• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Cleveland Radio Lost A Legend...

F

FFoti1

Found this on the on the Raleigh/Greensboro board...

Sad news. He was found dead in his home yesterday. From his myspace page:

Extremely saddening news... I hoped I never had to write... Our extremely amazing Dad and your friend Jack Armstrong aka John C. Larsh passed away yesterday March 22, 2008 at his home in North Carolina. I wish there was a better way to get the word out but this seems to be the fastest means of communication that he favored. If you knew him at all, you would know that he wouldn't want you to be sad for a moment. He would want you to remember all the good times, what he gave to radio and to the world. He would also want you to help fight to bring back the personality in radio if at all possible. He loved being a DJ almost as much as he loved being a father and that says A LOT. He put his blood, sweat and tears into both and never gave up what he believed in. He was honest, brave and could tell a joke like no other!! He was the best at everything he did and I know that he touched each and every one of us. I dont know how he would sign off this letter, maybe it would be "Yoooooouuuuurrr LLLlleeeadaaa!" or just straight up "Jack it up" either which way he would have done it better than anyone. Please remember him in all that you do, pass on kindness, be true to yourself and to those you love. If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected] Very sad, devon larsh fischer ....Jack's middle daughter who loves him greatly - he was an exceptional person

.Jack was a radio annuncer (DJ) for over 47 years!
 
R.I.P. Your Leeeeeeder---You Were One Of The Great Ones To Have Passed Through Cleveland's Radio Doors---And Thanks For A Ton Of Laugh's, Memories, And Just For Being A Good Friend Over The Years...I Will Miss Those Wacky Phone Calls---Thanks Jack Amrstrong And You Joined A Great Bunch Of DJ's Up There!!!
 
FFoti1 said:
Found this on the on the Raleigh/Greensboro board...

Sad news. He was found dead in his home yesterday. From his myspace page:

Extremely saddening news... I hoped I never had to write... Our extremely amazing Dad and your friend Jack Armstrong aka John C. Larsh passed away yesterday March 22, 2008 at his home in North Carolina. I wish there was a better way to get the word out but this seems to be the fastest means of communication that he favored. If you knew him at all, you would know that he wouldn't want you to be sad for a moment. He would want you to remember all the good times, what he gave to radio and to the world. He would also want you to help fight to bring back the personality in radio if at all possible. He loved being a DJ almost as much as he loved being a father and that says A LOT. He put his blood, sweat and tears into both and never gave up what he believed in. He was honest, brave and could tell a joke like no other!! He was the best at everything he did and I know that he touched each and every one of us. I dont know how he would sign off this letter, maybe it would be "Yoooooouuuuurrr LLLlleeeadaaa!" or just straight up "Jack it up" either which way he would have done it better than anyone. Please remember him in all that you do, pass on kindness, be true to yourself and to those you love. If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected] Very sad, devon larsh fischer ....Jack's middle daughter who loves him greatly - he was an exceptional person

.Jack was a radio annuncer (DJ) for over 47 years!
Click to expand...

And was only 62 years young.



It's also up on Scott Fybush's NERW: http://www.fybush.com/nerw

Not only was he at WIXY and WKYC-AM, Jack was also a legend in Buffalo radio, spending many years as the night jock at heritage WKBW/1520 (now WWKB). Of late, he was in the Raleigh area, doing morning drive there - and VT'ing an evening shift for WWKB in it's short-lived oldies revival.

Sad to hear. I wish I had just 0.001% of his on-air persona and delivery.

-nate81 aka Myron-
 
WOW, another piece of my growing up.....Lost

......(instrumental version of "And I Love Her" playing in the backround)......YOOOOOOOOOOOO LEEEEEEAAAAAADAH, LOVE YA!
 
74WIXYGrad said:
WOW, another piece of my growing up.....Lost

......(instrumental version of "And I Love Her" playing in the backround)......YOOOOOOOOOOOO LEEEEEEAAAAAADAH, LOVE YA!
Click to expand...



Alan Freed, Wolfman Jack and "Big Jack" Armstrong.

Jack is the ultimate Top 40 personality. Everyone wanted to be like Jack.

www.reelradio.com has a lot of great airchecks.

I met "The Original Motormouth" at a 1997 WMJI/WIXY Reunion weekend in Cleveland. Got to run the board for a live on location show he did. I have some 'checks from the weekend. Incredible audio!


