Danny Stiles (December 2, 1923[1] – March 11, 2011)[2] was a radio personality at WEVD, WNYC, WNSW, WJDM and WPAT in the New York City market. He worked on the radio for 63 years in the New York City area,[3] up to the time of his death.
Stiles's first radio job was at WHBI in Newark on December 2, 1947, buying the air time for $65 a week.[1] His career took him to WHOL in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and stations in New Jersey before returning to Newark on WNJR (AM) as the "Kat Man."[4] At WNJR, Danny met Robert Smith, a young Brooklyn native working as a gofer, who would later move to the border blasterXERB-AM and broadcast as Wolfman Jack.[1]
Stiles, who among other alliterative monikers called himself The Vicar of Vintage Vinyl, had a loyal fan following and a distinctive radio presence.[5] At the end of his life, Danny was heard on four stations in Metro New York, on WRCA AM 1330, serving the Boston, Massachusetts area, and was streaming 24 hours a day on the Internet.[6] The broadcast material came largely from his personal collection of over 250,000 records, many in their original 78 rpm format.[7]
After his death on March 11, 2011, Stiles continued to be heard, with vintage shows re-aired Saturday nights at 8 pm Eastern time on WNYC AM 820,[8] until its final broadcast on January 3, 2015. His website dannystiles.com still offers a stream of archived shows.[6]
