Danny Neaverth spent more than 40 years as a morning radio host in Buffalo, New York, becoming one of the most recognized and beloved voices in Western New York broadcasting history. His career at WKBW alone spanned 26 years, making him synonymous with the station’s evolution from top-40 powerhouse to oldies format and cementing him as a daily companion for generations of Buffalonians who grew up with his voice coming through their kitchen radios every morning.
The WKBW Years
Born circa 1938, Neaverth broke into radio in 1957 at WFRM in Coudersport, Pennsylvania, before moving to Buffalo’s WBNY — the city’s first rock and roll station — and then to WDOE. By 1961, WKBW had recruited him for the afternoon drive slot, but he quickly moved to mornings, where he would remain for over two decades. Known for the tagline “Danny moves your fanny in the morning!” and the greeting “I got up early so I could be the first kid on the block to say good morning to you,” Neaverth’s warmth, humor, and encyclopedic knowledge of popular music made him a fixture of Buffalo daily life.
During the WKBW years, Neaverth wore many hats beyond the morning show. He served as noon weatherman for sister station WKBW-TV — a role he cheerfully admitted to winging, pulling all his forecasts from Accuweather and confessedly not knowing what he was doing. He co-recorded a regional hit comedy record, “Rats in my Room,” with fellow WKBW jock Joey Reynolds in 1963. He served as public address announcer for the Buffalo Bills for 13 years and for the Buffalo Braves throughout the NBA franchise’s entire existence in the city — a versatility that made him ubiquitous in Western New York public life.
The Beatles That Got Away
One of the great what-if stories in Buffalo music history involves Neaverth directly. In 1964, on behalf of WKBW, he was offered the chance to bring the Beatles to Buffalo Memorial Auditorium on February 10 — the day after their legendary Ed Sullivan Show appearance. It would have been the Beatles’ first concert in North America. Neaverth declined, unwilling to risk the $3,500 appearance fee for an unproven band on a Monday night in poor February weather. The story became one of those legendary near-misses that defines a city’s musical identity.
Decades of Service
After leaving WKBW in the late 1980s, Neaverth continued at WHTT-FM, where he reunited with family members already on staff, including his sons and daughter-in-law PJ Foxx. He later moved to WECK and most recently WEBR, never fully stepping away from the microphone. His career arc — from the earliest days of rock and roll radio through the digital age — is a living history of Buffalo broadcasting and of American radio itself. Danny Neaverth’s voice remains one of the most beloved in Western New York.