meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds

Ep529: Johnny Brennan of The Jerky Boys

The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds

Nate Goyer

Music, Music History, Music Interviews

4.7 • 579 Ratings

🗓️ 22 December 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Johnny Brennan reveals how The Jerky Boys' underground cassette tapes became an American comedy phenomenon, spreading from NYC musicians to Howard Stern's radar before landing an Atlantic Records deal and finding success with voiceover work on Family Guy.

Get yerself (or a friend) a Cameo holiday video from Johnny Brennan here

Topics Include:

  • Johnny Brennan reveals The Jerky Boys infiltrated American vocabulary for over five decades
  • People still answer phones with "tough guy" and use Jerky Boys catchphrases daily
  • Johnny started creating characters on tape for his brothers back in the 1960s
  • Father's threat to "put boot in ass" drove kids to creative outdoor activities
  • Nine-year-old Johnny was already doing fake sportscasting with neighborhood friends on tape
  • Looking through Buy Lines magazine for trucks sparked idea to record prank calls
  • First recordings made on boombox intended just for family gatherings upstate New York
  • All characters based on real people: Frank Rizzo was Johnny's father's personality
  • Sweet innocent voice character came directly from observing his mother's speaking style
  • Friend Kamal discovered forgotten tapes and declared them funniest things he'd ever heard
  • Kamal distributed copies to musician friends throughout NYC's Village music scene underground
  • Tape trading exploded nationwide through word-of-mouth before internet or computers existed
  • Howard Stern desperately searched on-air for mysterious Frank Rizzo character's true identity
  • Atlantic Records' Ahmet Ertegun signed band after discovering underground cult phenomenon spreading
  • Johnny's mom actually came up with "The Jerky Boys" name for the act
  • Catchphrases like "sizzle chest" and "milky licker" were completely spontaneous during calls
  • Johnny spent incredible week with Ozzy Osbourne filming The Jerky Boys movie
  • Currently voices Mort Goldman on Family Guy for over twenty-one consecutive years
  • Records at professional studio thirty seconds from home, works with hardcore bands
  • Offers personalized Cameo messages, giving special shoutout to Australian fans after forty years

High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey, what do you say there, people? It's Frank Rizzo. R-I-Z-O. Open your fucking ears, Jackass. You're listening to the vinyl guide with Nate. You know, this bastard here, I tell you what, last week I broke a record off his fucking head. He was out in space for a week. I asked him, didn't he remember. He says he didn't remember. So who knows better than Nate? All right, people. Welcome to the Vinyl Guide, the podcast for record collectors and music nerds. Here's your host. The biggest record nerd of them all, Nate Goyer. Ah, well, hey, everyone, it's Nate. It's episode 529 of The Vinyl Guide, the podcast for record collectors and music nerds.

0:40.4

And, yeah, I just arrived back home. I've been traveling around. Went to the U.S., went to Las Vegas, went to Miami, went to L.A.

0:49.5

Saw a bunch of friends, hung out a bit, had some sessions at the Punk Rock Museum. Did the SNFU Roundtable.

0:56.6

Maybe you guys heard episode 528 with those guys.

0:59.7

Had a great time.

1:01.2

I mean, fantastic trip.

1:03.8

But I came home and I immediately got sick.

1:06.0

I'm still struggling a bit at the moment.

1:08.5

I'm kind of getting too old to travel at such a, such a pace, but I did it.

1:13.5

It's done. And now I'm taking the lessons learned. But I wanted to share this interview.

1:19.7

It's a great one. I've always wanted to have Johnny Brennan of the jerky boys on the show.

1:24.8

I love the jerky boys. You guys remember them. Yeah, the phony phone calls, the irate tileman, Frank Rizzo trying to find a job. Those tapes were circulating

1:34.5

around my neighborhood in the late 80s and 90s, early 90s, and I know them all by heart.

1:41.2

Those phone calls. And I was very keen to get the story firsthand, hear Johnny's thoughts. Hear those voices again. And, man, Johnny is such a funny dude. I hope you all have fun with this one. He's on Family Guy. He does the voice of Mort and a few other characters. And look, if you want to get a cameo from him, you could check out the link in this episode page.

2:01.7

It's a great idea to grab one of those as last minute gifts, especially if you're a slacker like me.

2:07.4

You could probably get a few and check off people on your gift list.

2:10.9

Anyway, today Johnny talks us through the history of the jerky boys, making the recordings, getting hugely popular through the

2:19.0

tape trading culture, Howard Stern trying to locate him, them finally signing to Atlantic Records,

2:26.4

experiences hanging out with the great Ozzy Osbourne, and much more. And, oh, how funny are

2:31.6

these tapes? I still listen to the jerky boys and laugh like an idiot.

2:35.2

Those tapes are ingrained in my head.

2:42.3

All right, without further delay, let's talk to Johnny Brennan about the hilarious history of the jerky boys.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Nate Goyer, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Nate Goyer and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.