Some Dave Dixon Stories I've Received  


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I watched him every night as a teenager. I loved his pithy comments about the usually bad movies they would show. One time I called up the show to tell him about a particular horn player that was in this movie they where showing ( I am a professional musician). This fellow was retired and living in So. Florida at the time. So I thought that I was "helping" to bring this to Mr. Dixons attention. Well, he kind of sarcastically blew me off, then went on the air and made some rather disparaging comments about "this kid " (me) who just called in and thinks he knows everything.
Chris

It was odd to see an "I hate Dave Dixon" page on the web. I liked Dave Dixon. But I "knew" him in a different way than from the radio.
When I was in sixth grade in Miami, Florida; around 1976, a UHF TV station (it was on channel 51) had a late night movie show. They showed old "B" movies, and old serials and stuff. Dave Dixon was the host. I used to watch it every night. I thought that Dave's dry sense of humor and comments was hilarious. One night, I got up the nerve to call him at the show. He answered, and I don't remember what we talked about, but he was patient with a 12 year old kid calling him and we had a nice conversation. So that is how I "knew" Dave Dixon. I never talked to him again. He also appeared in a series of television commercials for Sound Advice, a local electronics retailer.
I thought that Dave Dixon was probably the most obscure person who was ever even remotely a celebrity. I just thought that he was a South Florida personality. It is only recently, when I looked him up, that I found out about his radio past. I never knew that before. And if not for the Internet, I would never know. I looked him up because he was so obscure, and I wanted to see if I could find anything. Of course, among the few pages that I found, to find a page about hating him was even more bizarre! Anyway, I was saddened to hear of his passing.
I am not into the cult of celebrity. I could care less about most of them. Dave Dixon was a real person, I always could picture him farting while he was on camera! We could use a few more like Dave around today.
Jeff

Hey PBR, My name is Lee and I agree Dave was coarse with his words. However one late night in Jan. 1972 a friend and I were invited up to the 33rd. floor studio [very small] to meet mark parrenteau and give him a copy of a live feed that got frawley fired for saying F.O. live on air. So the doors are locked outside and up walks this HUGE monster of a person in a 5 foot long leather coat carrying 2 big bags of asst. fruit for the guys upstairs. He rides up in the elevator and offers us each some fruit. What a soft spoken kind person he was. If his voice wasnt so distinct, I wouldnt believe it was Dave. I too gave to WDET in 93 and requested Dave read my pledge expressing my still active allegiance to the wabx air aces and long live WABX. He did. The comercial paradies the gang did as the air aces stranded on frozen precipises and all were very entertaining and quite believable. I still have them on cassette tapes as well as Daves IDs and asst. blab. I also agree that Daves taste in music opened me up to stuff such as phil ochs to oblivion express to canned heat to furry lewis and so on. He was a master on his show. At the time I was 17-18 yrs old and Mark Parrenteau"s show really was closer to my taste. Today WDET is my primary station, and listening to my late 60s - late 70s material that NOBODY plays anymore. Thanks for hearing me out.
Lee.

Ah.. Dave Dixon, on Channel 51 in Miami at night. I was a (literally) a captive audience working the night shift at a cab company! I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Dave, and the other characters: King Paul of Monarch Dodge; Barry Goldberg of the "Night Owl Boutique" in North Miami and former blues artist; the Majestic Interiors' man, "if you don't get your carpets and draperies at Majestic Interiors, you'll get burned! Aaaaagh! (as someone set him on fire!); and my all time favorite, the Cisco Kid and Pancho, "Adios Amigos, see you at the Bon Soir! (a porno hotel in Ft Lauderdale)"
Rod

I remember Dave Dixon as a caustic, sarcastic, brilliant song weaver. He was sometimes full of himself, but always informed and on the cusp of the local "underground" rock scene in Ann Arbor. I'm not sure if it was he or Jerry Lubin that used the phrase "hauntingly beautiful" to describe a piece of music just played that was anything but! If you know, could you tell me what part of "Rock n' Roll Music" he wrote? Was it a verse, music, or was he a part of the whole process? I think of him everytime I hear that song, because I remember Dave relating to the radio audience how he helped to write the song, but I can't remember what he said about it. There are verses in it that are very "Dave".
Thanks for the opportunity to remember WABX's Air Aces.
Regards, Dennis Wilcox

Dunno if you want Dave Dixon stories still.....but here goes.
I first saw Dave on "The All Night Show" in the late 70's in Florida, on channel 51 out of Ft Lauderdale (which later became "OnTV" a scrambled porno broadcast).
Dave had a show lineup that was fairly interesting - Sea Hunt, Secret Agent, The Prisoner, sometimes an oldie movie that was pretty good. He used to do his bit on TV, from like midnite or 1am to 5am. The thing was, and I believe this... Dave thought he was hot stuff on TV, even though everyone used to watch the show and basically make fun of him.
Some years after, in about 1980 or 1982, he came into the camera store where I worked, and was into high end Hasselblad cameras. He was pretty obnoxious in person, moreso than on TV. Ah well.
Charles

I was at a benefit for the late Ross Marino at the State Theatre in Detroit and Dave was there chatting with Rob Tyner and I approached him and said "good to see you Dave" and the arrogant bastard replied "Its good to be seen".
Another time was the VIP opening for the nightclub Vis a Vis in Pontiac. I watched ole Dave polishing off a whole bowl of shrimp cocktail I mean a whole serving bowl. About 100 good size shrimp. He would not let anyone even get close.
I enjoyed your site!
Dan

Don't have a Dave Story to speak of. But thanks for the Memory. I do have to agree with your Position on him, Whole Heartedly. Grew up in Detroit in the 60's Listened him on WABX & on WDET in the 80's / 90's. Talked to him Once on the phone to identify a "New" Album he had just played on WDET. Acted Like I was Stupid for asking Who it was. ( Although He did end up telling Me, Traveling Wilburys 3.)
Thanks!!!
Brad

Back in the late 1970's I lived in Miami and was a film editor at WCIX-TV. Dave was hosting the all-night movie on the UHF station Channel 51. He used to annoy the hell out of me by introducing a Pat O'Brien movie and saying what a lousy actor Pat O'Brien was. Or wondering how in the world Walter Brennan ever got an Oscar for KENTUCKY. But my all time favorite Dave Dixon moment was when they came back from a commercial and there he was standing with a sloppy joe STUFFED into his face. He raised his eyebrows over his granny glasses and, nonplussed, explained how he was just sampling some of the wares of one of the stations advertisers. Total gross-out moment.
Imagine my "delight" when I learned that Dave was coming to WCIX to host our NIGHT OWL MOVIE. I quickly made arrangements to move to New York and have been at CBS ever since!
Ray

