Sad news for Don & Mike and R&F fans
46 2017-01-22 by DaveNone
Mike O'Meara tweeted a few hours ago that he had received info that Tom Gavin had died. He's supposed to update later and confirm it. I know it doesn't mean much to about 98% of the people here but Tom Gavin was a mentally disabled/retarded guy who lived in a group home and called into D&M. He also showed up at their live events and balanced his cane for the audience. He was a horrible speller and they'd get him to spell for laughs. And loved when Mike did Charly. He was a radio whore and would go on lots of other DC area shows. He popped up at a few R&F events too I believe. Don used to give him shit about it jokingly and Tom would always say he hadn't been on another show until Don played the tape of him being on it. He was basically Bobo only more disabled, a lot funnier and far less annoying. He probably called into O&A I'd bet even if he didn't make it on the air.
Feel free to rag on me but the guy was a good egg and always got a laugh and if he is dead then he'll be missed by a few people out there in radio land.
edit Word is that Tom passed away suddenly yesterday, Sunday, morning at Arlington Hospital. No word yet on what it was but he had a lot of health issues even 20 years ago and had a horrific diet. The one time I met him at a D&M event he had really bad teeth because no matter how hard the people at the group home tried to stop him he always got ahold of sugary foods and didn't get to the dentist much.
78 comments
n/a I_Hate_Knockers 2017-01-22
😀
n/a Stud_beaner_69 2017-01-22
Who???
n/a Stud_beaner_69 2017-01-22
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! SHUT YOUR TRAP, YOKO!!!!
n/a rsplatpc 2017-01-22
Thought you were gonna say Don or Mike
n/a DaveNone 2017-01-22
Don is a smug prick. I don't worry too much where he is. He and Opie should do a show together and call it Douchebag and Tits. They'd end up killing each other 10 minutes into it. Glorious result for all.
n/a bonniesretardsister 2017-01-22
Like Don makes it 10 minutes into a contract before quitting.
Between that and dating again immediately after his wife died he isn't Opie, he is Art Bell.
n/a Doc_McCoy79 2017-01-22
Probably calling his wife on the air and calling her "schnookums" and "sugar bear", boring the listeners for 10-15 minutes at a time.
n/a rsplatpc 2017-01-22
I highly doubt that one
n/a NJPoster 2017-01-22
Don's wife died.
n/a throwawizzlemahnizzl 2017-01-22
lmfao
n/a Doc_McCoy79 2017-01-22
Maybe he remarried? (Old jewish guy delivery)
n/a throwawizzlemahnizzl 2017-01-22
second one half off? (old jewish guy delivery)
n/a bonniesretardsister 2017-01-22
He did. Disturbingly fast like Art Bell.
n/a DaveNone 2017-01-22
Yeah that always struck me. He had this great love of his life in Freda supposedly but as soon as she died he was dating a younger woman and then married to her lightning quick. I suspect there was a little cheating going on behind Freda's back.
n/a TerpBE 2017-01-22
Wasn't the new wife going through some kind of similar situation (widow or divorcee)? I always just got the impression it was just two people who both needed someone net at the right time. It's not like he married a 20 year old intern.
n/a piggyboi 2017-01-22
Maybe on a crystal ball, but definitely note a telephone.
n/a copomash 2017-01-22
Sucks man ....
n/a Bluesmoky 2017-01-22
Was he a great big fat person?
n/a placermutka 2017-01-22
The spelling bot always made me laff
n/a piggyboi 2017-01-22
D&M was a good, sometimes great, show. I know the two shows hated each other, and D&M didn't catch on nationally, but for a regional program, it really was very funny. It was very sad about Frida - Don never recovered from her death, and it pretty much brought an end to the show.
n/a DaveNone 2017-01-22
D&M caught on nationally. They were in over 30 markets, think they approached 50 or better at one time, through most of the 90's and into the 00's. They just couldn't catch on in NYC and Philly. Same way O&A never caught on in DC. Mainly because the two shows poisoned the other shows potential audience in their respective homegrounds.
