December 27, 2019

"In the more printable Imus lexicon, Dick Cheney was 'a war criminal,' Hillary Rodham Clinton was 'Satan,' Oprah Winfrey 'a fat phony,' Newt Gingrich 'a man who would eat roadkill'..."

"Ted Kennedy 'a fat slob,' Steve Forbes 'a meanspirited creep,' Dan Rather 'a loony,' Rush Limbaugh 'a drug-addled gas bag.' Many listeners detected the toxins of Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Mort Sahl or Groucho Marx.... He was sued for defamation, denounced, ridiculed, shunned, hated and feared... After years on the edge of acceptable standards, however, Mr. Imus evidently went too far on April 4, 2007, when, in his trademark drawl, he referred to the Rutgers University women’s basketball team, which had reached the N.C.A.A. finals and was composed mainly of African-Americans, as 'rough girls' and 'nappy-headed hos.'... In 1996, at the correspondents’ dinner in Washington, he insulted President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, who were there, and later referred to it as 'The Speech From Hell.'"

From "Don Imus, Radio Host Who Pushed Boundaries, Dies at 79/On the air, he was an irascible, confrontational growler who led pranks and parodies that could be tasteless, obscene and sometimes racist, sexist or homophobic" (NYT).

Goodbye to Imus!

Here's that "Speech from Hell":



ADDED: "The toxins of Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Mort Sahl or Groucho Marx"?! Those guys were all geniuses. We were blessed to have them in our midst. How did the word "toxins" get in there?

113 comments:

BUMBLE BEE said...

He introduced me to Delbert McClinton and Mike Farris. He's OK with me!

BUMBLE BEE said...

And ... he was mostly right.

FullMoon said...

Didn't realize he was that old. Saw him a couple of times on TV, not real familiar beyond the big BS nappy headed ho lynching. Surprised me as the phrase seemed common here in San Francisco bay area among teens of all colors and used more in humor than insult.

Gunner said...

He looked 79 twenty years ago when MSNBC was dependent on him for ratings! Today he seems like an intellectual giant compared to ScarJo and Mika.

gspencer said...

Hmmmm, I agree with most of his assessments.

The Bergall said...

He was very funny. The time he ordered 1200 hamburgers over the phone was priceless.

robother said...

If Groucho, Carlin and Lenny Bruce are toxic, I don't wanna be clean.

Tank said...

I was listening live when the Rutgers thing happened (I lived just outside NY, in NJ, and went to Rutgers Law) and even I thought, "Whoa that's uncalled for."

It was kind of a rough looking team, but really, there was no reason to go after them, no story associated with any bad acts by them.

Overall his show was reliably pretty good, it got too careful and "woke" after the Rutgers thing. He was an excellent interviewer. Along the way, years and years ago, I heard a guy named Trump on Imus saying just the kind of things he says now.

YoungHegelian said...

I was never really a fan of any of the shock jocks that flourished in the 80s & 90s. In retrospect, however, they were by modern standards, amazingly bipartisan in their venom spewing.

Think about it: was Imus a liberal or a conservative? An argument could be made either way.

Narr said...

Skipping other comments to say it's simple: We can Be Nice or We can Be Toxic in this binary universe.

Narr
Not his biggest fan, but . . .

dreams said...

Yeah, I liked him too.

rhhardin said...

The nappy headed ho' thing was completely appropriate. They were talking about how the Rutgers girls won games by trash-talking and bullying their opponents - some nappy headed ho's.

In fact it was nothing. Even Dick Cavett came on a few times and said so, and Imus always shut him up. Imus turned into a PC wimp, and began to love victims, which more or less ruined the show. Old fans kept listening to see if he'd get over it but it was all crap after that.

How did it happen - easy. Hillary and Obama were both running for the nomination and Imus put Obama on but wouldn't put Hillary on. That put Obama way ahead - Imus was the interview you had to do in those days. On Tuesday, one day before nappy, Trump (!), a friend of Hillary, called Bernie McGuirk, Imus's producer, to ask if it wouldn't be possible, as a favor to him, to put Hillary on. No way, was the answer.

Trump called Hillary and told her, and the next morning Media Matters was on the case, to pounce on the first thing Imus said and make it a scandal. The rest is history. The first use of the cancel culture.

I have it all on the HD in audio.

