Imus in the Morning Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Version 2.01
Jim
IMUS In The Morning
Frequently Asked Questions
Version #2.01
The Don Imus FAQ has been updated and recompiled by Jim Reed, and is now
titled Version #2. The credits for Version #1, on which this is based,
and quoted from, can be found at the end of this document.
This FAQ can be found in html version at http://imonthe.net/imus
This FAQ is by fans, and for fans, and is NOT associated with the Imus
in the
Morning Program, WFAN, CBS Radio, or MSNBC, and is not endorsed by any
of the
preceding. Information on this list is for the sole private use of it's
audience.
Please contribute your updates to keep this a growing document.
Please send all updates to feed...@imonthe.net.
I am especially interested in information about the early years in
radio,
from 1968-1977.
Contents:
1) What is Imus in the Morning?
2) Who is Don Imus?
3) What is Imus' History?
4) Where can I find Imus in the Morning?
5) How do I write to Imus?
6) How do I call Imus?
7) Where can I find Imus information on the Internet?
8) Who is Fred Imus?
9) Who are some of the current Imus Characters?
10) Who are some of the past Imus Characters?
11) Who is on the staff of the Imus in the Morning program?
12) Who are some Imus alumni?
13) Who are some of the guests that have appeared on Imus in the
Morning?
14) What's the history of the Imus in the Morning program?
15) Imus stories and anecdotes.
1- What is Imus in the Morning?
The "Imus In The Morning Program " is a radio talk show with its
contents
being politics, news, satire, and comedy. With syndication in over 100
cities now, The Imus in the Morning Program has its flagship in New
York.
2- Who is Don Imus?
Don Imus is a morning radio talk show host whose program consists of
outrageous humor, important political figures such as Senators,
Congressmen, and on several earlier occasions, President Clinton;
parodies of Richard Nixon and General George S. Patten, (among others),
conversation on topics of the day, and talk with other guests of the
media
and the political world such as Dan Rather, Tim Russert, and Jeff
Greenfield.
3- What is Imus' history?
Imus, or "The I-Man" started in radio in Palmdale, California in the
late 1970's, and worked in
California, where in Sacramento he was awarded the Billboard award for
best Medium Market
Disc Jockey, and Cleveland, Ohio, where he received his first Marconi
Award for Outstanding
Major Market announcer.
The Imus in the Morning program debuted in NYC in September 1971 on 66
AM WNBC. After
moving his program back to Cleveland in 1978, Imus returned to NYC on
Sept. 3, 1979, opening
up with the Right Reverend Dr. Billy Sol Hargus. His old program (the
1st Era) consisted of Rev.
Hargus, Crazy Bob, oldies and the Top 40. However in 1988, WNBC was sold
to WFAN.
WFAN is an all-sports station, and instead of moving to sports, Imus
changed the whole
character of his show, moving to all-talk, current events, humor and
parodies, and occasional
music. Imus finally moved to syndication in 1993. He is now heard in 7
of the top 10 markets,
and on over 100 stations in the USA. In September 1996, Imus on MSNBC
premiered, and is
now carried on cable systems across the country from 6-9am Eastern
Time. According to Imus,
ratings for Imus on MSNBC top CNN's from time to time, though MSNBC is
only in about half as
many households.
You can visit the 66 WNBC Tribute Page at http://imonthe.net/66wnbc
4- Where can I find Imus in the Morning?
The "Imus In The Morning Program " can be heard on over 100 stations
across
America. Imus on MSNBC can be seen from 6-9am Eastern Time on MSNBC on
cable, and
Direct Satellite.
You can find a list of Imus in the Morning radio affiliates with
internet sites at:
http://imonthe.net/imus
You can find a list of radio stations and your local MSNBC cable outlet
at:
http://imus.msnbc.com
5- How can I write to Imus?
U.S. Mail:
WFAN 660 AM Sports Radio
34-12 36th Street
Astoria, NY 11106
E-Mail:
Despite various reports, Imus has no published e-mail address.
6- How do I call Imus?
You can call The Imus in the Morning Program 1-800-370-IMUS (4687).
