There you have it, the secret password to enter the Howard Stern frathouse. Chances are, you have heard of “Baba Booey before, but only know that it has to do with Howard Stern. Baba Booey is Stern’s producer, Gary Dell’Abate. In September, Sirius XM honored him by changing channel Howard 100 to Booey 100 for one day, as well as playing his greatest moments on the show. So why is he known as Baba Booey, or why do people scream his name in the background of live newscasts and golf events? Well allow me to bring you into the world of Howard Stern, and introduce you to the one, the only, Baba Booey. 
Baba Booey (Okay, you know that rule in English class where you should try not to use the same name for a person too many times? If I were writing about Robert DeNiro, I would call him Robert sometimes, DeNiro sometimes, maybe even throw in a couple Bobby D’s in there. I will only be referring to Baba Booey as Baba Booey, or Booey.) wasn’t always Baba Booey. He was originally known as Boy Gary. This period of time was essential in the creation of what was to come. Since the beginning of the show, Howard Stern has always had a very good ear for what people want to hear. He would interact with his team members on air. Robin Quivers, the news lady, was his muse. Fred Norris, writer and sound effects man, as well as Jackie “The Jokeman” Martling, comedian and writer, both provided Stern with endless material and subject matter. But occasionally, they would “goof on” the young and inexperienced producer Baba Booey. Booey was reportedly originally hired for $150 a week, and his primary job was getting Howard lunch, and booking guests. Usually when a person starts a career, there is some level of margin for error. But on the Howard Stern Show, a mistake as simple as messing up a meal, will get air time. The man has to talk for 45 hours a day, and rarely lets any mistake a show member made slide.
When Baba Booey would do something wrong, Howard would “make him repeat.” This humiliating process turned Booey into a fan favorite. Stern would make him repeat after him, usually a couple words at a time, sentences, in order to help him learn from his mistakes. Some of the better repeats were: II, Am lockedAm locked, intointo, servitudeservitude. II, should be paidshould be paid, in bananasin bananas. Did I forget to mention that he looks like a monkey? Yeah, he looks a little like a monkey. But everything is exaggerated by Stern, because he knows what is good radio. Baba Booey would resist the repeat, as long as he could. He would outright refuse to do it, he even started standing up for himself on air, but for the sake of the show, Booey always consented, and repeated after Howard. II, bow tobow to, my master’s feetmy master’s feet.
Baba Booey’s mistakes were not the only thing that the show goofed on. He also had giant caps on his teeth, and he was aloof to the fact that everyone knew that they were fake teeth… Giant fake teeth. Howard and Robin would relentlessly make fun of his massive chompers, bad breath, and the teeth’s allegedly green hue. He eventually made enough money to get his teeth fixed, but the impression stuck. One fateful day, Howard was casually goofing on Baba Booey for collecting “animation cels (short for celluloid)” which are transparent sheets on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, handdrawn animation. So essentially, artists would draw a classic scene from cartoons, and sell them. Howard and Robin ripped on him for being broke, and collecting such a worthless item. Well he mentioned that he was thinking of getting a “Baba Booey.” What he meant to say was “Baba Looey” which was a cartoon Mexican donkey. That’s it. That is where the nickname came from, his dumb art collection and mispronunciation of a character. Stern always tried to make Baba Booey out to be the village idiot, and now armed with a classic nickname, Booey would soon be known across the world, as the village idiot.
Let me be clear, Baba Booey is not an idiot. He is a pretty smart guy, but he is a bit naive, and a little aloof. If anything, he is more of the average man, where as Howard and Robin were the elitists. For the most part, he is good at his job, and Howard knows that. But with Howard, everything is under a microscope, and Booey became the show’s whipping boy. So here we are, we have a Baba Booey, a horsetoothed village idiot, on a show that is syndicated nationally. It all could have fizzed away from there, but Baba Booey time and time again, brought the heat on himself.
