by Ryan Stewart
“If my IQ test comes in low, I’ll never live it down.”
– Baba Booey
Baba Booey. Fa-fa-fooey. Ta-ta-toothy. Ma-ma-monkey. Gary Dell’Abate goes by many names, but his job has been the same for over twenty years: he’s the guy who runs the Howard Stern Show, booking all the guests, running the show’s back office, and when necessary running interference between Howard and upper management. He’s also one of the show’s most recognizable on-air personalities, thanks in no small part to his iconic nickname “Baba Booey,” a moniker which stuck to him like glue after an on-air slip-up in July 1990, in which he repeatedly mispronounced the name of his (professed to be favorite) cartoon character, Quick Draw McGraw sidekick Baba Looey. Since that day, the name has spread like a virus throughout pop culture, popping up as a punchline everywhere from comedy shows like Saturday Night Live and The Late Show with David Letterman to news shows like Larry King Live and Peter Jennings’ ABC newscast, thanks to the efforts of dedicated crank callers. The title of his new memoir, which recounts some of his personal and show-related drama, says it all: They Call Me Baba Booey.
Dell’Abate was there throughout Howard Stern’s signature run at New York’s K-ROCK radio in the late ’80s and early ’90s, appeared briefly in the autobiographical Private Parts, and continued on long enough to see Stern finally escape his much-hated censors in FCC-controlled radio when he departed for the artistic freedom of Sirius Satellite Radio in 2005. He’s also outlasted many other show notables, including Jackie ‘The Joke Man’ Martling, ’Stuttering’ John Melendez, and blue-collar comic Artie Lange, whose run on the show began to deteriorate in 2008, due in part to the comedian’s admitted struggle with heroin addiction. A vicious on-air spat between Lange and Dell’Abate in 2009 was one of that year’s many uncomfortable Artie moments, before Lange was dismissed in December 2009, and subsequently attempted suicide. As if that weren’t enough drama, the Stern show is now barreling towards what may be its final two months on the air, with both Stern and Sirius bosses playing chicken over the terms of his potential re-signing. Gary Dell’Abate recently called up SuicideGirls to talk about his impressive run on America’s most popular radio show.
Read our exclusive interview with Baba Booey on SuicideGirls.com.
They Call Me Baba Booey is out now and available via Amazon.com.