Used to watch Dave Dixon on "The All Night Show" on Ch 51 in FT. Lauderdale when I was a teenager in the 1970's. He used to play a lot of lesser shown films and tv programs from the distant past that kept all of us insomniacs going. Topper, The Whispering Shadow, and The Avengers amongst others. I also recollect a very old serial about French Foreign Legionnaires featuring a pre star John Wayne. I'd love to spend a few evenings in that way again, soaking up some classic cinema and television from my parents era as well as being in the company of good old Dave. 25 years have passed since that time and I now have lived in London, England for the past two decades but still, deep in the back of the dark recesses of my mind, Dave Dixon is knocking around. Enough so that I sought him out on the internet only to find that he left us five years ago. Spooky really. Even with the proliferation of so much cable and satelite tv, things will never be on the same par. Cheers Dave.
Dan



If you think Dave was bad, you should meet his sister! I should know, she's my mom. You'll be happy to hear, I pee-ed all over Uncle Dave's bed as a toddler!
Monica


Hi Monica,
Thanks for making my monday morning!
thanks for visiting my Dave site, & hope it didn't offend, wasn't meant to

I, too, was amazed by Dave Dixon's taste in music, but abhorred him personally. Arrogant, rude and self-aggrandizing, I had to deal with his ego and bad manners in the mid-1980's in Detroit. He had a fawning audience. People spoke of him in hushed tones. I wanted to stick a pin in him and watch him deflate. Notoriously misogynist, I might add. (I'm normally a nice woman, but you hit a nerve here.)
Jomarie

Dave was a fav of mine. I would spend my summers in Erie, MI when I was a teen (around '67-'71) which was just close enough to capture the signal. I listened to his show in my bed away from the adults (I also caught the late underground shows from Toledo on AM as well as "Uncle Russ" from Detroit). Anyway, he exposed me to a lot of music that I would have never heard otherwise. However, I remember him throwing a little coniption over a phone request for "Heroin" by the Velvet Underground. He got fairly moralistic about how the song was "disgusting" and that he didn't want to play it anymore because he hated it. But he played it. I couldn't figure out if he was trying to cover his ass (FCC, owners, city officials, etc.) or if he really meant it. However, when it came time to plug The Stooges...he was all over it, even though their producer was none other than John Cale (and I heard their first LP on "rotten and evil" WABX before it was released) who was, of course, a member of the hated band: The Velvet Underground. A mystery that will never be solved, I guess. He played a lot of other drug songs- it was hard not to in those times and the genres that Dixon favored. I guess the Velvets were a little too hard-edged for him...as if the Stooges were any softer!
Oh well...hey man, thanx!

Here's my Dave Dixon story.
As a huge fan of WDET I was listening to the Fall Pledge Drive this afternoon as Martin Bandyke (Great programmer, Triple Ace Award winner, 1-4PM EST Mon-Fri) was describing the way WDET presents at least 58 minutes of music every hour unlike what you get on commercial radio. This got me thinking about how it was Dave Dixon who lead me to discover WDET back in, what?, 1986 when they threw him out of Miami. Then I started thinking about the early days of ABX, and how so very special a time it was for popular music and my emerging adult identity. So when I got home I did a Goggle search on "Dave Dixon" and cracked up when I read your website. I agree 100% with every damn thing you said about that arrogant fat fuck!
It was 1970 or 1971 when I called ABX one afternoon to offer a "suggestion". You're right, he railed at listeners for phoning in "requests' or "dedications!" Earlier that day I had heard on the news that there was a serious flood in Texas. So I, a faithful and loyal listener, called Dave and "suggested" he play Led Zeppelin's 'When the Levee Breaks' on behalf of the folks in Texas. All he said was, "Real fuckin funny Asshole!", and hung up on me. And you know he didn't play the tune. Thanks for your website and for a good laugh!
Tom

My girl friend and I went to a WABX showing of the movie STEEL YARD BLUES. Dave sat down next to me and shared his joint with us. My first celebrity contact.
Nelson

Are there any more Dave Dixon sites? I used to watch him here in Miami when I was a kid, and I thought he was great, but he was a very abrasive person.
I called in a few times and talked to him, and like you, he basically blew me off every time, especially if I had anything that was on-topic and supportive of what ever he had been talking about on the TV show. He used to take calls after commercials, live while on camera. You could watch TV and listen to him talk to you on the phone. That was a big thrill for a 12-14 year old kid!
Thanks, Al

Well, I hate to admit it...but I'm the schmuck responsible for unleashing the abrasive, egomaniacal, Dave Dixon, on the Detroit people. I met the old stool-sample at a party in B'ham one nite and he had just arrived in Detroit that day after ending a job working with Peter, Paul and Mary....it was some non-prestigious loser job as I recall.....we talked briefly and he told me he was new in town and looking for work. Alas, it was then that I opened my big mouth and told him that WABX was looking for a new DJ. He told me he'd check it out and I gave the incident no more thought. To my horror, I then heard him on the radio and quickly realized how much I hated this paragon of arrogance, now filling in time on the Greatest radio station in the history of the universe!! I HAVE SINNED!!!! FORGIVE ME DETROIT!!! I met him again a month later at the Grande. and as he walked by me I said "Hi, how's the new job?" and the SOB walked right past me without even acknowledging my existence as a fellow hippie, let alone as someone who turned him on to a great job that he in no way deserved. Well, blame me for this disaster, I opened the door and let the serpent into heaven. I'll sit here and calmly wait for the crowds to show up on my front lawn with the torches and the boiling oil.
"Still Ridin' 'em High, and Shootin' 'em Low" Gary

I live in Miami where Dixon hosted that late night TV show you mentioned. Yes, he was overbearing and blunt, but in those days (early 1970s) before cable when local stations signed off at midnight or 1:00 AM Dave was all there was late at night. And since often at that time of the night our state of mind was ... well, you know, Dave's rants were actually welcomed. The movies he showed were old, low-rent B&W castoffs the networks weren't interested in at that time. When he was on the air the set was just a counter to put some papers on and big Dave, as you know Dave could fill the screen. We actually looked forward to his comments. One that I remember was at the end of "High Noon". Dave apparently didn't care much for Grace Kelly so he went off on her saying something like "... yeah, she was a good little Quaker girl, but in the end she shot that man right in the spine!"
Thirty years later my brother and I still crack up over that one. Go figure.
Leon

I remember calling big Dave to suggest he play "Lickin Stick", and his response being "Mmmmm…no." Then he hung up.
Reading these stories, I feel better now. "Better than James Brown"? I don't think so.
Note to Dennis Wilcox: I remember Dave describing a Zappa tune as "taken from the 'hauntingly beautiful' Weasels Ripped My Flesh." The man could use the language.
Brian

'lo -

A friend sent me the link. wow. memories. I thought of Dave much as I
still think of Michael Moore: people I would have just DIED to have as
'cool uncle' figures in real life, helping me escape what was a pretty
f-ing dreary adolescence in the last days of the Big Three automakers
in way-depressed SE Michigan, in a just-functioning household with a
borderline mom.