So thank Imus for the cancel culture, the gambit that was found to work.

Lurker21 said...

He was right about all of them. But they could say a few things about him that would be equally damning. His show involved him taking as many insults as he gave, if not more.

stevew said...

I worked at a college radio station in the mid to late 70's. Imus was a god to us: hugely successful, irreverent and controversial, and fabulously well paid. Over the years I loved how he attacked the political and social sacred cows, especially that POS Ted Kennedy. If you couldn't laugh at "Which doesn't belong and why?" then you just can't laugh.

Don Imus, RIP (haha, just kidding).

rehajm said...

My mom used to listen when he was on Just NY radio. He was kind of the standard for what a morning radio personality was.

Quack quack!

rhhardin said...

I listen to Imus every morning. He comes on at 5am (Eastern) from the HD, when the computer plays a random show from 2007-2018 where Imus is present (he's frequently off for the day). Keeps the familiar sound in the house, and everything else these days sucks at that hour.

The log for this morning's random show reads
08 01 21 06:09 rev gomes website
08 01 21 06:14 just one more cow play
08 01 21 06:24 karith foster on mlk
08 01 21 06:35 sister louise patterson
08 01 21 07:11 nance one more cow reprise
08 01 21 07:25 tony powell on mlk
08 01 21 07:38 mlk speech
08 01 21 08:12 nance one more cow reprise
08 01 21 08:33 peter gomes
08 01 21 09:10 nance one more cow
08 01 21 09:35 mlk speech

a little too PC for me but a lot of the shows were. Imus plays the full MLK speech every year (twice) as punishment for his listeners.

Virtue signalling.

rhhardin said...

This is a major blow for Imus's doctors.

Browndog said...

I was watching that morning of 'nappy headed hos'. I didn't know what nappy headed was, but Imus was commenting on how rough and gangsta the girls looked, with a grin.

I was shocked it turned into a big deal.

First victim of the cancel culture, I believe.

iowan2 said...

nappy headed hos.

Browndog said...

Imus sold a lot of books for aspiring authors. He put Larry King to shame.

rhhardin said...

Crossword puzzle

10 down

Imus, 4 letters beginning and ending with D.

Jay Vogt said...

I hope for the best for his soul and have genuine sadness for his family and friends.

But, being a curmudgeon is only interesting for about the first twenty minutes. After that, it's mostly boring.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Bumble Bee He introduced me to Delbert McClinton and Mike Farris

Me too!!!

Two of my favorites. If you like those, you might like Nathanial Rateliff and the Night Sweats

rhhardin said...

Imus's thing, after nappy, was being tyrannical and terrorizing the regular staff. People liked to listen to that. It was like their own boss.

Hugely unfair and uncalled-for decisions were made often enough the keep the reign of terror current.

He had flaws too, though. He was no good at lying - he'd correct lies that he immediately realized conflicted with other lies. The lie territory gradually expanded, which wasn't good radio.

Except he really did love helping victims. Finding victims was his thing. Dead children were a favorite.

rhhardin said...

Lou Ruffino was the actual star of the show. People wait for a spontaneous imitation of this or that celebrity to fit the remarks being made about them. Lou had a pitch-perfect ear, and knew what to say.

tcrosse said...

Sound the tocsin.

rhhardin said...

Sid Rosenberg was the designated person picked on by Imus. Sid always said the improper thing, disrespecting Imus, at the right time; and got punished for it. Part of Imus's unfairness shtick.

Curiously, Sid isn't much good on his own. He needs a dangerous authority to play against at great personal risk, but that was perfect.

Spiros said...

Oh my God, they're still roasting the same bastards at these shin-digs. John Kerry and Teresa Heinz!!! Jeezus, they've been around forever. It was hilarious when Ms. Heinz-Kerry refused to make her tax returns public. The press treated her as if she was totally above suspicion. She had an unquestionably blameless past!!! Not so for Melania who was accused of "working by the hour."

Michael K said...

I listened to him a lot and was shocked when he endorsed Kerry in 2004. I think I heard the nappy headed hos thing.

Browndog said...

The Imus Ranch is an authentic working cattle ranch nestled beneath a majestic mesa in the rolling hills near Ribera, New Mexico, fifty miles northeast of Santa Fe.