Shame really, If the 2 shows had worked together, along with R&F, they could have had a lot of pull at Infinity and given Howard Stern back some of his shit.
n/a piggyboi 2017-01-22
You're right; I was thinking of NYC. That being said, not working in NYC didn't have much to do with O&A; their radio feud wasn't that big of a deal. D&M had a very particular tone to their humor that wasn't to the NY market's taste; it was a silly, wholesome comedy compared to what was playing in NYC at the time.
If anything poisoned O&A in DC, for me it was Stern; I was a huge fan of Stern at the time, and he beat them up for years before they came to DC. By then, I was such a massive Howard fan, I wasn't going to give them a chance. Even still, I started to come around by the time they got pulled, and have been a huge fan ever since (and can't stand Ho Ho now).
n/a throwawizzlemahnizzl 2017-01-22
tss waddaya anne frank or sumptin writin a diary or sumptin I dunno
n/a bonniesretardsister 2017-01-22
It was they couldn't decide if they wanted to be shock jocks or white Tom Joyners. The show was annoyingly schizophrenic. You had Rob doing his neo Nazi gimmick and sex jokes one break and then Don talking about his kids good grades and Freida and Bart calling in the next break. Not many people want to hear both.
n/a DaveNone 2017-01-22
The biggest problem with the show was Freda. When she'd call in once in a while she wasn't so bad but there came a tipping point, right around the time he had his 2nd or 3rd drug related issue, where she started fucking calling in non stop.
Buzz and his wife were stone cold sex freaks and did a lot of experimenting. He'd discuss it a lot more in the early days but it trailed off as they became more family friendly.
Plus, as with Opie, Don felt he was a radio genius and knew it all and fucked himself when he became the program director of WJFK. He thought he knew better than everyone else but ultimately he aimed higher than he had the talent for.
n/a bonniesretardsister 2017-01-22
Hmm, I never thought of Don as an Opie. I guess because he at least knew enough to pretend like he was fine if Mike and Rob had the good jokes and Buzz had an occasional bit like the sex hotline that killed. But he must have hated them if he quit for no reason since he came back a year later.
n/a DaveNone 2017-01-22
He has an Opie size ego. But unlike Opie, Don did have a sense of humor and usually got the joke. Plus he did travel around the country and do shows on different stations and got a feel for what worked and wasn't afraid to admit his failures.
Whereas Opie never gets the joke and makes it seem like he was a huge radio success before he met Anthony, forgetting he was on an overnight shift when they met. They are the same in that they think they know more than everyone else and ultimately both believed they could succeed alone. And boy were they wrong.
Don also had the added delusion of thinking he'd be a great TV personality. He auditioned for ESPN2 at one point and talked about it a lot beforehand and not much after the audition. His Sacramento TV stint didn't last a long time.
n/a piggyboi 2017-01-22
Don didn't think he could succeed alone - he basically quit radio and moved to Ocean City to do a very small radio show. That was his choice, it wasn't forced on him. If he had Opie's ego, he would have never gone from a national show to a very small local market willingly. It was all about Freda; once she died, he didn't want to do it anymore.
n/a DaveNone 2017-01-22
He quit to do a small show. So he did think he could succeed alone. But that went up in smoke.
If Freda hadn't fucked up the show by calling it incessantly I think after she died he might have kept on doing the show with Mike. By the time she died though the show was a pale shadow of itself and would have required a lot of time and effort to bring back to it's roots and I don't think he had the desire to work that hard.
As someone pointed out, the whole thing with Freda may not have been all we thought it was. He did start dating and get married really fast after she died. I wonder if he stayed with her all the years he did because he didn't want to give up half of his cash. He probably had millions at that point after about 15 years in syndication.
n/a M3g4d37h 2017-01-22
He was broken due to the death of his wife.
I think there may be truth in the ego deal, I remember when he joined RELM (Buzz) to Podcast, and that flamed out quick, and Don flipped his shit, accusing Buzz basically of being a scheister. Buzz came off as diplomatic and pretty much the antithesis of the vitriolic Geronimo.
