I asked Eason about the current state of radio.
--"I never listen anymore, period....I don't listen and I don't intend to."
Eason isn't some disgruntled old fogey --just really has no interest in the biz. Could you blame him?
"Radio is terrible, it's so bad and it has people on the air that shouldn't be there."
Oh Jim, I thought I was the only one.
Eason is retired and enjoying life in reclusion and seclusion. He sounds pretty much the same as he did in his prime; just a bit more secretive.
"Hey, don't mention anything about where I live, what I do."
Got it Jim...
*415 Media Retro
"Do what you can but behave yourself." --Eason closing line on KGO for over thirty years.
He moved to Asheville a long time ago, didn't he? It wasn't a secret.
ReplyDeleteHe did move back east but returned to CA. Since he doesn't want to be found, I won't be more specific than that.
DeleteHe did, but from what I heard, he then moved back to the Bay Area and now resides somewhere near El Cerrito.
DeleteWow, I wonder why he came back here of all places!
Deletefamily
DeleteI miss Eason's sarcastic but hilarious sense of humor.
ReplyDelete"Do what you can but behave yo'self.
I have an iPod in my car now; if my radio broke I wouldn't know it for months. Aside from the occasional traffic and weather (also not essential, since I have live traffic and weather on my car's navigation system too), I never tune in. Everything is garbage.
ReplyDeleteAnd that reminds me, Godspeed to Tom Tolbert. Man, I heard his "speech" today on KNBR. He said he might be coming back within 2 to 3 weeks but then again, he isn't sure. Close call. TAA surgery is major stuff. I wish him a speedy and full recovery. Bay Area radio needs more people like Mr. T.
ReplyDeleteI second those wishes. We're thinking of you, T.
DeleteClass Act...I wish we could turn the radio clock back.
ReplyDelete"Do what you can but behave yourself"
ReplyDeleteLoved the way Jim handled a regular caller he named "Red Roger". I believe he continued his daily show after he relocated to North Carolina.
ReplyDeleteEason was my favorite on KGO for years. My favorite moment: One time when Steven Lightfoot was on (he was the one who always called all the hosts and claimed that Steven King killed John Lennon with help from Richard Nixon), Eason did not hang up on him. He asked Lightfoot to "send him some proof". The next time Lightfoot called, Eason tore into him claiming that all he received was a bunch of incoherent stack of papers. Lightfoot said that you are supposed to "read between the lines". Eason hung up on him and called him "Wacko". Classic!
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget to DRIP--"It starts as a steady stream, until it flushes clean."
I always wondered about the backstory of the 'KGO John Lennon Guy'. When I used to listen(early-mid '90s, basically until Eason left KGO for KSFO), that Lightfoot guy was always calling in, he'd barely say a few words before his voice would rise and he'd start saying 'JOHN LENNON...', and every on-air host just hung up on him with 'Oh, it's "the John Lennon guy again", next caller..'I do remember either Eason or Owens giving the guy's name at one point, but I never knew he'd sent anyone any sort of 'manifesto' about it.
DeleteWas he crazy, or was he actually more of what we now call trolls? I say that because whenever he called into a program, he always began by commenting on whatever topic was currently being discussed. He was always coherent and knowledgeable about the subject. He would bait the host until suddenly jumping in with his famous line. That kind of premeditation tells me that he was quite sane and just trying to get attention.
DeleteGary Radnich used to have a regular caller who would suddenly start speaking like a child and interject 'POO POO!'
DeleteThat Lennon freak drove around a Hippie type van plastered with bumper stickers and all sorts of Lennon stuff. You couldn't see the vans paint job it was that covered. I ran across him several times camped out behind retail stores in the early 90’s which led me to believe he was homeless.
DeleteI started listening to Jim in 68 and all the way to the final show in the bay area. Talk radio will never be the same without Jim and I might add, Barbra Simpson. Two Greats!
I wonder if Jim or anyone else remembers Roger, aka Red Roger from San Francisco who called all the radio stations all the time? He was capable of making dead people mad!
ReplyDeleteI wondered if Stan could be Roger's son?!
Jim Eason, a voice from the past, better than the voice of reason.
ReplyDeleteHis "I never listen to radio, it is terrible" reminds me of the "Nobody goes to that restaurant, it's always too crowded"
ReplyDeleteHey Jim. People continue to use the word BASICALLY.
ReplyDeleteI so miss Jim Eason still--snuck a radio into work and listened at 2:00PM when he came on. Class act for sure. Happy retirement Jim!!
ReplyDeleteGOOD RADIO? Sure it exists. KALW 91.7, KQED-FM 88.5, KPOO 89.5 produce local news and talk programming that is heads above the kind of commercial crap KGO/KSFO have done for years.
ReplyDelete