Gary Burbank - disc jockey at WAKY. 1971

Longtime 700 WLW-AM personality and nationally syndicated radio host Gary Burbank died Aug. 28, longtime friend Bill Cunningham confirmed. He was 84.

Cunningham posted news of the death on X, writing, "Gary Burbank has passed… May the GOAT… RIP…."

Burbank, who retired from his radio host job in 2007, was known for characters he developed and used on the air, including Earl Pitts American, Gilbert Gnarley, the Right Rev. Deuteronomy Skaggs and blues musician Howlin' Blind Muddy Slim. Pitts' commentaries have continued in national syndication.

Burbank came to WLW in 1981 from Louisville, Kentucky, starting as a morning host. He created numerous fictional characters, satirized the likes of Jerry Springer, Marge Schott and other local celebrities, and blasted the Cincinnati Reds and Bengals when they struggled.

The afternoon shows he hosted on WLW included "Sports or Consequences," a sports trivia quiz show in which callers asked Burbank and his supporting cast sports trivia questions, and were disconnected or "blown up" for various reasons. The caller won a prize by stumping the cast. With each correct answer from Burbank's cast, he and his team exclaimed, "Heyyy! We don't, we don't, we don't mess around. Hey!"

Burbank twice won the Billboard magazine and Marconi awards for large-market radio personality of the year. In 2012, he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.

Born Billy Purser in July 1941 in Memphis, Tennessee, Burbank later said he remembered listening to WLW while he was in the Army, stationed near Stuttgart, Germany, in the late 1950s.

He worked as "Bill Williams" and "Johnny Apollo" in Louisiana and Mississippi before becoming "Gary Burbank," a name inspired by radio veteran and "Laugh-In" announcer Gary Owens, during his time at Louisville's WAKY, where he created many of the characters he used on the air in Cincinnati.

Burbank also worked as a host and disc jockey in Tennessee and Windsor, Ontario, and opened several restaurants, including Burbank's Real Bar-B-Q and Ribs, which closed in 2009.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Gary Burbank, longtime radio host, dies at 84

Reporting by Dave Clark, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer

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