By Danielle Campbell

20 years have gone by since 66-WNBC went off the air! I worked there during the Howard Stern, Imus days--and it was wild!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WNBC_(AM)
http://home.att.net/~walter.tomasheski/WNBC.htm
{WNBC REUNION October 2008}
During my almost 5 years there I had the opportunity to work with the best in the business, NYC's top Broadcasters.
It was an amazing time, Mayor Koch was in charge of the city--Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Joe Piscopo, Jim Belushi, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus were among those on the cast for Saturday Night Live, David Letterman was super popular, Marv Albert was in his hey day, and Tom Brokaw was becoming a real big deal.
The neat part about working at WNBC is that you worked for the entire company. So, for a young journalist starting out, I got a chance to bring guests to the Green Room for Letterman, SNL... help Tom Brokaw with the new invention we were using in the newsroom called a word processor... I would tape Don Crique's Sports cast, and of course I was endlessly made fun of on the air {and off} by Don Imus and Howard Stern--every single day. If I even walked by the studio windows, it was over. I got called in, berrated, made fun of, teased, harrassed--all in "good fun"--;)
Imus would often call me into his office and put his pet tarantula on my arm--ugh--I can laugh now :)
Howard had choice names for me which I will not elaborate on. By the way we share a birthday {January 12th} along with Soupy Sales {January 8th}, so all of three of us had birthday cake!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soupy_Sales
Nevertheless, we were all a crazy, dysfunctional family!
We had a great WNBC Baseball team. We went to Yankee and Mets Games together.
I chaperoned Howard Stern's "Dial A Date" with Gary Dell'Abate--
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Dell%27Abate
He would beg me to go with him and the winning contestants to "The Cafe Versailles"-- and only if you are a real Howard Stern Fan will you remember what I am talking about.
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2736756-versailles_new_york_city-i
Gary actually got me my start at WNBC--we were both working at an automated station on Long Island called WCTO. My job was to keep the music on overnight on the weekends. That meant not falling asleep, as they say, at the switch! I had to thread giant reels of music onto this monstrous tape deck thing--I think there were 5 thousand versions of "Star Dust." It was an evil plot because the "muzak" actually made you sleepy--and often I would awake to the sound of the ten second dead air alarm. This as I scrambled to thread more "Star Dust" versions into the dreaded machine--dreaded because often it would, during my shift,--snap the tape. Aah, more dead air. I swear that thing was possessed--
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardust_%28song%29
Anyway that is where I met Gary. He was a nice guy, a student at Adelphi. I taught him how to keep the 24 hour "muzak" station on the air {scarey thought if you know me}.
Anyway he came into work one day all excited--"I got an internship at 66 WNBC with the deejays!" "I can hook you up if you want one as well." I said sure, but not with those DJ's--I want to intern in the newsroom! So, thanks to Gary, it happened! And we all know how his career went--God Bless him! We were the youngin's in the newsroom, Mike Breen {of Knicks Fame}--Gary, of course--Bernard McGuirk--{Imus' producer}, and then there was me!
We were all pals and had so many good times, laughs, and I think all of us we learned a lot about surviving.
We all pitched in. We all worked together. We were very proud of our product. Good times were many. Bad times happened as well: The Challenger blew up--it was inconceivable--and we cried in the newsroom, shocked by the knowledge that something could go wrong, especially on the mission with Christa McAuliffe onboard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christa_McAuliffe
Under the guidance of News Director, Doug O'Brien {my boss} and Community Affairs Director, Anne Grassi, we were the first broadcast outlet to put together a comprehensive on air presentation dealing with the AIDS Crisis--an unknown, frightening disease that was killing people.
We met and interviewed everyone who was anyone! Mark Hamill, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford, {stupid me was sick that day!!}, Governor Cuomo, Mayor Koch--Jesse Jackson...
My head spins trying to put together a list--I will someday, but not now. You get the point.
And for Howard Fans--I must tell you--his portrayal of 66 WNBC is very accurate. I was one of the girls taping up the windows {you know the scene!}.
Ok, so now the point of this blog was to tell you that we all got together at Hurley's in NYC for a reunion about two weeks ago and it was wonderful! So many special people who were a big part of my life, especially Doug O'Brien who was the newsdirector at the time. With his booming pipes, he immediately said to me, "Danielle as your boss, I must say I am proud of you!!" { Doug is a broadcaster on 1010 WINS.}
{And by the way--he will always be my boss!}
http://www.1010wins.com/pages/975088.php?contentType=4&contentId=93199
And Smart, savy sexy Annie Grassi who ran the public affairs end of the station.
Judy D'Angelis {1010 WINS} and Charles McCord {IMUS}, were not there--but they too played a tremendous role in teaching by example---
They were true mentors, journalists, professionals--and I thank them all for their time, patience, knowledge, and their willingness to teach and to share.
All of us were very close and seeing each other again--some after 20 years, confirmed that!
{Me, Mike Breen, Annie Grassi}
However there is one person missing from our lives, someone we all loved dearly and as I write this I realize it is the day before she died 22 years ago--{I can't believe it}
Jane Dornacker, the crazy, loveable, traffic reporter who died when our chopper crashed for a second time.
I guess there is a reason I am writing this today--Jane was so accomplished, caring, special to all of us.
22 years ago-- Jane was a bit down, waiting to hear if she would be picked up by SNL, {that is why she had come to NY}. She missed her daughter, Naomi, her ex-husband had just died--things were a bit tough for her--and yet she always always kept her chin up, spreading her goodness where ever she went.
Before I was promoted to Assistant to the News Director, I was Jane's traffic producer. We didn't have anyone yet to fill the position so I worked the two way, filling Jane in on the traffic tie ups that we would get by calling tow companies --
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Dornacker
This particular day {October 22}--twenty two years ago tomorrow--Jane was about to begin her Traffic reporting shift. I filled Jane in on what was going on--and then I did something that is considered a taboo over the two-way. For some reason, I was compelled to say to her--because it was in my heart-- "Jane I just want to let you know I love you--I want you to know how special you are to me and to everyone here!"
She gushed over the two-way and told me she loved me as well. I went upstairs to grab a quick cup of coffee. When I came down, five minutes later, she was gone.
A few weeks later I gave the eulogy at her memorial at Saint Patrick's Cathedral. {WNBC also flew me to San Francisco to be part of a celebration of her life there with Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Crystal,
Robin Williams--they were all great friends of hers.}
I could write a book on what happened, how it affected all of us, how it signaled the end of an era. I could tell you about the hole in my heart that never closed and how all of us at WNBC felt suffocating pain when she died.
{This is a picture of Jane. She is on the top with her band, Leila and the Snakes.}
2 years later "our" beloved 66 WNBC went off the air. It was October 7th--and like it was yesterday, I remember Alan Colmes final words that ended 66 years of broadcast history:
He said: "For the last time this is WNBC New York."
http://www.imonthe.net/66wnbc/i_remember.htm