“The Rush Limbaugh Show” debuted August 1, 1988 on a handful of AM radio stations across the country. Over the next 30+ years, there have been many memorable moments and some long-standing gags that have helped make the show – and its host – popular among a large chunk of the population.

For many years Limbaugh, who died on Wednesday at the age of 70, remembered his first show and the show’s growth every August 1. August 1, 2017 Mike from Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania., called on the program to offer their own memory of this very first show.

“I surprised you on your very first show on [WABC] AM radio station 770. My wife and I were on our way to the Jersey Shore. I heard you talking and I said to my wife, “What did he say his name was? Mike recalled. And she said, ‘I think he said’ Rush ‘. And I said, “Dude, I don’t know who he is, but I like what he says. I’ve been listening ever since.”

Many callers to the show had stories like Mike’s, giving Limbaugh some “mega-dittos” – a variation of Limbaugh’s “DittoHead” nickname for listeners who agree with him – about how Limbaugh drew them into his program with a combination of humor and politics, and at times helped broaden their worldview.

Limbaugh recalled at the time how his first show was broadcast from the studios of that Manhattan radio station on a particularly hot summer day. He then moved his operation to Palm Beach, Florida where many hot days would occur.

Over the years, Limbaugh’s penchant for injecting humor into politics often took the form of “parody” songs, with callers later asking for old parodies they hadn’t heard in a while. As with much of Limbaugh’s humor, this was often done in a deceptively fair and self-deprecating manner:

An oft-requested song was “Thank The Lord Rush Limbaugh’s On”, by the fictional “Rush Hawkins Singers”. The name was an interpretation of the 1960s gospel group “The Edwin Hawkins Singers”, popular for hymns such as “O Happy Day!

“You hear him every day on the BEI / Talent from God / He likes to tease Bill and Hillary / Talent from God / You love every word he says, the liberal left is almost dead, come join me Ditto Heads / Talent From God, ”the song went into a crisp, syncopated time with a gospel choir singing the response line throughout.

“God-lent talent” and “… with half my brain tied behind my back just to make it fair” were comments Limbaugh regularly made to poke fun at himself after returning from commercials.

With the help of satirist Paul Shanklin, Limbaugh used several other “parody” songs, including a hit on President Barack Obama with “Every Cent You Make (I’ll Be Taxing You)” – a parody of the police hit. “Every Breath You Take” – and “Bomb Iran”, a coup against the neoconservative foreign policy of Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, and a play to the Beach Boys song “Barbara Ann”.

However, not all of Limbaugh’s parodies were taken as a joke by the public. In 2007, controversy erupted after the host performed a song called “Barack, The Magic Negro” – which was supposed to be a parody of “Puff, The Magic Dragon”. The song, recorded by Shanklin, was born after Limbaugh discussed a Los Angeles Times op-ed by writer David Ehrenstein which had a similar title to the parody tune.

At the time, the Seattle Times reported Obama’s presidential campaign called the song “stupid,” and the future president himself took the jab in the wake during an interview with WJR Detroit radio:

“I haven’t heard it but I’ve heard about it. I admit that I don’t listen to Rush on a daily basis”, Obama said. “On the other hand, I’m not one of those people who take themselves so seriously that I take offense at every comment made about me.”

In another momentous moment, Limbaugh traded in his radio microphone for the world of television animation in 2010, describing himself on the FOX show “Family Guy”.

In the episodeaptly named “Excellence In Broadcasting,” Brian, the dog of the otherwise liberal Griffins family, has a political revelation while reading one of Limbaugh’s books after the speaker autographs in his hometown of Quahog, RI Limbaugh spoke throughout the episode, which ends with the host transforming into a bald eagle and flying away after Brian realizes he’s still a liberal at heart and makes peace with the conservative commentator.

Much earlier in his career, after the 1992 election, Limbaugh memorable received a letter from President Reagan urging him to continue the fight for conservatism. That year, Bill Clinton overthrew Reagan’s former vice president, President George HW Bush.

“Now that I have retired from active politics. I don’t mind that you have become the number one voice of conservatism in our country,” Reagan wrote, as reported by David Remnick in the Washington Post. “I know the Liberals call you America’s most dangerous man, but don’t worry, they were saying the same about me. Keep up the good work. America needs to hear ‘the way things should be “.”, added the 40th President, playing on one of Limbaugh’s book titles.

