RIP Don Imus

I stood in awe. I met Don Imus in Cleveland when he was a guest on the morning show on my station.  He was touting a new book and was amazingly fun and clever, as always. .  A few years earlier, he had worked at my station (WHK) and I always thought it was cool that I got to work the same board he did. 

As a kid, I remember when he came to New York to WNBC from WGAR in Cleveland.  The show was fresh and outrageous.  The Right Reverend Billy Sol Hargis selling his plastic Jesus for your dashboard, complete with music accompaniment, was just great radio. 

Before becoming a talk jock, he broke the rules in music radio, singing along with the songs, and changing the words to get a laugh.  He had demons that drove him from New York to Cleveland and then back to New York again, where he cleaned up his act and thrived.

Charles McCord, the staff news guy at WNBC, and Imus just clicked.  I felt his show was never the same after Charles retired, though Imus soldiered on. 

I was one of his biggest fans and feel honored that I met him, albeit briefly.  A giant in radio is gone and I'm sad.

MY HOPES FOR 2020:

Let's have songs with more tempo and less snap tracks.  

 

Some strong artists reaching the superstar level.  Other new artists starting down that road. 

 

The NAB will come up with a campaign to promote the brand of FM/AM radio.  

 

More women like Lynn Anderson and Crystal Gayle will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

More women Brand Managers and General Managers.

 

 

Less people get laid off from radio companies.

 

 

Digital integration that will further benefit broadcast radio, while in the process broadcast basics will not be neglected.