1 of 1- Dale Patterson
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George Hamberger
Sad to report that George Hamberger has passed. He was a popular Buffalo jock (WYSL AM FM, WGRQ-FM, WKBW, WBEN, WZIR, WGR, WHTT-FM) who was also at CFTR for a couple of years. He went into commercial real estate after his radio days.
"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
- Muffaraw Joe
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Re: George Hamberger
RIP, he used to do news on CFTR...
The world would be so good if it weren't for some people...
- Dale Patterson
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Re: George Hamberger
Muffaraw Joe wrote:
RIP, he used to do news on CFTR...
Didn't know until now that he also did news at 'TR.
Here's an aircheck from the first hour of his first CFTR show from June 9, 1980:
"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
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Thread Starter- RadioActive
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Re: George Hamberger
I don't think he ever did news. If I recall correctly, he was on during the 10 AM slot, after the morning show. I met him a few times, but as much as I admire his abilities, he wasn't terribly welcoming to me. I guess I bugged him too much with questions about Buffalo radio at a time when he was trying to leave that behind. Phenomenal talent, though. It was a shame his tenure here was so short.
- John D
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Re: George Hamberger
RadioActive is right. When George worked at CFTR he was indeed a great jock. Only met him a couple of times. A very nice man. Listened to him a lot from Buffalo.
- RadioActive
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Re: George Hamberger
It took them a while, but the Buffalo News finally did a story on George's passing. There's an awful lot in the article I never knew, including how he got started on air via a fluke of good (or bad) timing, the ad libbed live spot that got him fired and how he got interested in selling properties and how he would sometimes do both radio and real estate at the same time.
And get this - he turned down a chance to replace Howard Stern after the shock jock left WNBC in New York. Wow. Wonder if he ever regretted nixing that gig?
There's even a link to one of Dale Patterson's CFTR airchecks when he worked here.
Quite a life and quite a talent. You can read all about it here.
- Jody Thornton
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Re: George Hamberger
@RadioActive
Well after Howard Stern left WNBC, it wasn't a CHR station for much longer. Didn't they go WFAN in like 1986 or something? Maybe George dodged a bullet.
I was listening to a CFTR aircheck of George a few months ago (maybe it was on Dale's site). Love the Colt 45 Beer commercials ....lol. I can't believe I forgot that.
Cheers,
Jody Thornton
- RadioActive
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Re: George Hamberger
@JodyThornton
You may be right.
I may be crazy.
Or it just may be a lunatic you're looking for.
Sorry, some station was playing a Billy Joel tune when I started typing this.
But still, you may be right. Stern was fired in 1985. WNNNNNBC disappeared from the airwaves forever in 1988. So Hamberger would have had three presumably well paying years and some pretty good exposure in the biggest market in the world. Who can say if he was sorry? Sounds like he was pretty happy with his later life.
I remember those last sad days at the Great 66, as a listener from afar. I have a friend who worked there doing a weekend airshift then on the much missed "Time Machine," a phenomenal talent named The Real Bob James. He used to call it "The Radio Titanic" on air, because he knew it was going down!
Still my all time favourite radio station and I miss it to this day.
Here's what the Time Machine clock looked like. As you can see, it was a busy, high energy show.