Day: April 1, 2014
SOUPY SALES JOINING WNBC RADIO . . . APRIL 13, 1985
From the MCRFB news archives: 1985
Former Detroit-based Comic Will Do Mid-days
NEW YORK — “Let’s just say that something funny finally came between Imus and Stern,” laughs WNBC New York program director Dale Parsons about the hiring of veteran comic Soupy Sales (and formerly TV funnyman Detroit ABC WXYZ television 1953-1966) as the contemporary station’s new midday personality.
Sales will be flanked by morning man Don Imus and afternoon drive host Howard Stern (formerly WWWW Detroit), and Parsons sees his role as “establishing consistency throughout our dayparts. Sales will further enhance WNBC’s image as New York’s personality radio station. With Soupy, we have three comedic geniuses on the air from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., but each has his own brand of humor.
“Soupy’s schtick will be familiar in format to Imus and Stern — I’ll expect he’ll play about six or seven records an hour,” says Parsons, who say’s he’s confident the humor that Sales was known for on television will translate well to radio.
While Sales spent several years in the medium before his rise to national prominence on the kiddy show –which carried such lore as when he asked the kids to go through daddy’s pants pockets and send him him all the pieces of green papers with pictures of presidents on them — Sales only connection with top 40 radio came through his lone record hit in 1965, “The Mouse.”
Frank Reed, who had been in the midday slot, moves to evenings when Sales debut April 22. Former evening talent Alex Beebe will exit the station.
(Information and news source: Billboard; April 13, 1985).
WNBC RADIO: THE SOUPY SALES MOLDY OLDIES SHOW
NBC RADIO: SOUPY SALES SPINS ‘MOLDY OLDIES’ YEAR 1967!
“Anybody could play oldies but there is only one Soupy Sales,” say Frank Cody, former director of programming at WNBC. “The baby boomers grew up on him. He’s a piece of Americana.”
The NBC Radio Entertainment weekly two-hour show launched on April Fool’s Day, 1986, on 124 stations nationwide. (source: Billboard; September 13, 1986).
