In 1979, Stern responded to an advertisement for a "wild, fun morning guy" at WCCC-FM, an album oriented rock (AOR) station in Hartford, Connecticut. He produced a more outrageous audition tape, playing Robert Klein and Cheech and Chong records mixed with flatulence routines and one-liners. He was hired for the job, his first in a large radio market. As the station's public affairs director, Stern also hosted a half-hour interview show on Sunday mornings, which he enjoyed as it contained no music. He would ask more unusual type questions to his guests, such as their dating habits. Stern held a two-day boycott of Shell Oil Company during the summer of the 1979 energy crisis, which put Stern and the station into the national news. Stern also began his "Dial-a-Date" routines at WCCC, and met Fred Norris, the station's overnight disc jockey who provided Stern's show with various comedic impressions of celebrities. Norris would join the show as Stern's writer and producer in 1981.