Flashback: August 25, 1988

Flashback: The Return to Cleveland

When it comes to comebacks, few in the business have staged as many as Don Imus.  He's been fired, has battled addictions and has even been kicked off a horse.   Somehow, he keeps coming back.

1977, everyone thought Imus' 15 minutes were over.  Imus was out on the street after WNBC cleaned house.   The station was looking to attract a younger audience, and Imus' cocaine and drinking problem didn't give management much incentive to keep him around. 

So Imus went back to Cleveland, where he'd been named Billboard's major market personality of the year before going to New York in 1971.   For the first and only time in his career, it was "Imus in the Afternoon."

In this aircheck, you'll hear Imus "trying out" before he was hired by WHK.

Imus tamed down the act and cleaned up his, and within a year, he was back on top at WNBC.

NOTE:  Our original recording was missing the songs Imus played, so we've tracked them all down and tried to mix them back in as best as possible.  If anyone out there has any more old airchecks like this, let us know, we'd love to hear them and share on the site.