Vergil Glynn "Dan" Daniel (December 18, 1934 – June 21, 2016) was an American radio disc jockey, known on the air as Dandy Dan Daniel and Triple-D.
Career
Daniel started as a disc jockey at age seventeen on
Armed Forces Radio
The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...
with the
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
. His first commercial job was at
KXYZ
KXYZ (1320 AM) is a commercial radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by iHeartMedia, and features an all-news radio format aimed at the African American community, as an affiliate of the co-owned Black Information Network. In addition t ...
in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
in 1955 and he then worked at
WDGY
WDGY (740 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Hudson, Wisconsin, and serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul radio market. It is owned by WRPX, inc. and airs a Classic Hits/Oldies radio format. The station's studios and offices are ...
in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...
before moving to WMCA in 1961.
His first broadcast at WMCA was on August 18, 1961. He started on the graveyard shift overnight but from 1962 to 1968 he played the top 40 hits from 4 pm to 7 pm — the evening drive home slot.
The station produced a survey of the current sales in New York record stores and Dandy Dan gave the countdown of the week's best sellers every Wednesday in this late afternoon slot. In 1966, he participated in a tour of Africa to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John ...
.
[ Then, from 1968 to 1970, he did the early morning drive-to-work slot before leaving WMCA after nearly nine years; his final broadcast was on July 11, 1970.
Daniel was heard coast-to-coast on ]NBC Radio
The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first tw ...
's ''Monitor
Monitor or monitor may refer to:
Places
* Monitor, Alberta
* Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States
* Monitor, Kentucky
* Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States
* Monitor, Washington
* Monitor, Logan County, West ...
'' in the summer of 1973 and was the announcer on the 1974–1975 game show ''The Big Showdown
''The Big Showdown'' is an American game show that aired on the ABC television network from December 23, 1974 to July 4, 1975. Jim Peck (in his national television debut) hosted the program and Dan Daniel (then a disc jockey on New York City's W ...
''. He subsequently worked on WYNY-FM where he hosted the mid-day slot and later morning and afternoon drives. He then did a stint at WHN playing country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
before returning to WYNY-FM. Finally, he moved to WCBS-FM
WCBS-FM (101.1 FM) is a radio station offering a classic hits format licensed to New York City and is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are in the combined Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood in lower Man ...
in 1996.[ He retired from WCBS on December 31, 2002.
]
Style
Daniel was one of the personalities promoted as the "Good Guys" while working for the New York Top 40 radio station WMCA WMCA may refer to:
*WMCA (AM), a radio station operating in New York City
* West Midlands Combined Authority, the combined authority of the West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom
*Wikimedia Canada
The Wikimedia Foundation, ...
in the 1960s, when bands like 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 ...
were transforming the music scene. He performed too and was the first to record the song "Is That All There Is?
"Is That All There Is?", a song written by American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller during the 1960s, became a hit for American singer Peggy Lee and an award winner from her album of the same title in November 1969. The song w ...
" He was tall –— and so his theme tune was "Big Boss Man
Ray Washington Traylor Jr. (May 2, 1963 – September 22, 2004) was an American professional wrestler best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Big Boss Man, as well as for his appearances wit ...
", as performed by Charlie Rich
Charles Allan Rich (December 14, 1932July 25, 1995) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. His eclectic style of music was often difficult to classify, encompassing the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, soul, and gospel g ...
. One of his catchphrase
A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
s was "I love you ... and especially you, size nine."[ "Size nine" was once revealed to be his wife, Rosemary.][
]
Death
Daniel died on June 21, 2016, after falling in his home the previous day. He was 81.
See also
* Harry Harrison — another 'Good Guy'
* Jack Spector — another 'Good Guy'
References
External links
Music Radio 77
— numerous excerpts of Dandy Dan and the other Good Guys broadcasting on WMCA.
— an 18-minute excerpt of Dandy Dan broadcasting on WMCA on April 22, 1963.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniel, Dan
1934 births
2016 deaths
People from Buffalo, Texas
Radio personalities from New York City
United States Navy sailors