A quick follow-up on the Geronimo comeback

Well, yesterday's news seems to be official as one more media outlet has confirmed the return of radio legend Don Geronimo. Here are a couple quick quotes from Tuesday's Delaware Online news article on Geronimo's quitting his retirement so he can come back to the national airwaves (albeit through a station in Ocean City, MD):

The radio personality and former co-host of the nationally syndicated “Don & Mike Show” will return to his record-spinning roots with Ocean City’s 98.1 WOCM-FM, according to station manager and morning show host David “Bulldog” Rothner.

“I saw some article that he was moving in this direction,” Bulldog said. “What he said was, he loves radio — the guy’s passionate about radio — but he’s sick and tired of the corporate (nonsense). I read the article, and the only thing missing from what he was looking to do was our call letters, man.

“We have an independent radio station that will allow him to do stuff without a bunch of corporate red tape watching over him. I called him up, and I said, let’s see if we can make something work out. So when we got together, we talked about this thing, and it was a perfect fit.”

Bulldog said “Don Geronimo’s Rockin’ Soul Show” will run 1-3 p.m. weekdays on WOCM, starting July 7....“He’ll bring in his own music, stuff that fits in with our station,” Bulldog said. “He can bring his CD players in, play some good music and go back to the way it used to be — that’s what he likes about it. The guy’s got 35 years of radio experience. He can certainly bring something to the station.”

Sphere: Related Content

Don Geronimo back on the air in Ocean City, MD?

Very interesting news from yesterday (from DCRTV.com, whose sole contributor has been inching towards being thisclose to the second coming of Carl R. Grossman with his recent Doni G sightings):

Geronimo To Do OC Radio Gig -6/24 - First on DCRTV. Starting 7/7, former WJFK-FM afternooner Don Geronimo (right) will be working for eclectic rocker WOCM (98.1 FM), Ocean 98, in Ocean City each weekday from 1 PM to 3 PM doing "an up-tempo show" with "hit music that doesn't suck" from the 1970s and 1980s. There'll be jingles and he'll "talk up" the records. Geronimo, a three-decade radio vet who retired as half of "The Don And Mike Show" in April, has been spending the time since at his Ocean City beachfront condo, we hear. Geronimo guested this morning on WOCM's "Bulldog In The Morning Show" to discuss his future radio plans. The audio of that interview is available via wocmdg.mp3. When Geronimo left CBS-owned WJFK-FM, he was told that his non-compete contract allows him to work in markets where there are no CBS radio stations, a la Ocean City. Geronimo, a former "top 40" DJ at WPGC, is a big fan of classic pop tunes.....

To hear the words come from the man's mouth could not bring a bigger smile to my face. I've been living off of the D&M Time Mahcheen and American Top 40 reruns ever since I heard that Don was retiring. To hear that Geronimo will be bringing back the same style and patter that made him a DJ Legend is like getting Christmas in July. To this listener, July 7th can't make it here fast enough.

Sphere: Related Content

Radio Rewind - Last Hour of 105.1 WAVA (Top 40, Washington DC)

Due to the slow death of commercial terrestrial radio, I've been looking for some classic digital bits from my youth on the Internets and found this wonderful gem. The last hour of 105.1 WAVA (also known as All Hits 105 and Power 105) does its best to gather all of the events, jingles and most notably the deejays of the station starting when it changed formats from Album Oriented Rock (AOR) to Contemporary Hits Radio (CHR) or Top 40 in 1983 until its last breath on Febraury 12, 1992.

Deejays highlighted were TK Tom Kent, Flash Phillips (aka Gene "Bean" Baxter), Capt. Dave Fogel, Charlie and Harrigan, and the hour's true centerpiece, Don Geronimo and Mike O'Meara otherwise known as "The Don and Mike Show".

If you're an old guy like me and love the medium, this might be a breath of fresh air. However, if you're under 30 or hate Top 40, I truly feel sorry for you.

Click the image below to hear/download the MP3:

File is courtesy of Airchexx.com

Sphere: Related Content

The Friday Favorite - Don Geronimo Then and Now

Recently, I have been finding myself listening to some of the Best of Don and Mike at work and located some quality D&M stuff on the old Net. So, here's a Then and Now of the recently retired Doni G. First off is a commercial from Chicago with Donald P. Geronimo as a solo morning DJ at B96:

For the Now part, here's the last time that Don got some "live" air time from the CBS Evening News:



What's funny about this is that the underlying theme of relaxing is something is a total 180 from what Don's professional life is.

And in case you are wondering, The Friday Favorite comes from Don and Mike when they used to reference I. Probably the best bit that involved listener participation outside of the Christmas favorite Kill, Maim or Torture - a game where yours truly played back in the early 90s and got two out of three. But that's a story for another time.

Sphere: Related Content

Idle Talk Kills Don and Mike Retrospective Podcast

If you listened to the first day of the Don and Mike Show (either live of on podcast), you could tell something was wrong and I'm not talking about the fact that the hosts, Robb Spewack and Buzz Burbank, sounded like they were mailing it in.

As the archived clips were playing during the entire day, Spewack and Burbank's personal conversation came in and out throughout which was not only irritating but rather rude since one time I heard Spewack refer to the week as "just like a Best Of show". Definitely put the specialness of the show into perspective.

It was like the radio mikes were still "hot" (a DJ term) even after they were switched off. Now, if this was like a DVD with the secondary conversation as a commentary track, I would've loved to hear both of them separately and in their entirety. But mashed together totally killed the good vibes that hearing the old clips provided.

Whoever was in charge of the board during that day should do everyone a favor and just quit so they could go back to the Columbia School of Broadcasting.

Sphere: Related Content

Geronimo bows early from "The Don & Mike Show"

It appears that retirement came for Washington DC's National Treasure, Don Geronimo (pictured above), a few months early according to the Nation's Capital media blog, DCRTV. Geronimo has decided to step down from his position when the show went on vacation on March 13th. However, starting Monday, April 7th, there will be a four days of highlights from the 20 years of the pair being together on-air done by regulars Buzz Burbank and Robb Spewack with the retired Geronimo coming back for a final send-off on Friday where the jokes will be as plentiful as the tears. On the following Monday (April 14th), the Mike O'Meara show will debut with a new producer in tow but one who is familiar with the show in the person of Beth Ann McBride.

For further info including some choice quotes from CBS Radio executives, click here to read the DCRTV write-up.

Sphere: Related Content