Calls are usually
screened by Bernard McGuirk, and can remain on hold for most of the
morning occasionally.
7- Where can I find Imus information on the Internet?
Imus information has exploded on the internet in the last two years. You
can find
an index to Imus pages on the net at:
Super Imus Links Page: http://imonthe.net/imus
There is a Usenet newsgroups for the IT program at :
news:alt.fan.don-imus
You can also find the Imus on MSNBC page at: http://imus.msnbc.com
8- Who is Fred Imus?
Fred Imus is the brother of Don Imus. He makes frequent phone
appearances during the
morning on Imus, and also predicts the "Jeep/Eagle Sports Lock of the
week" on Fridays.
He owns an auto body shop in Santa Fe, NM. You can call Fred to order
Auto Body Express
work shirts, T-shirts, jackets, hats, or mugs. The Santa Fe catalog
came out recently, which has
been designed by Don and Fred Imus, the mush of the clothing designed by
Joseph Abed.
Call 1-800-272-1957 to order, or visit the Auto Body Express online at
http://www.autobodyexpress.com .
9- Who are the current characters on Imus in the Morning?
1. Richard Nixon ( Imus in Washington Senior Political Analyst )
Rotation: Frequent
2. General George S. Patten ( Discusses military strategies to "take
out"
those on the Imus "hot seat")
Rotation: Frequent
3. Rush Limbaugh ( controversial character talks and sings about
minorities, feminists, etc.)
Rotation: Rare
4. Walter Cronkite ( Imus in Washington News Anchor )
Rotation: Frequent
5. Scott Muni (famous Top 40 DJ giving his opinion, formally with WMCA
560am NYC and also on staff at WABC during it's halcyon
days of rock and roll. Currently host on WNEW-FM NYC
"where rock lives")
Rotation: Frequent
6. Paul Harvey ( National radio personality with the rest of the story
)
Rotation: Moderate
7. John Cardinal O'Connor (hilarious and bad-mouthed, does the NY
State
lotto numbers)
Rotation: Frequent
8. The Right Rev. Dr. Billy Sol Hargus (God's Other Son !)
Rotation: Rare
9. Ross Perot
Rotation: Rare
10. Andy Rooney
Rotation: Moderate
11. Mike Tyson
Rotation: Rare
12. Maya Angelu
Rotation: Rare
13. Beavis and Butthead (also "Beavis and Bubba")
Rotation: Frequent
14. Bubba Clinton (Bill Clinton, that pantload in the White House)
Rotation: Frequent
15. Blind Mississippi White Boy Pig Feets Dupree
Rotation: Usually on Remotes
16. Senator Edward Kennedy (from the state of Massachusetts)
Rotation: Moderate
17. Howard Stern
Rotation: Moderate
18. Mark From Milwaulkee ( sycophantic Imus fan who want's to be
"just like Don")
Rotation: Frequent
10- Who are some of the past Imus characters?:
19. Barbara Walters
20. John Gotti
21. Diane Sawyer
22. Joey Buttafucco
23. Spike Lee (Gives his usual comments as to the mistreatment of the
Afro-Americans )
24. Buddy Miyagi (Discontinued in 1992 but made a reappearance in 1994,
gave pro- Japanese American jokes)
25. Khalid Abdul Mohammad
26. Joe Pepitone (Discontinued in 1991)
27. Jeane Kirkpatrick (Former US Ambassador to the UN with
masculine voice)
28. Pee Wee Herman (Discontinued after 1991, makes rare cameo
appearances)
29. Hannibal The Cannibal (Discontinued after 1991)
30. Jay Leno (Discontinued after 1991)
31. Madonna (Sang "Exploitable Girl" in 1991)
32. George Bush
33. Professor Leonard Jeffries
34. Audrey Hepburn (ended in 1991)
35. Frank Sinatra (Singing "My Way")
36. Clarence Thomas
37. Crazy Bob (told sick, demented childrens stories)
38. Judge Hangin' (the soft-drawling, 100% American for whom police
brutality is the "fun part of law enforcement)
39. Brother Love (saucy black preacher who advises women in his parish
on
affairs of the body)
40. Elvis Presley ( the King from Heaven giving his opinion ) Retired
in 1996
41. Geraldo Santana Banana ( Former Vice-President and General Manager
of the
Imus in the Morning show )
42. Moby Worm ( Conducted attacks on various New York attractions )
43. Earl C. Watkins ( From Naugatuck, Sold Naugahyde from real live
Naugas )
44. Rex the Wonder Dog ( Coming Soon to Imus in the Morning )
45. Stella Steel ( Former gossip reporter )
11 - Who is on the staff of the Imus in the Morning program?
