I was, as Scott Shannon likes to say, a “baby DJ” when I heard this aircheck.
You know how radio stations traditionally mark the departure of disc jockeys, right? When a jock takes a job in another market?
Right. The stations act as though they never heard of the guy, no matter how long he’d been working there.
“Ed Jock? No one by that name here….”
Gary Burbank
After five years of top ratings at WAKY/Louisville, Gary Burbank left to try his hand at programming a radio station in New Orleans. (It didn’t take long for Gary to discover he wasn’t a very good PD.)
Here’s some of his final show at WAKY….
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theater of the mind, what fun it can be. reminds me of a mock fight with a former p.d. That people still ask me about ten years later.
I love this, just proves what a real radio personality is, 1 man having a conversation with all the voices in his head, live on the radio,, absolutely brilliant. I wish this is how we can re-morph today’s radio, this is something that can and should be done everyday, bringing radio back to what its supposed to be, entertaining, enlightening, emotional, engaging and memorable. It was absolutely the coolest way to leave your job.
loved how they slipped in the “following ten minutes is a dramatization”
Wow. I knew of Gary Burbank through Earl Pitts, but had never heard any of his airchecks before this. It gives this not-so-much-a-baby-anymore-DJ something to strive for. Thanks for sharing!
Dan that’s what I call Dangerous Radio – you have to listen even if you miss your train or bus or wedding!
Trouble is, in these corporate days no one would let it on the air.
It would be like if Mel Brooks were to pitch “Blazzing Saddles” to Hollywood today =”So, Nel, is there anyone you DON’T insult in this scrip?” The fact that it’s a brilliantr send-up and extremely funny would be ignored
Back when radio was fun and not corporate.
In Heaven you’ll turn on the radio and all the jocks will be as great as Gary Burbank. The corporate types won’t hear him though — there are no radios in the place they’re going to.
I used to listen to Gary Burbank as kid in Kentucky when WAKY-790 was “the” station in Kentucky. I lived in Lexington, but we could get “wacky” on our “transistor radios” and Gary’s antics were always a trip to listen to. He was amazing!
When I listen to this, I get sick thinking of all the precious airwaves that have been wasted by other “talent.”
hi that bit was done at 1050 chum toronto mike cooper gets a call and caller saids your dead and then next thing you know hes there in front of mike and shoots him dead silence and then he saids april fools the rest is radio history maybe gary got the idea from mike eh jb
Brilliant! Can you tell when he did that. Sometime in th 1970’s perhaps?
Stevie Gordon
Radio Seagull
The Netherlands
@Stevie: 1973…
To everyone who enjoyed the aircheck: I haven’t set the date, but I’ll be doing a free Q&A teleseminar with Gary Burbank within the next month or so: https://danoday.com/ask-gary-burbank
I met Gary and Bob moody with there wifes Carol and Karen.
when they came to Salisbury uk to see Stonehenge.
We had a great time and what funny guys they are.
vicstaxi.com