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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Ho Ho Ho, My Name Is Jolly Joe

Hoe! Hoe! Hoe!

My name is Jolly Joe.

Hoe! Hoe! Hoe!

I make the dollies glow.

The Express Times reports that Ron Angle has sued Jolly Joe Timmer, his 974 year-old former boss at WGPA Sunny 1100 AM radio. He claims the real reason the polka king dumped him is because Angle had threatened to narc him over his antics with female employees.

Now I know why he's so damn Jolly. But let's face it - what woman isn't turned on by by polka music? I know I am. He can't help being so damn sexy. Maybe it's that vest. If I were Timmer, I'd admit it all and start doing hip hop. His record sales would go through the roof.

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another unsubstanciated smear by Angle and you play along.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Ho. Ho. Ho.

Anonymous said...

Sometime ago I worked with JJ for over 2 years on a daily basis and he certainly was nothing like that.

This is what happens when you make an error in judgment to whom you hire and nothing more then that!

I sure don't know Ron, but I do know JOE. He's one of the last of the good guys and certainly wasn't in entertainment business for the groupies. He definitely respected everyone who had worked for him far more then anyone I worked for in my short time in broadcasting.

SUCH NONSENSE!

Anonymous said...

So Ron was going to drop the Um-pah on Jolly Joe?

Maybe know we know why Joe REALLY is the POLKA KING, or is it POKE HER KING! OHHHHHH!!!!

Bernie O'Hare said...

Glenn,

I know Joe, too. I wasn't there on a daily basis for two years like you. If I was, maybe I'd have a different view. But from what I saw, he's one of those "you're either with me or against me" kind of guys. Because I am with Ron Angle, I was against him, and he could get real nasty with me. I saw him fly into rages against underpaid his staff, too, for meaningless stuff. I always was there in the early morning before any women were there so don't know about Joe and the ladies except for one incident shortly after Angle was fired.

Ron and I sat on a corner as Jolly Joe and one of his female assistants returned from their daily afternoon promenade. Angle had been telling me he was lavishing gifts on this woman, an employee. Sure enough, he had just bought her a brief case. But I won't make any conclusions, one way or the other.

I listened to Jolly Joe trash blogs and me on WGPA for about 6 months after Angle had been fired before even I got bored by the sillines. I certainly wouldn't call him respectful.

Glenn, you may know him better than I, but I'll go by what I know. He was very kind to me at times. One day he gave me a bunch of Reading Phillies tickets. But as his battle with Ron got worse, he got nasty bc he associated me with Ron.

Anonymous said...

Oh, look, some comments went POOF! They didn't smear Jolly Joe, those would be okay!

Bernie O'Hare said...

Those comments were deleted bc Villa posted them. He is not welcome here, even when he posts anonymously. I've already allowed two posts from folks who defend Jolly Joe and they are welcome. But Villa is not.

Anonymous said...

When Angle takes over the station, will he rename it WRON?

Anonymous said...

Bernie,

You know it and I know it that these claims are false , Angle was pissed because he was fired and didn't like it.

When this all comes out a countersuit will follow with a large sum of money going to Timmer !

No proof because it didn't happen !

Anonymous said...

I hope that Angle is prepared... he likely will have a slander suit coming his way... I think he's lost a few of those before and had to pay money out.

Blah Society said...

Well that settles it... an Anonymous person says it never happened so it never did. Those dang Anons know everything.

Anonymous said...

So let me get this straight.

At WGPA is it "polka in the front and liquor in the rear" - or vice versa?

VJ said...

Why is it up to Ron Angle to bring up a lawsuit against a nearly 70 year old man who has helped and entertained countless people over the years? In his 50 years in the business why hasn't one woman come forward with any allegations and why is it up to a middle aged man to bring up a lawsuit involving sexual allegations? That's a little creepy. For a man who taught me the sciences of fishing and golfing i thought you were smarter than this Big Bern. This reminds me of something Jackie Martling would pull.

