For some reason, some of the posts on the original thread on this subject were lost. Therefore, I am reposting one of the lost posts of the Barney Pip story.
Before we get back to our story, I wanted to mention Barney's ratings at WPIX-FM, New York. The penetration of FM stations in New York City in 1972 was minimal. FM was still in its infancy as a medium for top forty radio. WABC, in the spring 1972 book pulled about a 23 share. Barney pulled about a 4 share on his evening show. WPIX-FM pulled about a 2.9 24 hours a day. WOR-FM pulled about a 2 24 hours a day. WWDJ pulled about a 1.3 24 hours a day. This all means that other than WABC, Barney was the highest rated dj playing music in New York in the spring 72 book. The most amazing part of the spring 72 book was that Dave Herman, doing mornings on WNEW-FM pulled a zero. I didn't know that a zero was possible especially for a major market radio station. Getting back to Barney, from 1973 to 1979 Barney was in and out of the hospital and not on the radio. In 1980, I got Barney to go back on the radio on a station that I ran. He did this for a period of months in 1980 but, then went back in the hospital again for a period of months but, then came back to the station and went on-the-air again. Sometime in 1981 he went off the radio and just lived in a condo in Indianapolis. WJMK, Chicago, did a 60s dj reunion in 1985 that Barney was a part of. They asked him what happened to him over the years but, he didn't really give any information about what had happened to him over the years. He did go back on the radio for a while in 1986. He took a trip from Indianapolis to Long Island to see Bob Dayton whom he had worked with at WPIX-FM. Dayton was doing afternoon drive at WGLI, Babylon, at the time. Dayton convinced Barney to do morning drive on WGLI for about 9 months. This was the last time that Barney was ever on the radio. When someone who has bipolar disorder reaches the age of 50, the effects will usually subside. This happened to Barney. He was in better shape after the age of 50 in regard to bipolar disorder than he ever was. He was living in his condo in Indianapolis and was relatively peaceful and happy. The last time I saw Barney was in 1991 when he came and visited me. He seemed to be in pretty good shape. Barney died in June of 1994 and it is not a pretty story. Barney had emphysema and diabetes but, neither are the reason he died. Here is how he died. He was backing
his car out of his drive at his condo. The car ran into a fence and carbon monoxide came up from the floor boards and made him pass out at the wheel. He was smoking a cigarette at the time. The lit cigarette made the car's upholstery start on fire and Barney was burned to death. Barney was burned so badly that his body sat unidentified at the morgue in Indianapolis until they could do a dna test on one of his kids and Barney's corpse. I got a call from Barney's attorney, who attended the same high school and graduated in 1954 in Indianapolis as Barney did. His attorney told me that Barney had died. I, then, got a call from one of Barney's kids who flew me up to Louisville. His kid and I then drove from Louisville to Indianapolis on a Saturday morning to go to the funeral. I did the eulogy at Barney's funeral. It was a very emotional day. When Barney died,
there were a number of stories about it on Chicago television and Robert Feder of the Chicago Sun Times did a nice story. What does this all mean.....Barney's birthday was May 26th and the 15th anniversary of his untimely death is coming up. There is plenty more to this story but, I hope that I have answered most of the questions.
Before we get back to our story, I wanted to mention Barney's ratings at WPIX-FM, New York. The penetration of FM stations in New York City in 1972 was minimal. FM was still in its infancy as a medium for top forty radio. WABC, in the spring 1972 book pulled about a 23 share. Barney pulled about a 4 share on his evening show. WPIX-FM pulled about a 2.9 24 hours a day. WOR-FM pulled about a 2 24 hours a day. WWDJ pulled about a 1.3 24 hours a day. This all means that other than WABC, Barney was the highest rated dj playing music in New York in the spring 72 book. The most amazing part of the spring 72 book was that Dave Herman, doing mornings on WNEW-FM pulled a zero. I didn't know that a zero was possible especially for a major market radio station. Getting back to Barney, from 1973 to 1979 Barney was in and out of the hospital and not on the radio. In 1980, I got Barney to go back on the radio on a station that I ran. He did this for a period of months in 1980 but, then went back in the hospital again for a period of months but, then came back to the station and went on-the-air again. Sometime in 1981 he went off the radio and just lived in a condo in Indianapolis. WJMK, Chicago, did a 60s dj reunion in 1985 that Barney was a part of. They asked him what happened to him over the years but, he didn't really give any information about what had happened to him over the years. He did go back on the radio for a while in 1986. He took a trip from Indianapolis to Long Island to see Bob Dayton whom he had worked with at WPIX-FM. Dayton was doing afternoon drive at WGLI, Babylon, at the time. Dayton convinced Barney to do morning drive on WGLI for about 9 months. This was the last time that Barney was ever on the radio. When someone who has bipolar disorder reaches the age of 50, the effects will usually subside. This happened to Barney. He was in better shape after the age of 50 in regard to bipolar disorder than he ever was. He was living in his condo in Indianapolis and was relatively peaceful and happy. The last time I saw Barney was in 1991 when he came and visited me. He seemed to be in pretty good shape. Barney died in June of 1994 and it is not a pretty story. Barney had emphysema and diabetes but, neither are the reason he died. Here is how he died. He was backing
his car out of his drive at his condo. The car ran into a fence and carbon monoxide came up from the floor boards and made him pass out at the wheel. He was smoking a cigarette at the time. The lit cigarette made the car's upholstery start on fire and Barney was burned to death. Barney was burned so badly that his body sat unidentified at the morgue in Indianapolis until they could do a dna test on one of his kids and Barney's corpse. I got a call from Barney's attorney, who attended the same high school and graduated in 1954 in Indianapolis as Barney did. His attorney told me that Barney had died. I, then, got a call from one of Barney's kids who flew me up to Louisville. His kid and I then drove from Louisville to Indianapolis on a Saturday morning to go to the funeral. I did the eulogy at Barney's funeral. It was a very emotional day. When Barney died,
there were a number of stories about it on Chicago television and Robert Feder of the Chicago Sun Times did a nice story. What does this all mean.....Barney's birthday was May 26th and the 15th anniversary of his untimely death is coming up. There is plenty more to this story but, I hope that I have answered most of the questions.