Dan Ingram's WCBS-FM performance Sunday Night

[RADIO TRUTH]

I grew up listening to Dan Ingram on WABC through the 60s. He was the greatest in his 20 year tenure on WABC. It pains me to say that he sounded like an old man on CBS-FM last night. His delivery was slow and forced. It was depressing to listen to it. I would rather remember what he sounded like at the peak of his and WABC's popularity. He should never go on-the-air again and just let people remember his former greatness, He has nothing left to prove. I will say that it was not all Ingram's fault, even though, about 75% of it was his fault.
The other 25% is the fact that WCBS-FM does not have the energy and punch of WABC's audio processing, format and jingles. WCBS-FM, in its current incarnation, has very dead sounding audio. Dan.....Please stay off of the air and let us remember you at your best.

 

[WTUX]

AMEN

 

[BruceS8852]

The show was obviously voice tracked. It would have been so much better if Dan spent some time talking to listeners. Dan seemed to be afraid to "do his thing" since the show was pre-recorded. When a Three Dog Night song came on, he said "Woof, Woof, Woof". That is lame to say the least.

 

[mediahound1]

Wrong - Dan was live and in the building. I do agree, let us remember Dan the way he used to be. This show was wrong for him yesterday and unfortuantely was not the standard as I remember Dan. But in his defense, that has to be hard to just walk in when you haven't done it in awhile.

 

[DToTheJ]

It doesn't matter if it was live or Memorex. I agree with the thread originator: this was the most uninspired, emotionally empty effort that Mr. Ingram has ever given his Kemo Sabes. Recall that when he was doing weekends on CBS-FM, management approached him and decided to take away one of the two days he worked and if I remember correctly, Ingram was like, keep 'em both, and left. I wonder if the grudge he held against CBS, if any, still exists and was the driving force behind this performance, and if so, what exactly made him agree to return for this one-night-only affair, when it was clearly not an A-1 effort? (Keep in mind that he left long before the whole Jack-ing of CBS-FM in '05.)

 

[chacha]

With everything said, 73 year old Dan Ingram is still a better air personality than virtually 90% of those doin' it.

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

The Dan Ingram that was on WCBS-FM Sunday night was not better than anyone. He sounded old, forced, trying to sound funny rather than just being funny. Dan, in the 60s and 70s was the best top forty dj of his time. He should never go on-the-air again unless it is for an interview. He is just tarnishing his star. It is down right depressing to hear him sound like this. It sort of reminds me of Willie Mays, at the end of his career, stumbling around the outfield of the 1973 Mets or Joe Namath ending his career on the Rams, when his knees were shot, after being released by the Jets.

 

[fang39]

The Dan Ingram that was on WCBS-FM Sunday night was not better than anyone. He sounded old, forced, trying to sound funny rather than just being funny. Dan, in the 60s and 70s was the best top forty dj of his time. He should never go on-the-air again unless it is for an interview. He is just tarnishing his star. It is down right depressing to hear him sound like this. It sort of reminds me of Willie Mays, at the end of his career, stumbling around the outfield of the 1973 Mets or Joe Namath ending his career on the Rams, when his knees were shot, after being released by the Jets.

While I agree that Big Dan's performance was less than stellar, hearing his voice once more did bring a smile to my face. He sounded muffled and his timing was a bit off, but it was still better than just listening to a collection of old airchecks. Instead of critiquing his effort, why not just look at this as his was of taking a bow and appreciate the man for the 30+ years of great radio that he brought to this market.

 

[PeteRFNY]

I stopped listening to Ingram his last year or so on CBS-FM. Hearing Dan force a show, surrounded by a placed group of "laughers" that amounted to nothing more than a laugh track, was painful to listen to.

If not for Dan, I would never have entertained the idea of working in radio. My memories of him will always be the ones from my childhood, summers in the mid-70s on Manhattan Beach and hearing radio after radio reminding us when to "roll our bods".