Don Imus ---------------- Host
Charles McCord ------------ Newsperson , Imus' close friend and " co-
host"
Rob Bartlett -------------- Comedian , voice over of various characters.
Bernard McGuirk ----------- Executive Producer, call-screener, sometimes
voice.
Lou Rufino ---------------- Engineer
Larry Kenney -------------- Comedian , voice over of various characters
Mike Breen ---------------- Sports Anchor
Warner Wolf --------------- Substitute Sports Anchor
Lori McNichol ------------- Traffic Reporter
Dayna Cavanugh ------------ Imus in the Morning Producer
Brant Eaton --------------- Imus' Limousine Driver
Jane Metzler -------------- Prepares the news, fills in reading the news
for Charles
Diedre Coleman-Imus ------- Wife of Don, makes frequent phone calls.
12 - Who are some of the Imus Alumni
Don Criqui ---------------- Former: Sportscaster Current: NBC Announcer
Lyndon Abell -------------- Former: Producer Current: ???
Roz Frank ----------------- Former: Traffic Reporter/Voice Current: ???
Al Rosenberg -------------- Former: Charector Voice Current: Unknown,
left to do Stern show full time.
Jim Ire ------------------- Former: Imus News Man Current: ???
Chris "Mad Dog" Russo ----- Former: Sportscaster Current: Host of
WFAN's
Mike and the Mad Dog program.
Frank Reed --------------- Former: WNBC DJ and "Captain Frank Reed" on
Moby Worm
Reports Current: Christian D.J.
13 - Who are some of the guests that have appeared on Imus in the
Morning?
News Media: Tim Russert, Jeff Greenfield, Tom Brokaw, Connie Chung,
Mike Wallace, Bob Schiefer, Brit Hume, David Brinkley,
Mike Barnicle, Sally Quinn
Politics: Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bob Dole, Bill Bradley, Lowell
Weicker,
Ed Kock, Mary Matalin, James Carvill, Bernadette Castro,
Joe Lieberman, Christopher Dodd
Sports: Don Criqui, Terry Bradshaw, Jayson Williams, Bill Parcells,
Bud Collins, Tracy Austin, Denise Austin
Authors: Michael Becholss, Doris Kearns-Goodwin, Deepac Choprah,
Andrew Weil, George Vescy, Mike Lupica
Musicians: B.B. King, Little Sammy Davis, Lorrie Morgan, Willie Nelson
14 - What's the history of the Imus in the Morning program?
Born July 23,1940
1957-59 US Marine Corps
1962-65 Rhythm and Blues performer and producer
1966-67 Don Martin School of Broadcasting, Hollywood CA
1968 Morning host,KUTY AM Palmdale, CA
1969 Morning host,KJOY AM Stockton, CA
1969 Morning host,KXOA AM Sacramento, CA
1970 Morning host,WGAR AM Cleveland, OH
1971-77 Morning host,WNBC AM NYC
1978 Morning (Afternoon?) Host,WHK AM Cleveland, OH
1979-88 Morning Host,WNBC AM NYC
1985 Original VH-1 V.J.
1988-> Morning host,WFAN AM NYC
1993 - Began National Syndication in Tampa, with Boston and
Washington DC Joining within
the next week.
15 - Imus stories and anecdotes.
The IMUS brothers had a band, Fred wrote, Don sang. But in order for
your songs to get on the
radio, you had to pay the DJ. Imus figured to save the money he'd
become a DJ himself and
play his own tunes.
This is where his career started.
