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Chat-strong Armstron gTalk has kept him on Cleveland radio for 40 yearsBy KEN GOTTLIEB C-T Staff WriterCLEVELAND - About 25 years ago, when radio stations were beginning to abandon loosely structured programs and chatty announcers in favor of rigid formats, a radio executive came up to Tom Armstrong at a social get-together.“Your days are numbered, the executive told Armstrong, atthat time Cleveland’s most successful ehattv announcer.What’s more, Armstrong lias done it his way, holding on to his casual chatty style.He started at WGAR in 1944, when the station had two orchestras and 140 employees, and successfully made the transition to the post-television era, when stations might have 30 or 40 employees and stacks of records and tapes.Through it all, he has held on to his trademark, the human, personal touch.out), and says it won’t dictate his future plans anyway.“A number puts you in a pigeonhole, he argues. You reach a certain age, and all of a sudden say, ‘Oh my god, get the Serutan.'I’m going to stay in radio as long as I’m having fun. Hell, I may take Dorothy Fuldheim’s place.There have been times during the past 15 years when radio was not fun for Armstrong and he did consider retiring.V.UX; -^-U f• • . ....THE PAIRING of Tom Armstrong with the “Range Riders” became one ofCleveland’sroost successful radio shows.“Baloney! shot back Armstrong,His days may have been numbered, but the number turned out to be a lot larger than that radio executive figured.This month, the number reaches 40 - years, that is.ARMSTRONG, who just signed a two-year contract to continue as morning announcer on WBBG (1260 AM), celebrates his 40th anniversary in Cleveland radio this month.If that isn’t a record for longevity in one city, it has to be close.“Radio is the only entertainment medium in the world where you can be one on one, he says. “When I’m talking on radio. I’m talking to just one person.There are also a lot of people out there who are alone. If you wake up in the morning and you’re the only person who knows you’re alive, just call me up. Then at least there will be two people who know you’re alive HE REFUSES to give his exact age (though he admits “you can probably figure itIn 1982, he was doing his morning show at WJW when the station suddenly switched to a news-and-talk format, putting him out of a job.“I was so soured by the business at that time,” he says, “I figured maybe I’d retire or free-lance.But a chance meeting with WBBG owner Larry Robinson, who as a teenager interested in radio had once been given voice lessons by Armstrong, ended those thoughts and led to his current job.His station was starting to move, Armstrong says, “but ithad a very tight format. At first, I told him I couldn’t hack that format.BUT AFTER a compromise allowed Armstrong to inject some personality into his show, he decided to take the morning job.“1 feel a little cramped, but not to the point of frustration, he says. I can live with this situation if it’s successful.And successful it has been since Armstrong joined WBBG last April 4. Shortly after he arrived, the morning show went from ninth to third in the Arbitron ratings.That’s nothing new, though. Armstrong’s career has generally been a success story ever since he was graduated from the University of Michigan (the guess is around 1941) with a degree in psychology.During college, he had taken bit parts in radio shows like “The Green Hornet,” broadcast from nearby Detroit.Upon graduation, he set out for Hollywood, intent on a career as a radio actor. But jobs were few and far between.“I immediately started to starve” he recalls. “The J. Walter Thompson agency had free cigarettes in its waiting room, so I hung around there and smoked their cigarettes.IN 1942, he returned to his hometown of Sharon, Pa., and started work as a radio announcer at a local station. The following year, it was on toYoungstown for a similar job.Then in 1944, he got what proved to be his biggest break.“Around the first of the year, he says, I came up to Cleveland to visit a friend who worked at WGAR. We went to lunch, and the program director from the station happened to come along.“About a week later, I get a call. It’s the program director. He says, ’We’ve got an opening.’ ”Armstrong had to think over the offer because he still hoped to return to California. But eventually, he took the job, andI m going to stay is radio as long as I’m having fun. Hell, I may take Dorothy Fuldheim’splace.”“Theindus-try generally is not going the way I want, but I’m looking for a renaissance. I really believe my kind of thing will become faddish at some point.”/§%wTOMARMSTRONG(C-T photos by Gus Chan)inherited, among other things, an announcing spot on an unremarkable early evening western music show called “Range Riders.”Armstrong still marvels at what happened next.About 1946, that show really took off,” he say's. “It became the most popular show in Cleveland and just blew the market open. At one point, I think we had a 13 rating and our next nearest competitor had a one.”THE SUCCESS of “Range Riders established Armstrong in Cleveland, but it wasn’t unti the mid-1950s that he developec the type of program he is knowr for today.After the advent of televisior had forced changes in radio Armstrong got the morning disc jockey job at WGAR in 1954.In between teeords, he woulc chat about this and that, ofter bringing his engineer, A1 KieselTURN TO PAGE C-4
Newspaper Details
The Chronicle Telegram
Elyria, Ohio, US
Sun, Apr 01, 1984
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Nathan O.
OH, USA 12 Oct 2021
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