Founded by Don Imus and Deirdre Imus in 1998, the ranch was conceived and designed with the sole purpose of providing the experience of the great American cowboy to children suffering from cancer or serious blood disorders, and children who’ve lost brothers and sisters to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Our objectives are to encourage in them a sense of achievement, responsibility and self-esteem, and to instill pride and restore their dignity as they become aware of just how much they are able to accomplish.


More at the link.



Michael K said...

He was probably at the ranch for Christmas. Too bad.

rhhardin said...

Bernie McGuirk was the rebellious but always agreeing with Imus when corrected guy. The office toady play.

It's everybody's workplace.

Playing the asshole boss for years.

rhhardin said...

Imus had Trump on maybe fifty times for interviews. They used to hang out at sports events. Imus said Trump had a Don Rickles sense of humor and was hugely funny.

Imus turned on Trump when Trump went after McCain's hero shtick. Imus sucks up to lots of people but nobody more than McCain.

So Imus is on the wrong side of that one, something you get used to. He's not very rebellious in important matters.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I cannot stand seeing the big mouth smiles on those two crooks. ugh.
make them go away.

n.n said...

First victim of the cancel culture, I believe.

Functional progress and liberalization of abortion culture. Same religion. Same punishment. Different techniques.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Dust Bunny Queen... Very much indeed! those folks are FOR REAL. Thanks.

Bob Boyd said...

What's wrong with eating road kill?

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

not to ignore Imus

... but here's a host who's an ignoramus:

Maddow Meltdown: In Defense To OAN Lawsuit, Host Argues Her Words Are Not Facts

https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/maddow-meltdown-defense-oan-lawsuit-host-argues-her-words-are-not-facts

rhhardin said...

There's aren't my notes refers to the Hillary missing records, then current controversy.

Bob Boyd said...

For a truly rare delicacy you can't beat road killed herring.

rhhardin said...

Charles McCord collaborated in writing the speech.

n.n said...

maddow-meltdown-defense-oan-lawsuit-host-argues-her-words-are-not-facts

That claim deserves three straw clowns. She, in fact, speaks truth to facts.

Rabel said...

Sorry he died. Never saw the humor in his act myself.

Wince said...

...he was an irascible, confrontational growler who led pranks and parodies that could be tasteless, obscene and sometimes racist, sexist or homophobic"

Doesn’t mean he wasn’t funny, or prove that he was mean.

William said...

I remember when he was l'enfant terrible of radio back in the early seventies. He was literate and smart, but he didn't let on in the early days. In those days, he joked about things that no other dj would go near, but, in NYC anyway, you can joke about horny preachers without the world falling apart....His last wife got him into health foods and a vegan diet. I guess the plan to live forever fell apart. Still, considering his many years of wretched excess, he lived a respectable span. I'm about his age. I associate him more with my youth than his later years. His death makes me feel vulnerable.....I wonder how he'll be remembered. Does that nappy ho remark make any kind of fond remembrance problematic?

Bay Area Guy said...

Yeah, I used to love Imus about 20 years ago. He was funny and irascible. When flustered during argument, he'd call his sidekick, McGuirk, a "bald-headed Nazi". I thought, this guy does not play by the ordinary PC rules.

But he was neutered after the "Nappy Headed Ho" remarks.

RIP, Imus.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Shit! Gotta retire my IMUS BROTHERS coffee mug now! Was good stuff too.

DavidUW said...

Not my style, but guess what, I can change the radio rather than waste time demanding he gets fired.

Ambrose said...

He apologized for the Rutgers remarks and returned to the air for several more years before retiring. His apology was actually a lesson on how to do. No excuses, no "if I offended anyone" - just I was wrong, it was all my fault and I am sorry.

Smerdyakov said...

He was an iconoclast.
He once admitted that Bernard was on the show to do nigger jokes, although Bernard did a lot of other bits. They were funny, but they were the kind of things that you felt guilty when laughing at.It finally caught up to him.
He was different when he came back after getting fired for that.More arrogant. I remember him telling his crew that they were interchangeable pieces. He was the only one that mattered. It was true, but not great radio.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Think about it: was Imus a liberal or a conservative? An argument could be made either way.

Ah. Well, that was back in those days before the right started dividing America and demanding, "Choose sides!" Before Newt made "contracts" and Grover got politicians to sign tax pledges ensuring any independent-minded congressman's destruction.