 

[Barry45RPM]

Yup. Not the same Dan Ingram... and not the same CBS-FM either. I don't believe his show sounded like it did because he is off his game. I believe it sounded like it did because that's how he wanted it to sound. There was a message in there to management.

He doesn't need the gig, and he's earned the right to walk away from it if he wants to, but don't think for one minute the man is a "Has-Been"... Its not like asking an old basketball player to keep up with todays young hot atheletes in the floor of MSG. His mind is sharp, the music's still what he's familiar with & its a climate controlled studio with good lighting and a comfortable chair. Its easy to compete with anyone in that game, under those circumstances.

Sunday's show was deliberate.

 

[Oldiesking]

Wrong - Dan was live and in the building. I do agree, let us remember Dan the way he used to be. This show was wrong for him yesterday and unfortuantely was not the standard as I remember Dan. But in his defense, that has to be hard to just walk in when you haven't done it in awhile.

I have to disagree with you. The show was voice tracked. There were no time checks, weather reports, phone calls from listeners, Dan made no introductions to any commercials etc. I have to much respect for Dan Ingram so I will try not to say anything bad about him so the only thing I will say is that this is not the Dan Ingram I remember from the 60's and 70's on WABC.

 

[wgliradio]

He sounds that way because he is older. What did you expect him to sound like? People age, their voices sound older, they're not as fast on the air. This was not deliberate, this is what it is.

Someone somewhere said you should just enjoy it for the fact that it is a radio friend on the air, one more time.

 

[Element9]

Big Dan is a legend, who has the utmost respect and admiration of thousands of listeners and hundreds of jocks who grew up listening to him and emulating him. But if he was "mailin' it in," it would have been better had he not done the show. Why? Because listeners who know him, his fans and admirers deserve to hear him at his best. If he didn't want to "be there," he should have just told CBS-FM management "Sorry, I have an oil change to do that day."

Yet, in some way, he may have provided a different lesson in it's own right. "Leave your (bad) attitude outside the door."

-9-

 

[chacha]

The Dan Ingram that was on WCBS-FM Sunday night was not better than anyone. He sounded old, forced, trying to sound funny rather than just being funny. Dan, in the 60s and 70s was the best top forty dj of his time. He should never go on-the-air again unless it is for an interview. He is just tarnishing his star. It is down right depressing to hear him sound like this. It sort of reminds me of Willie Mays, at the end of his career, stumbling around the outfield of the 1973 Mets or Joe Namath ending his career on the Rams, when his knees were shot, after being released by the Jets.

He was better than a lot of major market jocks I hear, although slower and older, he was still more entertaining than any liner card reader. It was no comparison if you pit Ingram (of 60's/70's) v. Ingram now. But, there aren't many who could compare with THAT.

Also, nice examples. However, the '73 Mets DID win the NL Pennant, and Namath's last year (where he only played 4 games) was statistically better than the '71 season (in his prime) where he also only played 4 games.
He also was statistically better than Pat Haden that year (who replaced Namath). Haden went to the Pro-Bowl. Namath (who was only 34 when he retired) was effective...it just physically hurt him too much.

 

[chacha]

Yup. Not the same Dan Ingram... and not the same CBS-FM either. I don't believe his show sounded like it did because he is off his game. I believe it sounded like it did because that's how he wanted it to sound. There was a message in there to management.

He doesn't need the gig, and he's earned the right to walk away from it if he wants to, but don't think for one minute the man is a "Has-Been"... Its not like asking an old basketball player to keep up with todays young hot atheletes in the floor of MSG. His mind is sharp, the music's still what he's familiar with & its a climate controlled studio with good lighting and a comfortable chair. Its easy to compete with anyone in that game, under those circumstances.

Sunday's show was deliberate.

Absolutely.

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

I don't believe for a minute that Ingram was deliberately bad. He is too professional for that. He is just old and supposedly not in good health. I think he did the best he could under those circumstances.

 

[chacha]

I don't believe for a minute that Ingram was deliberately bad. He is too professional for that. He is just old and supposedly not in good health. I think he did the best he could under those circumstances.

