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Rare Early "Imus In The Morning" Article From 1971 Billboard
He was arguably one of the talents that introduced the term "shock jock." And in fact, many consider him the first. But before the late Don Imus became a sensation at WNBC in New York, he gained famed at 1220 WGAR in Cleveland.
As he was just beginning to get noticed, Billboard Magazine published an article about his increasing early fame, little knowing what lay ahead for one of the few radio jocks who would come to be known by just one name.
In the story, he talks for perhaps the only time about his strategy for his show and how he tried to be different from everyone else on the radio. As history showed, it certainly worked.
(By the way, fun to note that WGAR in Cleveland was competing back then not with other local stations but with CKLW in Windsor. Such was the strength of The Big 8!)
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Re: Rare Early "Imus In The Morning" Article From 1971 Billboard
Speaking of WGAR, here's a rare vintage ad I just received from that legendary Cleveland station (and one of my Top 5 favourite Top 40 formats of all time.) This would be sometime in the very early 70s.
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Re: Rare Early "Imus In The Morning" Article From 1971 Billboard
One last thing - the article refers to the infamous "1200 Hamburgers To Go," probably Imus' most famous bit ever, and the one that cemented his legend. I'm normally not a big fan of prank radio phone calls, but this one was so well done and so absurd, I couldn't help but laugh as it just gets more and more insane.
In case you've never heard it, Imus phones a local McDonald's, posing as a National Guard officer taking his troops on a practice drill to help protect the country. It amazes me the guy stayed on the phone as long as he did. (It was so popular, it was later used as the title for an actual Imus LP that featured some of his more famous on-air bits.)
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