I guess that whole skit seems pretty tame by today's standards... but the Reagan years dulled the American mind and prompted a saucy backlash that eventually begat "raunch" culture. Americans aren't as boring as the Reagans wanted us to be. But in the meantime it made for a beltway brand of comedy that really was harsher than we were used to.

I thought his comment about the basketball team was hilarious at first, because I was innocent about the meaning of a word I hadn't heard and whose racial history I was unaware of. But unlike the crazy conservatives here, I don't have this self-righteous need to pretend that my ignorance about a racial problem means that I should promote, celebrate and defend such a thing.

Shouting Thomas said...

Imus spoke to the heart of the NYC commuter, stuck in his car with assholes all around him, honking and using their cars as weapons.

As you drove into the city to deal with the usual assholes in the workplace, Imus voiced your cynicism and sense of humor about the whole pile of shit.

NYC is equally a glamorous Oz and a pitiful pile of human shit and garbage, and Imus conveyed that brilliantly.

He had great taste in music. He interviewed quite a few of my musician friends.

Shouting Thomas said...

And Ritmo,

Fuck you, the joke was funny.

They were, and still are, nappy headed ho’s.

narciso said...

He was a jackass, but wernt they all neil rogers was a local one in my neck of the neighborhood.

traditionalguy said...

Trump was probably a listener.He had to learn branding his opponents with visible querks somewhere. Trump has mastered that Imus humor which Scot adams loves to explain that thereafter every time that opponent shows up the branding is effective.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

And Ritmo,

Fuck you, the joke was funny.

They were, and still are, nappy headed ho’s.


I suggest you go tell that to them, tough guy.

I mean, they're as sensitive about that as you are whiny about being a bitchy old white fart. But they're tougher than you and will kick your wrinkled old ass.

Now, THAT'S funny!

Anyways, you have about as much charm and ability to attract people to you as a port-a-potty. MYRNA!!!

Shouting Thomas said...

When Imus demanded that Robbie Robertson explain why he fucked over his lifetime mates in The Band, he won me over.

Shouting Thomas said...

Ritmo, you dumb fuck, did you know that you have a competitor for dumbest fuck commenting here?

There’s a guy named Howard who’s almost a dead ringer for you, right down to all the fakery. He’s so fucking stupid that I thought he was your new persona, since you create a new one every year or so.

It’s a tough call who’s stupider. You’re a standout in that regard.

William said...

That one remark was a casual comment at six in the morning. It was not part of a skit or a planned takedown of the Rutgers female basketball squad. I'm sure the remark was forgotten two seconds after he said it, but then the long knives came out.... Imus had a history of saying far more offensive things against far more sacred cows than the Rutgers female basketball team. He never knew what hit him.....He had a long career. I wonder if this is what he'll be remembered for....As I remember, a lot of pols and writers would come on his show and try to appear human. Nearly all deserted him after that remark. I forget: did McCain stand by him? If so, that would explain a lot.....For the record, I don't think anyone deserves to be remembered solely for one bad joke they made at six in the morning.

narciso said...

You expect sensitivity from a shock jock quelle surprise.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

When I walk by port-a-johns, I think, if shouty's personality had an odor, this is what it would smell like.

I remember when shouty would stalk the Lawyers Guns and Money blog and creep out women who were told about how he, a guy who must have been at least in his sixties by then, would scream at random young women on the street. Apparently for attention.

They all commented about how gross and creepy he was. Is.

Automatic_Wing said...

It wasn't the ho's part that got him in trouble, it was the nappy headed part. Calling a woman a whore is one thing, but ridiculing her hair is going over the line!

Shouting Thomas said...

You’re unintentionally winning the “Who’s the Stupidest Fuck to Ever Comment Here?” Ritmo.

You’re at your dead stupidest when you think you’re drawing blood.

I expect you to now go nuclear stupid. You’re an ace at that.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Sorry, read no comments.


Damn. Seriously, damn.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

It wasn't the ho's part that got him in trouble, it was the nappy headed part. Calling a woman a whore is one thing, but ridiculing her hair is going over the line!

On plantations the darker color and kinkier hair made a slave less likely to gain the favor of the master and more likely to be treated worse. Much worse. But I know, only your history is important - not theirs. They serve no other purpose than to be ridiculed by superiors like yourself!

