The LuLac Edition #195, April 9th, 2007

PHOTO INDEX: THE BLOG EDITOR, THEN WARM PROGRAM DIRECTOR GREG FOSTER, DON IMUS, AND THEN WARM SALES MANAGER GREG STROM AND A PHOTO OF DON IMUS TODAY.

IMUS INDIGNATION

Well, finally Don Imus might have done it. Imus has been a mainstay in radio since the early 1970s when he was a rising star in Cleveland. Imus started as a radio jock in 1968 at KXOA in California. His on-air pranks, such as calling up a restaurant and ordering 1200 hamburgers, made his show immensely popular and boosted ratings.
After a stint at WGAR in Cleveland, Imus moved to New York City and WNBC in 1971, where he gained a reputation as a loose cannon who often favored crude humor. During his first stint at WNBC, Imus recorded three record albums, two for the RCA label (1200 Hamburgers to Go, including some of his more enjoyable humor from KXOA, WGAR and WNBC broadcasts, and One Sacred Chicken to Go, a primarily studio-created album centering on his satirical character, The Right Rev. Dr. Billy Sol Hargis), and one for the Bang label (This Honky's Nuts, an album of his standup comedy act at the Manhattan nightclub "Jimmy's"). In 1977, WNBC fired Imus for his cocaine and vodka habits and unprofessionalism; he had missed a hundred days of work in one year. Imus then went to work in Cleveland and cleaned up his act. In 1978, Imus commuted between Cleveland and New York to tape a TV talk show, Imus Plus at WNEW TV. (The show was nationally syndicated by Metromedia, which owned WNEW at the time). Imus was reinstated in September 1979 as WNBC's morning drive host.
From 1982 to 1985, the station also employed talk-radio host Howard Stern promoted the pair in print and television ads, which often featured the slogan "If We Weren't So Bad, We Wouldn't Be That Good." Although Stern's show aired later in the day, Imus and Stern often made brief appearances on each other's shows, giving the audience an occasional glimpse of an on- and off-air rivalry that continues to this day.
During this period, Imus was best known for satirical character Billy Sol Hargis, a radio preacher who was a cross between infamous real-life radio and television preacher Billy James Hargis and real-life swindler Billie Sol Estes. As Billy Sol Hargis, Imus touted on-air the merits of the "First Church of the Gooey Death and Discount House of Worship". Imus published the 1981 novel God's Other Son that further depicted Hargus's adventures. The novel was republished in 1994 and spent considerable time on the NY Times best seller list. Other regular Imus characters included the alleged general manager "Geraldo Santana Banana", and "Moby Worm", a monstrous creature who devoured local schools (which was reported on the show's "breaking news updates").
Imus was also the inaugural veejay for the launch of the VH1 cable network in 1985.
In 1988, WNBC-AM was sold to,Ennes Broadcasting and consequently, WNBC-AM permanently signed off the air and Emmis's WFAN-AM was moved from 1050 AM to WNBC's former spot, 660 AM. Imus in the Morning remained at 660 AM among WFAN's sports programs. Imus's music and comedy bits were the staples of the program.
Imus has changed his program from the bits about popular culture to a more political nature. Toward the mid nineties, Imus began to get the movers and shakers of politics on his program. It was never a surprise to hear him have people like Ted Kennedy, Bob Dole, James Carville, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Tim Russert on his show. Imus became the toast of the political world and even though he was on less than a hundred stations, his show was a “must go” for anyone serious about politics and enhancing their agenda and chances.
I feel it is because of this strong political bent that Imus is coming under so much fire. You’d expect something like this from Opie and Anthony or even Howard Stern. But because Imus has wrapped himself in a “beltway” cloak, which gave him legitimacy he never had, his recent remarks about women basketball players will really give him a problem. He is no longer “shock jock” but rather a commentator on the political scene. To do something so “politically incorrect” could cost him and cost him big.
Imus came to the Scranton/Wilkes Barre radio market in the early 90s on Bob Cordaro’s WKQV FM. After that station was sold, Imus landed on WARM Radio and made two visits to the area. The first in 1999 went smoothly when Imus broadcast live from the restaurant at Lackawanna County Stadium. The following year in 2000, Imus came to town but then bolted from the Hilton Hotel with a misunderstanding with the hotel staff and the radio station over a phone call from his wife which he allegedly did not receive. WARM Radio dropped Imus from their line up the next day.
On NBC News tonight, Imus was suspended for two weeks by the parent company which simulcasts the Imus show on MSNBC.

It will be interesting to see if the journalists and politicos that made pilgrimages to his show will continue that practice or curtail their activities due to this incident.