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Tom Leykis

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Tom Leykis
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Tom Leykis

Thomas Joseph Leykis (born August 1, 1956 in New York, New York) is a radio talk show host, syndicated nationally and internationally (USA and formerly in Canada) by Westwood One.

Contents

Radio career

As a teenager in 1970, Leykis won a contest for a one-time radio appearance on a station in Long Island, and he was asked back several times to serve as a fill-in host. He got a regular job hosting Sunday mornings at another station in 1979. He moved to Albany in 1981 to do an evening show five times a week. The station wanted someone controversial, and Leykis was just that. Some listeners sent in angry letters, but his ratings soon earned him the morning drive slot and a position as program director. He then took a job in Miami where he became number one in the ratings in 1984, over a competing host who had been number one for the previous six years. Leykis subsequently did local shows in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Boston.

The Tom Leykis Show became nationally syndicated in 1994, broadcasting from Los Angeles. Often political in nature, Leykis calls his show the only one "not hosted by a right wing wacko or a convicted felon." He commonly discusses relationships, religion (Leykis is an atheist), and other issues. On Fridays, listeners are allowed to call in and talk about anything they want, in contrast to other days when Leykis establishes a single topic for each hour of the show. Friday is also the usual day for live appearances in cities around the U.S., when Leykis broadcasts from a bar or other public place with an audience present. The free-for-all subject matter and large crowds leads to a rowdy atmosphere on Friday shows. "Flash Friday" is another significant part of Friday shows. During "Flash Fridays", men are told to turn on the headlights of their cars to indicate that they are Leykis listeners, and women are encouraged to flash their breasts to male listeners. A tradition was also started where women would get their breasts autographed by Leykis using a Sharpie permanent marker.

In 1997, Leykis's show was picked up by KLSX, an FM talk station in Los Angeles that also carried Howard Stern (until Stern left the air in December 2005 to move to satellite radio). At first, Leykis was asked to fill in for other talk show hosts. Based on his wild success as a fill-in host, KLSX hired Leykis as part of their regular line-up. Leykis began to tone down the political aspect of the show around this time, and he started "Leykis 101" soon after that. A notable change back to political content was on 9/11/2001 and the rest of that week. Leykis still occasionally discusses political topics.

In addition to his weekday show, Leykis began hosting a syndicated weekend show called "The Tasting Room" in February 2005, covering lifestyle topics such as wine, spirits, beer and cigars.

Leykis has caused considerable controversy over the years by revealing on-air the names of such individuals as the following:

Major media outlets voluntarily withhold names like these due to their adherence to journalism ethics and standards while having no problem releasing names of alleged offenders, a policy Leykis disagrees with since he says he is "not a journalist". Leykis's point is that either both names of an alleged accuser and an alleged offender should be protected or both should be public.

The Tom Leykis Show

The Tom Leykis Show is produced from the Westwood One studios in Culver City and can be heard live from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific time Monday through Friday. On some stations during the 7:00 p.m. (Pacific time) hour, either the 3:00 p.m. or 4:00 p.m. hour is replayed. Some stations carry the show live and some play it late at night. The show can also be heard over the Internet through streaming radio available on the websites of KLSX and Pittsburgh affiliate WURP. See the affiliates section below for a list of syndication affiliates.

The show covers a variety of topics, often based on events in Leykis's life, news stories, and listener e-mails, with a particular focus on male-female relationships, sex, marriage, dating, and other subjects that are of an interest to males from teens to early forties, their target demographic. Although the show is produced by men and geared towards men, women are encouraged to listen so that they might "learn how guys think".

Two popular regular segments include "Flash Fridays", in which female listeners are encouraged to flash (expose) their breasts at male drivers who have their headlights on, and "Leykis 101", in which "the Professor" (Tom Leykis) teaches his "students" his rules for dating.

