disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
, popular in the
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...
from 1972 to 1998. Herman was born in
Huntington, New York
The Town of Huntington is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York. Founded in 1653, it is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. ...
and was the son of an
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
Asbury Park, New Jersey
Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area.
As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 15,188
, and then moved to
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
to become
WMMR
WMMR (93.3 FM, "93-3 WMMR") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC, and broadcasts an active rock radio format. ...
's first rock DJ. His show, dubbed The Marconi Experiment, debuted on April 29, 1968. The first song played on the show was " Flying" by
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
over the intro of which Herman recited these words: "Arise my heart, and fill your voice with music. For he who shares not dawn with his song, is one of the sons of ever darkness". He then moved to 95.5 WABC-FM in New York, which would later become
WPLJ
WPLJ (95.5 FM) is a non-commercial Christian adult contemporary music radio station licensed to New York City. It is owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF) and broadcasts EMF's flagship programming service, K-Love. WPLJ's transmitte ...
.
Most notably, he later became the morning
drive time
Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...
host on
WNEW-FM
WNEW-FM (102.7 FM, ''NEW 102.7'') is a hot adult contemporary formatted radio station, licensed to New York, New York and owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are located at the Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manha ...
, where he was on the air from 1972 to 1982, 1986 to 1991 and then again from 1996 until the station ended its rock
format
Format may refer to:
Printing and visual media
* Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements
* Paper formats, or paper size standards
* Newspaper format, the size of the paper page
Computing
* File format, particular way that informatio ...
in 1998. He was one of the station's best-known voices. Herman was also heard on New York
classic rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
station 92.3 WXRK (now
WINS-FM
WINS-FM (92.3 MHz) is a radio station licensed to New York, New York and owned by Audacy, Inc. WINS-FM simulcasts an all-news radio format branded as "1010 WINS on 92.3 FM"; with the call sign phonetically pronounced as "wins". The station's ...
). He was included on the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
's list of notable disc jockeys.
During the early to mid 1990's, he worked for the same station as Howard Stern in New York, and would sporadically call into Howard's show.
Herman also played the Narrator for several
ZBS Foundation ZBS Foundation, a small non-profit audio production company, was founded by Thomas Lopez (aka "Meatball Fulton") in 1970 with a grant from Robert E. Durand as a working commune, located on a donated farm in Upstate New York. ZBS stands for "Zero Bu ...
radio dramas, starting with ''
The Fourth Tower of Inverness
''The Fourth Tower of Inverness'' is a 1972 radio drama
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialo ...
'' in 1972, and continuing through '' Moon Over Morocco'' (1973), ''
The Ah-Ha Phenomenon
''The Ah-Ha Phenomenon'' is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation.ZBS.orglink (The Ah-Ha Phenomenon) Released in 1977 this is the third of the Jack Flanders adventure series, and combines elements of Americana and Old-time radio with me ...
'' (1977), ''
The Incredible Adventures of Jack Flanders
The Incredible Adventures of Jack Flanders is a radio drama produced by the ZBS Foundation and Meatball Fulton. It is the fourth of the Jack Flanders adventure series.
Plot
The series begins with the unexpected late-night delivery of an overs ...
'' (1978), ''
Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe
''Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe'' is a science fiction radio drama series by the ZBS Foundation, written by Thomas Lopez. The first series, ''Ruby: Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe'', was created in 1982. In each story, the title character Ruby is ...
'' (1982), ''Ruby 2'' (1985) ''
Dreams of Rio
''Dreams of Rio'' is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation.ZBS.orglink (Dreams of Rio) It is the fifth of the Jack Flanders adventure series, and combines elements of American culture and Old-time radio with themes of lost cities, jungl ...
'' (1987), ''
The Mystery of Jaguar Reef
''The Mystery of Jaguar Reef'' is a radio drama, produced in 1996 by the ZBS Foundation.ZBS.orglink(The Mystery of Jaguar Reef) It is the tenth of the Jack Flanders adventure series. It combines elements of American culture and Old-time radio w ...
'' (1996), and ''Ruby 8: The Good King Kapoor'' (2009).
In 2013, Herman was arrested at the airport in
Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...
, after going there from his vacation home in the area. The criminal complaint stated he expected to meet a woman and her six-year-old daughter, who he allegedly believed was being brought for a sexual encounter with him. He was charged with transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. His attorney claimed Herman was interested in the mother, not the girl.
Herman died of an
aneurysm
An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus (s ...
on May 28, 2014, in the
Essex County Jail
The old Essex County Jail is located in the University Heights section of Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The jail is Essex County's oldest public building and a national landmark of value for its architectural and social hist ...