Possibly due to the just-mentioned mental illness, it didn't really
register that Dave had an ego that let off seismic waves. Well,
definitely, that blew right past me. It helped that he was on radio, so
visual cues were lost, and adolescence/early adulthood IS when sarcasm
is most appreciated, so that timed out well for me: maybe I wasn't so
much clueless as enjoying vicariously hearing someone saying things I
couldn't say.

I had to hear from above friend how Dave was said to have explained
that 'WDET' stood for 'women do every thing', and other
unpleasantnesses. Good lesson on heroes being actual humans not without
baggage. WIERD to finally see pics of the guy. Sheesh. Sorry to hear
he's been gone so long already, but it looks like his habits caught up
with him.

But, between him and his colleagues at WDET, especially Ed Love, I was
gifted with a FABULOUS musical education. And I remain grateful. When I
moved out of state to discover that Detroit radio was just heads and
shoulders above radio elsewhere, I found myself soliciting friends to
tape Dave's and other's shows for me and send them in care packages!
Glad I didn't call in, though, now. Definitely didn't 'need that
energy', as they say where I now reside.

nevertheless, requiem to whatever the &^%$ you want to put on, Dave.
I'd still listen, even if I swore back at you.

Angie Johnson


I really like your website! Dave Dixon and I used to talk on the phone all the time about film. Most people don't know that his favorite film was "Bedazzled," with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Usually, when he said things to piss people off it was with a wink, since he had a very British sense of humor. He could be very sarcastic, and didn't suffer fools too well. My friend Stan is a cab driver in Fort Lauderdale and used to drive Dave around alot - he never tipped...
One night dave mooned the audience during his all night show. It was during the first year or two before anyone really started watching. A lot of the movies he showed were uncut. I recorded "Baba Yaga" with Carol Baker on vhs when it aired and there was alot of nudity. I still have it in storage and it includes Dave and his comments-its a real blast from the past. I don't know if you remember, but he almost always showed "Nightmare Alley" with Tyrone Power on Halloween. I wonder if any fans out there have tapes of Dave running movies. It would be nice to trade and unleash that flood of South Florida memories again.

Peace, RJ Radcliff

Dave was originally on uhf channel 51 all night, then he went to channel 39 I think and was on earlier in the evening.in the early 80's. You could always call him while the film was running and chat. I think the station manager at channel 39 muzzled him alot more than the folks at channel 51. He was very personable when I spoke with him I called him several times while home from FSU during the summer.
Dave was a phenomenon in Florida that never happened before and won't happen again. There was a small window between the advent of uhf tv and the coming of cable and Dave literally slipped through the cracks with a totally counterculture television program that could only compare with the early days of live tv in the 50s. I remember taking a tour of channel 51 back then and it was as primitive as a 1950s television station. They had little or no budget, but assumed nobody was watching anyway. During the day they showed old television shows like Burk's law. They had another famous tv host on the weekend named Charlie Baxter, who came over from channel 7 (nbc affiliate) where hosted horror films as MT Graves. So you had him on the weekend and Dave on the graveyard.
The first year Dave was given free reign-hardly any sponsors advertised and his show was slow to catch on. It was the nightwatchmen, hotel desk clerks and insomniacs that spread the news about the show by word of mouth. Gradually, the sponsors came and Dave became a local phenomen in South Florida in the late 1970's. There were actual lifesize Sound Advise posters exploiting his substantial girth all over town. I don't think Dave made alot of money off of that fame but it was his day in the sun. Gradually it tapered off and by the 1980's he left 51 and gradually phased out of South Florida.
You just can't imagine his impact back then. Today, a small portion of the poplulation will watch a tv channel at one time because of all the choices offered by cable. For a time all South Florida had in the wee hours was Dixon-and his viewership would surpass any South Florida channel, cable or network, today. That is why he'll probably be remembered there long after he's forgotten in Detroit.
By the way, I was born at Women's Hospital in Wayne Michigan and lived for years on Monterey and Boston Blvd in West Detroit. I used to go to JL Hudson's when Soupy Sales was local and made store appearances there. You may remember another detroit personality Dave brought with him to Florida by the name of Conrad Patrick.

RJ

While I was surfing the net trying to rattle my memory and answer a question a friend asked about the the old WXYZ-AM disc jockey lineup from the 60's (Lee Alan, Fred Wolf, Dave Price, etc.) It led me to thinking about the WABX "Air Aces" and that led me to your " I HATE DAVE DIXON" site. Very funny stuff.. If Dixon were alive I would hope that he could see the compliment concealed in your tongue in cheek frustration. Dixon and the ABX group expanded upon the great radio tradition of Detroit and certainly expanded the bounds of my musical taste. Truly a "free format" where the listener never knew what to expect from a DJ like Dave Dixon or where his choice of music would lead you.. Although I may not have always agreed with his opinions I certainly respected them. And I loved to here his verbal ramblings because at least it was unique and most often insightful coming from a man with an incredible scope of knowledge regarding music. Unlike Uncle Russ Gibbs who used to DJ on WKNR=FM. Gibbs would ramble incoherently and with long blank pauses that seemed to last minutes ( you could hear him breathing so you knew he was there).
I laughed my butt off when Dixon interviewed Bobby Mcferrin on WDET and pissed him by inferring that his song " Don't Worry Be Happy' sucked and that he was his method of music was a shallow gimmick unworthy of being called jazz. Sadly, I think that was the beginning of his demise at WDET. Next I think he said something unkindly of the program director, Judy Adams, and he was gone for good from Detroit.
I appreciate your site and thanks for posting the photos and audio clip. Dave Dixon was a great disc jockey in a town with one of the greatest radio traditions in America.
Jim Sanders


Jim,
Appreciate your story. Great! Thanks...
Do you mind if I add your comments
with some others to the dixon page
if and when i update it again someday?