Video here...including the 1988 WMJI/WIXY Reunion weekend.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=esgxuzDw1cY


And Jack doing his famous sign off...KKHR/Boss Angeles.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-YNhOV0DLmo

How about that Neumann U87 mic! That's when mgmt invested in stations. Not the RE20 crap mics used today. Great behind-the-scenes-of-radio vid as well.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=UyHgKZsg-kQ
 
Jack's death is the saddest news I have received in a long time. Jack was a great friend and one of the finest people I have ever known in this business. We had a conversation only a few weeks ago and he was in great spirit.

Jack had just finished a 500 page book about his adventures in radio and was hoping to have it published this year. I hope that we will all eventually be blessed by being able to read a living document about the halcyon days of contemporary radio.

This passing hopefully reminds us all that we have much greater things to which we should aspire. Jack was symbolic of the inventive, original dynamic and individuality that is missing in this business today.

He is one of the few who conveyed the magic through the speakers that inspired me to pursue radio.

Jack Armstrong was a big man with a big heart and he shared that heart with his audience, his family and the radio business. This truly marks the end of an era.

If there is a rock n' roll haven..you got one hell of a jock.

Peace forever, Jack

Cleveland Wheeler

www.voxjox.com
 
Nathan Obral said:
Not only was he at WIXY and WKYC-AM, Jack was also a legend in Buffalo radio, spending many years as the night jock at heritage WKBW/1520 (now WWKB). Of late, he was in the Raleigh area, doing morning drive there - and VT'ing an evening shift for WWKB in it's short-lived oldies revival.
Click to expand...

It was that VT shift on 1520 that provided me my first exposure to Jack Armstrong "semi-live"...I was way too young to appreciate him when he was in town. Wow. Easily the best VTed shift I'd ever heard, and full of energy and life and...well, it was Big Jack, after all. He could make a taped shift sound LIVE.

From what one Mr. Fybush has told me (he watched him do it once), Jack put a lot into that VT shift, and it wasn't just sittin' down in front of a computer laying tracks between songs.

Just a slight correction to your above, though...Jack's last "live" shift was on then-oldies WMQX/93.1 Winston-Salem, NC, which is a part of the Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem market (the so-called "Triad"). A few miles to the west of the Raleigh/Durham/Triangle area. :D

He VTed WWKB from there (both stations were and are still owned by Entercom).

Jack's former "Oldies 93.1" is now country WPAW "93.1 The Wolf". And as you noted, WWKB is now a liberal talk outlet.

-OA/OMW
 
He probably died of a broken heart because of what has happened to his beloved radio industry. At least he will live on in airchecks and Youtube videos. :(
 
YEKIMI said:
He probably died of a broken heart because of what has happened to his beloved radio industry. At least he will live on in airchecks and Youtube videos. :(
Click to expand...

Indeed.

Thankfully, "videoholic2008" on YouTube is Ray Glasser, who also put together the awesome WIXY 1260 tribute site. ( http://www.wixy1260.com ) That site has a nice tribute to Jack already on there. Ray's VIDEO archive of the 1987 WIXY Reunion weekend on WMJI is astounding. And so is Chuck's scoped aircheck of the 1997 reunion.

There also exists somewhere an aircheck of Jack appearing on a WIXY reunion on - of all places - the old 3WE/1100 back in 1981! (Hey, guess it didn't hurt that Larry Morrow was the morning man on 3WE back then...) A portion of this aircheck made it onto WTAM's 85 anniversary special back in 2004, which considering the forgettable portion of that station's history, it didn't shock me. Would love to hear more of that aircheck, if it ever was available.

- nate81 aka Myron -
 
Nathan Obral said:
YEKIMI said:
He probably died of a broken heart because of what has happened to his beloved radio industry. At least he will live on in airchecks and Youtube videos. :(
Click to expand...

Indeed.

Thankfully, "videoholic2008" on YouTube is Ray Glasser, who also put together the awesome WIXY 1260 tribute site. ( http://www.wixy1260.com ) That site has a nice tribute to Jack already on there. Ray's VIDEO archive of the 1987 WIXY Reunion weekend on WMJI is astounding. And so is Chuck's scoped aircheck of the 1997 reunion.

There also exists somewhere an aircheck of Jack appearing on a WIXY reunion on - of all places - the old 3WE/1100 back in 1981! (Hey, guess it didn't hurt that Larry Morrow was the morning man on 3WE back then...) A portion of this aircheck made it onto WTAM's 85 anniversary special back in 2004, which considering the forgettable portion of that station's history, it didn't shock me. Would love to hear more of that aircheck, if it ever was available.

