Barry Gray was an American radio personality, often referred to as "the father of talk radio." His late-night New York City radio talk show was carried by WOR radio and then later by WMCA.
Barry Gray returned to WMCA in 1950, and stayed there for 39 years, refining the talk show format still utilized today. During the 1960s, he was in the odd position of having an 11 p.m.-1 a.m. late night talk show on a station otherwise dominated by Top 40 music and the youth-targeted "Good Guys" disc jockey campaign. But for teenagers who kept their radios on into the night, Gray's show was a window into the high-brow New York culture of the 1940s and 1950s.
We hear Jack Paar concluding his Tonight Show NBC TV broadcast stating that Ed Sullivan is a liar and he must suffer publicly for his actions. Paar mentions that he requests NBC not to delete what he has just said when his show, on Tape, is aired this evening.
The final five minutes of The Barry Gray Show at 12:55am (March 14, 1961, WMCA Radio) is heard, two hours after Paar's Tonight Show has been broadcast. Ed Sullivan emphatically tells Gray, by phone, that he is not a bully and that Paar can call him any name he desires.
Barry Gray's in studio guest Jackie Kannon states his impressions about the Paar/Sullivan feud.
