Big Jack Armstrong

Who was Big Jack Armstrong?

Big Jack Armstrong, aka Jack Armstrong, Jackson W. Armstrong, and Big Jack Your Leader, was a Top 40 disc jockey of the 1960s through the 1980s, and an oldies DJ until 2006.

His parents were John Edgar Larsh, Jr., who was a professor in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina, and Ruth Ella Neal. His father once served as the Acting Dean of UNC's School of Pharmacy.

He held a Guinness World Record for "fastest talking human alive" at one point in his career. He developed 2 imaginary sidekicks - the Gorilla, who speaks in a raspy bass, and likes women, banana juice, and whiskey, in that order - and the Old Timer, who wheezes, tells lame jokes, and was always getting shot after one of them.

Larsh was known for his distinctive signoff. At WKYC, it was a few catchphrases, spoken over the instrumental version of The Beatles' "And I Love Her". On WKBW, he used "Shimmy Shimmy Walk II" by the Megatons. On most stations, he used no background music. Eventually, it became a Motormouth extravaganza, spoken so fast it was hard to understand.