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By 1960, Shep’s homespun wit could be tweaked depending on what time of the day he took to the air. At that time he was broadcasting on both Saturdays and Sundays during the middle of the day for just under two hours.
On Saturday April 9th, 1960, he took to the air discussing a solitary trip to Coney Island.
The batting cages Shep spoke of were located on Stillwell avenue near the Coney Island boardwalk, just down the block from Nathans. I spent many a winter afternoon on this street taking batting practice and eating at Nathans with my grandfather in the 1990s. For more information on Coney Island’s place in radio history, tune into Breaking Walls episode 92.
Shepherd’s Sunday show was terminated and for five months he was only on Saturday afternoons at 1:15PM. His program was then shifted to weeknights at 11:15PM for forty-five minutes. On February 27th, 1961 Shepherd spoke about shifting back to a late night time slot.
This format, at 11:15PM until 1964, and then 10:15 until 1977, became what Shepherd is today most remembered for in terms of radio broadcasting.
On Monday, October 21st, 1963 he had this to say about how his peers perceived their era, as well as why some college kids were gravitating towards Barry Goldwater, rather than John Kennedy.
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