Jim's Radio Years
For four years from 1968-1972, Jim was a radio announcer, news anchor, and disc jockey. Click on the play button to the left to hear a sample of Jim's radio work from early 1972. This audio clip comes from the website Musicradio WABC Pictures of the Week for October, 2012.
For four years from 1968-1972, Jim was a radio announcer, news anchor, and disc jockey. Click on the play button to the left to hear a sample of Jim's radio work from early 1972. This audio clip comes from the website Musicradio WABC Pictures of the Week for October, 2012.
Here is a link to the website: https://www.musicradio77.com/pix12/octpix12.html
Here is a link to the website: https://www.musicradio77.com/pix12/octpix12.html
By the late 1960s, Jim found himself in a television dry spell at work. His game show It's Your Move was cancelled after just 13 weeks on the air. Jim recalled that period of his life in late 1967 and early 1968 when he was out of a job and how his announcer from It's Your Move helped him move into a different path of his broadcasting career.
By the late 1960s, Jim found himself in a television dry spell at work. His game show It's Your Move was cancelled after just 13 weeks on the air. Jim recalled that period of his life in late 1967 and early 1968 when he was out of a job and how his announcer from It's Your Move helped him move into a different path of his broadcasting career.
In a March 2005 telephone interview, Jim told the story of his radio years:
In a March 2005 telephone interview, Jim told the story of his radio years:
"When It's Your Move went off of the air, all of a sudden it was like boom I had nothing. My announcer on It's Your Move was an (ABC) staff announcer, Dirk Fredericks, a very nice man. When we thought the world was falling apart, suddenly I wound up with this plethora [of jobs]. I did the pilot film for this talk show called That Show Starring Joan Rivers and [it] sold and I became a staff announcer at ABC due to Dirk Fredericks recommending me. And that's where I would up on WABC radio for a number of years doing the news and also doing a little disc jockey show."
"When It's Your Move went off of the air, all of a sudden it was like boom I had nothing. My announcer on It's Your Move was an (ABC) staff announcer, Dirk Fredericks, a very nice man. When we thought the world was falling apart, suddenly I wound up with this plethora [of jobs]. I did the pilot film for this talk show called That Show Starring Joan Rivers and [it] sold and I became a staff announcer at ABC due to Dirk Fredericks recommending me. And that's where I would up on WABC radio for a number of years doing the news and also doing a little disc jockey show."
At WABC, Jim was primarily assigned to the radio division although he occasionally worked as a booth announcer for WABC-TV, which was in the same building as WABC Radio.
At WABC, Jim was primarily assigned to the radio division although he occasionally worked as a booth announcer for WABC-TV, which was in the same building as WABC Radio.
"The only television stuff I did was sitting in the booth late at night, and you're sitting there doing nothing and finally they open the pot (microphone) and you say, 'WABC, New York.' That's it. Occasionally, if you were on the network, you would say, 'This is the ABC television network.' That was the extent of [my television involvement at WABC]. I rather enjoyed the radio more because I had more to do than sitting in the booth. That's where I started to do news and I had a disc jockey show. I learned a lot. It was a very helpful time for me. It was good to do the radio [and] to realize [that] I was good at radio, but I wasn't at the top. So I might have done okay. I realized I was better at television. I knew what I could do on television. That little hiatus [from television] was in many ways a very good thing for me. I may be the only person in America where the only radio station I ever worked for was WABC (laughs). At the time, it was the biggest rock radio station in the country. My only radio was with the number one [rock] station in the country."
"The only television stuff I did was sitting in the booth late at night, and you're sitting there doing nothing and finally they open the pot (microphone) and you say, 'WABC, New York.' That's it. Occasionally, if you were on the network, you would say, 'This is the ABC television network.' That was the extent of [my television involvement at WABC]. I rather enjoyed the radio more because I had more to do than sitting in the booth. That's where I started to do news and I had a disc jockey show. I learned a lot. It was a very helpful time for me. It was good to do the radio [and] to realize [that] I was good at radio, but I wasn't at the top. So I might have done okay. I realized I was better at television. I knew what I could do on television. That little hiatus [from television] was in many ways a very good thing for me. I may be the only person in America where the only radio station I ever worked for was WABC (laughs). At the time, it was the biggest rock radio station in the country. My only radio was with the number one [rock] station in the country."
Jim had fond memories of his four years working at WABC Radio:
Jim had fond memories of his four years working at WABC Radio:
"Even when I had the opportunity by seniority to go [to an earlier time slot], I preferred the overnight radio because to get their fill of the news to keep the FCC happy, they did a 5 minute newscast every half hour. There was a lot of work to do and I made it work, and I made it very successful because I realized that I had a very light voice and this was a rock radio station. I could sight read very well. I did the news very quick, very fast, and it suited rock radio. So Rick Sklar, who was running ABC radio, liked that a lot and wanted to keep me there. One of the things he did was early on Sunday morning after the overnight show ended and before they went into their religious programming, he got me a little disc jockey show from 3 to 5 in the morning on Sunday morning. They had to pay me for an overnight slot so I did pretty good financially. I had my little two hour disc jockey show in addition to doing the news. And then, occasionally, I got to fill in if they needed somebody. At 3 o'clock in the morning, I would start my little disc jockey show by saying, 'It's 3 a.m. in New York, primetime in American radio. Time for the Jim Perry Show.' I did that show from about 1970 to 1972."
"Even when I had the opportunity by seniority to go [to an earlier time slot], I preferred the overnight radio because to get their fill of the news to keep the FCC happy, they did a 5 minute newscast every half hour. There was a lot of work to do and I made it work, and I made it very successful because I realized that I had a very light voice and this was a rock radio station. I could sight read very well. I did the news very quick, very fast, and it suited rock radio. So Rick Sklar, who was running ABC radio, liked that a lot and wanted to keep me there. One of the things he did was early on Sunday morning after the overnight show ended and before they went into their religious programming, he got me a little disc jockey show from 3 to 5 in the morning on Sunday morning. They had to pay me for an overnight slot so I did pretty good financially. I had my little two hour disc jockey show in addition to doing the news. And then, occasionally, I got to fill in if they needed somebody. At 3 o'clock in the morning, I would start my little disc jockey show by saying, 'It's 3 a.m. in New York, primetime in American radio. Time for the Jim Perry Show.' I did that show from about 1970 to 1972."
It's no wonder Jim had fond memories of WABC. Here is a fantastic website called WABC Musicradio 77 that includes loads of pictures and memories to tell the full story of WABC radio. Check out the website by clicking here: https://www.musicradio77.com/index.html If you are a huge radio fan, you will enjoy this journey of a time when radio still ruled!
It's no wonder Jim had fond memories of WABC. Here is a fantastic website called WABC Musicradio 77 that includes loads of pictures and memories to tell the full story of WABC radio. Check out the website by clicking here: https://www.musicradio77.com/index.html If you are a huge radio fan, you will enjoy this journey of a time when radio still ruled!