When you turn on your radio Monday afternoon, you’ll barely—if at all—notice the difference. That’s how they get away with it. An era, however, will have ended in Buffalo radio.
Greg Bauch behind the WGR controls.
Greg Bauch’s last day at WGR is Friday. Listeners to Schopp and The Bulldog might recognize Greg as the guy who plays funny sound effects or through his radio alter ego, Greg Buck.
While Greg is among the best at finding (and playing at the right moment) silly or interesting sound bites, and Greg Buck is the funniest bit ever on Buffalo radio, others will come along and play sound effects and be funny. That’s just what one does on the radio.
The real story is, after 15 years there, Bauch is, without question, the heart and soul of WGR.
He’s the type of guy who becomes the heart and soul wherever he goes, but in a business where heart and soul don’t often last much longer than the time the “ON AIR” light is lit, Greg has managed to strap that station to his back, allowing an institutional continuity and his goodness to permeate the product for a decade and a half.
I first heard Greg Bauch when he started the way everyone started at WGR a generation ago: as the man at the controls of the late night John Otto show. The astute listener could hear that the brilliant Otto was often frustrated with the fact that his show was a training ground for “the new guy,” especially when that new guy “cared not a FIG!” about Otto or his show.
Broadcasting Hall of Famer Otto loved Greg. You could hear the smile through the radio as John, John, your operator on referred to him as my humble man servant Gregor.
John Otto was the first in a very long line of wonderfully talented hosts who was able to find something special in Greg, which is someone who was happy with being, and supremely talented at being, a radio producer.
A good producer is someone who lives for the good of the show (not someone who lives for the opportunity to inject himself on the air.)
A good producer does whatever it takes to forge a relationship with the talent on the show he’s producing, and builds an unbreakable trust with that person, allowing the talent to freely host the show with the knowledge that whatever is happening “on the other side of the glass” is being dealt with the proper amount of care.
With all this, a good producer is an equal part of the success of the show which he produces, although any recognition of that fact is almost always an afterthought. He is also accepting of the fact that he might command a quarter of the pay of the talent, while often working at least twice as hard.
Speak to Chris Parker or Mike Schopp or Chuck Dickerson or Tom Bauerle or the late Clip Smith or the late John Otto. They will tell you, invariably, that their shows were better because they had Bauch at the controls.
A thankless, lunch bucket kind of job in the midst of the glitz, glamour and fame of radio. Greg excels at it because that’s who he is.
But, as Van Miller used to say, that’s only the half of it.
To use a hokey hockey analogy, Greg has worn the “C” in the WGR dressing room for at least a decade as the quiet, stay at home defenseman, who not only moves easily among the superstar goal scorers, but always takes the new guys under his wing and shows them what they need to know.
Name anyone you’ve heard do a sports update on WGR in the last decade, and they were trained by Greg Bauch. Or trained by someone who went to the Greg Bauch College of WGR Knowledge.
To use another stupid sports analogy, Greg is the quarterback who stands back and sees everything at the station, from all perspectives- the talk show hosts, the update guys, the producers, even promotions and engineering, and successfully has them all working together.
It’s ironic and rare in this day and age, that he has been able to force all that’s good out of that radio station, and the people working there, by his gentle touch, and the fact that you aren’t likely to meet a better human being. Unless you know Howard Simon. But Greg has hair, so Greg > Howard.
This isn’t just the end of an era because Greg won’t be there anymore. It’s the end of an era, because it’s almost certain there’ll never be another like Greg Bauch in radio in Buffalo ever again.
Like in many fields, the corporatization of radio has eliminated the middle ground where good producers once stood. Radio is ever increasingly becoming a place where there are a few reasonably well-paid on-air talents, and everyone else makes minimum wage without benefits.
Even if someone had the drive, personality, voice, comedic timing, leadership skills and hot wife that Greg Bauch has, it’s nearly impossible that the person could remain in a job that is no longer valued in the corporate structure of radio the way Greg has been able.
So, talk show callers… Your time to harass a legend is running out. Post game coming up.
Greg Bauch will continue to write for Trending Buffalo.
Buffalo Journalist and Historian Steve Cichon brings us along as he explores the nooks and crannies of Buffalo’s past present and future, which can mean just about anything– twice a week on Trending Buffalo. He also apparently has an unnatural love for some of his former radio colleagues.
As he collects WNY’s pop culture history, Steve looks for Buffalo’s good stories and creative ways to tell them as the President and founder of Buffalo Stories LLC. He’d love to help your business tell its story. For a decade, he’s also collected and shared Buffalo’s pop culture history at staffannouncer.com.
