from 07-1999, resulting in it being lost in the way it is today.
Where should I look?
Well thankfully I’ve answered that question with my own research.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Opie_and_Anthony/Archive_2
On this page, 17 years ago, users were arguing with a moderator on Wikipedia the veracity of the claim and wether it deserved to be included in the article. In this thread, upon the claim being doubted, a fellow wiki users links the supposed audio, however it is a dead link. We know the audio contained is the one we’re searching for because he goes on to explain it’s contents:
“I listened to the audio, which doesn't show any proof that the person who was in the closet with Spaz is Anthony's current girlfriend.” (We do know however that this woman was Melinda. Audio exists of the day after the lobster incident which reveals the same name and voice as the woman Anthony went on to date.)
A user further down in this thread links to the now defunct “Stern Fan Network”, a website dedicated to shock jock Howard Stern, to give context to the discussion and veracity of the clip. This website was archived and can be viewed here (https://web.archive.org/web/20070928020245/http://www.sternfannetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=83038) and I will copy and paste the plain text below:
“ I run a site called Radio Uncensored, where I document the news and gossip related to just about everything in radio, particularly Stern and O&A.;
I thought some of you might be interested in a piece of audio from the early WNEW days where Anthony's current girlfriend was just a listener. In the clip, she is performing sexual acts with an intern on the show, Spaz, who was later fired.”
This post, made by user “Hooknose”, also links to a dead page. Viewing this through the archive (https://web.archive.org/web/20060328113213/http://radiouncensored.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2005/11/24/1420771.html) reveals another dead link. Viewing THIS through the archive leads to the homepage of a now defunct fan forum for Opie and Anthony with the original audio not being found or archived here.
And this is the absolute closest i’ve gotten to hearing it.
Quick recap:
1. The audio does in fact exist and has been both recorded and archived before.
2. The audio took place on July 1999, however it is unknown the exact day it occurred.
3. We know the incident itself happened due to rare audio of the next day aftermath being found.
Potential leads:
1. The best lead, in my opinion, is Stern Fan Network user “Hooknose”. Old archives of this site show that users were able to link their email to their account, which Hooknose did, however this link is dead and the plaintext email does not appear from what I can see. This same user claims to have ran the blog “RadioUncensored” and posted the audio under the username “OAuncensored”. Being that he ran a radio blog, posted on forums, and had access to this audio, it is very possible that he still retains it in some way shape or form.
2. The second best lead are various tape traders from this era who either recorded 1999 shows on WNEW purposefully or who managed to accidentally record it. However, I do not know where you would find these people no less if they even know what they have recorded.
3. The least likely lead, although it truly is the best, is a former producer by the name of “Erik Nagel.” Before he joined the show in 2004, he was a massive fan of the show and was an amateur tape trader by the name of “Sexbagel”. He was extremely active on these forums trading full shows from this exact era. Upon being asked about his collection of tapes recently, he clarified that he still holds full tapes from 1994-2002 in his possession. Obviously this looks like the best lead. However, Erik Nagel now works for Anthony Cumia as a producer on his solo venture. Even if one day he decided to release the full tapes it is very likely that this era or specific month would be scrubbed still.
And thats it! Any help would be appreciated. This has been sought after for 10+ years now but the only talk it gets is within the still existing forums who treat it as one of the only pieces of lost media in the shows history.
The Opie and Anthony show was an American radio show premiering from 1994-2014 that focused on edgy and offensive humor. Most if not every full show from these 20 years have been saved, however, most of the shows from 1999 are missing. This happens. Most of the shows from 1994 / 1995 aren’t saved as well due to the low popularity the duo had starting out. However, what makes the 1999 years unique - and why i’m interested in finding them - Is that it’s the only piece of show audio that was purposefully lost.
Why?
Well this too needs some context. Between the years of 1994-1999 Opie and Anthony were good friends. They were both married with their wives being friends, a great foursome. However, after Anthony divorced his wife in 98, the duo’s relationship became strained. Anthony quickly moved on with a woman known as “Melinda” who created further tension by sitting in studio ala Yoko Ono. Flash forward to around 2005. Opie and Anthony have returned on air after being fired for the last two years. The internet is budding and online forums have become a staple of radio discussion. A website dedicated to the show, OAforums, was a hub of threads dedicated to the show with Anthony as a moderator.
