Scott Muni (May 10, 1930 – September 28, 2004) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
disc jockeyA disc jockey is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, dis
k referred to phonograph records, while dis
c referred to the Compact Disc, and has become the more common spelling...
, who worked at the heyday of the
AMAM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation.-History:AM was the dominant method of broadcasting during the first eighty years of the 20th century and remains widely used into the 21st....
Top 40
formatA radio format or programming format describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
and then was a pioneer of
FMFM broadcasting is a broadcast technology invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong that uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio.-Terminology:...
progressive rockProgressive rock is a radio station programming format that prospered in the late 1960s and 1970s, in which the disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always what is played...
radio.
Born
Donald Allen Muñoz in
Wichita, KansasWichita is a city in and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2000 census its population was 344,284. The 2006 estimated population of 361,420 made it the 51st largest city in the country and the most populous city in Kansas...
, Muni grew up in New Orleans. He joined the
United States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and began broadcasting there in 1950, reading
"Dear John" lettersA "Dear John letter" is a letter written to a husband or boyfriend to inform him their relationship is over, usually because the author has found another man. Dear John Letters are often written out of an inability or unwillingness to inform the man in person...
over Radio Guam. After leaving the Corps and having considered
actingActing is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play...
as a career, he began working as a disc jockey; in 1955 he replaced rock radio pioneer
Alan FreedAlbert James Freed , generally known as Alan Freed and also as "Moondog", was an American disc-jockey who became internationally known for promoting African-American rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
at station
WAKRWAKR is an AM radio station in Akron, Ohio, USA operating on 1590 kHz. It is owned by Rubber City Radio Group, Inc. which also owns Akron's WONE-FM and WQMX and Lansing's WJXQ, WQTX, WJZL and WVIC...
in
Akron, OhioAkron is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. In 2008, its population was estimated to be 207,510. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the Cuyahoga River between Cleveland to the north and Canton to the south, approximately 60 miles west of...
, and after that worked in
Kankakee, IllinoisKankakee is a city in Kankakee County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 25,561. It is the county seat of Kankakee County. Kankakee is a principal city of the Kankakee–Bradley Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Kankakee County...
.
Muni then spent almost 50 years at stations in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
.
Scott Muni (May 10, 1930 – September 28, 2004) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
disc jockeyA disc jockey is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, dis
k referred to phonograph records, while dis
c referred to the Compact Disc, and has become the more common spelling...
, who worked at the heyday of the
AMAM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation.-History:AM was the dominant method of broadcasting during the first eighty years of the 20th century and remains widely used into the 21st....
Top 40
formatA radio format or programming format describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
and then was a pioneer of
FMFM broadcasting is a broadcast technology invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong that uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio.-Terminology:...
progressive rockProgressive rock is a radio station programming format that prospered in the late 1960s and 1970s, in which the disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always what is played...
radio.
Biography
Born
Donald Allen Muñoz in
Wichita, KansasWichita is a city in and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2000 census its population was 344,284. The 2006 estimated population of 361,420 made it the 51st largest city in the country and the most populous city in Kansas...
, Muni grew up in New Orleans. He joined the
United States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and began broadcasting there in 1950, reading
"Dear John" lettersA "Dear John letter" is a letter written to a husband or boyfriend to inform him their relationship is over, usually because the author has found another man. Dear John Letters are often written out of an inability or unwillingness to inform the man in person...
over Radio Guam. After leaving the Corps and having considered
actingActing is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play...
as a career, he began working as a disc jockey; in 1955 he replaced rock radio pioneer
Alan FreedAlbert James Freed , generally known as Alan Freed and also as "Moondog", was an American disc-jockey who became internationally known for promoting African-American rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
at station
WAKRWAKR is an AM radio station in Akron, Ohio, USA operating on 1590 kHz. It is owned by Rubber City Radio Group, Inc. which also owns Akron's WONE-FM and WQMX and Lansing's WJXQ, WQTX, WJZL and WVIC...
in
Akron, OhioAkron is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. In 2008, its population was estimated to be 207,510. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the Cuyahoga River between Cleveland to the north and Canton to the south, approximately 60 miles west of...