Times in radio changed, and it feels like Don just sort stayed the same. That's not a slight on him, just my perception..
n/a piggyboi 2017-01-22
I don't know any of the podcast drama - once the show ended, I didn't follow any of them.
n/a M3g4d37h 2017-01-22
I moved right around the time Freda died, but had followed them for some years. Buzz has a weekly news podcast now that I enjoy, and this happened after it all came together, so my getting this was sort of surreptitious.
n/a piggyboi 2017-01-22
Don was far, far more talented than Opie. Unlike Opie, he was genuinely funny, and had great comedic timing; he never, ever stepped on lines or got in Mike's way.
If there's any comparison, I'd say Ant and Mike were a lot alike; both funny, did these impressions, sort of lazy, etc.
n/a DaveNone 2017-01-22
Yeah he was more talented. He was the very definition of an old time boss jock. He jumped into radio at a young age and worked his way up, didn't go to college and get a degree like Opie did. Don learned by doing so I think he had a huge edge in radio ability over Opie. I don't think he had a great traditional radio voice but he had a good speaking voice. He could put on a hell of a jock radio voice when he wanted to though. He used to talk about how he didn't have the stereotypical bass DJ voice.
Sirius could put Don, Jimmy and Anthony in studio together tomorrow and have a hit show on their hands because Don would be smart enough to just let Ant and Jimmy roll and contribute when needed. He was good at show prep so he could lay out the framework for the show and let it all happen.
I was saying Don and Opie compare in their attitude and ego. You also forgot the biggest way Mike and Ant compared, they were both big time drunks.
n/a piggyboi 2017-01-22
Totally agree. God, I wish they would just get Ant, Jim, and someone competent (Ron, Don, etc.) into a studio; it's really sad to see where all these once great jocks and comedians have ended up. D&M, O&A, R&F, Ho Ho - all members of a golden age, and there won't be anyone to pick up their torches.
n/a M3g4d37h 2017-01-22
Great assessment. Insightful.
n/a MartyVanB 2017-01-22
They were not a wholesome show but they werent shock jocks either. I mean Don talked about beating off and they had strip trivia. It was way more conversational and more about their daily lives
n/a M3g4d37h 2017-01-22
Sgt. Fury :D
n/a piggyboi 2017-01-22
So many classic bits from that show. The problem was he didn't really grow at all, and once you'd listen for a few years, you knew all the jokes before he told them. Still, he was a classic and underrated, a real "boss jock" from the golden era of shock jockerey. For a small market, DC had some great local radio.
n/a M3g4d37h 2017-01-22
He had the best radio voice, too. RIP Doug Tracht's career.
n/a piggyboi 2017-01-22
One of the sadder things I ever saw was at the Washington Auto Show. A few years after Grease flamed out and started buying air time, he was at the DC car show, tucked away on the second floor, seated behind a fold-out table with a giant sign that said, "Radio's Greaseman!" No line, no one approaching him - I don't think anyone knew who he was. He was very nice, and I felt so sorry for him.
n/a M3g4d37h 2017-01-22
Such a sad end for such a talented guy, too.
n/a OswaldTheLucky 2017-01-22
I lived in Lincoln, NE and driving north towards Iowa you could hear D&M in the afternoons too. This was pre-satellite (obviously) and there was no Stern or OandA or anyone else on the air in the area, except Phil Hendrie at night
n/a EastSideDan 2017-01-22
One of the classier things Norton ever did was write a lengthy post admonishing those scumbags on Wackbag that were harassing Don after Frieda was killed.
Both Opie and Anthony shortly after even shut down a called that made some Don reference by saying that Don had a rough year, leave him alone.
n/a russelldalrymple 2017-01-22
Chance you have a link to that? For some odd reason, I'm always fascinated when complete pieces of shit show some humanity. Kind of like a blueprint for my own life, perhaps.
n/a EastSideDan 2017-01-22
The Norton post was on Wackbag itself. It was a lengthy one basically calling out the people on the board and also saying a radio bit/war is one thing, a guy having his wife killed in a horrific car crash and harassing him about it. Is wackbag even still a site.
The Opie and Anthony thing was just an aside. I forget if anything else was going on to have had someone upload it somewhere. They both just like, "Ah, leave the guy alone." And then Anthony said something like, "The guy's had a really rough year."
Here a few years later Don refers to O and A as his "radio buddies" on XM. So, it appears they patched things up after Frieda's death.
https://youtu.be/T-zIwYAtXiY?t=1m43s
n/a DaveNone 2017-01-22
He may not have been sincere in calling them his DJ buddies. Don was an old school jock and felt like there was a brotherhood amongst them even when there was a rivalry. Sort of like comedians who talk shit about each other but then then defend each other when "civilians" dare to question them.
n/a piggyboi 2017-01-22
Wackbag - what a bunch of sycophantic assholes.
n/a M3g4d37h 2017-01-22
That's fucked up.
n/a bonniesretardsister 2017-01-22
The best Elvis bit was the one where Don pissed off a Memphis Mafia member by informing him Elvis was quoted as saying his sister was "a lousy lay."
n/a aegrotatio 2017-01-22
We even filled his pills with sugar.
n/a bonniesretardsister 2017-01-22
The funny thing is that same guy bragged about the time Elvis owned a fan for suggesting he smoke weed like The Beatles to make his music better by informing them how rich he was. Like he wasn't even more of a fuck up.
n/a BMoneyCPA 2017-01-22
Aw shucks. I was hoping to get a Rich Vos update.
n/a TerpBE 2017-01-22
Listened to D&M all the time when I lived in the DC area. I'm more surprised that Tom Gavin was still alive.
n/a A_Real_OG_Readmore 2017-01-22
Tom used to call the funeral home I worked at and keep us on the phone, asking us about the bodies and upcoming funerals, for as long as we could stand. A nice, if weird, guy who seemed really lonely.
n/a callmesnake13 2017-01-22
Woah really? What would he ask you about the bodies?
n/a A_Real_OG_Readmore 2017-01-22
Nothing graphic. Just wanted to know about the visitations and names. Anything to have a reason to keep talking.
n/a slongbinh 2017-01-22
They would call the Elvis Presley memorial home on the anniversary of his death and ask about the size/weight of his colon when he died.
n/a aegrotatio 2017-01-22
40 pounds
n/a DaveNone 2017-01-22
And it was impacted and chalky.
n/a DaveNone 2017-01-22
The greatest time was when they snuck into Graceland and broadcast from his grave on either the anniversary of his death or his birthday after trying so hard to do it. The stores and establishments all around Graceland, and Graceland as well, had pictures up of several Don and Mike show members because they used to try to get in and broadcast. And the stores had the name of the show up because they'd call them and ask fucked up questions about Elvis and make fun of the store and the shit it sold. They loved to mock Elvis. The reading of the Hamburger James story was a highlight as well when they used to do it every year.
n/a JPSouthampton 2017-01-22
Yes Tom passed on it turns out. Murder apparently. I heard that a black person threw him into a volcano
n/a BumbiBestie 2017-01-22
That's too bad. He was fun. Thanks for the update.
n/a BumbiBestie 2017-01-22
That's too bad. He was fun. Thanks for the update.
n/a Clean-Ween 2017-01-22
Do people really give this much of a shit about radio and their dumb listeners?
n/a lemskroob 2017-01-22
are you subscribed here?
n/a GooberBuber 2017-01-22
My dad used to listen to don and Mike, it was the first instance of really enjoying talk radio for me. Their low budget jeopardy always made me laugh, and I remember some bit where they would interrupt people trying to plug their events. Seemed like good guys to me, never really got the whole ragging on other shows. To each his own.
n/a forcedhammer 2017-01-22
I loved it when Don's wife died tbh
n/a Sternacthegreat 2017-01-22
http://www.donandmikewebsite.com/ is the Don and Mike archive. Bit annoying to search, but if you use the show recap search on the right, you can get pretty decent results.
In hindsight, a few of the shows Opie and Anthony bashed were good to decent listening on second listening with an older ear. Don and Mike are probably at the top of that list, with The Dog House (JV and Elvis) being second.
I seem to remember D and M having a pretty good, albeit wholesome wack pack.
n/a Wolosocu 2017-01-22
That sucks. My friend and I used to be friends with Tom Gavin back in the 90s after Liddy's producer, Cameron Grey, gave us Gavin's phone number as a joke (we used to also talk to Dennis Murphy).
Wow. That sucks.
n/a Yakovpiscopo 2017-01-22
Lets not have our heel turn on Opie and Anthony turn into a ball washing of the dull shit Don and Mike subjected people to. Cornball fuckers
n/a bonniesretardsister 2017-01-22
Early Charly with AIDS was funny. Then Mike just turned it into just his go-to weird voice and it sucked. Tom was the only person who liked the character at that point.
n/a MartyVanB 2017-01-22
anybodyouttherelistenin.
n/a MartyVanB 2017-01-22
D&M were a great show. Much different than O&A, D&M focused on their families and such. Don really loved football. They did their fantasy football drafts live on air which were surprisingly funny.
n/a aegrotatio 2017-01-22
Tommy Joe Me Want Be On Your Show.
Rest in peace.
sniff
n/a wbfletcher 2017-01-22
Guess thats the end of the "Is Tom Alive?" phone call bit that Gregg tried to captivate the audience with.
n/a M3g4d37h 2017-01-22
I 'member Tom. He seemed like a good guy.
http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/falls-church/beloved-radio-guest-with-disabilities-passes-away/392356147
n/a [deleted] 2017-01-22
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n/a thedredscott 2017-01-22
RIP Tom Gavin. You were one of a kind. You will be missed my brother.
https://youtu.be/YJ8QLqBDZKw
n/a davedaxton 2017-01-22
I was sorry to hear the passing of Tom Gavin. When I heard the news, I was in a fog. I know some of you have been blasting him and could not stand the guy. I bet Dave Creel is elated that Gavin is gone. I am one of the few that like Gavin. I liked his passion, his drive, and his perseverance towards radio. Also, he was a solid person in his community. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Northern Virginia Arc program. Just to mention a few. His charitable and his volunteer work helped out his community a great deal. I am know way saying Gavin is a saint. Unfortunately, Gavin into some problems in 2013, He allegedly stabbed or threatened a driver with a knif. I am not sure who the driver was. I don't know if it was a Lyft, Uber, Taxi, Limo, or a private driver. My buddy runs into a few circles with the Gavin family. He was unable to find out the truth. Mary Gavin is one of the most highly respected Chiefs of Police in the world. She is the top cop for Falls Church. She is is a cop's cop and she is has been known to have one of the best community police programs in the world. She works well with her community not against them. My friend tried to ask her about the matter and she would not comment about it. I am not sure if Gavin was arrested for this incident. I know Gavin either quit, resigned, or was fired from his Radio Fairfax Gig (WEBR) DJ"ing gig. RIP my brother.
n/a digriz60 2017-01-22
I interned for the Don and Mike show back in '90-'91. Don was, as people mentioned, a smug prick. It was one of those "don't talk to him, don't look at him, don't say hi to him in the hallway unless he addresses you first" sort of things. Mike was a pretty cool and laid back guy. I would always hook him up with pirated computer games.
I specifically worked for Buzz in the news room setting up the stories from AP rip 'n' read (I doubt those teletype machines exist anymore). At first I was there during the show, but Don (or both) thought my presence in the news booth was a distraction because I guess I was too serious and didn't laugh like a good intern. I did find the show humorous and had been listening since they moved to WJFK from WAVA. But, yeah, I never thought it was laugh-out-loud.
In any case, I did most of my work prepping the news during the G Gordon Liddy show, then would take off after Liddy's show was done. It was cool because Liddy actually used me a few times on the air, whereas I was exiled by D&M and didn't really get to know the team since I was done when their show started.
Um, there's nothing more exciting than that. Never pursued a radio career, but it was interesting the kind of personalities you'd run into. Some were incredibly opaque and arrogant, others were cool and approachable (those are the one's I drank with).
I had moved when I heard about Frida getting killed in an auto accident. That was a shock. Don had already had some issues with getting busted for buying coke in the Giant parking lot, so it doesn't surprise me to read here things fell apart after Frida died.
I had totally forgotten about Tom Gavin, but yes, he was a solid regular, sorry to hear this. But I'm not sorry I moved away before Buzz started talking about his sex life. Not sure I would have wanted those details.
Anyway, it was an interesting experience.
n/a throwawizzlemahnizzl 2017-01-22
lmfao
n/a Doc_McCoy79 2017-01-22
Maybe he remarried? (Old jewish guy delivery)