Jim Trenton

Jim Trenton "The Poorman"
Born James Trenton
(1953-08-20) August 20, 1953
Occupation Radio Broadcaster, Actor

James "The Poorman" Trenton (born August 20, 1953) is an American radio broadcaster.[1] He is best known as the host of Loveline on KROQ-FM in Los Angeles from 1983 to 1993.

Career in radio

Poorman began his entertainment career in the mid-80s on then underground alternative radio station KROQ-FM in Los Angeles. During the following decade, he created and hosted the #1 nighttime show “Loveline”, co-hosted the KROQ morning show, and guested on “Oprah” as one of the most outrageous DJs in America. He claims to be the first radio host in the country to play music of such future superstars as No Doubt, Hoobastank, Live, Goo Goo Dolls, and Social Distortion.

Early years

Under "The Poorman" moniker, Trenton wrote and self-published two guidebooks about dining in the Los Angeles area on a budget.[2] In May 1981, Trenton broadcast his first of several reviews of inexpensive restaurants on KROQ.[3]

Trenton continued as the local surf reporter and went on to co-host the KROQ morning show with Richard Blade. From there, he became one of the station's most popular figures when he created Loveline.

Loveline

Trenton created Loveline[4] in 1983 as a Sunday night dating and relationships segment on Los Angeles radio station KROQ, hosted by Trenton, DJ Swedish Egil (Egil Aalvik), and Scott Mason. As Trenton found himself unable to answer serious medical questions related to sexual issues, he added a segment called "Ask a Surgeon," and later "On Call with Dr. Drew," hosted by his friend Drew Pinsky, who at the time, was a fourth-year medical student at the University of Southern California.

On August 20, 1993, Trenton responded to a prank performed on him by fellow KROQ DJ Gene "Bean" Baxter. Trenton organized approximately 300 listeners to gather on the front lawn of Bean's house at midnight, to celebrate Trenton's birthday, and Bean complained to the station's management, which responded by terminating Trenton's employment. That month, he was replaced on Loveline by former MTV VJ Riki Rachtman.[5]

The hugely popular Loveline continued to thrive without Trenton, earning many millions of dollars, and becoming syndicated. It also had a televised run on MTV for a number of years.

RICK DEES in the Morning Show on KISS-FM

Over the course of the next several years, Trenton worked at several Los Angeles-area radio stations. After departing KROQ, Trenton hosted shows on GrooveRadio (103.1), KIIS-FM (102.7), KPWR-FM (105.9), and twice at KYSR-FM (98.7). In September 2001, Poorman joined the “Rick Dees In The Morning Show” on KIIS-FM Los Angeles as Rick’s sidekick through 2004 until the duo was replaced by Ryan Seacrest. As a result, he became the only on air talent in Los Angeles radio history to work at all three Los Angeles new music giants (KROQ, POWER 106, and KIIS).

Love Calls

Trenton returned again to radio in 2005 with a Loveline clone known as Love Calls, which aired on sports station KMPC 1540. Like Anti-Radio, Trenton also owned this show, but KMPC required him to utilize one of their employees to screen calls and monitor for inappropriate content. Within a short time, KMPC decided it was unhappy with the raunchy nature of Love Calls, and abruptly yanked it from the air. Trenton threatened to sue the station for lost revenues, stating that their agreement stated that the KMPC-employed board operator was responsible for monitoring and dumping inappropriate content. Therefore, Trenton argued, he was not to blame for anything foul that reached the airwaves. The station realized they were indeed vulnerable to such a lawsuit, and reluctantly let the show continue. After running for about five months, Trenton discovered that the show could not bring in enough money to support KMPC's studio and airtime fees, and he would have to close it down. He reached a mutually beneficial agreement with KMPC, where they bought out the remainder of the show's contract, and the show terminated.

From the end of Love Calls in 2005 until late 2010, Trenton was unable to find a paid position in radio, and was unwilling to continue paying for airtime himself.

On KCAA

He finally appeared again on the radio in November 2010, on Loma Linda, California station KCAA 1050 AM, an NBC News Radio affiliate. His new program was initially called Poorman's Radio Invasion, airing for an hour on weekday afternoons. The program was removed from the lineup in late September 2011, while Trenton prepared for a new syndicated radio program based out of New York City.

Poorman's Nation

On October 10, 2011, Trenton began his syndicated show, called Poorman's Nation.[6] Despite originally being promoted as a live call-in show, Poorman's Nation instead consisted solely of taped interviews from Occupy Wall Street. The program was syndicated by the Genesis Communications Network, but had just one affiliate – KCAA, which carried his original Radio Invasion program earlier in the year. Trenton conducted his on-the-street interviews while wearing only a Depression-era-style barrel, which earned him some degree of media attention, including an appearance on The Young Turks.[7] However, the show failed to pick up any additional affiliates or local sponsors, and was canceled by the syndicator on November 7, 2011.

Podcast

On July 1, 2013, Trenton started a pay-per-month podcast on his longtime personal website, poorman.com. He stated that he would refuse to broadcast until he had at least 100 paid subscribers at $10 per month. On its launch date, he had 125 subscribers. Despite it being a subscription-based podcast, Trenton made the unorthodox and somewhat controversial decision to run advertisements, and the initial podcast had sponsors.