, and after that worked in
Kankakee, IllinoisKankakee is a city in Kankakee County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 25,561. It is the county seat of Kankakee County. Kankakee is a principal city of the Kankakee–Bradley Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Kankakee County...
.
Muni then spent almost 50 years at stations in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. He became a Top 40 broadcaster at
WMCAWMCA, 570 AM, is a radio station in New York City, most known for its "Good Guys" Top 40 era in the 1960s. It is currently owned by Salem Communications and plays a Christian radio format...
in the late 1950s, just before the start of their "Good Guys" era, and did a number of record hops in the New York area. In 1960, he moved to rival Top 40 station
WABCWABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77," is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the Citadel Broadcasting Corporation, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Citadel Media...
. There he did an early evening show called "Scottland's Yard" and was the first WABC DJ to capture the attention of the teenage audience the station would become famous for. He also participated in the competition to cover
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
on their first visits to the United States, and thus began a long association with them.
In 1965, Muni left WABC and ran the Rolling Stone Night Club while doing occasional fill-in work for WMCA. Muni had explored some opportunities beyond radio: he had recently co-hosted a local weekly television show on
WABC-TVWABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. WABC-TV is best known in broadcasting circles for its highly successful version of the Eyewitness News format and for its morning show Live with Regis and Kelly,...
with
Bruce "Cousin Brucie" MorrowBruce Morrow is an American radio personality, known to many New York metropolitan area listeners as Cousin Brucie.-Radio work:...
, and he would go on to record the spoken
singleIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
"Letter to an Unborn Child", about a soldier with a premonition, which was released in 1967 to little acclaim.
So a return to radio was in order, and in 1966, Muni joined WOR-FM, one of the earliest pioneers of freeform-based
progressive rockProgressive rock is a radio station programming format that prospered in the late 1960s and 1970s, in which the disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always what is played...
radio. The notion did not last at that station, but in 1967 Muni moved to legendary rock station WNEW-FM, where the format really took hold. Muni stayed there for three decades as the afternoon DJ and sometimes
program directorIn service industries such as education, a program director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services...
. Muni was described by fellow WNEW-FM DJ
Dennis ElsasDennis Elsas is a New York City disc jockey whose radio career has spanned well over thirty years. He currently hosts an afternoon show on WFUV and a morning show, Classic Vinyl, on Sirius XM Radio....
as "the heart and soul of the place". Under assorted management changes during the 1990s WNEW-FM lost its way, and in 1998 Muni ended up as a one-hour noontime
classic rockClassic rock was originally conceived as a radio station programming format which evolved from the album oriented rock format in the early-1980s...
personality at
WAXQ 104.3WAXQ is a radio station with a classic rock format in New York City. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications.-WNCN:...
, where he worked until suffering a
strokeA stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage...
in early 2004.
Muni's low, gravelly voice was instantly recognizable and often lampooned, both by other disc jockeys and by
impressionistsAn impressionist is a performer whose act consists of giving the "impression" of being someone else by imitating the other person's voice and mannerisms....
such as on
Imus in the MorningImus in the Morning is an American radio show hosted by Don Imus on Citadel Media , and simulcast for television on Fox Business Network....
. The voice combined with Muni's encyclopedic knowledge of
rock musicRock music is a genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the 1960s. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country music and also drew on folk music, jazz and classical music....
made him one of the most famous disc jockeys worldwide. He was often known to his listeners by the nicknames "Scottso" or "The Professor", the latter to emphasize both his rock expertise and his age difference with most of his audience. While he sometimes spoke in roundabout phrases and succumbed to progressive rock radio clichés such as "That was a tasty cut from ...", he also conveyed on the air and in his professional relationships a gruff immediacy that was a by-product of both his time in the Marines and his earlier Top 40 skills.
