Roughly 50 years ago, an FM Top 40 station using the Drake-Chenault formula mastered at RKO’s KHJ in Los Angeles made WOR-FM a pioneer of static-free hit music radio in New York. One of its air personalities was a 22-year-old up-and-comer named Mark Driscoll.
Four years later, Driscoll would formally establish himself as a audio promo and voice narration specialist while embarking on a radio programming career that made him, in the words of WPAW-FM “93.1 The Wolf” in Greensboro morning host Dale O’Brian, “one of radio’s great talents.”
Now, Driscoll’s voice has forever been silenced, as the industry veteran has died at the age of 72.
The news of Driscoll’s passing on Monday (8/22) was first reported by music and radio trade publication AllAccess.com, with the news shared by longtime radio industry videographer and historian Art Vuolo.
Driscoll had recently relocated to Pompano Beach, Fla., from California, and was in West Palm Beach at the time of his death. He had reportedly been fighting issues related to a fall in July 2022. Radio and Music Pros (RAMP) notes Driscoll was in Hospice.
Driscoll’s voice is instantly recognizable, and like the legendary Ernie Anderson, was heard across both radio and television. More recently, he voiced promos for the ABC series Scandal and was a post-Don Pardo voice of Saturday Night Live for NBC. He also voiced a prime-time highlight reel for FOX.
Driscoll’s TV voiceover work came through representation by Los Angeles-based Avalon Artists Group.
In 1991, Driscoll was far more recognized for his liners and station promotional work at Radio, with clients including WKHI-FM in Ocean City, Md.; KKLQ-FM “Q106” in San Diego; and KTFM “Hot 103” in San Antonio. He was also a key voice at the time Scott Shannon arrived at WPLJ in New York, switching the station to “Mojo Radio” following his run in Los Angeles at “Pirate Radio.” Additionally, Driscoll was a key imaging and promotions voice for WIOQ-FM “Q102” in Philadelphia from the moment it debuted in 1989 — an era that saw the station topple WEGX “Eagle 106” in the market’s Top 40 wars.
“He was part of the psychological thinking when Randy Michaels put on ‘The Power Pig’ in Tampa,” recalls Tony Novia, the former CHR/Pop Editor at Radio & Records who had served as VP/GM of stations such as WHYI “Y-100” in Miami and WSTR “Star 94” in Atlanta.
Driscoll’s career began as a teenager, in Dallas, working at a radio station owned by Top 40 pioneer Gordon McLendon.
He’d work at scores of radio stations, including WBBF in Rochester, N.Y., in 1974; KSTP/Minneapolis in 1976; and WNBC-AM in New York, where he held the 6pm-10pm slot until October 1978 before shifting to independent voiceover work and his efforts as a programming consultant were honed. His client upon exiting WNBC: KELI in Tulsa.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
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Veteran Radio Programming, Imaging Figure Mark Driscoll Dies – Radio & Television Business Report