Bernie O'Hare said...

VJ,

Good to hear from you!

A few things.

1) Jolly Joe is not nearly 70 - he's more like 1,000 years old. He's so old is social security number is 000-00-0001. He looks more like Yoda than a stud muffin.

2) I have no idea whether any of this is true, although I did catch him looking at me with bedroom eyes once or twice.

3) He should admit it all, except for the part about firing Angle. He could be like the Barry White of the polka crowd.

4) Jolly Joe has been a bit of an asshole around me and to me. Of course, I have that effect on people. It's a gift. But I was Switzerland in his Angle battle until he started slamming me on his radio show every day. I hear about it from one of his seven listeners.

Now if you'll excuse me, some women are banging on my door. They want me to let them out.

J. SPIKE ROGAN said...

Anyone else find it funny that Lafayette Football has games on that station. And their voice is Dick Hammer.

"This is Dick Hammer, on Dick Heads station."

Maybe the Cat that sleeps on the soundboard will testify.

J. SPIKE ROGAN said...

and anon 5:51 great line.

Also love the Dice Man.

Anonymous said...

Angle the never ending idiot who needs never ending attention.

Anonymous said...

Wayne's death, and the subsequent attention Wayne received, in DEATH, has unbalanced Ronnie a little bit. He'll return to his moorings soon.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I think you're right about Wayne's death upsetting Angle, but he would have done this anyway.

Anonymous said...

The whole thing is absurd. Im unaware of any teenage girls ever working for Timmer. I also know most of the women who have worked in the office or on air and I have never witnessed or heard about anything inappropriate. Why have'nt these women come forward themselves? Why is a liberal like yourself friends with Angle anyway? For Pete's sake when Angle was on vacation you had people from LEPOCO on his show when you filled in him for him. That show was wild! Where is the connection? Why are you his friend?

Anonymous said...

Joe does'nt pay well. But those that work for Timmer do so because we enjoy the freedom that we have. It's like radio the way it should be. We truly brighten people's day. Marie Kline, Charlotte, Irene, and many others. We are their lifeblood. When Jarret Brown is around during the warm/mild periods playing that 70's soul the old ladies of Nazareth are in their glory. Why do some of you diss WGPA? It is what it is? We happily do our thing and we go home.

Anonymous said...

For the record, Radical Moderate also published the above comment. The question mark placed after it is what it is, is an error.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I was able to do that week's worth od shows bc of my friendship w/ Ron. He bel;ieves strongly that people should be able to express theur views, even radical moderate ones. I like Ron as a person and don't hold people's politics against them. There is much I like in his approach to local government. He stands for transparency and accountability, does his homework and is easily the most prepared council member at nearly every meeting.

I think the lawsuit is funny, but Timmer is by no means some saint. His polka shown has really annoyed a lot of people bc he spends so much time complaining about Ron.

But if I were him, I'd smile.

Anonymous said...

For what it's worth, I never noticed this behavior and I saw the characters once a week for about five years. That's not to say that something might have been going on, but I doubt it. Knowing the actors in this story, we have two very strong personalities, each actually very similar to the other. Self-made millionaires...nothing handed to them. Each with a considerable ego. Neither willing to give in to another. Once they were put together at WGPA, 10 things could happen, and nine of them were bad. Joe is somewhat "cheap", but it was his station and it was his rules. Actually, compared to other "personalities", Ron Angle had a great deal, with the salary etc... Most people "work" at 1100 because JJT lets them play practically what they want, with no interference. That's a good thing for radio. That same philosophy resulted in the unholy marriage with Angle. He is strong-willed and opinionated and JJT recognized the possibilities with such a show with no holds barred. Angle's also a loose cannon on radio, check the record at WVPO, WAEB. JJT rolled the dice and now he will pay an ultimate price. His name is being dragged through the mud and a man with a 50 + year career will end up being besmerched by this petty little man.

