Great Casting

Vinnie James

Vincent James Melillo passed away last week at 74 after a long illness.  Vinnie certainly had a full life whether or not you factor in his radio resume.  He had one of those larger-than-life personalities and knew everyone around Danbury.   Somehow, though, a show that I created became his ultimate claim to local fame.  Vinnie had been on WLAD in various capacities for years.   When I was hired as program director in late 1983, the Vinnie James Morning Express had just begun.  By mid 1985, the early wake-ups were putting a damper on the rest of his busy life and he stepped down from the 6-9 am time slot.   

I wanted to keep Vinnie associated with WLAD and had been looking into what we could do about upgrading our late Sunday morning lineup.  The local church show at 10:05 was routinely a technical disaster, yet I knew that the biggest potential audience for radio on Sunday was between that time and noon.   WTIC-AM/Hartford had started a Sunday long form radio classified show with some success, but would a show like that be able to sustain itself for over an hour in a smaller market?   Vinnie himself had serious doubts about that when I approached him to host the new Bargain Express.  He thought many of those shows were boring, and rightly so, but I knew we had a secret weapon.  It was Vinnie's personality.   

Vinnie had the best laugh I ever heard on the air.  He brought in a mysterious assistant named Philomena to keep a record of the items.   She became an integral part of the show.  He treated the regular callers like old friends and made new callers from far and wide feel welcome.   The show eventually expanded to two hours and the phone lines still lit up like a Christmas tree.   Then there was the Bargain Express Mailbag and the familiar train whistle that ushered in and ended the show.   When When I heard Vinnie's unique way of saying, "it saaaves you money" on a commercial I knew that had to be the signature phrase for the show.   The Vinnie James Bargain Express chugged along for a dozen years.   I'm proud of several roles I had in casting at WLAD...Vinnie was one of them.   More importantly, he was a source of common sense advice that made him a mentor even though I was his boss.