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Opie & Anthony on Steroids, Xtreme Radio Shockin’ & Rockin’

First impressions are lasting ones. So when my friend Keith Collins put me up to listening to this podcast he was on, I went into it with some serious doubt. Sure, he may be an award-winning actor and filmmaker, but he also was bias because the co-hosts invited him on and one of them played roles in two of his movies. But I was sold after the first five minutes – even before Collins came on.

The opening intro to the show has a few audio clip highlights of previous guests (such as Mario Andretti, Burt Young and Mario Lopez) and right off the bat you can hear that both Gregg Valentino (this guy was the actor) and Joe Pietaro pull no punches and push the envelope.

“We’re going to rant a little bit,” Pietaro tells his partner and that sets Valentino – who is known in the bodybuilding industry as The Ramblin’ Freak and possesses the biggest arms in the world – and him off on a tangent against their radio hosting company (for not letting them be extreme enough), people who they apparently work with (for not showing them any love or giving them props) and anyone else they could think of.

You see, these guys work in the fitness industry and their show is anything but that. ‘Xtreme Radio Presented By FitnessRX For Men Magazine’ sounds like guy’s night out – foul language, lots of sex talk and some sports sprinkled in. So when Collins joins them, they get right into some movie conversation and it sounded as natural as if you were sitting near this trio bellied up to the bar throwing back a few beers.

Valentino and Pietaro are a pair of crass New York Italians and they make no bones about it. Collins – who has been in over 60 movies – had a great time just shooting the ‘you-know-what’ with them and they delved deep into his latest venture, “The Jersey Devil,” which is a comedy and somewhat different from what Collins has done previously.

But I found myself staying with the show even after my buddy’s segment ended and not only did I listen to the whole hour, but also downloaded a few more of their episodes off iTunes.

When they had Andretti on, to hell with asking him about winning Indy Car races. Let the Speed Channel take care of the mundane. The Xtreme Radio boys hit him up with questions about getting pulled over for speeding by the cops and if his then-future father-in-law warned him not to drive fast with his daughter in the car. Bas Rutten has won fans over in the UFC and in hit movies such as “Here Comes The Boom” with Kevin James, but he was more than happy to talk about road rage incidents and beating up bouncers with Valentino and Pietaro.

TMZ has even picked up on their show and aired part of their interview with Young (aka Paulie in the “Rocky” movies).
So as a fan of the so-called ‘shock jocks’ of the world, these guys are a-ok with me. I was checking out their Facebook page and one post stood out – “Xtreme Radio: It’s like Opie & Anthony on steroids.’

Well said, boys.
Xtreme Radio Presented By FitnessRX For Men Magazine is on every Monday at 8 PM EST on the Voice America Variety channel. Check www.FitnessRXForMen.com for details.