Shouting Thomas said...

One of the oddest parts of the music biz, I discovered, is that you can have negative fans. Fans who know, or think they know, everything about you and that they are uniquely qualified to terrorize you.

“The King of Comedy,” was about such a fan. Rupert Pupkin.

Ritmo is my Rupert Pupkin.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

You’re unintentionally winning the “Who’s the Stupidest Fuck to Ever Comment Here?” Ritmo.

You’re at your dead stupidest when you think you’re drawing blood.

I expect you to now go nuclear stupid. You’re an ace at that.



<---- Check it out. A guy in his seventies who screams at random fertile young women wrote that.

And he'll write tons more like that all through the night. Because everyone else is the one with the problem and the sense of inferiority. Obviously.

JAORE said...

The Nappy-gate thing was an eye opener for me. The basketball players had just won a National Championship over other highly trained athletes. They were warrior women. But the comment by Imus ruined it all.

BS on steroids. They pivoted from champions to victims? BS.

What should have happened is the team should have challenged Imus and any other four, wrinkled old men to meat them on a basketball court where they would promise to kick their asses.

But that would have been forgotten in short order. The Hillary comment makes perfect sense in this comment.

Imus didn't cancel himself!

First time I saw the horrifying power of victim-hood.

Shouting Thomas said...

It’s flattering, Ritmo, that you are so obsessed with my life.

As well you should be.

My very own little Rupert Pupkin! What an honor!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

One of the oddest parts of the music biz, I discovered, is that you can have negative fans. Fans who know, or think they know, everything about you and that they are uniquely qualified to terrorize you.

Oh, I'm sure you're a deep, complex guy. You contain multitudes. Right.

The thing is, everyone knows all there is worth knowing about you. That you have a chip on your shoulder the size of a triple bypass. And there's huge, weird racial and sexual shit all tied up in it. And the fact that this is what you carry around with you all day long... not as a younger guy who has things to learn, but as an old cretin in HIS SEVENTIES.

A guy who's even written about shitting his own pants after old-people medical problem procedures. In the car.

Come on, man. If you can't grow up, then at least stop pretending that everyone else is your problem.

Original Mike said...

"Didn't realize he was that old."

I'm surprised he's that young.

Shouting Thomas said...

You cold go on like this all night, my little Rupert Pupkin.

In fact, you probably will.

You do almost every night, don’t you?

I’ll check back in a few hours to see if you’ve found anything to occupy yourself.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Shouty's been triggered, everyone.

Did you need a trigger warning, snowflake? ;-)

You're so authoritative what with your whole easily triggered rage and whatnot. Very flattering look for the soon-to-die old white man crowd. You must think you're very powerful.

Like a peacock having a hissy fit, I tell you.

He's all yours, Althouse blog. A credit to his race. Or whatever it is he thinks is so important. ;-)

Enjoy.

traditionalguy said...

Just heard that Imus was all Manhattan radio at first. He had to paint word picture brands on whomever he was going after. And Donald Trump was a regular guest on the Imus show.

Limited blogger said...

I don't care if it rains or freezes

Long as I got my plastic Jesus

Riding on the dashboard of my car

Narr said...

Wait, there are cows more sacred than nappy-headed female roundball players?

In 2019 America?

Narr
Go wash yo mouf out

mockturtle said...

The world will survive without him.

Clyde said...

Interesting video clip. Almost all of the people in that room have been put out to pasture, except for Biden and the Clintons and George Clooney, and other than Biden, none of the latter have done anything in the last few years anyway.

Michael K said...

Does that nappy ho remark make any kind of fond remembrance problematic?

Nope. That was a hit job, probably by Al Sharpton. Imus was great. Not everything was a hit but he was funny and irreverent.

Now all we have is SJWs and haters like Ritmo.

Iman said...

Had a comedy album of his back in the mid-70s. THAT was funny. My early morning commute was made enjoyable by his radio show in the 90s. A very acerbic, funny, take no prisoners fellow. So many fond memories of Imus, Charles and Bernie. The mornings when he’d have Corky Laing from Mountain, or Levon Helm and Rick Danko of the Band on - the last two drunk and flyin’ on 11 different herbs and spices after being out on the town all night were freakin’ hilarious.