The Love tape. One of the greatest moments in Howard Stern Show history. Booey had been in a tough breakup, and made a video begging her back, on VHS, and sent the tape to his exlover. A caller, who had dated the same woman after Baba Booey, called in to the show, and informed Howard that there was a tape that was sent to her, from Booey. Well it turns out that Booey had a copy of the tape,and after negotiations involving tens of thousands of dollars, he allowed the embarrassing tape to be played on the air. For 12 excruciating minutes he goes on pathetically negotiating with a camera to win her back. Quotes such as, “My personal life is at a 2, but my professional life is a 9,” and “I lost a lover and a best friend, and you lost a lover and a best friend. But you gained a lover and a best friend, and I only gained a few lovers. Well, one.” Apparently he had cheated on this woman, by the way. The attempt to win her back was lackluster. He made schtickyjokes, like, bringing up that he one day, down the road, could see ma…ma…marrying her. Yes, he stuttered the word marrying, you know, as a joke…
The last great Booey moment that I’ll talk about is Baba Booey’s first pitch at the Met’s game. Yet another time where Booey completely set himself up for utter humiliation. As a huge Met’s fan, Baba Booey was given the opportunity to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Describing the pitch as bad, hardly does it justice. Do yourself a favor and Youtube the video, and the video for the Love Tape, for that matter. He throws it so far to the right of the catcher, that it hit the umpire standing far off to the side. It was clear the Baba Booey had no idea how to throw a baseball, and the reason that he would put himself in that position is incomprehensible. Conspiracy theorists might say that the whole ordeal was just a bit for the show, but it wasn’t. Booey simply made a dumb mistake, like we all have at times, but on the Howard Stern Show, mistakes like that are never lived down. The video of the show the day after the pitch, was one of the most brutal, emasculating, beat downs of Baba Booey ever. This was the only time that I ever have truly felt bad for Booey. Artie Lange’s joke, “If Carlos Delgado (a baseball player) had fucked you, it would have been manlier,” pretty much summarizes the level of jokes that Baba Booey had to deal with for hours on end.
The Howard Stern Show is the most successful radio program of alltime. There are a lot of reasons for that. The reasons most people are aware of are the bedroom/bathroom humor, Howard’s battles with the FCC, and his flair for the dramatic. But people who listen everyday, the hardcore fan base the kept the show going through the tough years, listen for the internal conflicts that periodically erupt, or boil over amongst the Stern Show staff. Howard is known on the show for being very nonconfrontation off the air, but onair, he is a totally different person. Onair, he can come off as an asshole, a sociopath, and a neurotic. He knows this makes good radio, and everyone on the show knows this also. Imagine having a job, that anytime you made a mistake, you would be called into a room, given headphones and a microphone, and were berated by your boss, and his cackling assistant to millions of listeners across the country. Baba Booey has been fired on air multiple times, but when it came time to go offair, Booey always had his job.
Booey 25 was a special week long event held by Sirius XM that “honored” Baba Booey. All week long, on Howard 101, the sister channel to Howard 100, played all of Booey’s greatest hits. And on the Saturday before Labor Day, Howard 100 became Booey 100. There are seemingly endless parody songs sung by fans, and show staffers alike, all making fun of Baba Booey, to the tune of popular songs. Basically just singing “BaBa Booey” in place of all of the original words. They played these songs of Booey 100 for 24 straight hours. It was amazing, and surprisingly never got old.
The reality is, that for the most part, Baba Booey is a created character. A character created by Howard Stern, and the naivete of Gary Dell’Abate. The Stern Show fans are all in on the joke, and I hope that Baba Booey knows that. Booey received an honor that none of the other long standing members of the Howard Stern Show have received. There will never be a Robin 100, or a Fred 100. If Howard is the brain of the show, Baba Booey is the heart. Listening to Booey get scolded by Howard is almost like seeing you brother get yelled at by your parents. There is some strange perverse pleasure in seeing that. Maybe because we have all been there, we have all done stupid things, and have been held accountable, and it is enjoyable to see it happen to someone else.
With Howard’s contract with Sirius XM ending in January, the fans don’t know what the future holds for our favorite show. Stern may retire, and leave us only with memories. Well if that happens, my favorite memories of the show will always involve Baba Booey, Tata Toothey, Mama Monkey, Fafa Flunkie, Fafa Fooey, Fafa FoHi. Thanks Gary.
