Diamond Closes Out 30 Years At Mix

• The final Jack Diamond Morning Show on the soon-to-be-late, great WRQX (Mix 107.3)/Washington is now in the books, and, as expected, it was a bittersweet, emotional and joyful affair, and ultimately, a celebratory testament to the incredible power of local radio.

Sporting a vintage ABC Radio windbreaker, Diamond and his crew — Jimmy Alexander, Erica Hilary and Producer Blaire — welcomed an impressive parade of guests (some live, others called in), including some surprises, like former staffers from the station’s Top 40 incarnation as Q107 — Rick Fowler (Q107 MD & Promotions Director), Uncle Johnny (Q107 night jock), Q107 morning duo Dude Walker & Doug Limerick (who hadn’t been on the air together in 40 years!), and the team that replaced them in 1981 — Jim Elliot & Scott Woodside, who hadn’t been together since 1986.

Other guests included Barbara Britt (Jack’s first co-host on Mix 107.3); former Mix MD Carol Parker, Cecily Knobler (Jack’s movie reviewer of 15 years); Loo Katz (who did afternoons on Mix in the ’90s) and Kristie McIntyre, now with WBAL/Baltimore, who did two stints at Mix 107.3 and would fill in on the JDMS.

Love was also in the air over the years on the Jack Diamond Morning Show, as evidenced by the visit by former phone girl Layla Gibbons and Jack’s former Executive Producer Jeff Shamrock (who met on the show, got married and now have a baby), and former producer Aly Jacobs, who also met her husband through the JDMS. Celebrity guests included Washington Redskins’ legend Joe Theismann, comedian Bob Marley, Marc Roberge (lead singer of O.A.R.), Billy Bush (a former competitor in the ’90s on the late Z104) and one of the show’s favorite guests, Keith Morrison of Dateline NBC.

One of the show’s final guests was Chilli Amar, Jack’s former co-host of 12 years, who now co-hosts mornings with Toby Knapp on 97.1 WASH-FM. Amar recalled the time before the birth of Jack’s son Connor (who just turned 18) when there was a staff wager to guess the exact date of his birth. Amar won, and recounted that Jack had presented her with an expensive bottle of Dom Perignon as her gift. Amar explained that she had been saving the bottle for a special occasion, like when she bought her first house, got married, or even had a baby… but she had never opened it. “It didn’t feel right — until this moment,” she said, pulling the 1992 bottle out of a bag, clearly surprising an emotional Diamond. “I couldn’t think of a better time,” she said, as plastic cups were hastily procured and the vintage nectar flowed for a touching farewell toast.

Pictured, above, (l-r): Jake McCann, VP/Market Manager, Cumulus DC, Rob Roberts, Cumulus VP of Hot AC Programming and PD of Mix 107.3; Jack Diamond, and former Mix 107.3 PD Louie Diaz, now VP of Contemporary Music for Cumulus Media, OM of Cumulus Atlanta and PD of WWWQ (Q99.7).

Roberts commented, “Today we got to celebrate the legacy of 107.3 in DC and bring back some of the greatest talents of its past. I’m so proud and grateful that everyone accepted our invite to come on and talk with Jack about what him, his show, and this station means to them. Love and emotions ran high, and it was a pleasure to be a part of it all. It’s hard to say goodbye, but after executing an amazing send-off like today, makes it easier.”

You are invited to listen tonight between 6 and 7pm ET as Diamond and the Mix staff will say their final goodbyes ahead of the station’s sign-off. Video of this amazing last show is posted on the Jack Diamond Show Facebook page. [Special thanks to Rob Roberts]