NorthEast Radio Watch 7/18/2022: NYC Doo-Wop Legend Dies

In this week’s issue… Remembering NYC’s Reed, NJ’s McNally, Ottawa’s Knight – WABC-TV loses news director – Scott sues WBLS – Bigger signal coming to Finger Lakes – CBS adds “Now” newscasts

By SCOTT FYBUSH

Jump to: ME – NH – VT – MA – RI – CT – NY – NJ – PA – Canada

(Programming note: It’s summer, we’re taking some vacation time here and there, and so it’s possible that there may be no NERW or a late NERW on some Mondays in July and August. Stay tuned to our Twitter feed @NERadioWatch or our Facebook page for updates.) 

*One of the most iconic voices in NEW YORK oldies radio has died.

Don K. Reed started at WCBS-FM (101.1) when it was still a progressive rock station in 1971, moving over from mornings at WLIR a year before CBS flipped the FM signal into one of the country’s first (and by far biggest) all-oldies stations.

Back then, the doo-wop music of the 1950s was still less than two decades old, and Reed made the music his own, hosting overnights and his signature “Doo-Wop Shop” show on Sundays, playing music that often wasn’t heard anywhere else.

Less flashy than some of the other big WCBS-FM voices, Reed was a survivor, lasting the station’s entire run with oldies from its 1972 flip until the controversial 2005 move to “Jack FM.”

After the end of the original WCBS-FM, Reed remained active in the music and radio community, appearing on the new WCBS-FM’s “Radio Greats” for a few years after its 2007 return, hosting streaming shows and emceeing doo-wop concerts. He had reportedly been battling kidney disease before his death last week at 77.