Even the show’s opening music, the immediately recognizable opening bassline from The Pretenders’ “My City Was Gone,” has a backstory.

Limbaugh and Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde notably share an opposing policy, but the two have maintained a friendly relationship when it comes to famous bumper music. Hynde has said over the years that her father, a former Navy veteran, was a huge Limbaugh fan and that part of the reason she finally allowed him to continue using the tune as a gateway musical program.

The now 69-year-old rocker wrote an open letter to President Trump about it after learning he would award Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom:

“He loved listening to Rush, which is why I gave permission for my song ‘My City Was Gone’ to be used on his radio show,” Hynde wrote. “My dad and I didn’t always agree. We argued a lot, but isn’t that the American way? The right to disagree without having your head chopped off?

In addition to his choice of musical theme, Limbaugh memorable expressed a taste for Mannheim Steamroller holiday techno tunes, and many elements and releases from his December programs over the years have featured the group.

At the other extreme, fans noted Limbaugh’s solemnity ending his last show of 2020 with “Silent Night”. He had done so in previous years, but his health made the event even more poignant. An emotional Limbaugh spoke at length about his love for his audience and his gratitude to God for surviving his cancer diagnosis.

PHOTOS: RUSH LIMBAUGH OVER THE YEARS

In February 2009, Limbaugh received an enthusiastic reception at the Annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where he delivered the keynote address, which was broadcast live by C-SPAN and Fox News.

Limbaugh went well over his allotted speaking time, beginning with his signature humor in referring to his personal safety as “Joseph Stalin”. The nickname, the host noted, had shielded him from liberal “attacks” because people on the left would “be afraid of offending Stalin.”

Limbaugh later adopted a more serious tone as he sought to explain “who we conservatives are.”

“We love people,” Limbaugh said. “We don’t see human beings. We don’t see groups. We don’t see victims. We don’t see people we want to exploit. What we see is potential. We don’t look across the country and see the land. ‘Average American, the person who makes this country work. “

“We don’t view this person with contempt. We don’t think this person doesn’t have what it takes. We believe that this person can be the best they want to be if certain things are just taken out of their way. like onerous taxes, regulations and too much government, ”he continued. “We want it to be the biggest country possible, but we understand that as people created and endowed by our Creator, we are all individuals. We resist the effort to come together. We resist the effort. to make us feel that we are all the same, that we are not different from others. We are all different. “

“There are not two things or people in this world that are created to lead to equal results. It is up to them to decide.”

Limbaugh is also known to boost promising talk show hosts by letting them replace him. Some of those guest hosts, like FOX News’ Sean Hannity, have become big names in Conservative speeches themselves.

At the time of Limbaugh’s cancer diagnosis, Hannity said he was so nervous to be in the host character that he dropped the “Golden EIB Microphone,” which is indeed gold. Limbaugh, Hannity recalls, took the accident without hesitation.

More recently, New Hampshire-based political writer and commentator Mark Steyn served as Limbaugh’s regular replacement, calling himself “The Last Rush Guest Host Before the [Canadian] Border “, broadcast of” Ice Station EIB “.

When Steyn himself is unavailable, audiences are now often met by conservative Pennsylvania radio host Ken Matthews, who hosted programs in Harrisburg and Allentown for many years. Matthews explained how guest host Limbaugh’s show gave his career a second chance to thrive after his dismissal like a morning training host in 2006.

“If you had said… ‘Hey, in 2018 you’ll be replacing Rush Limbaugh,’ I would’ve been like, ‘Yeah, whatever’,” Matthews, who now hosts his own talk show, noticed in a 2019 interview.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In 2020, Limbaugh received Trump’s Presidential Medal of Freedom during his State of the Union address. Television cameras showed a surprised and emotional Limbaugh in the Gallery of the House as he rose to receive the medal from First Lady Melania Trump as Limbaugh’s wife Kathryn watched.

“Here tonight is a special man, someone loved by millions of Americans,” the president said from the platform. “He is the greatest fighter and winner you will ever meet.”