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. Nicknamed 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.
Ron on WIL in St. Louis on February 28, 1962. [ LISTEN ] (24:27)
On this aircheck, you'll hear references to two other New York DJ's to come; Gary Stevens would become a star on New York's WMCA and Robin Scott would go by his real name, Bob Dayton on WABC. Ron would replace Bob Dayton on WABC three years later.
At the very beginning of WIL "Action Central News" you'll hear Dan Ingram's voice in the news intro. Dan had been at WIL until 1961 and the station was still using the audio he previously recorded.
On this aircheck, you'll hear references to two other New York DJ's to come; Gary Stevens would become a star on New York's WMCA and Robin Scott would go by his real name, Bob Dayton on WABC. Ron would replace Bob Dayton on WABC three years later.
At the very beginning of WIL "Action Central News" you'll hear Dan Ingram's voice in the news intro. Dan had been at WIL until 1961 and the station was still using the audio he previously recorded.
An early Top 40 station in the 1960sThe date is January 4, 1963, and Ron is putting on another show at 1430 WIL. [ LISTEN ] (1:00:05)
A young Ron Lundy is playing records and working the phone lines at the station.
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.
The Last ShowWith 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 switch from music to talk radio at noon on May 10, 1982.
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 a cameo appearance 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.
Bruce Morrow, Ron Lundy, Dan Ingram
It's September 18, 1997, the day of Ron Lundy's final broadcast on WCBS-FM.
Lundy was inducted into the St. Louis Radio Hall of Fame on January 1, 2006.
Lundy passed away of a heart attack at age 75 on March 15, 2010. He was a sincerely nice guy, and a great DJ. You couldn't help but like him.
WHERE DID RON WORK? Here is the list: WHHM, WDDT, WLCS, WIL, WABC, and WCBS-FM.
Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Airchexx, Media Confidential, Musc Radio 77
