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Uncle Floyd with his puppet sidekick Oogie, in 1977.
On his Jan. 26 Sirius XM satellite radio show, Howard Stern said he was “upset” over the recent death of Uncle Floyd Vivino.
Vivino died on Jan. 22, at the age of 74.
“Those of you from, like, the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut area, you would know who Uncle Floyd was,” Stern said. “He was this guy who I loved. I did his show once. He had a little, like, local shitty show, but it was so charming.
“It was like a Soupy Sales show, and Floyd would play the piano, and he had a puppet named Oogie. And Oogie would talk to Floyd. Oogie was cute, and Floyd was a talented guy, you know? He was really good on the piano. He played, like, old songs, like Tiny Tim-type songs, but it still was kind of entertaining, and he had a bunch of guys laughing at everything he did, and it was kind of fun. And I liked it. It was a goofy show, and he had a lot of rock stars on, like The Ramones were always on there, or Cyndi Lauper, or… I know Jon Bon Jovi, the first time he ever went on TV, was on ‘The Uncle Floyd Show,’ because it was in New Jersey, and he was probably a fan.”
Stern also talked about the David Bowie song “Slip Away,” which mentions Vivino — “what an honor,” Stern said — and played part of it.
Stern was on “The Uncle Floyd Show” in 1982. I found a photo from the appearance, HERE.
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