Now here comes some classic internet drama…
On these forums, multiple issues were brought up. The first was that Anthony had a heart attack in 2002 which was covered up. Any reference to this on the forums was banned by Anthony himself. However, the larger issue was that users had found audio from July, 1999 that revealed Melinda, Anthonys current girlfriend, had come into the studio and performed fellatio on a staff member to save a lobsters life. This was before the two had started dating, and any mention of it on the forums would result in an instant ban. Furthermore, the site acted as a hub for tape traders to post and trade clips or full audio of the show. Being that Anthony controlled this aspect, a full ban was placed on all audio from 07-1999, resulting in it being lost in the way it is today.
Where should I look?
Well thankfully I’ve answered that question with my own research.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Opie_and_Anthony/Archive_2
On this page, 17 years ago, users were arguing with a moderator on Wikipedia the veracity of the claim and wether it deserved to be included in the article. In this thread, upon the claim being doubted, a fellow wiki users links the supposed audio, however it is a dead link. We know the audio contained is the one we’re searching for because he goes on to explain it’s contents:
“I listened to the audio, which doesn't show any proof that the person who was in the closet with Spaz is Anthony's current girlfriend.” (We do know however that this woman was Melinda. Audio exists of the day after the lobster incident which reveals the same name and voice as the woman Anthony went on to date.)
A user further down in this thread links to the now defunct “Stern Fan Network”, a website dedicated to shock jock Howard Stern, to give context to the discussion and veracity of the clip. This website was archived and can be viewed here (https://web.archive.org/web/20070928020245/http://www.sternfannetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=83038) and I will copy and paste the plain text below:
“ I run a site called Radio Uncensored, where I document the news and gossip related to just about everything in radio, particularly Stern and O&A.;
I thought some of you might be interested in a piece of audio from the early WNEW days where Anthony's current girlfriend was just a listener. In the clip, she is performing sexual acts with an intern on the show, Spaz, who was later fired.”
This post, made by user “Hooknose”, also links to a dead page. Viewing this through the archive (https://web.archive.org/web/20060328113213/http://radiouncensored.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2005/11/24/1420771.html) reveals another dead link. Viewing THIS through the archive leads to the homepage of a now defunct fan forum for Opie and Anthony with the original audio not being found or archived here.
And this is the absolute closest i’ve gotten to hearing it.
Quick recap:
1. The audio does in fact exist and has been both recorded and archived before.
2. The audio took place on July 1999, however it is unknown the exact day it occurred.
3. We know the incident itself happened due to rare audio of the next day aftermath being found.
Potential leads:
1. The best lead, in my opinion, is Stern Fan Network user “Hooknose”. Old archives of this site show that users were able to link their email to their account, which Hooknose did, however this link is dead and the plaintext email does not appear from what I can see. This same user claims to have ran the blog “RadioUncensored” and posted the audio under the username “OAuncensored”. Being that he ran a radio blog, posted on forums, and had access to this audio, it is very possible that he still retains it in some way shape or form.
2. The second best lead are various tape traders from this era who either recorded 1999 shows on WNEW purposefully or who managed to accidentally record it. However, I do not know where you would find these people no less if they even know what they have recorded.
3. The least likely lead, although it truly is the best, is a former producer by the name of “Erik Nagel.” Before he joined the show in 2004, he was a massive fan of the show and was an amateur tape trader by the name of “Sexbagel”. He was extremely active on these forums trading full shows from this exact era. Upon being asked about his collection of tapes recently, he clarified that he still holds full tapes from 1994-2002 in his possession. Obviously this looks like the best lead. However, Erik Nagel now works for Anthony Cumia as a producer on his solo venture. Even if one day he decided to release the full tapes it is very likely that this era or specific month would be scrubbed still.
And thats it! Any help would be appreciated. This has been sought after for 10+ years now but the only talk it gets is within the still existing forums who treat it as one of the only pieces of lost media in the shows history.
