RIP Larry King. Here’s his famous story about the time he was seduced by a listener.
Back when I was doing a lot of club work, I spent a lot of time listening to Larry King on the drive home when he was on the Mutual Broadcasting System. With last call at 1am, I’d get to hear the last 45 minutes or so of his show, which always ended up with Larry saying he was on his way to Duke Zeibert’s restaurant in DC for some matzoh ball soup.
As a fan of all things broadcast, I studied Larry’s interviewing technique and how he worked the phones on the call-in portion of his program. This led to me one of his autobiographies which included one particular story that rings true with every single guy who has worked as a late-night/all-night DJ.
Here’s Larry on that time in Miami when…
The fact that Larry King lasted until age 87 is something of a miracle given his history of cardiac issues. His passing is another milestone in the history of old-school radio broadcasting.
i had a similar experience. i had a radio beside my bed for years and would switch over to Larry King after the profile on Brave New Waves.
So after learning about Wire or Burroughs or Glenn Branca on CBC Stereo, i’d switch over to WBEN out of Buffalo and listen to Larry King. Larry would have silver screen legends or scientists or UFO nuts or economic profs or…
Open Phone America was amazing. There was a real diversity of opinions aired, people were people, not all sounding exactly the same and saying exactly the same and being consumed with including the latest trendy word in every sentence or intent to start every sentence with “So…”.
RIP Larry, RIP radio.
Moppo’s not dead!
I’ve also noticed that trend of people beginning sentences with “So…”; I think they were taught to do that as an alternative to “Well…”; I think it was a movement in the educational establishment, because I have also noticed that when people employ “So…” I can usually predict their political orientation!
BTW, I was an all-night DJ, circa 1968: KC’s first “underground” FM d.j., broadcasting from 2 to 6 a.m., all alone in a little cinderblock building surrounded by cornfields. My airname was Lloyd Spencer Drake (note the initials!) and my “inside radio” joke was that I claimed to be the illegitimate son of Bill Drake, the “inventor” of the Top 40 format. No adventures like Larry’s, though.