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Jack Armstrong Dead

W

whatsthefrequency

Guest
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!
 
My condolences to his family. Jacks been a friend for over 25 years...a long time....He was a prolific talent....an asset to every radio station he worked for.....he truly was "your leeeeeeeeeeee-der".
 
Just a few weeks ago I had watched/listened to Jack's great WIXY-1260 reunion shift on YouTube from a few years back--those who may not have heard him should check it out. It will give you a glimpse. No one (as in NO ONE) was ever as fast and funny: the best Top 40 jock ever to hit the airvwaves, anytime... anywhere.

In the early seventies, we'd ride aimlessly around rural Pennsylvania listening to 1520/WKBW boom in from the north just to have the privilege of hearing Jackson Armstrong. He'd have us laughing out loud and gasping for breath at his speed & skill. For thousands of young jocks of that era, he set the standard.

In recent years, Jack participated in the effort to resurrect KB as an Oldies station. And though they were never able to recreate the excitement that made 'KBW so special 35-to-40 years ago, Jack was still a riot.

A wonderful talent. He will be missed by millions.
 
I hired Jack to do mornings at 10-Q about the same time I hired Mike McVay as PD. In fact, I think they both arrived in LA the same weekend. At the time I was Acting GM of 10-Q as well as National PD for Storer Radio.

Jack and I had both worked in Pittsburgh at the same time, he at 13-Q and I at KDKA/WEEP. I really wanted Jack to do his 13-Q act, including his gorilla voice, but he though that was passé. Every morning there was a guy at my exit ramp who sold bananas. I would buy a bunch on my way to work and when Jack cracked the mike, I would lob them at him over the control board. Pretty soon I annoyed Jack into doing the gorilla character on 10-Q.

Jack Armstrong was one of the most cooperative talents that I ever worked with. 10-Q’s rival was heritage Top 40 KHJ. When 10-Q finally beat KHJ, they let their morning man Charlie Tuna go. Charlie called me and said he would like to join 10-Q. Storer had announced the sale of the station, and I could only pay any new hires scale - a fraction of what Charlie had been making at KHJ. Charlie said he would come for scale, but only if he could do mornings. I approached Jack in the middle of 10-Q’s victory celebration and told him the story, and Jack very graciously agreed to relinquish his morning slot to get Charlie on our team.

Jack was one of the personalities who made a difference wherever he worked.

Ed Salamon
 
I'm really shocked and saddened.

I first heard Jack Armstrong when he was on WKYC in Cleveland around 1967. I picked it up on a vacation to upstate NY. Because his former station, WIXY, had trademarked the Jack Armstrong name, he was calling himself Big Jack on WKYC. He sounded truly amazing and made an impression on me.

Next I heard him on WKBW from my home in Baltimore at night. What a personality!

I'd heard later airchecks of him for years, but started hearing him again in more recent years when driving through Greensboro on my way from Atlanta to visit family in Virginia. I once emailed him and received a response.

Not that they ever made them quite like John Larsh, but no one on the air today comes within a mile of his combination of talent, energy and uniqueness.
 
I recall in high school, John at WCOG Greensboro. And on BIG WAYS in the early 60s. And then the big time. A great talent - a great loss :(
 
Can anyone confirm this story? I've been searching all morning...no news reports, no obituary, no indication other than the MySpace entry that he has, in fact, passed away.

Later....
Matt Smith
WGSR-TV
 
As his PD at WMQX/Greensboro - I loved having his on my radio station. As his friend for the last 10+ years since - I love Jack like a brother.

We had highs. We had lows. Every relationship is life does. My relationship with Jack changed not only the way I look at the business but the way I look at life.

God rest his soul. He was one of the good ones.

Kris Abrams
 
I am very sad to hear this. I became Jack's PD at WMQX after Kris and had the honor of working with him for 2 years after. He was a passionate man who loved radio and always gave the audience a morning show that was well beyond expectations. It was totally my pleasure to work with hm and will always remember him as a true professional. He will be missed. What a legacy from a man who changed this business forever. We all can only dream of making such an impact.

