Bob Dayton

Hired from WIL in St. Louis where he had worked with Dan Ingram under the air name of "Rockin' Robin Scott"...

...Bob arrived at WABC in 1963. He was known for his acerbic wit which ultimately resulted in his firing on August 6, 1965 after his "Happy Birthday Hiroshima" introduction to the Crests "16 Candles". Bob might have gotten away with that comment had not the wife of ABC Chairman Leonard Goldenson been listening while she was in her office receiving the "Hiroshima Maidens" who were ladies horribly burned in the bombing.

YOU'RE FIRED!

Needless to say, she was furious and that was it for Bob Dayton on WABC. He was fired immediately after his show that day.

Dayton awkwardly tried to defend his stunt—which had already made headlines across the country (and, no doubt, in Japan, too) by saying he was trying to alleviate the sadness of his listeners during a difficult time - an odd explanation given that his audience was made up of teenagers on summer vacation.

KBLA December 27, 1965. [ LISTEN ] (21:03)
Bob plays the Beatles, Herman's Hermits, and more.

He shifted to Los Angeles' KBLA. Bob later returned to New York and worked at two New York radio stations; WPIX-FM and WCBS-FM. In an ironic twist, Bob was supposed to be part of ABC's "SuperRadio" satellite format which was initiated by Rick Sklar (who, along with General Manager Wally Schwartz, was forced to fire Bob from WABC).

WPIX-FM July 27 1972

SuperRadio never debuted so, unfortunately, Bob was never reunited with his old WABC boss. Bob Dayton passed away on April 28, 1995.

Bob at 101.1 WCBS-FM, New York in 1978 [ LISTEN ] (5:42) playing the great songs from the 50s, 60s and 70s.

WHERE DID BOB WORK? Here is the list: KLIF, KBOX, WIL, WABC, KBLA, KRLA, WPIX, WCBS, WGBB, ABC Super Radio, and WGLI.

Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Airchexx, Rock Radio Scrapbook.