Sure, go ahead. By the way, that lineage of great radio tradition in Detroit ending abruptly this year when the public station,WDET, fired all of the open format DJ's and replaced them with NPR syndicated talk shows and news. Sad. If you know of outstanding DJ's anywhere in the country I'd be interested in hearing about them. I'm talking about people who lead their listeners to good music rather that following the corporate playlist...Jim

Jim,
I'm sure there's lots of them around. One guy in the area had a radio show for years that was fun while it lasted.
Now he's doing it on the web, the future wave of media. radio is about dead I believe....
check him out, he has a long and deep library...
google "The Bone Conduction Music Show"
Thanks for your email!...
Don




He screwed me out of two free tickets to the Goose Lake Rock Festival back in the late 60s. He had some contest, identify a song or an artist, something like that. So I call up with the right answer and he says, "sorry we've already got a winner." I say "thanks" and hang up. After the current song ended, he comes on and says, "we still don't have a winner to our ticket giveaway...."
My guess is that I was the wrong gender. He was babe hunting.
I always hated the guy after that. Thanks for letting me vent.

Roger

One more. Martin Bandyke, former WDET DJ and long time pal of mine, told the story about how someone once stole that fat ass's stocking cap. He railed for hours and days about how he needed his damned hat and how he was going to sue the station and whoever stole it. I don't think they ever found it.

Roger

It was the summer 1968 I was 13 years old, living in Detroit's comfortable Rosedale Park with my family. Across the street our neighbor had a garage sale where I spotted her console stereo.. Wow.. One dollar later it was mine and I dragged it across the street and up the stairs to my room. Now, as a punk 13 year old I was a product of loud and obnoxious blaring AM radio of the like of then WKNR Keener 13 and that was all I knew of radio. I fired up my new acquisition and for the first time made the discovery of FM radio! This was incredible... no static ,no station overlap , no yelling and blaring.. nice
I kid u not, I believe it was the very first day I discovered the totally awesome WABX and the ABX Air Aces and I NEVER changed the channel til ABX went off the air. Dave Dixon was the Chief Pilot and I immediately loved him and his sense of airplay. The whole ABX team changed my life... I mean THEY CHANGED MY LIFE!
I feel so fortunate to have been in the right place at the right time... These people were outstanding and I will be grateful my whole life for what they brought to me. Dave especially was my hero and I will always miss him.
Thanks for remembering Dave,
regards, Billy Gonzalez

I was a huge ABX fan from 1970-74 (I lived in Michigan for 30 years) and recall Dave's talent and rudeness as well. I believe I heard him as early as '68 when I was exploring that "weird" FM band I'd never really paid attention to before. If memory serves, there was Dixon, chatting about FM and saying something like, "Around here, we believe that FM is the future of radio." I was just 13 and didn't think so. Certainly, I hadn't heard a statement like that before. A few years later, I recall Dixon playing the Flying Burrito Brothers and possibly more than once calling them one of his favorite bands--something else you didn't hear everyday. One thing I use in my own radio work is something modeled after Dave Dixon: he usually didn't "frontsell" a song, at least by the time he got to WDET in the 1980s. Never said, "here's (artist mentioned)." He would just wrap up a set, chat a bit and then start another song when he got to the "punch line" (not necessarily humorous) of what he was saying. I've always dug his style, and he was a fine interviewer, too.
Here's a rude one from WDET: Someone phoned him, just crazy about one of the songs he played. They wanted to know where to get the album. He was really snotty sounding when he said, "How would I know? I've never paid for a record in my life." On the one hand, he was bragging about the free promo records he got, and on the other, treating the caller/listener like crap. Judging from a good deal of the great records he played, I thought he loved music. Now it all sounded phony. You mean that there was NOTHING he'd ever purchase if he couldn't get the record for free? That sounded even worse than snubbing his listeners, if that's possible.
Thanks for reading my story. J.J. Syrja host of "Retroactive" Saturdays (since 1994) KAOS-FM Olympia, WA www.kaosradio.org

I don't have any specific memories of Dave other than watching him on the all night show in the mid seventies in Fort Lauderdale. I don't think I ever worked up the nerve to call in to the show, with him being such an "argumentative" person. But what fun it was. Dave would screen a LOT of crappy movies and t.v. shows and aways provide criticism that was usually richly deserved. I can still remember our little living room on 34th street, bedsheets hung on either doorway to keep the cool air from the fan in (we grew up with no air conditioning in Florida!) my eyes glued to the screen. My brother and I would see who could stay up the latest, although, I don't think either of us made it past 4 am...And we weren't the only ones who got tired. I remember once the show cutting back from commercial and Dave was sound asleep on a nearby couch. a stagehand had to wake him up! As I recall, before Dave, a guy named Edie Eagan (a former cop)co-hosted a similar show. and there was another show called "Midnite at the oasis" although I cant remember if they were on channel 51...
If anyone has pictures of Dave, specifically from the all night show, I would love to see them and share them with anybody who remembers that wacky show, and, of course, the late, great, Dave Dixon.



I was in middle-school during Dave's time at WCIX-TV51 and, trust me, to be able to receive his All-Night Show on my rigged tinfoil TV antenna waaaay up in Boca ("pre-cable", of course) was pure Nirvana. He was irreverent, to be sure, but where else could one see an ad for "The Cheetah III" strip club on the TeeVee?! Maybe he was an asshole in real life but, ultimately, he didn't come off that way on TV.

Beasley

I grew up in South Florida and discovered Dave Dixon in the mid-seventies, when he was hosting The All Night Show on Miami UHF channel 51. I was in middle school then. On the summer nights when we weren't burdened with school, my brother, sister and I would gather in the den at midnight to the strains of the All Night Show's Dixieland theme song, Clementine from New Orleans. Fat, sloppy, sarcastic Dave Dixon would then thank the main sponsor, Brits Pribbles Jewelers, and introduce the nights line up of old TV shows and even older movies. Soon Rod Serling would take us away to The Twilight Zone or the erie control voice would advise us that there was nothing wrong with our television sets before taking us to The Outer Limits. Back then, I had no knowledge of his past as a famous radio DJ. I just thought he was some fat loser who couldn't get a better gig than hosting the late night movie show on a UHF station. Sort of a real life version of the Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons. Still, he was very different and entertaining in his own way. He seemed to take a disparaging view of everything and alienated more than a few sponsors over the years he was there. And what a rouges gallery of sponsors they were; strip joints, used car dealers, cheep carpet outlets, etc. That was some thirty years ago, but I still have nostalgic memories of those summer nights with Dave Dixon at the helm of The All Night Show. I just wish we had a VCR back then. I'd love to see him again.