Dave Solomon
Mix Radio Network
 
When Kris left WMQX I got to fill in as PD (my second tour there) for awile before Dave took over. This gave me an opportunity to meet and work briefly Jack. He was great. Full of passion for radio. A great talent and hard worker. I wish we could have known each other better. He did congratulate me a couple of years later when I got my pilot license. I'm happy I knew him, and sorry he is gone. A sad day indeed.

Mike "Moose" Smith
 
I became PD of WMQX/Oldies 93 on February 4th 2001 and met with Jack that morning. Here I was sitting down with a guy who I had listend to as a teenager, growing up in the Buffalo area. Jack acutally came to my high school for a fundraiser with the KB Yo Yo's basketball team when I was a sophmore.

I never met a more passionate individual. My best memories of Jack at MQX were the recreation of the Beatles invasion in 2004. Jack met a Beatles cover group at the airport and we recreated Beatlemania in downtown High Point with screaming girls chasing Jack and the group thru the streets on their way to the High Point theater for a show. Jack's live reports during that event sent chills down my spine as he painted a picture of the event with such vivid clarity.

It was also a pleasure to be able to work with Jack in an effort to re-create the magic of KB during their brief stint with Oldies. We hooked up Jack in our VT room so he could do the night shift on KB. At the conclusion of his morning show each day on Oldies 93 he would retire to the VT room and I often stood outside listening to him record his breaks. He never lost a step and "Your Leeeeeeeeeeeaaaadddddeeeeerrrrr" could be heard around the complex.

Jack was an amazing talent and a great dad. I spoke with Maggie (his youngest) this morning and she was doing as well as can be expected and I could hear Jack's influence in her as I spoke to her about this terrible news.

I talked to Jack a month or so ago and he had just completed a manuscript for a book on his life and career which I'm sure will be an interesting read.

Rock n Roll heaven has a night jock now.


Later Jack,

Randall C. Bliss
 
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.

http://reelradio.com/findit/findit.cgi

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


XM 60s on the 6 is treating this as breaking news and playing a lot of Jack airchecks.
 
Jack was one of the greatest talents, and people I have known in this business. I came to KB after he left, and it was a thrill for me to do that same evening show I used to listen to in Northeast PA as a teenager when Jack was there. Years later he was across the street from me when I did afternoons at KHJ/Los Angeles, and Jack was at KFI/Los Angeles. I finally got to meet him, and it was all good!

If there's a Rock & Roll Heaven, they got a hell of a man.....a new LEEEEEADER!

God Bless you, Jack, and my condolences to the family...

"Banana" Joe Montione
www.flashback40.com Hits Of The 70's, 80's & MORE!
www.bananajoeradio.com
 
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.

I had asked Jack to write me a recommendation for linkedin and, as always, he was gracious in accommodating and with the flattering words that he chose to use.

Jack had just finished in excess of 500 pages for a book about his adventures in radio and was hoping to have it published this year. He was very excited about that and so was I. 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 heaven, you got one hell of a jock.

My deepest sympathy to his daughters and Peace forever, Jack.

Cleveland Wheeler


my memoriam at www.voxjox.com
 
I never had the chance to meet Jack, but from those who did, I infer that he wasn't one to live in the past. However, for those times when radio today seems to be a drag, and I'm looking for some reason to go on the air one more time, I keep handy a tape of Jack filling in for Gerry Peterson on KTLK in 1970. There is no way to listen to that show and not come away thinking that being on the radio is the greatest thing in the world.

God bless you and your family, Jack Armstrong. You were a blessing to us!
 
Jack Armstrong was, at the minimum, one of the top 5 best top forty, personality djs from the 60s. When one thinks about djs of his ability level, one remembers the greatest era in the history of radio and music. Unfortunately, it also points out the total lack of talent and personality that exists in radio today. Jack Armstrong and djs like him were great in the 60s. Today's djs have no concept of doing personality radio and stink. Jack Armstrong was great on WAYS, WPOP, CHUM, WKBW, WMEX and many others. Jack will be sorely missed.
 
Is this the same Jack Armstrong from KKHR with that alternate deep voice? Sounds familiar. Either way he will be missed. :(
 
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