WASHINGTON — Ed Walker wasn’t ready to hit the “off” button.
The 83-year-old Radio Hall of Fame host — who dominated Washington’s airwaves in the 1960s as one half of “The Joy Boys,” with Willard Scott — has recorded his final episode of The Big Broadcast, after recently being diagnosed with cancer.
“The last show was a real tearjerker for me,” Walker told WTOP’s Bruce Alan, who co-hosted a WWRC talk show with Walker from 1987 to 1990. “It wasn’t easy.”
Walker invited Alan to visit and conduct an informal interview last Friday, after making his cancer diagnosis public.
Walker has been the host of WAMU’s longest-running program since 1990, which features vintage radio programs including “Gunsmoke,” “Our Miss Brooks” and “Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.”
He confided he wasn’t ready to hang up the headphones.
“I’m sorry it had to end like this, but you never have any control over that,” Walker says. “It was a very unhappy moment.”
Born blind, Walker says radio has been his companion since he was a boy. “It was everything to me, not being able to see … it took the place of comic books and newspapers.”
Growing up, “I wanted to be in broadcasting, but I never thought it would come to pass.”
In 1951, Walker met Willard Scott, when both were students at American University.
“He changed my life the day I met him,” Scott told WTOP’s Dick Uliano. “He’s the best friend I’ve had in my life.”
From 1955 to 1972, Walker and Scott were nightly co-hosts of “The Joy Boys,” on WRC Radio, owned by NBC.
At the height of their popularity, the Washington Post said Scott and Walker “dominated Washington, providing entertainment, companionship, and community to a city on the verge of powerful change.”
“We never worked a day in our life,” recalls Scott. “We loved what we did and we loved each other — we never had a fight in our lives.”
“The Joy Boys” show was a raucous, largely improvised comedy show.
“An hour before the show, we would go in the office and have a sandwich and a cup of coffee, and write down some ideas,” says Scott.
Scott says Walker coordinated closely with the show’s audio engineer, cued the comedy bits and created the live sound effects for the show.
“Eddie ran the show,” Scott says. “I was his sidekick.”
Engineer Mike Berry says that, while doing comic bits, Walker was a master at getting the best sound out of the studio microphone.
“Sometimes it was desirable to make it seem like the voiced person was moving in and out of the studio — Eddie had a small door that he could slam for a sound effect,” says Berry. “It was amazing to watch Eddie work the microphone while doing this.”
At the time, Berry says microphones were susceptible to loud noises. “He moved back before doing anything loud; he could simulate distance in two ways, by moving away from the microphone or moving off of its primary axis.”
“The Joy Boys” left the air in October 1974. Walker’s career includes stints at WWDC-AM, WMAL and WOL.
Longtime fan Bob Bybee, who started a tribute website in 2001, says visitors continue to recount the happiness the show brought.
“They stayed on the air for 20 years, and for good reason,” says Bybee.
“It was good, clean, enjoyable entertainment,” says Bybee. “Listeners could tell that the ‘boys’ really had fun doing their show, and that fun came across the airwaves.”
After NBC sold WRC, Greater Media changed added a W, and WWRC began a nostalgic music format.
In 1987, WWRC went back to talk — Walker was hired as its first morning host, by program director Ken Mellgren.
“Without exception, Ed Walker is the most talented radio and TV personality I have known,” Mellgren tells WTOP.
Mellgren teamed Walker with Bruce Alan, who at the time was a traffic reporter.
Alan had moved from New York to D.C. after “The Joy Boys” left the air, but he obviously had heard of Walker’s talents.
“He was quick, and funny, and great,” Alan says. “We laughed at the same dumb jokes, and made the same dumb jokes.”
“We did have fun, and that was the secret of what I liked about radio,” says Walker. “It’s ceasing to be fun now, I think.”
In the mid-1980s, Walker and Alan’s morning show was competing against raunchier hosts, including Doug “Greaseman” Tracht, and Howard Stern in syndication.
“We did stuff that was wacky, never in bad taste,” says Walker, before a comic pause. “I think.”
Walker recorded his final show last week, which will air Sunday evening, Oct. 25, from 7 to 11 p.m.
“I made the choice I thought was best by stepping aside from The Big Broadcast, and letting somebody younger do it,” says Walker. “The person who takes over probably will have as much love for it as I did, and I hope they do.”
“They probably will,” Alan told Walker, “but the show won’t be the same without you.”
Walker’s Big Broadcast engineer for 24 years, Tobey Schreiner, will miss the conversations he had with Walker while driving him to the studio for their weekly tapings.
“The time spent on those rides, talking about radio, past and present, as well as what was happening in our lives personally, are moments I will treasure for a lifetime,” says Schreiner.
Schreiner says countless visitors to the station approached Walker to say they were lifelong fans.
“He always took the time to shake hands and chat with them in the hall for as long as they liked,” says Schreiner.
Willard Scott says Walker “taught me the meaning of the word ‘humility,’ in the truest sense of the word.”
“He went out like a prince,” says Scott. “It’s the real Ed Walker — heart, soul, and everything.”
Now, for the first time in 60 years, Walker will no longer have a regular audience to entertain and communicate with.
“The memories keep rushing back,” says Walker, wistfully. “I’ll remember them as long as I live.”
Watch this clip from The Joy Boys final show:
