Lou D'Antonio, longtime host of The Hour of the Duck, passed away on March 28 in Vermont at age 72.
Lou joined the station in 1962, six years before the advent of free-form, hosting an eclectic jazz program. When free-form was introduced by a gaggle of hippies (including Vin Scelsa) in '68, Lou (a self-described "clean-cut, preppie type") made the open-playlist transition seamlessly. He remained an iconic figure at WFMU until he retired in 1990.
Everyone in the WFMU community owes Lou a silent debt of gratitude for keeping free-form radio alive when the underground format was being overtaken by niche-casting in the early 1970s.
Drawing on his early radio heroes Jean Shepherd, Bob & Ray, and Symphony Sid, Lou evolved a warm, erudite, self-effacing, and highly entertaining style. His joie de vivre on mic was no stage persona. Lou was the same charismatic individual on the air and off.
Radio personality. Storyteller. Bon vivant. Zen sage. Family man. Actor. Athlete. Hepcat. Historian. Philosopher. Humorist. Chef. Musician. Teacher. Epicure. Diplomat. Mediator. Mentor. Lou was Fred Astaire -- he was multi-talented, did everything with singular style and natural grace, and made it all look easy.
Photos of Lou and reminiscences from staff and volunteers are being posted on WFMU's In Memoriam page, which includes a link (at bottom) to the D'Antonio family's memorial at Facebook. The first two hours of my April 8 afternoon program were devoted to Lou. An audio archive of the Duck's vintage broadcasts is under construction.
My favorite Lou The Duck story: Some time between 10/20/88 - 11/4/88 (that's how I label my tapes...) Lou was on the air complaining about the War of The Worlds remake that featured Jason Robards amongst others. Lou was believing it until he recognized Jason's voice. He then went into a tirade about how they would have had him if Jason hadn't blown it. In the middle of this tirade, the turntable with his bed music started to die, slowing down and then stopping. Then it went backwards! Rix was in the studio with him, talking with him while this was going on. Lou started laughing hysterically as he watched it.
A classic FMU moment. Ken should have a RealAudio copy of it that I sent him years ago. (My Yahoo briefcase version of it went away when Yahoo killed the Yahoo briefcase.) I can send another one if you like.
I have a few other Lou The Duck moments on tape but I'd have to go back and listen to them to see how worthwhile they'd be to share.
He was one of my favorite FMU DJs back then. I was sorry when he left and sorry to hear he's died. He provided some great radio.
Cheers,
John L aka lipwak
Posted by: John L | April 12, 2009 at 07:36 PM
I was on FMU with Lou from 1972-1975. He was always a great guy and I learned a lot about being on the air from him. I was sorry to hear of his passing.
Doug Chuka
Posted by: Doug Chuka | May 06, 2012 at 08:23 AM