Jim Nettleton — A Broadcast Legend
When word reached all of us that Jim Nettleton had died today at the age of 69, memories of another era flashed through my mind. When I arrived in Philadelphia in 1966, Jim was one of the young deejays who started the Famous 56 radio revolution at WFIL Radio. In fact, when I arrived in the studios on that September day to begin my work in the news department , Jim was one of the first people I met.
By now , you know the legend: one of the famous Boss Jocks, a New York broadcaster, a manager on several fronts, but what you may not know is the awesome versatility of this amazing man. He did so many commercials, so many narrations in this town and across the country, that it would take months to find them all. He was a great broadcaster who made the listener always feel at home.
But what you also don’t know about him is the kind of man he was : gentle. inspiring and always reaching out to everyone. They called him Gentlemen Jim because he was just that. Jim never displayed the ego that is so famous among broadcasters. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to help someone out.
As a broadcaster in the field of hosting contemporary music, there was no equal in his era. As a man, there was no finer example of caring and concern for others.
Comments(41)
I think the only voice left from that WFIL era is george michael; doing sports on wrc-tv channel 4 in washington dc (last I heard).
diamond jim had a distinctive voice, as did john facenda and harry kalas…the voices are now a distant memory.
Larry, I think you missed your calling..
I’m still dead.
I am the walrus.
Larry, Hy Lit was a legend. Jim Nettleton was a friend of yours. WFIL and it’s Boss jocks was a joke. If people weren’t stuck in their cars with only AM radio at the time, WFIL would have gone Christian much sooner. With the advent of FM converters and newer cars equipped with AM/FM radios, the hand writing was on the wall.
All in all I must say that I’m sorry to hear that another friend of yours has passed. A Legend ……? I’m not so sure.
Very sorry to hear about Boss Jock Jim Nettleton. The sole benefit is a topic change.
It sounds like this fellow meant a lot to Larry.
But nobody knows who he is, at least no one
who uses computers. I think Larry wishes he
were more like this man as a person. He always
refers to the big egos in the buisness, as if
he was not one of them. News Flash: he was, he
is, he will be eulogized as such when his day
comes.
Rest in peace Jim Nettleton, you are more
important to Larry than William Safire, who was a
really Boss Journalist.
We should start using the term boss again in
Nettletons honor!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3KDmEvNmJ0
Seems appropriate.
This should be changed from “News Flashes” to Larry’s Obit Section. A little bit nostalgic; a little bit morose.
I don’t remember Jim Nettleton,R.I.P.
I remember listening to these guys as a 30 year old trying to pick up UD coeds. The boss was happening back then.
RIP Jim Nettleton an entire generation of DJs.
Coo coo ka choo.
I checked in to see what condition my condition was in…..(I love that line)
Your Friend, The Boss with the hot sauce……….. BTW Larry if I should die before I wake tell the lord my soul still shakes (rattles and rolls)……. be bop a loo
RIP Diamond Jim
I think the new Dodge Challenger is boss.
Obama is boss.
Michael Moore, who Lord Abott does not like,
beat the crap out of Sean Hannity on his own
show. Moore is intellectually superior to
Hannity, and thus Michael Moore is boss, at
least with regard to the financial crisis
and his understanding of its origins. He is
also a superior Catholic to Hannity, who wear
his Catholicism on the sleeve of his Hickey
Freeman suit.
Larry Kane is a boss blogger who is a good decent
man, but with the intelect of Sean Hannity with
a leftist bent. Larry needs to jack up his comcast
show, or shall I say Hannity it up a bit!
He’s dead Jim.
Gentleman are a rare breed these days, especially as reflected in some of the comments left on this blog.
In turning the other cheeck to blabbery and genuine bad manners which is a constant in any industry and rampant across the globe, it’s nice to have a commentator that reflects a solid sense of moral compass. That being said, many of the “old school” Broadcasters were (and still are) the weights and measures of how to conduct one’s behavior, akin to a role model. It isn’t the job of a Broadcaster to simply entertain the masses and become widely known, it’s a job for someone that is capable of sharing and caring about what is real and stimulating by being a facilitator or Master of Ceremonies of the airwaves.