Richard T.

I blogged up a little section on Dave. Thanks for the site. Wonderfull stuff.

http://brotherratfink.blogspot.com/2007/09/immersion.html

Ken




Wow. It is September 2008. Hurricane Ike has just struck the Texas coast; a head-on train collision has just killed upwards of 25 people out in SoCal, and just now I have learned of Dave Dixon's passing. It hit me like a brick because, after his long absence from Detroit air back in the 80's, I didn't really think anything of another long silence. Somehow the news of his death never reached my ears, and I thought he was somewhere else in the world, turning people on to great music. His time with WDET was pivotal for me. I was in my min- to late-twenties; feeling a bit ornery and (dare I say) anti-establishment. I discovered his eclectic musical tastes; and they struck a chord with me that was not to be ignored. Dave Dixon turned me on to so many different musicians and groups that I cannot begin to approach naming them all. And yes, I stepped on his toes a couple of times by phoning in to ask who performed this song or that...if I mis-named the song, or asked a question he thought was dumb, he would grow curt and haughty sometimes (I actually phoned him a LOT). But if I happened to ask him a question he found worthy of his time, he would reward me with a few minutes' lesson in trivia about the band I was seeking. I understand your love/hate relationship. I do not share it. For me, Dave Dixon was God's older, wiser and cooler cousin. RIP, Dave...you gave me gifts that can never be measured.

Wayne

My first experience in Broadcasting began with being the Video Tape Operator for the All Night Show ( What a Career Starter ). I can tell you it's The MASH Unit of Broadcasting it was one host, one Technical Director and I did everything else. Camera, Lighting, Sound and Film Loading. Danny the TD was a perfectionist and regardless of it's low budget look he insisted on the best production possible. Dave at times was difficult to work with but looking back I realize Dave was a Pro. Always prepared for the show and could ad lib with the best of them, one of my favorite moments with him came unexpected and we finally got a chance to see Dave's lighter side but he maintained his Pro Status. One night around 2 am we got hungry and ask Dave to order a pizza for us and since he had a pizza restaurant as a client no problem-no cost ( some perks for this job ). Well the pizza arrived and Dave wanted to throw out a live spot for the client so Danny sent me to the studio to operate the camera and told me when he holds up the pizza zoom in and stay on it. Dave begins to talk about it and I start zooming in on the pizza as he holds it up at an angle...then to my surprise the pizza starts sliding down the box and I keep following the pizza all the way to the floor and stayed on it. Danny put the All Night Logo over the now pizza disaster and went back to the movie with Dave saying " Guy's come get your pizza ". I went back to the control room to find Danny laughing so hard tears was in his eyes. It was a moment for me to remember. It's been 30 years of Broadcasting for me and I've done some wonderful things in my career but it all started in 1976 with Channel 51 " All Night Show with Dave Dixon, Danny W. and Myself. By Definition Dave Dixon regardless of his appearance, personality and comments was a true professional and did his job well. My hope is Dave will be remembered not for what he did or said but rather- he was part of a time in Broadcasting history that should never be forgotten.

Steve H.
Retired Broadcast Engineer
Crew Member of the Original " The All Night Show with Dave Dixon "


I can't remember if I already mailed you about Dave. My exposure to him was as the acidic host of the all night show. I really do owe him a debt of gratitude for not only entertaining us with what could only have happened on live tv. (I remember one time the camera cut back to his desk after a commercial and he was sleeping on the sofa....) But also introducing me to great old moviies and TV programs.
Best regards
Joe St.Onge

Don -
Not a Dave Dixon story, per se, but it reads like a James Burke PBS Connections episode, and he's in it.
I've been an acquaintence of both Peter Yarrow and Mary Travers for twenty years. Peter from a club gig I did while living in Bermuda, and Mary through a friend who was in the US Customs service. I had never met nor knew much about Noel Stookey.
About six years ago, I had front row center comps and aftershow pass backstage in Portsmouth VA. At the last minute, my wife couldn't make it. I left the choice ticket for the empty seat at the front gate with a friend of ours who ran security hoping he could give it to someone passing by. Five minutes into the opening, a woman took the empty seat and said "Thanks so much for the ticket - I have a surprise for you" Just so happened that Noel did "Whatshername" . This girl to my left turned and said to me "Thats my favorite song". It was really loud - I thought she had added "my mother wrote it" but wasn't paying attention. She passed a note to the usher who came back after the break with a couple of backstage passes. She handed me one of the passes - I didn''t let on that I already had one, figuring it was her way of thanking me, and wondering if her mother had written the song...
There were only 3 or 4 folks in the lounge. As PP&M came out I greeted Mary (she was not feeling well and left after just a minute or two). Peter and I chatted for about five minutes reminiscing about the Sunrise Club. When Noel came out, he saw the woman I was standing with (we had only just introduced ourselves to each other a few minutes before) and literally jumped across tables and scooped her up in a bear hug. Then he looked at me, and said "So who's the big galoot you're with, obviously thinking that we were a couple. After intros all around, Noel related to me that Vivian was the very first person he had ever performed for - when she was seven or eight and very ill, and he and her brother (oh..) Dave were close friends and that he hadn't planned on doing Whatsername until he saw her sitting in the audience.
So, lets see... Vivian of long forgotten last name, Noel Stookey. Dave Dixon. An impromptu Noel-Dave song. And last but not least, there's Monica, who wrote in your "Tell Your Dave Dixon Story" that "you should have met his sister..." I can only assume that Monica is Vivian's daughter (or possibly her aunt). If you have Monica's email address, you can pass this along. I hope Vivian is doing well.

Mark C
Chesapeake VA

I CALLED DAVE DIXON, AT WDET, AND REQUESTED THAT HE PLAY SOME FIRESIGN THEATER. HIS RESPONSE WAS "WHAT HAVE THEY DONE FOR ME LATELY?"

Dear Don -
Loved your "I Hate Dave Dixon" page and wanted to ask a random question. I am looking for any VHS recordings of "UP ALL NIGHT" from the late 1970's, which might still exist. If you have them, or know anyone who does, I'd be willing to pay generously for copies of any of those shows. It's mainly for nostalgia reasons, and a personal research project, as I grew up in South Florida during the late 1970's. Thank you very much for any help or guidance you could give me (and for maintaining a great page which answered some questions I've always wondered about).
Hope your 2010 is off to a great start. Look forward to hearing back from you.

Marc Berliner

I never met Dave in person, but I spent a lot of nights with him. I'm from Boca, but I lived in Ft. Lauderdale during the mid 1970's. I knew Dave's boss Roger King who owned Channel 51, and later King World Entertainment. Sorry to say he died in 2007 at age 63. One of the best parties I'd ever been to was at the bar on the first floor of his beach condo building when he had Buddy Miles playing (including "Them Changes"). Every night in my apartment I'd watch Dave and the Night Owl show of old movies. Different genres had different time slots including old westerns and serials. I always liked Dave's commentary, and he was a fixture of that time of my life (early 20's). I'd often thought about Dave, and even looked on the Internet a few years ago but found nothing. Happy to have found this site and find out what happened to him. Wish he were still alive so I could have sent him some memories, but knowing him it would have just been one of thousands of e-mails.

Kevin O'Brien, CWO USN (Ret)

"The I hate Dave Dixon Club" ????? On the contrary!!!!!
I moved to South Florida in May of 1978. The All Night Show on WKID-TV 51 was a staple in my nightly viewing. He was funny, entertaining and full of classic TV and movie trivial knowledge. I always enjoyed the movies, shows and serials that were shown throughout the night. Some of the sponsors of the show were just as comedic as the host himself. "King Paul" of Monarch Dodge seemed to take the reigns every Friday night and his dead-pan expressions and lame jokes were classic, it was almost as if I were enjoying a Buster Keaton film. The weekend host of the All Night Show was Conrad Patrick... a much more serious TV personality, but just as interesting and TV worthy as his 5 night a week host. I worked at 1510 WKAO in Boynton Beach, Florida for several years back in the early 80's as the swing-shift broadcaster. My show was also live from sign-on to noon on Sundays. What a thrill it was that one Sunday afternoon I was followed by a new show, a new addition to the WKAO line-up... The Conrad Patrick Show. He was kind and extremely patient as I had zillions of questions to ask him. After all, I was in the presence of a South Florida TV icon. I actually received his autograph... which I have kept to this day. I have nothing but fond memories of Dave Dixon, Conrad Patrick and The All Night Show. It was a great time in my life. TV 51 was there for me when I really needed it the most.

Jon
Wellington, FL

David Dixon was often abrasive and what he liked to call “brutally honest”; but despite all that he was my friend and coconspirator on WABX between 1972 and 1975.
Dave was the Tom Donahue in Detroit and his midday shift virtually defined what became known as underground radio in Detroit.
I miss him for all his idiosyncrasies.
I am Paul Greiner who at one time shared the 10 pm to 2 AM shift on ABX with Dave’s and my mutual friend Dan Carlisle.
P. G."


Thanks for your comments, Paul.
I miss him as well. Some people are larger than life.
Characters. good or bad, but the world is an emptier place without them.

I have thought of Dave Dixon many times in the past. I worked the late shift at my job and Dave kept me company many of times when I was in my teens, watching TV 51 and those great and not so great movies of the past. Dave commenting on them and making the night go a little faster. I always wondered what happened to him so I went searching on the web. I am very sad to see such little information about him. We need more people like Dave today speaking his mind and playing movies that people gave some thought to about plots and twists. The black and whites will always be the best stuff made in Hollywood ever and there will never be another Dave Dixon. Dave rest in peace and thanks for the fond memories.
James

This is a very unusual site........I worked with Dave many years.....
he was difficult but hardly the brutish person you have described. Perhaps you took him a bit too seriously........


No, not serious...tongue in check at best...sorry you took it that way....
Bet you could give me a good story or two though...lol

I was Dave’s TV director from 1975 to 1980 in Miami for the classic “The All-Nite Show”—got some stories to tell
Dan Withum

Wow! I used to watch a TV Show in Miami called Dave Dixon at Large. I think I was in 9th grade. It was a late night show that played old sci-fi movies and was hosted by David Dixon. It started with him “sneaking” into the studio and removing his shoes, which was disturbing. He almost exclusively played really bad Japanese monster films. You could call him in real time and have a conversation on the air, so I would call and get into arguments telling him to play some Ray Harryhausen stuff-anything besides the cheap Japanese films. I remember he tried to justify the effects once “Well that looks pretty real”. It was a scene of some people on a boat with a serpent or something coming at them, and it was out of focus etc. He stopped taking calls pretty soon-maybe because I called him every weekend during the show.
Jose Ortiz

In 1968 or 1969 I was attending Wayne State during the day and working at the Lafayette Building for Blue Cross during the time that Dave was on the air. There were about 6 of us working there and we always had a radio tuned to WABX. I was struck by the diversity of the music, and also the quality. I can't remember Dave playing a bad song. So, a few of us decided that we'd like to hear some of our favorites every night. We made a short list, grabbed a few empty tape cans (used for micro-fiche), and crossed the street to the David Stott building. We told the downstairs guard that we had music tapes requested by the DJ and had to get upstairs right away. To our surprise he let us right in and we took the elevator up, and walked right into the studio. Dave was broadcasting at the time and looked shocked to see us standing there. He mumbled something about the door that should have been locked. We gave him our requests and I think he took the list, probably to throw it out as soon as we left. I do remember that he gave us the sense that we were idiots for being there, and he was right. I don't remember if we ever heard any of the songs we requested. That's OK, there were always good songs on his show.
I always listened to WABX in my car with an FM adapter that plugged into my tape player. I also still have my WABX Air Aces tee shirt, although it doesn't fit any more...
You know, I was too young to remember Alan Freed, or any of the early ground breaking DJ's. The first time I heard Wolfman Jack was on the television when he was parodying himself and far from revolutionary. But I heard Dave Dixon and have to believe that he shaped the kind of music I enjoy today.
I apologise if there isn't any hate here.
DT

My brother and I used to watch him in the 70's in south Florida. He did commercials for AutoSound - he would say, "this is Dave Dixon AT AutoSound FOR AutoSound.' When he would rest his forearm on the Pioneer speaker it looked like a big anvil or wedge.
Catt Nipp

Dave Dixon turned us on to some good stuff on WDET -- Who else would play Laurie Anderson's "O Superman" on real live radio? You kidding me? I would have never discovered this or other great artists if not for him. Tribute to the man. The world needs more of this - now more than ever.
Mark Jamroz

