Nightcap

[Sid Schweiger]

>>> He didn't know it was his swan song at the time but Bob Dayton on WABC
> said Happy Birthday to the 20th anniversary of the atomic bomb by
> playing 16 Candles. He vanished never to be heard from again.
>
> clip is on musicradio77.com

Why is that so offensive?<<

The song "16 Candles" begins: "Happy birthday, happy birthday baby..."

At the time Dayton pulled his faux pas, Mrs. Leonard Goldenson (wife of ABC's chairman of the board) was hosting the Hiroshima Maidens, a group of women who had survived the atomic bombing (some of whom were horribly disfigured) and who traveled the world preaching nuclear disarmament.  According to one ABC employee I knew who was working at WABC at the time, the station was on in the background during the luncheon Mrs. Goldenson was hosting in the ABC executive dining room.  Oops.

Dayton might have been forgiven this one mistake, but according to Rick Sklar he was persistent in doing such impolitic things on the air.

Sid Schweiger
IT Manager, Entercom New England
20 Guest St / 3d Floor
Brighton MA  02135-2040