Thursday, March 6, 2008

The Year Was 1978

And WYNY (now Hot 97) was a successful AC station in New York and every Friday night (at midnight) they aired a special show.

*A Talk Show*

Dick Summer was the station's late night jock, and once a week he did a pseudo quiz show called MOUTH VS. EAR--he would have his studio filled with a cast of characters (The Mouth) and they would take on the listeners (The Ear). It was a very fun show. Can't tell you what the ratings were, but I can tell you I listened every week. I even called in with a question! Hey, for a kid in high school wanting a career in radio this was a big event.

It's hard to imagine this type of show being on an AC station today--even at midnight. A Friday night show with no music...fagetaboutit! This wasn't the stations only foray into non-music, entertainment programming. WYNY was where Dr. Ruth began her hugely successful sex advice show on Sunday nights that later went national.

Maybe it's time to start thinking about going back to the future. Is it time to be, as my favorite news anchor Shepard Smith likes to say, "fearless and unafraid?"

Dick Summer has a website, blog included, and he posted an old aircheck of MOUTH VS. EAR. Check it out. It includes an intro from his podcast, clips from the show, plus I did a little editing for us ADD radio types.