Hi Iam Dave Dixon I am wondering how this web got started I was born in 1967 in chisholm, mn.my dad was carl rudstrom he was shot toodeath in 1975 my mother hook up with my step dad and got married in 1977 by 1978 I was in juay in Tacoma Wash until 1981 to my parents wich it did not last long back in juviue again after that I spent alot of time in the penn. so what the hell SO WHY DO YOU THINK YOU CAN USE MYYYYYY!!!!! NAME ON THE INTERNET I AM DAVID V. DIXON AND YOU ARE NOT WHO ARE YOU????????????????

david dixon

Well we've all read and heard of the many antics of David George Dixon. My recall is similar but I have a fondness for him as he did introduce we in Detroit to real progressive free form radio in the sixties as I graduated from Keener 13 and my little boy haircut to long haired hippie kid and I too called Dave with "suggestions". I loved the banter between he and Jerry Goodwin as Goodwin handed off to him each morning and I loved the creativity of the music. Later as my wife and I travelled frequently to Florida we came across the GREAT ONE on WKID, Channel 51 and being a lover of nostalgic TV this was an unbelievably cool experience to now SEE and HEAR this legend entertain us with his unique and abrasive commentary on television. Had I lived in South Florida, his gig would have been appointment TV for me but alas, it was an infrequent twice yearly visit and I would lap it up. Then we were once again blessed when his career brought him back to Detroit for a stint on WDET which was an absolutely perfect fit allowing him free reign once again to program for his audience. He was however, simply intolerant and intolerable as we all came to know and that gig ended much too soon. His last stop was a rather pathetic stint on talk radio WXYZ AM -- no music as I recall, and not much substance but again, great to hear his voice. We met a few times as I was among a foursome who created the Motor City Radio Reunion beginning with our first in 1988 in which we honored Casey Kasem, Fred Wolff and other legends and invited Dave to join us. Of course, he wouldn't consider coming unless he was comped and it was a charity benefit, but we agreed to quietly "take care" of Dave just to have him among us... His eventual passing was sad beyond belief, as he passed alone and unwell and at that point, off the air. I think of him fondly nonetheless.

Michael Seltzer


Michael,
Thank you for the comments. I do think of him fondly also. The 'Hate' page is just for fun...

No great story here. I’m just another person that grew up in South Florida and felt blessed that with very few choices on television I could always count on Dave Dixon to show movies that had something called a plot (now we have pyrotechnics instead of plots – too bad!) Dave was pretty funny is a dry sort of way and it was great to have him on the air for us night owls! I currently have over 200 channels of crap on my television and would gladly watch Dave Dixon on TV again!

Michael A.

Used to hang with dave, he would tell me stories about dylan and peter paul and mary . I wrote a song that he thought he might use. we had great philosophical conversations. smoke was in the air, the guy was one the greats, a one of a kind. I miss him, he was just thinking of going back to detroit last time I saw him and was hoping to get some acting parts as a bad guy so he had a gun that he would practice with. showed me some poses with his gun kind of james bond type stuff ...

william newell bate

Dave Dixon was my favorite DJ ever. Began listening to him after returning to Detroit after spending the summer of '68 out in California. After digging around in some old tapes today I found one from his time at WDET public radio . It was the 20th anniversary of his start at WABX, May 3, 1968. He played much of the stuff that was being played at that time and related some stories about how he helped get free form radio started in Detroit and how he wound up back home in Detroit instead of taking a job in Boston. One day he told about why he rolled his own cigarettes instead of smoking ready made brands (igniters in the tobacco along with other chemicals) that he thought weren't good for his emphysema. He had mentioned where he got his smoking stuff from so from then on I would go there before Christmas and before his birthday every year and pay for 2 cans of tobacco and some papers and they would hold it for him when he came in. I still love listening to much of the music that he turned me on to over the many years that I was fortunate enough to have heard him. Yes, he was all of the nasty things you and others have said about him, but that is just part of his charm (?) I guess. He really didn't care what anyone thought about him, he was who he was, and stayed true to that like it or not.

Richard J

I don’t know if this site is still active …but I was amused to see a post by a Jim Sanders (an air name I used in Detroit and part of my real legal name) as well as a Beasley. I did neither of those posts, for the record. My real legal name is Jim Sanders Beasley and Dave Dixon and I were very close friends going back to Kalamazoo, Michigan, WPON in Pontiac and up until just before he passed. Dave was one of a kind and, from a professional point of view, his own worst enemy, as we say in management. He worked for me for about a year at WAUK in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Then he went on the road with Peter, Paul and Mary (Paul was a high school friend from Birmingham, Michigan) and during that time Contributed the line about if you say it radio won’t play it for “I Dig Rock n Roll Music.” He got a credit, along with others, and got some small royalty checks over the years. His TV time in Florida (which ended when he got Bells Palsy and was off the air until management figured out how to get rid of him despite sponsor loyalty and a cult following was something he was most proud of. His other triumph was the WDET time and, of course, WABX as one of the first underground jocks . After WDET he was left with a few weekend shows on WXYZ. I believe he invented the phrase “Kick ass rock and roll” at WABX. His problem was a near genius streak for music and communication which led him to believe that he knew more than any manager or owner. From what I could tell he kind of did-but the industry has no place for that kind of independence once we discovered “research” and “consultants” and, of course, the unhip part of the unwashed masses who don’t like to be offended or told they are fools. He was very smart, very proud and, of course, very sad. My kids called him Uncle Dave when he brushed marijuana ashes off their little heads.

Jack Lee

We watched Dave all the time when we were high school. He was so funny! Especially when he starred into the camera with that dead pan face. My favorite show was "I Led 3 Lives." We were walking down the Ft. Lauderdale strip when we spotted Dave about 50 feet in front of us. I yelled, "It's Dave Dixon!" He turned and looked at us and proceeded to walk away very fast. We tried to catch up to him but when we turned the corner he had disappeared.

Rick North Miami Class of '76

I remember him showing “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” one night, and I called to let him know some trivia about the film…that is, that the director, Don Siegel, would later go on to become Clint Eastwood’s director in “Dirty Harry” and other big films. He said “Well, that’s nice but I have no proof of that so I am not going to say that over the air.” It was before the internet or he could have confirmed it in seconds. Or he could have just not been a jerk. A friend, who worked at the Ft Lauderdale Sun Sentinel as a reporter, ran into him at some kind of picnic and told him how much he enjoyed his show, and Dixon said “Oh wow, yeah.. thanks.. can you pass those ribs over this way?” ……you know, just…..a jerk….;)

Tom Hartman

Dang, I loved watching The All Night Show. "Auto Sound MIdnight Serial" -- I remember Zombies of the Stratosphere with Leonard Nimoy, and Undersea Kingdom. And the movies! Obscurities, early Vitaphone talkies, it was great. Dave's Bix Beiderbecke obsession, Franco's Pizza commercials, the hot blond woman who was in the All Night Boutique commercials, Waterbed City...or was it Waterbeds Unlimited who sponsored the show...? Before we had the world at our fingertips with the web, Dave brought some really cool subcultural material into my teenage and young adult mind. I heard a story from a recording engineer about Dave getting stuck in a doorway in the studio, and then farting uncontrollably. They said he was a real dick. I never met him or called him up during the show, I have only fond memories. Big Wilson on channel 6 wasn't nearly as much fun.
Here's Dave's All Night Show theme, Clementine (that's ClemenTEEN, from New Orleans), by Bix Beiderbecke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0KLN5wtw2k

--Van

Dave….good memories. I used to wonder how he knew so much. In the day’s before computers. Imagine what he would be like now.. Anyway, he used to hustle things on his show too. I thought it was cool. I watched Dave on CH51 in Miami in the 70”S. I was a buyer and a seller of anything and one day I came across some soap on a rope. So, I thought maybe Dave would try to sell this stuff on TV. I called the studio and Dave said to send him some samples. Nothing happened for a long time, then one night I was watching his program and he pulled out a soap on a rope and started to tout them. I thought WOW. I called and ordered 10 boxes (to start things out)(he didn’t know it was me) and he got all excited that he sold 10 boxes on the first try. He called me the next day all excited and asked me how many I had. I told him I have around 500 sets and he said he may be able to sell them all. Needless to say, he only sold 10 boxes total. That was great fun. Bert from Miami since 1956 BC (before Cubans), now in St Augustine (thanks God)
Great site, thank you!

Bert

why do u hate dave so much??? i knew david since i was 2 years old, some 64 years ago... he was a huge part of my life, in birmingham and living on wing lake... he and noel did an underground movie in high school, using my cat, peanuts as the main character...i was hoping to find that pix online when i came across this site... i read monika's little diddy about his bed... at least i never did that... hi monika... send love to binnion 4me... hugs

Jeremiah Peabody

David was a huge part of detroit and south florida, watching david at midnight on a florida tv station, making me feel content having family that close by... he was a character, but deep down, he was just Dave...

J. Brain

Back in the 90s on WDET Dave was in studio with John Wesley Harding and announced he had a surprise. When a birthday cake was brought out for John, he thanked Dave, then joked, in his quaint British accent, that he had been hoping it would've been "a small pile of cocaine". Without missing a beat, Dave deadpanned "Actually, John, on advice of counsel, we've had to discontinue such gratuities." That was Dave.

Jeff Dangelo

I knew Dave for a while when I went to WSU, I can’t argue with you he was a huge asshole. But like most assholes, if you get rid of the smell, these guys usually have something to say and in his case I think he was pissed most of the time and even more pissed that he couldn’t get his point across. This was because no one could stand listening to him. To bad because he had something to say. You are right he played music you might not hear anywhere else, he took it a step further than the other DJs and they also played great music and opened doors to people like us I guess, that were really into the wide varieties of music that were newly available to us and kept that thread to the past while storming into the future.

Rick

I remember Dave as a fun and slightly intimidating guy whom I met when he first came back to town from his New York years. I was a friend of his sister and he played a tape for us he had done in a studio in New York entitled “ (All My Life I’ve Been) Wasted “. The 3 of us went to see Nelson Mandela at the old Tiger Stadium when he came to town on his first US tour. Dave was an ultra eclectic, creative radio guy and his type is sorely missed today. Hi to Vivian if your still on the coast -

Don (Peoples) Jones

It had been raining all week in Detroit, one afternoon I called to “Request” (remember he HATED “requests”, accepted only suggestions!) the Zepplin tune ‘When the Levee Breaks’. He answered the phone, I made my ‘request”, and he replied, “Real funny asshole!” and hung up.
He didn’t play it either…..

Tom Perkins - Fort Myers (only since July 2018)

Dave recorded a song for fun in a New York studio called “Wasted”. I was dating his sister (1969 or 70) and he played it for us at his folks house out on Wing Lake. The lyrics were something like “ All my life I’ve been wasted, people that I meet, they get wasted too.” Somewhere this tape exists!

Best - Don Jones

I called up abx and requested a tune from Dave. He said that since they were in town it would be unethical for him to play their music. That has always stayed with me. I miss Dave.

Cheers,Pete

I also called into a Dave Dixon show. It was when he was on WDET. I'm a big fan of the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim. Dave was spinning the music from the film "The Black Orpheus". He had incorrectly stated who had written the music for the film. It was written by Jobim and Luiz Bonfa'. I called to tell him that and comment on how I liked this music and the composers. He was not happy and lambasted me with a caustic comment and then hung up on me. Regardless, I really enjoyed his show and his excellent and eclectic musical tastes.

Rick

Having come from England in 1970 and working the night shift during that decade, WCIX channel 51 was about all there was to watch late at night in those days so that could only mean…..Dave Dixon. Dave hosted all the shows I’d loved growing up in the old country, The Prisoner, The Avengers and the great American sci-fi shows. And the advertisers. Every sleazy, cheesy, run-down porn shop, car dealer or carpet merchant had a commercial on Dave’s show. Watching Dave was like watching a slightly friendlier Jabba the Hut that could speak English. They’ll never be another one like Dave, the original fat bastard.

Verne

I listened to ABX, RIF & WWWW all day every day back in the day. One particular day, I got Dixon on the phone between records. I was so excited that I proclaimed: "I've been trying to call WRIF (and I had been) all day and I finally got you!" Dixon replied "FUCK YOU!" and hung up on me. I immediately thought about how stupid it was to tell him something like that and amazed and a little angry that a radio personality had talked to me that way. It took me a minute to realize I deserved it for inadvertently insulting him the way I did. Years later when he moved to WDET I always listened to his show. He was a great DJ and I forgave him because he turned me onto The Cure. But I'll be in your fan club cause he was a dick that I loved to hate and I understand in retrospection that he was also a frustrated genius dick with a vast knowledge of music. And I miss him (and Mark Parenteau). I liked your story. I found it when I Googled Dixon to find out the year that he died.

Walter


Tell me your favorite Dave Dixon story ...




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