Jay Leno

Jay Leno is the host of the Tonight Show on NBC. Today is his 58th birthday.



Before I get to my Jay Leno story, I must say that I consider Jay Leno to be one of the nicest and most approachable people I've ever met in show business. In my first few years with the Steve & Garry show, he appeared on the show several times and couldn't have been nicer.

Any time I called him up, regardless of what he was doing (even after he started hosting the Tonight Show once a week for Johnny Carson), he was willing to take a few moments to come on the air and chat with the guys. He always remembered who had him on before he hit the big time, and was more than willing to repay the favor.

Of course, it was a little easier getting Jay to appear on an afternoon show than a morning show. With the time difference in LA, and the way Jay likes to stay up late, an early morning call was really impossible.

That's why I never booked him to appear on the John Landecker show when I moved to WJMK. On the other hand, he did book himself once.

Let me explain.


When Jay Leno did the Tonight Show in Chicago for a week, we sent his show a tape of our first OJ song (a parody of YMCA--called "YDNA"), along with a description of a wacky new concept we were doing in our stage act, the Dancing Itos. We thought he might find it funny and use it on the air. Well, imagine our surprise when his version of the Dancing Itos emerged the following week--dancing to a parody of YMCA. Their song was called "OJLA".

(I couldn't find a video of that original appearance, but I did find this: VIDEO: Their second TV appearance on Leno)

John and I tried to convince ourselves that it was a coincidence. After all, they didn't mention us or the show--so they must have come up with it themselves, right? Our listeners, however, wouldn't hear of it. They flooded our phone lines the next morning, outraged at the theft.

That led John to write the following letter to Jay Leno.

April 11, 1995

Jay Leno
NBC-TV

Dear Jay,

Early last week, I overnighted a package to you that contained a parody of The Village People’s “YMCA” called “Why DNA?” I’ve been playing this parody for a while now, and it is by far the most asked for song on our station. I also enclosed a lyric sheet and a letter.

In the letter, I explained that I had been using the Dancing Ito’s on stage since January. Although I didn’t ask for it, I fantasized that you would mention my program, play the song, the nation would love it, my ratings would go up and my contract would be renewed!!

Cut to last Thursday night. I’m watching NBC prime time, and Bingo! a Tonight Show promo hits the air. It’s some sort of Ito/Village People/O.J.L.A. thing! I can’t believe it!!

I got on the air Friday morning at 5:30 am. The first call comes in... “John, did you see Jay Leno last night?” For the next 4½ hours, it was pretty much non-stop on the fax machine and the telephone. Did the Tonight Show take our idea? Why didn’t Jay mention you? and on and on.

I said on the air, in my opinion, you didn’t even see the package that I sent. Some writer grabbed it and used it, or maybe it was just a coincidence.

At any rate, I’m still a desperate radio personality pleading for plugs. Can I get a) a mention, b) an appearance, c) an interview d) all of the above, or should I just go f**k myself?

Say, did I ever tell you I really like motorcycles?

Love and kisses, your pen pal,

John Records Landecker
Oldies 104.3 WJMK

Well, a strange thing happened after they received our letter. I was taking a nap at home after the show one day, and Bridget came in to wake me up.

"Jay Leno's on the phone," she said.

"Shut up."

"No seriously," she said--holding the phone up. "He's on the phone right now."

It was him. The station had given him my home phone number. In the call he told me how they had been flooded with complaints and he swore that he hadn't even opened our package--that they have a policy against it.

I told him that I believed him, but our listeners didn't. Would he agree to come on the show to talk to John and answer all of our questions? To his credit, he agreed.

The next morning we had a ten minute interview with Jay. He said that he would never steal an idea--especially from someone who could publicly bust him for it. He said it was just a coincidence--that this sort of thing happens all the time. People looking at the same stories come up with the same jokes. He would much rather pay someone a few hundred or thousand bucks for a great idea, than deal with the hassle.

I thought he was pretty convincing. Our listeners didn't. Our families and friends didn't. Twelve years later...I'm still not sure.

Many give the Dancing Itos and the way Leno handled the OJ trial credit for his surge past David Letterman in the ratings. Letterman has never come close to beating him since. The John Landecker show also rode a wave of popularity for several years. We had a good run.

To tell you the truth, it doesn't even matter to me anymore if he stole it or not.

It's a fun story to tell.