Post by Travis on May 20, 2005 8:17:53 GMT -5
I was young, and my memory's a bit vague on this one, but I remember hearing Skinny Bobby Harper as I prepared for school in the mornings. His 'thought for the day' was a regular bit that he would do around 7:30 and generally served as a cue for me to get my rear in gear and get to school.
While I certainly understand WAKY's decision to replace Harper with Bill Bailey, the greatest morning man Louisville radio has ever known, I also feel that it was a shame to lose Skinny Bobby. He was very good and funny in his own way. Again, my memory is vague because I was so young, but just listening to Skinny Bobby's airchecks will demonstrate just how good he was.
Bob Edwards, a Louisville native and for years the host of NPR's Morning Edition, obviously grew up listening to Skinny Bobby on WAKY. When Harper died in 2003, Edwards did a nice piece on him on Morning Edition. Apparently, Howard Hesseman's character of Doctor Johnny Fever, on WKRP in Cincinnati, was based on Skinny Bobby Harper, but the similarities escape me.
How I would love to hear a show like Skinny Bobby's today. I'm so tired of the current morning show concept in which two people are blabbering away at each other while seemingly ignoring us. I believe one of the things that made jocks like Bailey and Harper great was that they talked to us rather than to someone else in the room. Sure, they had their exchanges with the newsman, but not for the entire 4 hours.
Let's fire up that organ that Skinny Bobby always used as a bed for his 'thought for the day' and I'll leave you with this one. This is an actual 'thought for the day' that I once heard Bobby do.
"Research shows that one out of every three people are mentally unbalanced. So, if two of your friends are okay... Guess who?"
Go ahead. Tell me I'm living in the past. Quite frankly, when it comes to radio, I wish I was.
While I certainly understand WAKY's decision to replace Harper with Bill Bailey, the greatest morning man Louisville radio has ever known, I also feel that it was a shame to lose Skinny Bobby. He was very good and funny in his own way. Again, my memory is vague because I was so young, but just listening to Skinny Bobby's airchecks will demonstrate just how good he was.
Bob Edwards, a Louisville native and for years the host of NPR's Morning Edition, obviously grew up listening to Skinny Bobby on WAKY. When Harper died in 2003, Edwards did a nice piece on him on Morning Edition. Apparently, Howard Hesseman's character of Doctor Johnny Fever, on WKRP in Cincinnati, was based on Skinny Bobby Harper, but the similarities escape me.
How I would love to hear a show like Skinny Bobby's today. I'm so tired of the current morning show concept in which two people are blabbering away at each other while seemingly ignoring us. I believe one of the things that made jocks like Bailey and Harper great was that they talked to us rather than to someone else in the room. Sure, they had their exchanges with the newsman, but not for the entire 4 hours.
Let's fire up that organ that Skinny Bobby always used as a bed for his 'thought for the day' and I'll leave you with this one. This is an actual 'thought for the day' that I once heard Bobby do.
"Research shows that one out of every three people are mentally unbalanced. So, if two of your friends are okay... Guess who?"
Go ahead. Tell me I'm living in the past. Quite frankly, when it comes to radio, I wish I was.
Weird...I never remembered his name in the forefront of my childhood, but now I know who he is! Buddy Kay (Scott) was the MD/APD at WGBF in Evansville when I was spinnin' AT-40 and The Wolfman Jack Show (high school kid runnin' the board, ya know)..I got a weeknight Top-40 gig up river at the "Super O" (WOMI-1490/Owensboro)...I didn't know what to call myself on-the-air... Buddy thought Bobby Hopper would be good..I didn't know why? I used it for a week, quite the station and settled into the college FM in Evansville imulating my air-name to the two cool FM's l liked in Indy and Cleveland.. I called myself, "The Buzzard"...Thank goodness, no direction and a year later, my high school friend who always called me "Skipper" stuck.... But I now, by accident feel akin to this pre-Duke legend!