Click on image below to enlarge for easier reading
Former Milkman, Marty Wilson, (WNEW 1981-1986) offers an up-close account.
The way I heard the story, George Duncan was the problem, not the solution. It was Kluge who hired Jack Thayer as was demonstrated when George and Vikki Callahan fired Jack, the format immediately began to revert. I remember being told not to play Big Band music as it was “too old,” and everybody who remembered it was dead.
As far as the “Nightmare” show, it was actually that the overnight host was the “Night Mayor.” Say it fast enough and it’s a nightmare!
Here’s the e-mail ECB sent to Marty.
Thanks for your imput which just goes to show a person can’t fact-check often enough.
Notice how oily the prose is when I said Duncan was “credited with curing the personality disorder,” which means other people, not me, gave him credit for the deed, so if he doesn’t deserve credit, don’t blame me, blame those other people, which is why weasel phrases like that were invented.
As for my saying the “Milkman’s Matinee” became the “Nightmare Show,” I seek refuge behind the writer who called it that in the official 1984 WNEW history, “Where The Melody Lingers On.”
Good to hear from you.
Ed