Friends, fans, and former coworkers of Jim Scott, arguably one of Cincinnati’s most popular morning radio hosts, will gather Saturday to celebrate his life with a tribute concert.
Scott, who died of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) a year ago at age 81, was one of a kind from the first day his voice was heard playing rock ‘n’ roll records on WSAI-AM on March 23, 1968.
He went door-to-door in neighborhoods to meet prospective listeners. He drove an old three-wheeled U.S. Mail Service truck in parades. His one-on-one self-promotional campaign reached historic proportions in 1977 when he shook 8,514 hands at Northgate Mall, breaking “the handshake record held for years by Theodore Roosevelt,” according to the Enquirer on Sept. 8 that year.
He was one of a kind.
Once, when attending a Price Hill fish fry during Lent, he met a man whose father had just died after a long illness.
“Without hesitation, Jim grabbed the man by the arm and took him next door to Holy Family Church to light candles for their dads,” says WLW-AM morning news anchor Brian Combs, one of the three hosts for the “Celebration of Jim Scott: Music and Memories” at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 28, at the Mount St. Joseph University Theatre.
“Jim made a lifelong friend by that one simple gesture. Gestures he repeated over and over and over again throughout his lifetime. Jim said it was his dad who taught him that everyone deserves recognition and showed him how to engage people to make them feel valued,” Combs says.
Co-hosting with Combs are retired sportscaster Dennis Janson, who started his career at WSAI-AM and met Scott his first day in town, and WCKY-AM sports talk host Mo Egger, who commuted from the University of Dayton to produce Scott’s WLW-AM morning show in 1998.
They will tell stories, and talk about Scott’s career and activities, along with videos and photos. Musical entertainment will be provided by vocalists Nancy James, Pamela Myers, Sara Winsted, Sean Kelley, Lady “Angel of the Blues” Joya and the Elder High School Glee Club. Music director Greg Dastillung will play keyboards with drummer George Bruce, bass player Jan Diehl, and guitarist Geoff Pittman. Proceeds benefit the University of Cincinnati Gardner Neurological Institute's Clinic Endowment Fund to provide hands-on assistance to ALS patients.
Each host will be allowed to deviate from the script “to speak from the heart, and tell stories about how Jim touched our lives,” Egger says.
“I choked up a couple times reading my part at rehearsal last Saturday. It’s very touching,” says Janson, who started working at WSAI-AM in 1968, his senior year at Elder High School.
The Binghamton, New York, native worked in York, Pennsylvania, San Diego, and Buffalo before coming to WSAI-AM, the rock powerhouse which brought The Beatles to Cincinnati. It was the beginning of a nearly 50-year love affair with the Queen City — except for a one-year stint as afternoon host in New York City's WNBC-AM, working with Don Imus and Murray the K in 1972-73.
“I was trying to get to the biggest city and biggest station. That was my goal. Once I got there, it didn’t take long to realize that it wasn’t necessarily the place to raise my kids,” Scott once told me.
Scott holds the distinction of hosting a No. 1 morning radio show in Greater Cincinnati in every decade from the 1970s until his retired in 2015.
He was one of a kind.
“He could relate to everybody. He could talk to a guy driving a truck, a mother taking her kids to school, older women or young people,” says Egger, who commuted from the University of Dayton at 3 a.m. to produce Scott’s WLW-AM morning show in 1998. “He was awesome to work for, and to learn from.”
Read more about his career in my story, ‘Good Old’ Jim Scott loses battle with ALS at age 81.'
Coworkers were amazed by his energy. He arrived at the station before 4:30 a.m., was on the air 5-9 a.m., then recorded interviews for the next day until 11 a.m. He’d often meet clients for lunch or in the afternoon, and host a charity event at night.
His last public appearance was in the 2024 Findlay Market Opening Day parade. No longer able to speak, he could only give fans a thumbs up from the front seat of a car.
“Jim gave of himself two or three times a week for 50-plus years to emcee fundraisers for nonprofit causes. This time it is our turn to honor Jim with a fundraiser that helps local ALS patients who find themselves in the grips of the disease that took Jim,” says his wife, Donna Hartman.
When I convened a panel of local broadcasters in 2013 to name the "Top 40 Radio Personalities Of The Last 40 Years" for the Cincinnati Enquirer, “Good Old” Jim Scott was ranked No. 1. He beat out Gary Burbank; Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall; Robin Wood; Jerry Thomas; Bill Cunningham; Lincoln Ware; Bob Trumpy; Jim LaBarbara; and Mike McConnell.
“I think Jim Scott is the greatest Cincinnati on-air personality of all time,” Egger says.
Yes, he was one of a kind.
Tickets are available here for $50 or $35, plus fees. Door open at 5 p.m. Saturday.
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