Rest In Peace Click, One Of The Tappet Brothers

In radio, they teach us to never talk about other stations on the air.

"In the listeners' minds, there should only be one station -- ours."

Now of course, this is pure crap. Everyone knows there are plenty of other stations, and shows, and personalities.

Even so, I only will talk about the passing of Tom Magliozzi since he was on NPR. And that only sort of counts.

Tom, along with his brother Ray, were the geniuses behind "Car Talk," the most listened to program on NPR. Tom died Monday of Alzheimer's Disease. He was 77 years old.

The New York Times reported:

The weekly hour-long 'Car Talk,' which was broadcast for more than 30 years, was ostensibly about mechanical problems with cars, but the format was mainly an excuse for the brothers, known as Click and Clack, to banter with callers about the mysteries of life, as viewed through an automotive prism: Why does a car suddenly stop working? Should I give this clunker one more chance? Why won’t my husband pay for a mechanic to fix our car?

 

"Callers would frequently reproduce a strange noise their car was making, and the brothers would offer an instant diagnosis. In a segment called 'Stump the Chumps,' selected callers would be asked if the advice they had received proved to be correct.

 

"At its peak, 'Car Talk' reached more than four million listeners a week — more than any other NPR entertainment program, network executives said."

I know zip about cars. But you didn't have to know, or care, about cars to listen to Tom "Click" and Ray "Clack." All you had to do was want to be entertained, and laugh. You can't listen to "Car Talk" and not laugh.

These two brothers were more than just radio hosts. They were real people. Really funny, entertaining people. THESE were the guys you wanted to run the garage near your house, and take you car to. To tell you the truth about your car, and give you a few laughs and swap some fun stories.

Thank god they still rerun episodes of "Car Talk" (the brothers' haven't done a new show in about three years), so the Tappet Brothers will live on probably as long as NPR exists.

God's speed, Magliozzi family. Tom you lived a good honest life.