You can’t get to millions of fans without making a few enemies.
And that was certainly true for the hosts of “The Bob & Tom Show,” an Indianapolis WFBQ’s talk radio program that’s now nationally syndicated. Longtime listeners celebrated more than 40 years of laughs in the wake of former host Bob Kevoian’s death from stomach cancer April 17 at age 75.
But in the early years of the show, not everyone was a fan of the signature suggestive humor of Kevoian and cohost Tom Griswold.
Two years after the 1983 premiere of “Bob & Tom,” an outspoken conservative lawyer launched a campaign to tone down the show.
According to IndyStar archives, Indianapolis lawyer John Price waged a five-year war against the duo and their contribution to Indianapolis’ “dirty radio” problem. Price took offense to Kevoian and Griswold’s raunchy humor, which often manifested itself in off-color skits and banter between the hosts and guests.
Through his Decency in Broadcasting watchdog group, Price outlined a three-pronged plan of attack in a Sept. 10, 1985 IndyStar article, which would culminate in publishing the show’s list of advertisers and calling for a boycott. Kevoian and Griswold fired back in an interview with IndyStar on Oct. 15, 1985, maintaining that they had a “right to make people laugh.”
“What’s more important than making people laugh?” Kevoian said in the interview. “Should we teach them to blow each other’s heads off?”
Phase Three of Decency in Broadcasting’s plan materialized in an ad in the Oct. 20, 1985 Star imploring readers to stop supporting sponsors of “The Bob & Tom Show.” The ad featured a question-and-answer section arguing why the show wasn’t fit for air and a coupon-style cutout that allowed readers to send away for a list of sponsors to avoid (and donate to cover the cost of postage).
“Bob and Tom regularly and persistently focus on masturbation, human waste, comparative sizes of male and female body parts, sodomy, adultery and other sacrilegious material,” Price’s ad read. “Bob and Tom are both talented, but their ‘humor’ is totally inappropriate for our community.”
Days after the ad ran, 18 sponsors pulled their advertisements from the show. A petition to defend the show’s right to free speech quickly followed and garnered more than 500 signatures from fans of the show.
Price’s gripe with Kevoian and Griswold wasn’t just a matter of taste, he argued: The show, Price said, broke the law. He pointed to Miller v. California, a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that ruled obscene material isn’t protected under the First Amendment’s free speech provisions. In addition, he argued, the federal Communications Act prohibited stations from broadcasting “obscene, indecent or profane material” on public airwaves.
Price had more to gain than just the moral high ground in the crusade. He was gearing up for an Indiana Senate run.
Decency in Broadcasting’s first official complaint filed in 1985 failed, but another attempt in 1987 led to the FCC launching an obscenity probe into WFBQ. Five years after Price’s first barbs at “Bob & Tom,” the lawyer gained a victory: The FCC levied a $10,000 fine against the show in 1990, finding four of its broadcasts had violated obscenity law.
But Kevoian and Griswold struck the final blow, and it was a low one. On May 8, 1990 — primary Election Day — Griswold and around 200 “Bob & Tom” listeners rallied outside Price’s campaign headquarters in Carmel and chanted Nazi slogans. Kevoian and Griswold also read material on-air calling Price “Yankee Doodle Hitler.”
Price lost the Republican primary for District 29 in the Indiana Senate to incumbent Sen. William Soards. A 1998 U.S. Senate campaign and a 2000 gubernatorial run were also unsuccessful, according to Price’s 2017 obituary.
Price filed a defamation lawsuit against Kevoian and Griswold for the demonstration incident that was ultimately struck down, according to an August 1991 IndyStar story. Kevoian and Griswold were suspended for two days after the Election Day incident, and they invited Price to appear on “Bob & Tom” after the fact, but Price declined — too little, too late, he said.
Contact IndyStar Pop Culture Reporter Heather Bushman @hbushman@indystar.com. Follow her on X @hmb_1013.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Retro Indy: Indianapolis lawyer’s campaign against ‘Bob & Tom’
Reporting by Heather Bushman, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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