A bizarre exchange occurred in 1972 when a
hostageA hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
-holding bank robber called Muni on the air and engaged him in a long, often nonsensical conversation; the two peppered their post-
hippieThe hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world. The word hippie derives from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district...
speech with discussions of
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet and painter who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was, at first, an informal chronicler and then an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest...
music and requests to hear the
Grateful DeadThe Grateful Dead were an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, jazz, psychedelia, and space rock—and for live performances of long musical...
. This incident was later one of the inspirations for the 1975 film
Dog Day AfternoonDog Day Afternoon is a 1975 American crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Frank Pierson. The film stars Al Pacino, John Cazale, Chris Sarandon, James Broderick, and Charles Durning...
.
Muni specialized in playing records from up-and-coming, or sometimes just-plain-obscure, acts from the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
on his weekly Friday "Things from England" segment. He also hosted the syndicated radio programs
Ticket to Ride and
Scott Muni's World of Rock.
Muni was friendly with many of the musicians whom he played, and they would often stop by the studio to visit on-air. He played
pokerPoker is a sport from the family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bets and how many rounds of betting are allowed...
in the studio with the
Grateful DeadThe Grateful Dead were an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, jazz, psychedelia, and space rock—and for live performances of long musical...
, and he would let
Emerson, Lake & PalmerEmerson, Lake & Palmer were an English progressive rock supergroup. In the 1970s, the band was extremely popular, selling over 35 million albums and headlining huge concerts...
browse the station's huge record library and put on whatever they liked. An oft-related story tells that he was interviewing
Jimmy PageJames Patrick Page OBE is an Englishcomposer and record producer.Page has been described as "unquestionably one of the all-time most influential, important, and versatile guitarists and songwriters in rock history". In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Page #9 in its list of the 100 Greatest...
when the guitarist suddenly passed out from the aftereffects of the
Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in 1968 by Jimmy Page , Robert Plant , John Paul Jones and John Bonham . With their heavy, guitar-driven sound, Led Zeppelin are regarded as one of the first heavy metal bands, helping to pioneer the genre...
lifestyle. Muni calmly put on a record, revived Page, and completed the interview on the studio floor.
Muni was close to
John LennonJohn Winston Ono Lennon, MBE was an English rock musician, singer-songwriter, author, and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles...
and his family, and after Lennon's murder he vowed to always open his show with a Lennon or Beatles record, a pledge that he kept for the balance of his career. Since Muni promised to start off his time block at Q104.3 (NYC's Classic Rock Station) with about 4 Beatles songs. After Muni's own death in 2004, the gang at Q104.3 keeps Scott's promise to NY and still starts the noon hour with the "12 o'clock Beatles Block". (12:00-12:20pm)
Muni often referred to "we interviewed so and so." The 'we' he was referring to was himself and either "Black" Earl Douglas or another producer.
In addition to radio broadcasting, Muni also did
voice-overVoice-over is a production technique where a non-diegetic voice is broadcast live or pre-recorded in radio, television, film, theatre and/or presentation....
work for radio and television; the most known were a commercial for
RolaidsRolaids is a brand of antacid produced by McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson Inc. The brand was acquired from Pfizer Consumer Healthcare as part of a merger in 2006. It was invented by American chemist Irvine W. Grote in the late 1920s...
antacidAn antacid is any substance, generally a base or basic salt, which counteracts stomach acidity. In other words, antacids are stomach acid neutralizers.-Action mechanism:...
("How do you spell relief?") and promos for
Monday Night FootballMonday Night Football is a live television broadcast of the National Football League. Originally airing on the ABC network from to , Monday Night Football was the second longest running prime time show on American broadcast network television and one of the highest-rated, particularly among male...
.
Muni was married twice and had five children.
Muni is included in an exhibit display of important disc jockeys at the
Rock and Roll Hall of FameThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music...
.
He died at the age of 74 in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
and is buried in St. Gertrude's Roman Catholic Cemetery in
Colonia, New JerseyColonia is a census-designated place and unincorporated area within Woodbridge Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 17,811....
.
Scott introduced the group Chicago on their "At Carnegie Hall" four record set now available on cd.
External links