While currently a Broadcasting job is much more competetive than ever before, the kind of Broadcasters that once graced the airwaves during the last Century is in danger of being extinct. Who will be considered for a sympathetic eulogy within the the next decades to follow? Howard Stern?
Jim Nettleton, Joe Niagra, and Hy Lit and even the lively Jerry Blavat(who’s still alive and being the “Geater”) were not in the same time frame or business league as a successful Broadcaster like Howard Stern but they were good at what they did just like today’s “Shock Jock’s.”
Bill Wright will be cannonized in the Philadelphia Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame come this November. He’s being inducted for a good reason. The important thing is that fellow Broadcasters who are kindered spirits tip their hats to each other for setting the mark and inspiration for their industry. The Eulogies are meant for people who can appreciate what quality Broadcasting sounds like and for those folks who tuned in and never tuned out.
Thank you Larry, for taking the time to say “Thanks for the memories.” Your written words and your dedicated and inspiring work has not gone unnoticed!
There will always remain a voice and a light no matter how big or small that will throw up their hand with a pointed finger and mouth the words, “…and we’re on!” for the sheer love and loss of the Broadcasting Industry.
Benna Lit, M.ed
Writer
Mother
Listener
Beam me up Scotty there’s no intelligent life down here.
Including “Captian” Kirk. You can be beamed into the universe, preferably Uranius.
Waiting for the 7:01. We have 5 things to be thankful for today. First, the Phils got their groove back on yesterday and pummeled the Rockies. Second, ‘John Fisher’ has moved on to another website. God bless you ‘John’ whether you were an 80 year old computer literate or a 26 year old Penn coed. Third, Healthcare bill is splintered and stuck in committees. The longer the bill does not see the light of day the better. Fourth, Larry’s nostalgic look at boss DJs will end on Sunday. Finally, the Eagles play again this week. Sunday is not the same without Fat Andy and Donovan.
Biden/Palin in 2012! The US becomes the land of milk and roses.
Sent Via Blackberry by Verizon
Benna, come down off your high horse and join the rest of us who live in the real world. I suppose your father was Hy so you probably have a biased view of disc jockies. As for our comments; I’ve read them and I don’t find any that over step the bounds of proper decorum.
When Howard Stern dies I will of course bury him for taking the money over remaining true to his loyal listeners. Comparing him to the Boss jocks of old is simply ridiculous. The old jocks played music for 50 minutes out of an hour. Howard Stern talks for 4 hours straight with some commercial interruptions. Nobody could do what Howard did. Sure there are the Big Talker folks on 1210 but none of them come close to keeping you entertained. All they do is tell you the sky is falling or some one is failing.
I told Larry before that I lament the fact that years from now we will be eulogizing the likes of Howard Eskin and Mike Smerkonish along with Angelo Cataldi. Not really any one I will miss a great deal (sorry fellas). When we lost Harry Kalas you could literally feel the lose of treasured Philadelphia icon. As For Diamond Jim: he’s been eulogized enough already. Let him go softly (no cowbells, whistles, or echo chambers) into the great AM radio abyss in the sky.
Has it been seven hours already since I first checked in today? No response from Mz Lit or Larry. What’s up with that? Could it be that the truth is mightier then the hype? The hype of course being Larry’s infatuation with Diamond Jim. Diamond Jim…….. a man I’ve neither heard or heard of. All of the sudden it’s become Larry and Benna’s crusade to acknowledge the Boss Jocks of the 50′s and 60′s. Please…….give me a break. Those guys knew what they were. Hy Lit was doing club dances well into the 90′s. You wanna make a buck? Go where the buck can be made. And that was local bars.
Aye, I’m givin’ her all she’s got. She canno’ take no more!
Beena, sounds like you smoke a lot of weed and
have an exaggerated idea of what a radio disc jokey
offers society.
