25 Memorable Moments From 25 Years Of Preston & Steve Interviews

• Paul Bettany

  As his star was rising Paul was brought by Y100 for a visit.  It was when we were doing a contest called Survive Survivor.  We had five contestants living in an RV for a week with Eye of the Tiger playing on a constant loop.  It was a riff on the show Survivor which was only in its first season back then.  Like the show we had our contestants eating disgusting things.  Paul came by on the day that we had them eating Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches.  He was a super nice guy but I’ll never forget when he turned to me and said “You’re all fucking mad”!  Loved it!!!! – Preston Elliot

• Hal Sparks

  Hal Sparks was on site at Camp Out For Hunger in Plymouth Meeting. We planned out the segment to begin with a conversation with Hal, then go outside and fire off the Nacho Cannon. Of course, nothing goes exactly as planned at Camp Out. Unexpectedly, the gang said, “let’s take a break… and go outside to do the Nacho Cannon when we come back.” In that short time period, all of cheese in the cannon congealed and turned into a nacho mortar. But we didn’t realize that until it was too late. Hal fired off the cannon, Pitch was impaled, and I went into EMT mode. Thankfully, Pitch was okay… and the video will live in on forever.  – Rodney Byrd (Nacho Cannon Nov 2012)

• Questlove

  Whenever Questlove‘s visit to the studio is brought up, most people think of his epic drum off with Preston. But for me, the best part was the very first minute of the interview when he channeled young Ahmir Thompson’s emotions about being on the radio station of his youth. In a moment of genuine disbelief he proclaimed, “I cannot believe I’m here at WMMR!” The West Philly native and CAPA ’89 grad told us about the constant battle over the radio in the school van during school field trips. To his dismay, MMR always won. “If my eight grade class could see me now” he added, “how do you like me now, Frank Polumbo?!” Eventually Ahmir’s classmates got him into bands like Led Zeppelin and Ozzy, but it was a journey to get there. It was pretty cool to hear first hand that MMR was part of the ride.  – Marisa Magnatta (Questlove, June 2010)

• Jonah Hill

  We’ve been lucky enough to have Jonah on our show twice. The first time, he came in with Michael Cera to promote “Superbad”. The second time it was to promote the movie “Moneyball”. Jonah is a captivating individual, with perspectives on mental health that I genuinely appreciate. On top of that, he’s funny and sweet and a great actor! Being able to talk to him about “Moneyball” right when that movie came out was a privilege. It’s an underrated baseball movie and his role is terrific! – Nick McIlwain (Jonah Hill, June 2015)

• Eric Lindros

  For several seasons now, WMMR has broadcasted select Flyers’ games. In fact, the organ-I-zation and the radio station got their starts around the same time. And since hockey players are usually nice guys, we’ve had more than our share of Flyers join us on the air.

  Few, however, have made the impact of Eric Lindros. Eric first joined us when he was in his prime. Matt Cord was the morning show host when Eric dropped in that day. At the crossover, Pierre produced a big box of nail polish and offered to paint the captain’s nails. Eric politely declined.

  Eric’s career in Philly had more than its share of twists and turns, resulting in some bad blood and bruised feelings. Time eventually rounded off the rough edges, and in January of 2018, The Flyers retired Eric’s legendary number 88. And when Eric came to town to participate in the ceremony, guess where he stopped by to say ‘Hi?” – Kevin Gunn (Eric Lindros, all the visits)

• Tim Robbins

  Super cool.  Super chill.  I wasn’t sure how that interview was going to play as Tim has tackled some pretty heavy subjects in his films but he turned out to be about as casual as you can get.  Very easy to talk to and willing to chat about almost anything.  Plus he signed a poster I had of Rita Haworth for me.   He wrote “Preston – Salvation lies within” and an arrow pointing to Rita’s mid section.  Probably my favorite souvenir I have from all of our interviews! – Preston Elliot (Tim Robbins, July 2011)

• Cal Ripken:

  I don’t remember the year, but it was shortly after Y100 went off the air that Cal Ripken came to MMR to promote his new book. The guys knew I was a huge fan (I grew up in Baltimore) and invited me to participate in the interview.
  Cal was as down to earth as any celebrity/rockstar I’ve ever met and completely unfazed by all of his legendary accomplishments. I probably sounded like the Chris Farley bit on SNL when he interviewed Paul McCartney and that’s OK. After all those years, I finally got a chance to meet one of my heroes.
  He signed a bunch of items for me that are still on display in my pop culture cave. – Bret Hamilton (Cal Ripken, Oct 2009)

• Peter Fonda

  I don’t insert myself into morning show interviews- tight is tight on the front side and back side of the segment and I want the show to be relaxed and ready to make good conversation with their guest.  But when acting legend Peter Fonda and Ben Foster came in to promote 3:10 to Yuma, I got some time with Peter after the interview.  As a rider, I was so excited to talk to the guy who rode the Captain America bike in Easy Rider!  He was so cool and easy going and our chit-chat fell to motorcycles and the new laws in California that permitted lane-splitting.  Some say it’s an energy wise practice imported from Europe… some say it’s dangerous as hell.  Can’t remember what Peter’s opinion was but Ill never forget talking bikes with him. – Bill Weston (Peter Fonda, Aug 2007)

• Jane Goodall

  I love the fact that our show will talk to anyone we find interesting. This can go from the lowbrow to the highbrow, with no real judgment on either end. But when you get a chance to talk with someone like the legendary Jane Goodall, you have to seize that opportunity. Her life, of course, has been a fascinating one! She’s done so much to help with conservation, environmentalism, and taking care of our planet that I have the upmost respect for her. On top of that, she simply could not have been a kinder person! – Nick McIlwain

• Bradley Cooper

  When prepping for Bradley Cooper’s 1^st in-studio visit (it really was a BIG get) someone on the show had the idea that with such a dreamy guest, we should have proper sound effects to insert during the conversation.  As my daughter plays the harp, I offered up to be roadie dad- and lug her harp in the back of my SUV- up to the studio for her accompaniment to the interview.  And every time Preston did a reset to name ‘Bradley Cooper…”, he would pause long enough for Jade to provide the following musical sound effects on the harp.  The Inquirer was there to cover Bradley’s visit and put Jade’s picture with Mr. Cooper in the paper the next day.   I put “playing harp for Bradley Cooper” on her written excuse next day.  – Bill Weston (Bradley Cooper, Aug 2011)

• Russell Crowe

  After seeing a brilliant movie entitled “LA Confidential “ back in 1997 I became slightly (some might say overly) obsessed with Actor Russell Crowe! He played Bud White in the film…an LAPD plainclothes officer obsessed with punishing men who abused women…tough character with a soft side. Russell (and Guy Pearce, another Aussie hottie) were relative unknowns in the states…but that was about to change, mainly due to their extraordinary performances!

  The rest as they say is history.

  My obsession for Mr Crowe continued for years and poor Preston and Steve had to put up with my constant attempts to meet Russell (the struggle was real!) Lo and behold he also had a band – 30 Odd Foot of Grunts (with a recording contract) and an upcoming tour!!! That was our ticket IN so after more than a year of persistence I got the band to do a “Sonic Session” for our Y100 listeners.

  The session started out wonky (Russell was 2/hours late) but turned out to be fantastic. Somebody somewhere has pics (INDRE or Sonic). Even better was the evening concert at the then new Electric Factory when Mr Crowe shouted me out from on-stage!!! Good times.

  Believe it not that wasn’t the only promotion we did with Russell…he owned a rugby team as well so we sent listeners to a (Rabbitohs) game in Jacksonville Florida and they got to enjoy VIP treatment and sit in Russell Crowe’s suite for the game (pic). There may be more to this story…stay tuned… – Marilyn Russell

• Darryl McDaniels

  The first time we had Darryl in the studio I was looking forward to having him on but I didn’t expect to be so positively affected by him. I know a few Run DMC songs and always loved to see those guys on my MTV but had no clue that he was such a positive force of nature.  To this day I still think about his outgoing nature and to try and be aware of the good in the world.  Totally unexpected and very satisfying! – Preston Elliot (Darryl McDaniels, March 2018)

