I'm not sure if he defected or needed to find another home.   He was the only "music" show left on WNEW after they went to the talk format.

I too grew up on WNEW-FM.   As much as I despise all the empty suits and research groups that contributed to their demise, it would be wrong to blame them solely. Audience tastes changed dramatically once MTV came on the scene. WNEW, never a strong ratings grabber to begin with, started to drop even further. Starting in the late 80's, radio could not figure out a way to incorporate rap music.   Let's face it, WNEW-FM was marketed to a large white middle class audience, and that audience was discovering rap music. Rock music was going through changes and WNEW could not figure out who they were programming for.

Frankly, I think WNEW was a product of its time and it can never be the same way again.   Commercial radio in NYC is a vast wasteland. Public radio is the last alternative, but don't assume it will always stay that way. Even now there are indications that SOME public radio stations are trying to market their programs to the largest common audience they can find. Free-form radio is almost dead too without listners to support it.

Ron