What you’re missing, is that all of these so called boss
jocks were making a nice pay check while their
lees fortunate peers were dying in Viet Nam, many
of them were certified draft dodgers.
Eight US service men were just killed in Afganstan,
where are their obituries? Instead Larry kane
pays homage to some AM DJ from 30+ years ago.
It’s Larry’s site so he can write what he wants,
and I appreciate him letting us write what we
want. I respectfully ask that Larry think more
about what he writes so as to raise all of us up.
Waiting for the 7:01. TGIF! Another week bites the dust. Another week without government run healthcare. Another week with Barack quietly plotting behind the scenes with his cabal. He must be in VT or NH viewing the foilage this weekend with the family. No pressing needs here in DC. Not.
I’ve never been a big fan of the military. I went to law scholl in the 60′s to avoid the draft and Vietnam. I real don’t like the whole idea of the US imposing it’s will on smaller countries. Sure I jumped on the Iraq band wagon for fear of appearing unamerican. I’ve had my share of photo opps with soldiers. I’m not sure why we are in Afghanistan. I do not playing politics with our soldiers lives. Barack is doing that now. By “re-evaluating our mission in Afghanistan” and delaying a response to Gen McCrystal on more troops he is clearly putting his own political reputation and agenda ahead of the safety of the troops. I for one don’t like it. Be a man Barack. You don’t have to please Michelle with every decision.
Biden/Palin in 2012! No troops outside the US in 2013.
Sent Via Blackberry by Verizon
mmmm…..mmmmm…..mmmmm…..barack hussein obama,mmmm……mmmmm……mmmmm…barack hussein obama
mmmm mmmm good Campbell Soup is mmmm mmmm good.
All I could say when I heard that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize was Dynamite!!!!
All I could say when I heard that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prze was WOW!
All I could say when I heard that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize was Jumpen Gee Hoseafat!!!!!!
All I could say when I heard Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize was,how ?
Or maybe why ?
Obama did’t ask for it. I blame the people
who granted it to him. Apparently names were
submitted two weeks after he was smorn in,
so it does not even reflect his first nine
months on the job. Crazy, right?
Obama deserves a Nobel Prize even less than Al Gore and that is really saying something. It is a complete joke.
On my way the Maggies for my heart attack breakfast. At least that’s what Jill calls it. Women.
I have to admit that very little has surprised me since the Iowa Caucuses but yesterday floored me. Kind of like the day Barack asked me to run with him. Now that REALLY surprised me. Barack receiving Nobel Peace Prize for what exactly? Ending war in Iraq? Ending war in Afghanistan? Successfully resolving tensions with Iran or North Korea on nukes? Settling the Mid East crisis in Jerusalem? Maybe I’m too close to these crises to see the forest from the trees. Please help me here.
All I know is that he’s given away trillions of dollars in bank/car bailouts and stimulus projects while unemployment continues to rise and there is no recovery in sight. I know that he wants to implement a government run healthcare system that no one wants. I know he wants us all to be driving a Prius.
Nobel freaking Peace Prize? Are you kidding me? When is this fraud going to be exposed for the bumbling incompetent that he is? What ever happened to full transparency? I guess it does not apply when we are speaking about Barack.
Biden/Palin in 2012! It just doesn’t get more transparent than us.
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FF good point about Al Gore. What has he ever done for this country except spend too many years in the Senate and 4 years as Bill Clinton’s sidekick? Wait that sounds too much like someone I know.
Biden/Palin in 2012! No Ed McMahons in this White House.
Sent Via Blackberry by Verizon
Better that the world throw prizes instead of shoes at our presidents.
I’m also still dead.
Nobel Peace Prize should be viewed as a surprize, not a prize. They will do anything to try to prop up this lame duck president.
My “Noble Piece” is awarded to Sarah Palin
Is this part of the new socialistic society philosophy that everyone gets a trophy? Truly outstanding performers are sent to gulags.
I needed corny one-liners and goofy sound effects to be noticed. Diamond Jim just had the voice and personality.