If any jock other than the esteemed Dan Neaverth had said "lookin' at you through the hole in the record," he would have been classified as one of those hack-jocks who uses lines like "how ya doin' everybody," "comin' atchya" "7-53, 7 minutes before the hour of o'clock mayhem in the a-em," "4:30 Aunt Gerty" and "hump day," among others.
As to the pukers... well, there was a guy on the old WIXC (Wixy 12-60) Cleveland who was waaaay over the top, but he was one of the most entertaining jocks I'd ever heard. Wish I could remember his name... hmmmm.... Gary "Something" ? Doesn't click. But I remember his act. The guy was always in deep reverb, used all the hackneyed cliches, but he was simply good at what he did. Never crashed a vocal... talked up every intro to the letter... PSA's, weather, time and temp... whatever it took. He used bells, whistles, wild tracks and gongs... yeah, he was a puker and probably over the top, but he was eminently entertaining.
Now, most of have heard bad pukers, but this guy from WIXC was one hell of a "hot rockin' Top-40 dee-jay." He always sounded like he was having fun, even did the O'Liners or Electric Weenie, customized the lines to his market and the people he worked with. And he did character voices to a "T," mostly Paul Lind and Don Rickles stuff... people every listener was aware of.
It bums me out that I can't remember the dude's name... but he's proof that you can't rip on a particular style, even though we hear it today as being a carricature of Top 40 radio in its hayday.
Now, how about the legendary Jack Armstrong? I mean, we revere the dude on this board, but there's a case that can be made for him being way over the top, too. No? The Go-rilla? The shtick... the fast-talkin' routine? C'mon... tell me it's not something the Simpsons would lampoon? Still, the man is god-like to any self respecting jock over the age of 35.
And what about the "side-mouth talkers?" The guys, who for whatever reason, sounded like they were on AM sideband? The late, great Larry Anderson used this technique for a while in his early days at WGR... still, he was a well-respected jock who went into the books as one of the best PD's in Buffalo. BTW, is he in the WNY Broadcasting Hall of Fame?
I'd hold back on doing a blanket hack-job on any of the guys who were no doubt extreme, certainly no more extreme than the "Laid Back Lennies" who were part of the early Progressive Rock radio days, the guys who sounded like they were perpetually stoned.
"Hey mannnnnnn.... Jerry and the boys...... that was, uhhh, one of the band's better tunes..... St. Stephen.... diggit.... allllllriiiiiiight.... (saliva smack) now, uh.... let's do some MC 5... (FX: bumps beard into mic)... very heavy, mannnnnnnn... (FX: turntable wows up to speed...)"
Tell me you're not laughing just a bit envisioning and re-creating that routine in your mind!
Man, the radio we lived through! Makes me wanna give up hanging drywall, working with Aunt Helen, Uncle Oskie and his stinkin', two day old, gnawed-on stogies.