Hosting

While working at KROQ in the mid-1980s, local Orange County TV station KDOC had a program called Adventures with the Poorman hosted by Trenton.

In the late 1980s, Trenton hosted a show on KDOC called Request Video. This was a live show featuring videos of primarily rock and independent bands. In addition, Trenton took live phone calls and interviewed bands. His show was the first to interview the then-unknown Gwen Stefani and her band No Doubt. He quit after 15 months, complaining that the show did not pay him.

In 1994, Trenton hosted a nightly television show on KDOC called The Love Channel. Trenton owned the show and bought the airtime from KDOC, giving him full control of its content and advertising revenue. However, the show was failing to support itself financially, as its ad revenue could not break even with KDOC's high airtime fees. Knowing the end was coming, Trenton did the live show in the nude. KDOC pulled it from the air the next day.

Poorman's Bikini Beach

In 1999, Trenton again returned to the television landscape, producing a program called Poorman's Bikini Beach. Like The Love Channel, Poorman owned and controlled the show, renting airtime from various television stations. It ran subsequent years, on various television stations including the Los Angeles station KJLA.

Trenton canceled the program on January 17, 2011 to pursue other career opportunities in New York.

  • Thompson, Luke Y. (8 November 2007). "Enter Poorman". OC Weekly. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  • Thompson, Luke Y. (3 January 2008). "Exit Poorman". OC Weekly. Retrieved 26 July 2014. </ref>

Appearances and stints

Trenton worked as a field reporter on KTTV's Good Day LA and the Los Angeles UPN station's news program.

He appeared as an extra on the program Boardwalk Empire, which aired in October 2012.

In 2014, Trenton appeared on episode two of Frankenfood on Spike TV. His creation, the Nuclear Torpedo, also called a "Poor Man's Giant Garbage Burrito" was panned by all three judges. Host Tony Luke, Jr. bet $100 that a dog would not eat Trenton's giant burrito, and, in fact, the dog refused to eat Trenton's creation.

Trenton has also appeared in four films, including the 1987 B movie North Shore as the opening surf contest announcer, the 1989 hit Heathers (as the 'Hot Probs' D.J.) and the 1990 film Men at Work (as the narrator).

In December 2015, Trenton appeared in the lead role of a 2 1/2 minute Pepsi commercial, which promoted the return of Crystal Pepsi. The commercial received over 2.2 million views, and received favorable critical reception. [8]

Trenton is a featured stand up comedian in the upcoming Batman movie to be released in 2019 [9]

Trenton is a member of SAG/AFTRA.

Personal life

Trenton completed law school while in his 20s, but did not pass the California State Bar exam. This occurred before he got involved in radio.[10]

In 1990, Trenton married a KROQ bikini girl who was 16 years his junior. The marriage lasted for less than two years, but did produce a son. Trenton is currently lives in Newport Beach and Los Angeles with is partner Aime Elkins McCrory, who produced the Santa's Got A GTO" albums for his former KROQ-FM colleague Rodney Bingenheimer. [11] [12]

Trenton is a notable fine arts photographer and has exhibited his work at various art galleries throughout California including, The Gray Matter of Art Gallery [13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ James 'Poorman' Trenton Archived March 13, 2016, at the Wayback Machine., IMDB.com
  2. ↑ These guidebooks are:
    • The Poorman (1979). The Poorman's Guide to Gourmet Dining in Pasadena for Under $6.00. Pasadena, California: Poorman Productions. OCLC 22971551.
    • The Poorman (September 1980). The Poorman's Guide to Gourmet Dining on the Westside of Town for Under $6.00. Pasadena, California: Poorman Productions. OCLC 7511540.
  3. ↑ Trenton v. Infinity Broadcasting Corp., 865 F.Supp. 1416 (United States District Court, C.D. California 6 September 1994).
  4. ↑ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (6 February 1999). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 69–. ISSN 0006-2510.
  5. ↑ Matsumoto, Jon (May 23, 1994). "Rachtman Tunes In With 'Loveline'". Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "Poorman's Nation". Archived from the original on October 26, 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  7. ↑ "'Poorman's Nation' helps Occupy Wall Street find a voice on the radio". The Young Turks Blog. 2011-10-19. Archived from the original on 24 October 2011.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-10-17. Retrieved 2015-04-29.
  9. ↑ https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2018/09/16/director-todd-phillips-shares-joker-first-photo-joaquin-phoenix/1329902002/
  10. ↑ Larsen, Peter (2006-12-08). "'Poorman' perseveres". Orange County Register.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ http://www.dionysusrecords.com/home/santas-got-a-gto-comp-free-download-merry-xmas/
  13. ↑ http://www.photopressionist.com/
Additional sources
  • The Unofficial ALT.FAN.KROQ FAQ at the Wayback Machine (archived October 27, 2009)
  • James "Poorman" Trenton v. MTV, March 1, 2006 at the Wayback Machine (archived January 20, 2000)
  • "L.A. Stories: Poorman saved". Los Angeles Business Journal. April 18, 2005.
  • Template:Love Calls
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