As far as your statement about Ron Angle being well prepared and knowledgable as a county council person.... yeah, and Hitler got Germany's trains to run on time. I thing it's pretty clear that Ron Angle's positives are cancelled out by his failure to even try to be respectful of others and to try to act like an adult. His message is lost and his value diminished. What does seem pretty clear here is that JJT won the battle but Ron Angle intends to win a war, one that he will start.

And Bernie, stop apologizing for Mr. Angle; it's unseemly!

Anonymous said...

A Bit Of Radio History:
Since this is a bit before my time, my memory is sketchy. But you'd think JJT would have been a bit more careful in selecting controversy as a way to profits. He should have known better!

Way back in the early 50's there was a guy whose air moniker was 'Uncle Tom- Livsley" or something like that. (I can't remember the last name correctly). Tom aired on WKAP when the Rahall brothers (Florida) owned the station in the early 50's. Tom got canned from WKAP (after numerous lawsuits) and moved to Florida. Later he returned to Allentown and did his program on WHOL, which JJT was one of seven partners. The 'partners' bought the station out of bankruptcy and barely WHOL sustained itself. Most years it lost money actually. Max Hess was contemplating buying it, but backed off. (The current owners have nothing to do with this prior history).

At any rate, those new owners (at the time) thought also it was a swell idea to get a controversial host in the morning. So they brought 'Uncle Tom- whomever???' back to Allentown. Turns out they spent more time in lawsuits then in profits. 'Uncle Tom' continuously badgered City Hall politicians and police. Since it's only rumor I won't state what definitely happened, just know that he felt physically threatened and came back that very afternoon and quit on the spot to the relief of JJT and the other owners. It was the Bracy, Harper, Gross, Hock, Diefenderfer eras he constantly hammered.

Point is JJT should have known by past experience, nothing good can come from hiring controversy. He should have stuck with a musical format and all of this could have been avoided.

As far as millionaire. Trust me, with a Class D (250 watt- daytime) license nobody's ever going to get rich! If it weren't for JJT that station would be exactly where the 'Bethlehem Globe' newspaper is today. It's more like a labor of love. There's no wealth to be made or 'Clear Channel' would have snatched it up!

About the only ACTUAL coverage -see the red circle..
http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WGPA&service=AM&status=L&hours=D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WGPA

FYI:
WAEB was owned by Bill Rust
WSAN- Reuel "Bud" Musselman & His Sister
WHOL- Prior to it's country format employed, 'Frantic' Freddy Milander, Jeff Dean, Jerry Dean (Mod Mill) and others.

Lots of nostalgia ( I got a ton of stories).

Anonymous said...

Glenn-

Point well taken about whether WGPA is a money maker or not (I happen to believe you), it's just that JJT made his money in real estate and other endeavors...but that's not really as relevant here as your point about his sticking his hand into the snake pit. If you are correct, he should have known better than to sign the guy, but "what's done is done". I guess my point here is that no matter what you think about JJT, Ron Angle is pretty much a proven commodity. Proven to cause major problems, as evidenced by his history. I would imagine that the two reasons he is unemployed are 1)- he is rich and does not need to work and 2) - how could he ever work for anyone, with such a combative personality?

Anonymous said...

BO sez:
"Ron and I sat on a corner as Jolly Joe and one of his female assistants returned from their daily afternoon promenade. Angle had been telling me he was lavishing gifts on this woman, an employee. Sure enough, he had just bought her a brief case. But I won't make any conclusions, one way or the other."

- Really? You don't want to draw conclusions? So why bring that up? That's really low Bernie!

BO sez:

"I listened to Jolly Joe trash blogs and me on WGPA for about 6 months after Angle had been fired before even I got bored by the sillines. I certainly wouldn't call him respectful."

- So it's OK for you to trash someone on a blog, but another person can't defend himself on the radio? And you want to talk about being "respectful?"