The goal of these rules is to help single men, especially men in their 20s, get the most sex for the least amount of effort and money possible. Leykis believes men in their 20s are particularly susceptible to the "pregnancy trap" and continually emphasises that they take responsibility for themselves and always wear a condom. Leykis emphasizes that the "Leykis 101 course" that he teaches is designed for people not looking for a serious, monogamous relationship, but rather for those who wish to remain independent and unattached, and to understand the difference. According to Leykis, men should never spend a lot of money to impress women, they should stop dating a woman if she's still refusing sex after the third date, and they should never date single mothers. The latter is cited as a practicality issue; those wishing to "date" a woman don't need to get through any additional form of interference in the form of children. There is also the predilection of a single mother to consider should she find herself pregnant: she is much less likely to consider abortion if she already has children.

\"Dump that bitch\"

When a typical male caller calls in and asks for advice about how to deal with his girlfriend or spouse who appears to be taking advantage of him, Leykis typically responds with the catchphrase "dump that bitch." This has become a popular rallying cry at listener parties.

\"Blow me up, Tom\"

A long tradition on the show is to "blow up" the caller when the call has finished. The caller says, "Blow me up, Tom," and this is followed by the sound of a big explosion. Earlier in his syndicated career, Leykis started this gag by blowing up unruly callers mid-sentence or before they were finished with the conversation as a way of saying that he does not want to deal with their rhetoric anymore. Now, it's considered an honor to be "blown up" by Tom, though he does still use the explosion for unruly callers as well.

\"Take me out\" in style

In addition to blowing them up, Leykis, his production staff, and the audience have come up with various "styles", some of which can be done in combination. Some of the most popular styles include: There are many other styles that are often viewed as tasteless. For example:

\"How are you doing, Son?\"

Leykis likes to represent himself as the dad that many of these callers never had. Consequently, sometimes a caller will start a call by addressing Leykis as Dad, and Leykis warmly reciprocates by referring to such a caller as his son. For example, the caller says, "How are you dad?" Leykis replies, "I'm very good son."

A broad audience

Leykis receives extensive criticism from various callers, some of which he will air on the show. His favorite retort to arguments put forward by these callers is that they are merely pointing out exceptions to rules he has defined. He argues that what he does is called "broadcasting" and since he appeals to a broad audience, generalization is a necessary part of his rhetoric. He has admitted that there are always exceptions to his generalizations, though it is debatable whether some of the rules he refers to as generalizations can actually be considered as such.

Feelings about Leykis' views are highly polarized. Some consider his views to be chauvinistic and misogynistic while others believe he is performing a public service. However some of the advice he gives (always use condoms, be extremely wary of "gold diggers," focus on your career, etc.) are almost unanimously agreed upon by both men and women.

Affiliates

  1. redirect [[Template:Listdev]]
Below is a list of radio stations which broadcast The Tom Leykis Show as of early 2006:

Removal of Live Leykis from Seattle

In late-2005, Tom Leykis was pulled from his live spot in Seattle after 100.7 The Buzz, one of his largest markets, was taken over by 100.7 The Wolf playing Country music. Leykis admirers complained to Entercom Seattle, the company in charge of this, but nothing came out of it. Now Seattlites can only listen to Tom Leykis on 99.9 (KISW) starting at 10 PM.

Personal life

Leykis has been married and divorced four times, although he has never had any known children. His fourth wife, Susan Leykis, filed a police report against him while they were married and living in Boston in 1993. She told police that Leykis assaulted and threatened to kill her during a fight after they returned home from a radio station Christmas party. The charges were dropped after he agreed to complete a domestic violence program and go on probation for one year, although Leykis did not admit guilt as part of the agreement (see [link]). They separated in 2001 and divorced in 2003. He lives in the exclusive enclave of the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles.

He is the oldest of four children. His father, Harry Leykis, was a pressman and union leader at a daily newspaper in New York City. The family lived in the Bronx, and then moved to much-better off Long Island.

An avid Dodgers and Kings fan, Leykis may be thought of as a hot dog-and-beer kind of guy by his loyal audience. In reality he is a wine aficionado who spends his free time reading Barron's Magazine and watching CNBC.

Trivia

[link]

See also

External links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwPkRIUiUWs&search=morton%20downey(Earliest known footage of Tom Leykis, On the Morton Downey Jr. show debating Lester Kingsolving)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwPkRIUiUWs&search=morton%20downey

 

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