The Iman will be missed!

Ken B said...

I barely noticed him. Every now and then I guess. At least he was a free speecher.

Openidname said...

Lenny Bruce *was* toxic. Maybe a genius, I dunno, but if so, a toxic genius. He gave our language the first hard shove down the slippery slope into 24/7 profanity.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

wonder what Howard Stern's comments will be now

Scott said...

I've listened to Imus on and off since moving to New Jersey two decades ago. He had is retinue of Ed McMahons guffawing at anything Imus said. But all-in-all he wasn't that funny.

One memorable Imus moment I heard was his interview in October 2009 with Chris Christie. Imus asked Christie how much he weighed. Christie responded, "550 pounds," and then ripped Gov Jon Corzine a new asshole about the nasty insinuations he was making. Christie was brilliant. His response was a big factor in his winning the election.

rcocean said...

Imus - unlike Stern - could be very funny or not PC. I would watch him on MSNBC 15 years ago, sometimes tape the show and FF through all the boring crap. I remember the Nappy Hoes, thing, but people forget Imus was perfectly willing to pile on anyone the Establishment said was racist/sexist/homophobe. He was a "rebel" but a safe one, which is why all the DC types loved his show and went on.

With the right guest he could be hilarious, and like Falstaff was source of humor for others. He had a back and forth with Glenn Beck which was funny since the two just talked about radio, their careers and traded insults instead of talking current events.

rcocean said...

Here's something from an Althouse Post from 2007, an extract from a news story on the "Hoes":

26-year-old Ryan Chiachiere wasn't a fan, and he wasn't tuning in to be entertained. Chiachiere is one of a handful of young activists who spend their days wading through hours of radio and cable shows for Media Matters for America, a liberal group whose sole purpose is rooting out and "correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media." Wired on coffee, Chiachiere was watching a recording of Imus's show when he noticed the "hos" remark.

stephen cooper said...

not long ago, Harold Stern's minions fed him some lines about how Imus had lost his "timbre" --- the mocking crowd at the Stern show spent about 20 minutes mocking old DJs who had "lost their timbre", and gleefully and cruelly running short tape segments of times when older DJs sounded really really old on the radio ....
I think Harold and his creepy crew were riffing on a speech that Imus made at the banquet when WPLJ shut down.
In his defense, Harold, who does yeoman work for animals, threw in a little self-deprecating humor, saying he wondered how long before he would lose his timbre too
(when an old person loses their timbre, it is because they have some sort of age-related illness affecting their throat and their speech, and they sound like they are croaking out their words - it is the end of the career for anyone on radio, and it is not an easy thing to bear for someone who has spent his or her life speaking on the radio)

Now you might think how mean it was of Harold to make fun of Imus and other older DJs who had lost their "timbre", and you would be right, they never deny that they rejoice in meanness and nastiness .... but here is the thing ....

it does take a certain sort of courage to be a fairly old radio personality, like Harold, who is in his 6th or 7th decade already, depending on how you count (and on January 1, 2020 it will be at least the eight decade for any one born in 1959 or before) and to be that old and to spend 20 minutes or so viciously mocking people who are just 5 or 10 years older than yourself for being old (that kind of vicious mocking does take a certain type of courage, not a type of courage I would wish on my worst enemy, but still let's call a spade a spade).

Anyway, I hope Imus died at peace with the Lord, I hope you hope the same for him too.

rcocean said...

One great thing about this blog is you can go instantly back to 2007 and relieve the whole "Nappy Hoes Imus is fired by CBS" controversy. And you can go on Youtube and see IMUS in all glory in 2007. And yes, he didn't age a day in 13 years. He looked 79 back then too. I even went back and read a comment I made back then. And my opinion of Dick Cavett hasn't changed.

rcocean said...

No one has replaced IMUS. He was the last of his kind. I don't see any new Limbaugh's on the horizon either.

rcocean said...

The NYT obit surprised me, I don't know why. The man was on the air for 45 years, and the amount of space devoted to attacking him for being a "racist, sexist, homophobe" and the nappy hoes seems obscene. I guess the NYT's doesn't see the difference between a Hit piece profile and an Obituary.

Automatic_Wing said...

Who the fuck is Harold Stern. Lol.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

good question.

Iman said...