TrendingBuffalo SteveBuffalo -Touché on whole article from how good Greg is to,role of the producer,to Howard being nicest guy in media
TrendingBuffalo SteveBuffalo gregorybauch poor bastard couldn’t take another season if The Bachelor
JeremyWGR gregorybauch nooooooooo!
TrendingBuffalo SteveBuffalo where is he going? Well written also
TrendingBuffalo I’ve already talked to gregorybauch about his greatness, but this article describes it to a T! Post game (not) coming ↑.
JeremyWGR gregorybauch Schopptalk Bulldogwgr It’s like Curly and Larry with no Moe! Wgr wont be the same,
#gregbuck
pauldaddario Still watching the Bachelor, unfortunately. (insert: beer can opening sound effect)
JeremyWGR is greg quiting? Does he have another job lined up?
TrendingBuffalo No Bauch + No Sully = no listening by this guy
JeremyWGR gregorybauch Where is greg going?
AdamZdro heading to LocalEdge to be a copywriter. changing it up.
TrendingBuffalo gregorybauch Very sad news, I may have to set myself aflame.
JB_0_0 JeremyWGR gregorybauch Violated Parole.
EricNearBuffalo just make sure you’re wearing non-toxic clothes. we don’t want fumes. think of the children…
gregorybauch I considered that, but the chemicals in my clothing might be slightly less damaging than those allowed in most foods.
TrendingBuffalo gregorybauch The scene outside the WGR studios last week after the news was announced #endofanera http://t.co/2ymwwqys6M
TrendingBuffalo i was one of those interns/ new guys. All true, awesome article Steve
TrendingBuffalo SteveBuffalo huge loss…why can’t he stay and dorks like collar or the resident draft enthusiast joe b go?
gregorybauch congrats, best of luck.
gregorybauch my grandmother died 2 weeks ago, this news is way worse. #kiddingimnotkidding
SalSports nooooooo where is he going?! we’ll miss you gregorybauch
createvids SteveBuffalo gregorybauch nicely done Steve.
NicholasMendola gregorybauch Wow. Yeah, that is a bummer.
NicholasMendola Where’s he going?
NicholasMendola gregorybauch Where’s he going? I’ll hang up and listen.
JeremyWGR gregorybauch 🙁 Why’s he leaving? Big Money deal from a Big market? #WhyCantWeKeepOurSuperstars?
TrendingBuffalo gregorybauch remember 1st time heard Greg Buck-Shawn White bit, awesome! Let’s get #postgamecomingup trending for the man
NicholasMendola They let you walk right. It starts with the best
gregorybauch pauldaddario
CoachEastwood I remember that too.
MrGallagher76 You don’t know me.
TrendingBuffalo theesir gregorybauch My reaction was different…. http://t.co/skHF5wM8Vu
freedrelease gonna write for LocalEdge. Changing it up.
Buffalogal Thanks, Nicole. I’ll still be in Buffalo.
mikeyc81 Um….
gregorybauch I’m sorry. (I kid.) 🙂 Good luck to you
gregorybauch oops sorry. Talking about my friend Bort.
TrendingBuffalo gregorybauch WGR550 SteveBuffalo IMO that’s a bad 1st sentence. Greg was often the best part of the show. We’ll notice.
KevinBuffalo no. I cant compete with the stamm law firm commercial.
gregorybauch KevinBuffalo or “I tried to call him”
gregorybauch Good luck with everything. You’re very funny. I’ll miss your humor on the radio. Glad we can still catch you online & on stage
TrendingBuffalo gregorybauch WGR550 i just wish the Barnaby Jones music could play as people read this news.
gregorybauch all this talk about this and that and nobody mentions any important business. I.e. The fate of the bachelor recaps? Woe is me
mintgreenbird unfortunately, the recaps will never stop…… ever. They’re my punishment from a higher power.
Didnt realize it was gregorybauch’s last day. I wish him well. Def going to miss the infamous Greg buck calls. Show won’t be the same
I really dislike the over use of the word hilarious. Some times you’ll tell a boring story at work about what you did over the weekend, and someone will say, “that’s hillarious”. Really? …it’s not even close to being funny.
I don’t know Mr. Bauck, but his Mr. Buck, on one ride home hit pretty close to hilarious. Something about the announcer giving some amount of money to charity for each goal scored. The teams score relentlessly, as the announcer comes to grips with what’s happening to his rapidly depleting bank account. Hilarious should be reserved for just this type of bit. Nice work. I see these clips are available at your website (www.gregbcomedy.com)… by the way, it’s not a shameless plug when a stranger posts a link to your website, but a compliment, take it in stride.
Good luck, and no whistle.
TrendingBuffalo gregorybauch SteveBuffalo tell me you’ll still do the Bachelor recaps…or else I’m comin over a make you watch w/me