and here's yer Lennon clip into -- UGH! "People Who Died".. for shame, Dave -- seriously.
I was on the air in NJ the night Lennon died, ended up doing the overnight, playing all Beatles/Lennon and network news updates until sunrise. I recall taking calls from listeners whose clock radios went off at 5am or 6am tuned to our station, woke up not knowing what all the fuss was about.
Wow! I was in NYC and heard the news from Vin Scelsa. And of course WNEW-FM went into several days of all-Beatles-all-the-time programming.
I have Vin Scelsa on tape from that night, from WNEW-FM's 20th Anniversary retrospect in 1987
I've heard the Scelsa tape a few times--always gives me chills. (Dave's got it in his clip archive, and I believe Vin played it on his Live At Lunch Internet show (RIP) a number of years ago on the anniversary of Lennon's death.)
Yeah, Scelsa was understandably choked-up, but still professional. Such a sense of loss in his voice and those of his callers that night.
Yep--it's so obvious that he's just rocked, but still carrying on for his listeners, and vice versa.
I had the opportunity to meet Vin a few years back, while he was doing the aforementioned Live At Lunch show from J&R Music in Manhattan. A true gentleman, very gracious, tons of stories. A memory I will hold close for the rest of my days.