Anyone who chooses for himself a public life and a public profile, be they politicians, sports figures, radio magnates or even bloggers, you leave yourself open to be questioned and criticized. Lies, exagerations and false innuendo should be off limits and you should know that.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Glenn,

Grat little piece on rafdio history. I'll publish it separately.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Anon 3:57,

I don't consider it "low" to mention what I've seen to those who portray Jolly Joe as some cloistered monk. Whatr Angle told me was corroborated by what I saw for myself.

As far as being attacked on WGPA is concerned, JJT can do what he wants but I just thought it was a little irrational. I think I'm entitled to point that out.

Anonymous said...

Bernie O'Hare said...
Anon 3:57,

I don't consider it "low" to mention what I've seen to those who portray Jolly Joe as some cloistered monk. What Angle told me was corroborated by what I saw for myself.

As far as being attacked on WGPA is concerned, JJT can do what he wants but I just thought it was a little irrational. I think I'm entitled to point that out.

6:07 PM

And you are not irrational ?
Seems to be a double standard here !

Anonymous said...

I have known Jolly Joe for many years and listen to his station for more than twenty years. I have always found him to be a nice person, a tough business man and successful. I don't know Angle but my observations from afar tell me that is can't get along with people, he is rude and obnoxious to his colleagues and wonders why he can't get them to vote his way. The little boy doesn't belong in public service. Go get him Joe!

Anonymous said...

The Morning Call forum is roasting Angle and O'Hair.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Hate to break your heart, but I saw nothing trashing me. Do you know how to read or is it just wishful thinking?

Bernie O'Hare said...

Hate to break your heart, but I saw nothing trashing me. Do you know how to read or is it just wishful thinking?

Anonymous said...

Per Bernie -

"I don't consider it "low" to mention what I've seen to those who portray Jolly Joe as some cloistered monk. What Angle told me was corroborated by what I saw for myself."

"Because I am with Ron Angle, I was against him, and he could get real nasty with me."

"...he got nasty bc he associated me with Ron."

"Jolly Joe is not nearly 70 - he's more like 1,000 years old."

"I was able to do that week's worth of shows bc of my friendship w/ Ron."

--------------------------------

Thank goodness none of this is personal!

Anonymous said...

One MC poster said he hoped Angle would go back to his island and take Igor Ohare with him. hahaha.

Anonymous said...

I must admit... even though I enjoyed his polka show for many years as well as the Ron Angle Show, Timmer can get extremely nasty and with seemingly no fault of your own. I listened to his Polka show while the "feud" was going on. It became unbearable very soon. Timmer was bashing Angle between every song and even joking about it. It was unprofessional and obnoxious to say the least. This went on for at least 3 months. Finally I had enough. I emailed JJT and called him and told him that all this bickering between him and Angle did not belong on the air waves and it should stay behind closed doors as it was ruining the Polka show. Well guess what happened???? I became the new low man on the Totem Pole! "Jolly Joe" actually started using his microphone to bash me over the air waves, using my name several times. It seemed that Timmer saw on the caller ID that I had called the Angle sho and thereby I was on the sh%t list. Everything Bernie said was true....I know. Henry

Anonymous said...

Henry, uou are as crazy as Angle. We seniors love Polka and Jolly Joe. You have been attacking Joe on the MC forum.
Angle was a bad pick by Joe and now he really knows why. Why has Angle been thrown off of every radio station he was ever with?
We will be sticking with Joe and Polka. Joe only mentions Angle when goofs like you call his show. I haven't heard him mention Angle or you in over a year. Get over yourself.

Dutchie

Anonymous said...

Bernie, is there a difference between showering gifts on someone and buying them one? Because it seems to me that you observed the latter and not the former. Someone who has an axe to grind could use the latter to tell people that the former was occuring, couldn't they?

Not saying that's how it went down, just putting out a possibility.

Anonymous said...

I have never been on the MC forum

Anonymous said...

Hi Dutchie, I used to love timmer too... then I grew up.