Re: person of the decade, anyone?

[Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>]

>Chuck wrote--

> From a regional or local standpoint, one might think, from a radio vantage,
>of someone who was into the business closer to its primary inception as a
>live, wireless, entertainment format.  Locally:  Jess Cain-- when he started,
>  he needed to play his own music (on
>piano), sing, and give the time and temp.  it was a visual medium that
>produced mind pictures.


If we are going back a little bit, I would have to nominate Arnie Ginsburg 
for the same reason-- he was for me the king of the top 40 d.j.'s.  He had 
fun on the radio, wasn't ashamed to make a mistake, and could laugh at 
himself.  He didn't change his name to something "non-ethnic", and even 
though he had a high squeaky voice in an era of big deep voices, he won you 
over with his sincerity and his willingness to do crazy things or use crazy 
sound effects.  Of course, Jess Cain is a legend.  So were Bob and Ray and 
Bruce Bradley gets my vote anytime.  That is the biggest change in radio in 
the 90s-- so many stations voice-tracking, and so few "personality" 
announcers.  Telling dirty jokes or insulting groups you don't happen to 
like doesn't necessarily make you a personality...  while there are still 
some talented announcers out there, I hear fewer and fewer, and THAT is 
what I miss-- when I was a kid, I looked forward to listening to Arnie or 
to Bruce because you never knew what they would do next, yet they were 
never cruel or vicious.  Bruce had some biting sarcasm, but whether it was 
just a different era or not, the personality announcers of the 60s and 70s 
still tried to be your friend... I don't feel befriended by most of the 
announcers I hear on the music stations...