Harold Stern is Howard’s crazy uncle who has a drive time show on KISS-FM...

rightguy said...

Don Imus was both funny and smart- very well read. And he had a great voice with timing and inflection that made his put-downs/insults really zing. Great musical guests like John Hiatt & Hayes Carl.


And yeah, he definitely got neutered after the NH-Hos' thing.

Marcus Bressler said...

Imus and his crew had moments of brilliance. But one thing puzzled me: he still had McGurk doing Dick Nixon decades, I mean decades after Nixon was dead. Half of Imus' listeners probably didn't know who Nixon was.

THEOLDMAN

Neil Rogers in South Florida was similar and my brother, the gentile schnorrer, idealized him.

gspencer said...

I never understood why Imus got such flack for correctly identifying a bunch of nappy-headed hos as a bunch of nappy-headed hos.

narciso said...

One time neils station was involved in a local race where it supported the entrenched establishment against the reformist slot, it was so rough they almost called in jimmy carter.

Josephbleau said...

Now Dick Cheney is only the Lesser Shaitan.

TJM said...

Well at least Don was an equal opportunity labeler, unlike the current crop of tv and radio "hosts"

Quaestor said...

I'm surprised he was as younger as 79. I recall watching his studio video feed... there sat was this withered-looking hipster in a cowboy hat with an O2 bridle under his nose mumbling aimlessly into a top-of-the-line Sennheiser microphone, and that was 12 or 13 years back. Even then he had that knock-knock-knockin' on Heaven's door look.

William said...

I listened to him, off and on, for a number of years. I don't know what kind of impact or influence he had on my life, but he was a part of it for awhile. There are many more renowned and esteemed celebrities on planet earth, but they were never part of my life...I don't know what to make of his passing. Given his excesses, he probably lived a bit longer than he deserved. I'm sure that a number of people in his immediate orbit had, at times, regret about being in his immediate orbit, but he supplied value for your time. He was occasionally malicious, but he was never stupid and sometimes he was spot on. I suspect that being in his listening audience was the ideal distance to while in a relationship with Imus. Me and Imus had an idyllic relationship. I was sorry to hear of his passing. There's a good chance he did far more good than harm on his fool's errand, but who knows how God keeps the books.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

...haters like Ritmo.

Michael K. fondly remembers the good old days when you could insult a black lady's racial features and no one would care.

mccullough said...

The Swamp Shock Jock. Thought he died years ago.

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Sprezzatura said...

Was his “charity ranch” a scam that let him jabber about “helping” a small number of kids so he could raise dough to pay for his house?

Stern said so. Often.

Anywho, is this blog not considered toxic if it’s popular w/ folks who like the nappy head ho talk?

OK.


Follow up: is racism more of a boomer thing than it is for other generations? Data?

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I remember seeing him on Letterman, and Stern complaining that he should be the only radio host on the show, and I soon realized that all three were very boring, and not worth my time.

Having to kowtow after the nappy-head comment was probably a worse fate than the current practice of cancellation.

Jim Gust said...

emus made my tedious morning commute much more bearable for many years. no one else ever came close.

thank you, Don Imus!

I even bought a copy of "god's other son."

Lurker21 said...

Saw the Correspondents' Dinner clip. That stuff doesn't age well. Too topical. Kept having to remember all these people who had died or retired and controversies that had blown over years ago. It's good that that dinner isn't a big thing anymore.

tomaig said...

A 20-years-ago joke on IITM has stuck with me, outdated though it may be.
"What's the difference between Courtney Love and Wayne Gretzky?"
After three periods, Gretzky takes a shower."

Breezy said...

“Get off my phone!”

RIP, Imus.

MadisonMan said...

At first I read that as "Dies at 70 On the Air" and I'm thinking "Oooh...a DJ's worst fear: Dead Air Time!!"

Bilwick said...

"Michael K. fondly remembers the good old days when you could insult a black lady's racial features and no one would care."

Ritmo remembers the good old days when you could cheerfully let the State fist you and no one would question your subservience. Then people like Milton Friedman and Henry Hazlitt came along to ahow the world how stupid the State-shtuppers actually were.

Jack Klompus said...

Because everyone else is the one with the problem and the sense of inferiority. Obviously.

No Ritmo, what's obvious is that you're a subhuman turd who should be smeared against a curb.