Imus moved around a lot, station to station, town to town. In 1969-70,
Imus was voted DJ of the
Year by Billboard Magazine. Many stations were after him.
The Imus in the Morning Program started off on 66AM WNBC in NYC, in
1971. After being fired
in August 1977, and relocating to Cleveland for a while, NBC wanted Imus
back in New York. So
on September 3, 1979, Imus started off his first program back in NYC
with the Reverend Billy
Sol Hargus.
In 1988, NBC decided to get out of the radio business, and decided to
sell it's station. The
frequency 660 AM was sold to Emmis Broadcasting, which moved it's
station, Sports Radio
1050AM WHN, to the 660 frequency. It soon became Sports Radio 66 WFAN.
The change was
made in the parking lot at Shea Stadium in October 1988, prior to a Mets
- Dodgers playoff
game. The first voice on the all new Sports Radio 66 - WFAN was Imus as
Billy Sol Hargus.
Imus left his usual programming of playing the Top 40 and Oldies for
all-talk . The show, from
1987 to about 1990, did not talk much about politics. Then, during the
Gulf War, Imus'
programming changed to include more
politics and current events. He had a new wave of guests. This was also
the first time that Imus
had major political guests, starting out with Alfonse D'Amato, Senator
from NY and Connecticut
Governor Lowell P. Weicker.
In 1993, Imus worked out a deal with Westwood One (Now CBS Radio) to
syndicate his show
across the country. Today, his show is heard in 7 of the top 10 markets
and on over 100
stations across America.
Then comes the Howard Stern story. Stern occupied the afternoon slot on
NBC from September
1983 to September 1985. Stern played music, and well, his show was very
similar to Imus'.
They both went their ways and eventually Stern earned a spot on a NYC
station, had a hideous
TV show on WWOR Secaucus, NJ, and was syndicated before Imus. Many will
tell you (
including Imus) that Stern "stole" Imus' gig, "along with every other
local morning talk show host
moron". While Stern insists Imus stole his show, it is a fact that
Howard was a high school
student on Long Island while Don was hitting the big-time on WNBC.
During the NBC days, Imus and Stern both appeared in a radio ad, "If we
weren't so bad, we
wouldn't be that good", read the caption. One ad had WNBC General
Manager apologizing to
all the groups wronged by Imus and Stern.
Imus said that if Stern ever beat Imus in ratings, Imus would eat a dead
dog's penis. Imus said it
"tasted good", however, we don't know for sure.
Imus may be on MSNBC now, but he has been on TV twice before. In the
early 70's Imus
hosted the "Imus in the Evening" on local New York TV. Later, Don was
one of the first VH-1
VJ's on cable.
Approx. in the spring of 1986, Imus and McCord appeared on Channel 4
WNBC-TV's " Live at
Five". Imus made an announcement that would "shake 30 Rockefeller
Center". It was rumored
that Imus would buy
WNBC 66AM. What it was was a $66,000 Joke Contest, which Charles went
crazy at. A caller
told Imus that his appearance on "Live at Five" was "an all-time low".
In 1991 after Super Bowl XXV, Imus had Bill Parcells, then head coach of
the Giants, on the
program. Parcells commented about Scott Norwood's missed field goal.
These comments
received attention from the media, especially Buffalo.
Many wondered if Imus used Rob Bartlett for the voice-over of Parcells.
Art Rust, Jr., who was a NYC radio personality on 770AM WABC, tried out
for WFAN, he got the
FAN's frequency messed up, calling it 670AM instead of 660AM. Imus
ridiculed Rust for a while,
which Rust did not appreciate. Rust, subsequently, did not get the job.
Imus' doing?
Eileen Marchese Cohen, the former Metro traffic reporter who did the
traffic on Imus, was a
constant target, especially her husband Steve Cohen, who is a producer
on WFAN. Imus often
asked Eileen "how can you stay married to that Jew?", "is Steve
circumcised?" and "what is
your sex life like?". Sometimes reluctant, Eileen gave honest answers.
