Joe O’Brien, 90, WMCA’s ‘Good Guy’ Morning DJ in 1960s
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Joe O’Brien, a disc jockey who spent more than 50 years in New York radio, was killed in a weekend car crash in Lenox, Mass. He was 90.
O’Brien’s career began in 1935 when he landed his first radio job with WMCA in New York City. The Yonkers native worked at the AM station for 34 years and was one of the “Good Guys” team of disc jockeys in the late 1960s. They played Top 40 hits and became almost as popular as the music they played.
Ruth Meyer, O’Brien’s passenger in the fatal accident and WMCA’s program manager in the 1960s, helped promote the “Good Guys,” who all had the same clean-cut haircuts, wore matching suits, and worked together at record hops and personal appearances. They also sang songs as a group and released an album. During that time, O’Brien was the no. 1 morning man in New York City. In 1970, he left for WNBC-AM, where he handled morning duties until he was replaced by Don Imus in 1972. O’Brien then went to WHUD in Peekskill, N.Y. He retired to Rhinebeck in 1986, but continued to do weekend specials for WHUD until 2000.
