Ron Lundy
Encyclopedia
Fred Ronald "Ron" Lundy was a popular radio announcer
in New York City
from the early-1960s to his retirement from WCBS-FM in 1997. He became known as one of the country's best-liked and most listened-to midday radio personalities, with more than thirty years on the air in the nation's largest metropolitan area.
, the only child of Fred Sr., a railroad engineer, and Mary Lundy. He served in the United States Marine Corps
after graduating from high school
. Following the completion of his military stint, he returned to his hometown and attended a local radio broadcasting school on the G.I. Bill. At the same time, he worked across the street at WHHM-AM
, where he got his first on-air experience one night when he substituted for the regular disc jockey who failed to report for his shift. This resulted in Lundy being hired as a full-time radio announcer by Hodding Carter
for WDDT-AM, the latter's new station in Greenville, Mississippi
.
After a stop in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
at WLCS-AM, Lundy was brought to WIL-AM in St. Louis, Missouri
in 1960 by Dan Ingram
, who was the station's program director
until the middle of the next year. Nickname
d the "Wil' Child", Lundy had a style which was described as a combination of "country and crawfish
pie" by Bob Whitney, who also played a major role in the appointment.
Lundy was reunited with Ingram at WABC-AM
in 1965. He made his New York radio debut on September 1, working the overnight shift as "The Swingin' Nightwalker." Beginning in May 1966, he became the midday fixture at the station for the next sixteen years. With his catchphrase
"Hello, Love–this is Ron Lundy from the Greatest City in the World," he usually preceded Ingram's afternoon drive time
program, and sometimes when Ingram was running late to the studio, Lundy would keep going until Dan arrived, doing impressions of The Shadow
, where he would play Margo Lane
and Lamont Cranston. The two best friends hosted "The Last Show" before WABC's format
conversion from music to talk radio
at noon on May 10, 1982.
In February 1984, Lundy resurfaced at New York's oldies station WCBS-FM
in the mid-morning slot, following former WABC colleague Harry Harrison
. According to program director Joe McCoy, the station created the slot especially for Lundy, reducing other shifts from four hours to three.
In June, 1997, Lundy's WCBS-FM show was awarded the 1997 "BronzeWorld Medal" at the New York Festivals Radio Programming Awards for the "best local personality".
Lundy retired from WCBS-FM on September 18, 1997. Upon retiring from radio, Ron and his wife Shirley moved to the small town of Bruce, Mississippi
. However, during this time, Lundy did occasional interviews with Mark Simone
on The Saturday Night Oldies Show for his former station, WABC.
Lundy's voice
made two cameo appearance
s during his career. The first one was in an early scene in Midnight Cowboy
, when Joe Buck, hearing a Lundy WABC broadcast while listening to his portable radio
, realized that the bus
he was riding soon approached New York City. The other was in Starship
's 1985 hit "We Built This City
."
Lundy was inducted the St. Louis Hall Radio Hall of Fame on January 1, 2006, with a banquet held June 10, 2006.
at age 75 on March 15, 2010 in Oxford, Mississippi
. He had recently been recovering from a previous heart attack after being dehydrated.
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
from the early-1960s to his retirement from WCBS-FM in 1997. He became known as one of the country's best-liked and most listened-to midday radio personalities, with more than thirty years on the air in the nation's largest metropolitan area.
Career
Lundy was born June 25, 1934 in Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, the only child of Fred Sr., a railroad engineer, and Mary Lundy. He served in the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
after graduating from high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
. Following the completion of his military stint, he returned to his hometown and attended a local radio broadcasting school on the G.I. Bill. At the same time, he worked across the street at WHHM-AM
WLOK
WLOK is a radio station broadcasting a gospel music format. Licensed to Memphis, Tennessee, USA, the station is currently owned by WLOK Radio, Inc....
, where he got his first on-air experience one night when he substituted for the regular disc jockey who failed to report for his shift. This resulted in Lundy being hired as a full-time radio announcer by Hodding Carter
Hodding Carter
William Hodding Carter, II was a prominent Southern U.S. progressive journalist and author. Carter was born in Hammond, the largest community in Tangipahoa Parish, in southeastern Louisiana, to William Hodding Carter, I , and the former Irma Dutartre...
for WDDT-AM, the latter's new station in Greenville, Mississippi
Greenville, Mississippi
Greenville is a city in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 48,633 at the 2000 census, but according to the 2009 census bureau estimates, it has since declined to 42,764, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. It is the county seat of Washington...
.
After a stop in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
at WLCS-AM, Lundy was brought to WIL-AM in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
in 1960 by Dan Ingram
Dan Ingram
Daniel Trombley "Dan" Ingram is an American Top 40 radio disc jockey with a forty-year career on radio stations such as WABC and WCBS-FM in New York...
, who was the station's program director
Program director
In service industries, such as education, a program director or programme director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services...
until the middle of the next year. Nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
d the "Wil' Child", Lundy had a style which was described as a combination of "country and crawfish
Crayfish
Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads – members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea – are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...
pie" by Bob Whitney, who also played a major role in the appointment.
Lundy was reunited with Ingram at WABC-AM
WABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
in 1965. He made his New York radio debut on September 1, working the overnight shift as "The Swingin' Nightwalker." Beginning in May 1966, he became the midday fixture at the station for the next sixteen years. With his catchphrase
Catch phrase
A catchphrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...
"Hello, Love–this is Ron Lundy from the Greatest City in the World," he usually preceded Ingram's afternoon drive time
Drive time
Drive time is the daypart analog to prime time for radio broadcasting. It consists of the morning hours when listeners wake up, get ready, and/or head to work or school, and the afternoon hours when they are heading home and before their evening meal. These are the periods where the number of...
program, and sometimes when Ingram was running late to the studio, Lundy would keep going until Dan arrived, doing impressions of The Shadow
The Shadow
The Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in pulp magazines, then on 1930s radio and then in a wide variety of media, that follow the exploits of the title character, a crime-fighting vigilante in the pulps, which carried over to the airwaves as a "wealthy, young man about town"...
, where he would play Margo Lane
Margo Lane
Margo Lane is a fictional character in The Shadow stories. Margo is a friend and companion to Lamont Cranston, and spies for his alter ego, The Shadow, in the wealthy set. Her first appearance was in 1937 in the Shadow radio drama...
and Lamont Cranston. The two best friends hosted "The Last Show" before WABC's format
Radio format
A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
conversion from music to talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
at noon on May 10, 1982.
In February 1984, Lundy resurfaced at New York's oldies station WCBS-FM
WCBS-FM
WCBS-FM is a CBS-owned radio station in New York City. The station's studios are in the combined CBS Radio facility at 345 Hudson Street in Manhattan, and its transmitter is located on the Empire State Building....
in the mid-morning slot, following former WABC colleague Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison (radio)
Harry Harrison has been a popular American radio personality for over 50 years. Harrison is the only DJ to be a WMCA “Good Guy,” a WABC “All-American,” and on the WCBS-FM line-up when the New York station flipped to the “Jack” format in June, 2005.-WBEZ, Chicago, Illinois—1953:At age 23, Harrison...
. According to program director Joe McCoy, the station created the slot especially for Lundy, reducing other shifts from four hours to three.
In June, 1997, Lundy's WCBS-FM show was awarded the 1997 "BronzeWorld Medal" at the New York Festivals Radio Programming Awards for the "best local personality".
Lundy retired from WCBS-FM on September 18, 1997. Upon retiring from radio, Ron and his wife Shirley moved to the small town of Bruce, Mississippi
Bruce, Mississippi
Bruce is a town situated along the Skuna River in Calhoun County, Mississippi, United States.-Geography:Bruce is located at .-History:...
. However, during this time, Lundy did occasional interviews with Mark Simone
Mark Simone
Mark Simone is an American radio personality. Currently heard on WABC in New York, he also fills-in for ABC Radio hosts such as Don Imus, Mark Levin, and Sean Hannity.Simone occasionally appears on CNN, MSNBC and PBS....
on The Saturday Night Oldies Show for his former station, WABC.
Lundy's voice
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
made two cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s during his career. The first one was in an early scene in Midnight Cowboy
Midnight Cowboy
Midnight Cowboy is a 1969 American drama film based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. It was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and newcomer Jon Voight in the title role. Notable smaller roles are filled by Sylvia Miles, John...
, when Joe Buck, hearing a Lundy WABC broadcast while listening to his portable radio
Receiver (radio)
A radio receiver converts signals from a radio antenna to a usable form. It uses electronic filters to separate a wanted radio frequency signal from all other signals, the electronic amplifier increases the level suitable for further processing, and finally recovers the desired information through...
, realized that the bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
he was riding soon approached New York City. The other was in Starship
Jefferson Starship
Jefferson Starship is an American rock band formed in the early 1970s. The group is a spin-off from the iconic 1960s psychedelic/folk group Jefferson Airplane. The band has undergone several major changes in personnel and genres through the years while retaining the same Jefferson Starship name...
's 1985 hit "We Built This City
We Built This City
"We Built This City" is the title of a song written by Bernie Taupin, Martin Page, Dennis Lambert, and Peter Wolf, and originally recorded by the American pop rock group Starship and released as its debut single on August 1, 1985....
."
Lundy was inducted the St. Louis Hall Radio Hall of Fame on January 1, 2006, with a banquet held June 10, 2006.
Death
Lundy died of a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
at age 75 on March 15, 2010 in Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford is a city in, and the county seat of, Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1835, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract....
. He had recently been recovering from a previous heart attack after being dehydrated.
Characters
Lundy's show included banter with his created characters. Among them:- "Willard" (himself, imitating a duck that sounded a great deal like Donald DuckDonald DuckDonald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
) - "Mama" (voice of engineer Al Vertucci)
- "Bubba" (voice of production director Bob Sagendorf)