• Shane Victorino & Adrian Grenier

  In January of 2008 we had the band The Honey Brothers perform live in the studio. It was the height of HBO’s Entourage and Adrian Grenier was the band’s drummer. The studio was packed: 5 piece band, full drum kit, and 20 listeners hanging out. Before the segment began, the studio door quietly swung open and Shane Victorino walked in. It was everyone’s first time seeing a member of the World F*cking Champion Phillies team since the parade, and the excitement had not worn off. Without a single word exchanged, the entire room spontaneously erupted in applause for our 2008 World Series Champion Outfielder. It’s probably my greatest radio memory of all time and it happened during a commercial break.  – Marisa Magnatta (Shane Victorino & Adrian Grenier, Jan 2009)

• Aaron Sorkin

  If you can judge a person by the company they keep, you can judge the popularity of a show by the guests they attract. In this regard, WMMR and Preston and Steve have been graced with some big names in-studio, one of whom was Aaron Sorkin.

  Aaron Sorkin is widely regarded as one of Hollywood’s most prolific screenwriters. He’s created The West Wing, Sportsnight, and The Newsroom for television, and has written such films as The Social Network, and A Few Good Men, among others. In the fall of 2017, Sorkin was doing a press tour for “Molly’s Game,” a true story about an Olympic level skier who suffers a career-ending injury, only to resurface as the proprietor on a secret high stakes poker game frequented by Hollywood, and athletic elites. “Molly’s Game” was also Sorkin’s directorial debut, and he generously shared his feelings on the experience.   – Kevin Gunn (Aaron Sorkin, Nov 2017)

• Jim Breuer

  I remember an incredible morning with Jim Breuer.  Jim is always a great guest, amazing energy, super fun and hilarious but this particular morning was legendary. He was supposed to be here for about 15 or 20 minutes which by typical radio standards IS a long time to spend with one guest but this morning – Jim was on fire.  He just took over and rolled with one hilarious bit after another and Preston and Steve rolled with it like they always do.  The segment ended up going for 50 minutes!  – Chuck Damico (Jim Breuer, June 2011)

• Tom Cruise

  I know how important it is for Preston and Steve to do everything live. Always has been, always will be. Sometimes you have a chance to speak with one of the top A list celebrities, and the schedules just don’t match so you make an exception to your rule. Things didn’t go as planned as 2 ½ minutes into the interview the person running the tour interrupted to tell the show they needed to wrap. “It”s not Tom’s fault, I’m the bad guy.” Led to Steve’s “Yea, you suck”, followed by Tom’s giggles and agreements “yea you suck!” As they let Tom go, off mic Casey screamed, “your PR people suck ass!” To the show’s credit, they didn’t bury this interview in the trash. They made an entire segment out of it the next week and introduced the world to PR guy Dick McMunch.  – Steve Vassalotti

• Jay Wright

  Sometimes, it’s dangerous to meet your heroes. Not with Jay, who is definitely one of my heroes. Like me, he went to Bucknell. Unlike me, he graduated in four years. I love what Jay has done for Villanova University, and not with just their basketball team, including those two championships, but what he’s done for the school, for the athletes that have been in his program, and for that campus in general. He’s a class act, top to bottom! – Nick McIlwain (Jay Wright, Oct 2009)

• Richard Lewis

  I just love that guy.  Funny, sweet, sharp, and neurotic as hell.  Another one of those people that just makes me smile to be around. – Preston Elliot

• Guy Fieri

  Of all the feedback I get about The Preston and Steve Show, by far the most-loved is when they give me the business/tease unmercifully/tread dangerously close to insubordination.  And when one of their in-studio guests does it- well it’s off-the-charts time.  Such the case with Guy Fieri.  A prior phoner guest, it was like old home week when he came into the lair.  Conversation with the show  turned to his fabulous place in Northern California and how the whole P&S crew should come out there and do a weeks worth of shows.  Monitoring in my office, I entered the studio to put the kibosh on this…  only to have Guy start grilling me, on-the-air, on why I would hold these boys back from such a fun trip.  I took it, for the show, but recall using ‘it’s not in the budget’ once or twice. – Bill Weston (The Preston & Steve Show on DDD)