Sometimes opening up
broadcasts saying, " Here with the NYNEX Mobile FAN highway patrol is
Eileen Marchase
Cohen. Mornin' Linnie, wanna' squeeze my weanie'" He has been known to
introduce Lori
McNichol, current traffic reporter, as Lori McNipple.
At WNBC after Imus' new 1979 start, he had a new producer, Lyndon Abell.
When Imus was on
tour for his new syndication, Abell went to WTEM in D.C. Abell dropped
by, expecting Imus to be
surprised. However, Imus made his old producer sit in the control room
behind the glass. Imus
said, on the air, that Abell "supplied drugs" to him. Happy Reunion.
In 1992, Imus worked a deal out with Gov. Lowell Weicker of CT, one of
Imus' first guests, where
the two would switch jobs for a day. At 8:00, Imus was sworn in as
Gov.of CT. He said he
planned to " fry a couple of people while I'm in office". However,
nothing happened, except for
major protests from Connecticut DJ's who protested the Governor's
support of an out of state
radio program. At the time, though, Imus ranked in the top 5 in the
state.
E-mail your interesting story to me: mailto:imu...@imonthe.net
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This FAQ was retooled by Jim Reed on February 18, 1998, and will be
known
as the Imus In The Morning FAQ, Version #2.
Version 2.01 was posted on June 24, 1998, and fixed the formatting as
well as corrected
several major date errors.
------------
Version #1 was found on Dejanews, posted on January 7, 1997.
The following credits appeared with version #1:
Special thanks to Mario Labot,Tripp Rodgers, Chuck Lynch, Mike Kretsch,
and
Geoffrey Nimo.
Last Input 09- 28 - 95 18 09 22 ET
The Don Imus FAQ and INFO List is compiled by David Andreesen and other
contributors. This list is in no way associated with The Imus in the
Morning Program, WFAN, Infinity Broadcasting, Westwood One or is neither
endorsed
byany of the preceding. Information on this list is for the sole private
uses
of it's audiences.
Copyright © 1995 by Internet Communications Company.
Last Updated 10/05/95
-------------
Tomarkfn94
>The Santa Fe catalog
>came out recently, which has
>been designed by Don and Fred Imus, the mush of the clothing designed by
>Joseph Abed.
>
Pat
Queen of the Road
Check out our race team...http://www.alderacing.imonthe.net
Jim
Tomarkfn94 wrote:
> >The Santa Fe catalog
> >came out recently, which has
> >been designed by Don and Fred Imus, the mush of the clothing designed by
> >Joseph Abed.
> >
> Shouldn't that be Abboud?
>
> Pat
> Queen of the Road
>
> Check out our race team...http://www.alderacing.imonthe.net
It probably should be. I blame it on the spell checker.
Look for a fix in version 2.1
Jim
Pastor Mac
The General's name should be spelled "Patton."
--
Pax,
Pastor Mac (remove * in address for replies)
In between modem connections, life happens.
StatManJS
Question #3 - Imus started his radio career in palmdale california June 1,
1968. He arrived in NYC in December 1971 ( 1st airdate 12/1/71)
Q#9-- Pt5 - Scott Muni-- Former Top40 DJ at WMCA 570 AM not 560. NOw does
afternoons at WNEW-FM 102.7 in NYC. Also was a fromer WABC jock 770AM.
Ques#12- Lyndon Abel - Last known to be working in Washington DC
Roz Frank- was/is married to wall st maven John Moran. Last 'seen' working
Florida according to some former WNBC radio personalities.
Al Rosenberg- has returned to the IITM program
Howradt stern - Debuted at WNNNNNBC on August 30, 1982 - Fired Spetember 24,
1985. Moved on to WXRK- K-Rock radio 92.3 FM working afternoons 2-6PM on
NOvember 18, 1985, MOved to mornings in February 1986.
Joke contest - Imus & McCord appeared on WMBC TV Ch 4's Live at 5 in May of
1987 to drop the "bombshell" which "rocked the foundation of rockefeller plaza.
The $66,000 joke contest. ( Stat has this on Video tape)
Jim
Copy all. I will incorporate these into the next update. As I said in the
notes at the end, I am working with someone elses original document, and
I am continuing to clean it up.
Jim