Oh, I don't think he was bad. He is the ultimate pro. But I think he was uninspired....but thats kind of the version of the station they're running anyway. And yes, he sounds older...but he is. But his comic timing was still perfect, and he did make an effort to be entertaining. Nolan Ryan is an old man now, and not nearly the caliber he was .....but he
can still throw a fastball by ya...I guarantee it. I wouldn't want to try to compete against Dan Ingram...even in his 70's.

 

[GRADIOMAINEIAC]

While I understand people's disappointment with Sunday night's show, I don't subscribe to the All or Nothing view. What stood out to me was his JOY about being on the air. He said "CBS-FM 101.1" with more enthusiasm than I remember him doing going back a while before his "pre-Jack" time on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. While I am a HUGE fan and always will be, one of the drawbacks to Dan's delivery, to me, even during his zenith on WABC, was a sarcastic, disingenuous tone that was a detraction from his genius, not its sine qua non. Amidst what I would call a tone of open-heartedness and gratitude on Sunday night, that biting artificiality was absent......HOORAY! Many would agree that Sinatra's peak was the mid 1950's to mid 1960's. I saw him perform only once, in Portland, Maine in 1979, and he had lost a lot since '65, but it was still Frank, with his essence intact, and I was delighted and grateful to witness a live performance by him. Part of the reason Dan Ingram will always have a special place in my heart is that in response to a letter to him in late 1971, he invited me to sit in with him one Saturday afternoon, February 26. 1972, to be precise. "When I was 17, it was a very good year....." He taped the microphone of my little cassette recorder to his on-air mic and let me record everything he said on and off the air for about 90 minutes. I still have that cassette. I would never ask a dear friend to stop visiting because they lost some of their sharpness, memory or whatever, and so I would NEVER stop inviting Dan into my radio, or my laptop, as long as he wanted to do the Ingram Thingram. Don't compare Dan to how he used to sound -- compare him to ANYONE ELSE on the radio today. From that standpoint, I would say he's still in rarefied air, far above 99% of folks on the radio. He's still LIGHT YEARS beyond the likes of Howard Stern as far as I'm concerned, and please keep in mind: I don't ask anyone else to adopt my perspective - I just wanted to share it. To the original I-Man, I say a heartfelt THANK YOU for all the joy and fun you have given us!!

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

I don't think anyone questions Ingram's greatness or his place in the history of broadcasting but, this is about Ingram mid 60s versus last Sunday night. When your skills have diminished that much, whether because of age, illness or attitude, it is better to bow out rather than try to hang on. It is sort of like an open casket funeral. I would rather remember the deceased when they were alive and vibrant rather than looking at a dead, lifeless corpse. Listening to Ingram last Sunday night was the equivalent to looking at a dead, lifeless corpse. I want to remember Ingram when the English Invasion was happening in 1964 and Ingram, WABC, the music and the country were vibrant. The fact that as bad as Ingram was last Sunday night but, is still better than all the current djs today, just tells you that all of today's djs blow. It doesn't mean that Ingram was any good. Let the deceased, rest in peace.

Dan Ingram 1959-1981 beloved by all

 

[Oldiesking]

He sounds that way because he is older. What did you expect him to sound like? People age, their voices sound older, they're not as fast on the air. This was not deliberate, this is what it is.

Someone somewhere said you should just enjoy it for the fact that it is a radio friend on the air, one more time.

I did enjoy listening to Ingram one more time. As for their voices sounding older, last night I listened to Dick Biondi on WZZN which is True Oldies in Chicago. Biondi is 75 and he sounds like he is 45. The same goes for Cousin Brucie who will be 70 in a couple of weeks. I am aware that Ingram had been ill. I met him on the WABC Rewound Cruise and he was walking with a cane. Ingram did sound better on Sunday Night than he did when he was on with Mark Simone on SNO on WABC a couple of months ago. Dan Ingram will always be the greatest Top 40 DJ of all time in my book no matter how he sounds today.