84 – TALKERS magazine

WJR’s “Appliance Doctor” Joe Gagnon Dies at 84

By TALKERS | August 14, 2026 by TALKERS

Longtime WJR, Detroit personality Joe Gagnon – host of “The Home & Appliance Show” – died yesterday (8/13) at the age of 84. Gagnon was known to generations of listeners as “The Appliance Doctor.” His obituary says he “built a distinctive broadcasting career around consumer advocacy, home-appliance expertise and his ability to make practical advice entertaining.” His radio program was on the air for more than 25 years and was heard beyond Detroit on stations around the country. His consumer advocacy transcended radio; he worked as a fraud investigator for Detroit Consumer Affairs and the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. During a live WJR broadcast from Novi, Michigan, “Radio’s Best Friend” Art Vuolo shot video of the event and you can see that here.

Industry News

Rare Interview with David Clayton-Thomas About BS&T Found in TALKERS Archives – Broadcasters Invited to Use at Will

By TALKERS | June 25, 2026June 25, 2026 by TALKERS

The Grammy Award-winning Canadian singer and songwriter whose powerhouse voice propelled Blood, Sweat & Tears to the summit of popular music, died peacefully last evening at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. He was 84.

TALKERS publisher Michael Harrison was friends with Clayton-Thomas and the group back in the early 1970s while he was the morning host at pioneering album rocker WNEW-FM, New York. However, by the mid-seventies, Harrison lost touch with Clayton-Thomas and the group. Move the clock ahead to March of 2020 and David Clayton-Thomas was promoting a new solo album – the latest of many that enjoyed hit status in his native Canada – and Harrison had the opportunity to catch up with his old friend in an interview conducted during the height of the COVID pandemic. Clayton-Thomas was quarantining in Toronto, and Harrison was doing the same in Massachusetts. TALKERS has isolated a segment of the archival interview with the rock legend in which Clayton-Thomas recounts the history of how he joined the band. Interested broadcasters wishing to use any or all of this clip are free to do so. Please click here. (Photo credit: Marie Byers)