- nate81 aka Myron -
Click to expand...


I also have a check of Jack's show later on in the evening that he refers to on the aircheck with Scott Howitt. It's all Jack, even on the board.

When I find it I'll post that as well.
 
Sorry to hear about the great loss of "Your Lee-dah!", I remember him well on WIXY and WKYC, I grew up with those 2 stations (as well as WHK/KYW/CKLW), but Jack Armstrong was the best of the best, and there just has to be a Rock and Roll Heaven where he will justly be.
 
Nate mentioned that YouTube video Ray Glasser put up of Jack doing the WMJI "WIXY" Reunion. I stumbled onto that from Ray's site, and watched it in awe.

Jack really knew how to work a board like it was a piano under control of the virtuouso/master. Wow. And of course, this was - even 20 years ago - well before computers and "Instant Replay", and he did all of his work with 6 cart machines and a board he'd probably never used before at WMJI.

True magic...and pouring that energy and personality into the shell he created around it, it was amazing to hear/watch.

-OA/OMW
 
Joe Madigan of WJCU is doing a Retro Radio tribute show to Jack Armstrong as I write these words this evening. Record it if you're able to...an awesome show tonight until 8pm.
Joe interviewed Jackson late last year and aired it. Also airing the LEE-DER's airchecks and Joe's interview with Big Jack.

http://www.wjcu.org

http://www.retroradiotop40.com
 
kirkiefan said:
Joe Madigan of WJCU is doing a Retro Radio tribute show to Jack Armstrong as I write these words this evening. Record it if you're able to...an awesome show tonight until 8pm.
Joe interviewed Jackson late last year and aired it. Also airing the LEE-DER's airchecks and Joe's interview with Big Jack.

http://www.wjcu.org

http://www.retroradiotop40.com
Click to expand...


Listening to Joe right now. The kid sounds pretty good! :) Love the playlist.


Joe, if you read this board...where did u get the WIXY jingles? Ken R? That's where I got mine.
 
VODood said:
kirkiefan said:
Joe Madigan of WJCU is doing a Retro Radio tribute show to Jack Armstrong as I write these words this evening. Record it if you're able to...an awesome show tonight until 8pm.
Joe interviewed Jackson late last year and aired it. Also airing the LEE-DER's airchecks and Joe's interview with Big Jack.

http://www.wjcu.org

http://www.retroradiotop40.com
Click to expand...


Listening to Joe right now. The kid sounds pretty good! :) Love the playlist.


Joe, if you read this board...where did u get the WIXY jingles? Ken R? That's where I got mine.
Click to expand...
kirkiefan said:
Joe Madigan of WJCU is doing a Retro Radio tribute show to Jack Armstrong as I write these words this evening. Record it if you're able to...an awesome show tonight until 8pm.
Joe interviewed Jackson late last year and aired it. Also airing the LEE-DER's airchecks and Joe's interview with Big Jack.

http://www.wjcu.org

http://www.retroradiotop40.com
Click to expand...


Joe should interview Scott Howitt. That would be great!
 
Foti,

I hear he was a really great talent. There once was another great man. One of real vision. He built a stop in the desert for soldiers on their way to the west coast. His name was Moe Green, and the city he built was Las Vegas, and to this day there is not even a placque with his name on it.
 
rebbe said:
Foti,

I hear he was a really great talent. There once was another great man. One of real vision. He built a stop in the desert for soldiers on their way to the west coast. His name was Moe Green, and the city he built was Las Vegas, and to this day there is not even a placque with his name on it.
Click to expand...

Well...

I have a sentimental weakness for my children and I've spoiled them as you can see. They talk when they should listen. But - anyway - Signor Sollozzo my NO is final. And I wish to congratulate you on your new business; I know you'll do very well, and - good luck. Especially since your interests don't conflict with mine.
 
Somebody put a bullet in his eye. When I heard, I did not get angry. I said, "this is the business we"ve chosen. I did not ask who gave the order."
 
rebbe said:
Foti,

I hear he was a really great talent. There once was another great man. One of real vision. He built a stop in the desert for soldiers on their way to the west coast. His name was Moe Green, and the city he built was Las Vegas, and to this day there is not even a placque with his name on it.
Click to expand...


Arguably it was Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegal that "built" Lost Wages. Moe Green came long after Bennie.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom