Fans of the free-form radio station WFMU are mourning the passing of X.Ray Burns, the raspy-voiced, irreverent sidekick on the Glen Jones Radio Programme who filled Sunday afternoons with music and off-the-cuff musing for 30 years.

Burns, whose real name was Kenneth Green, died Sunday after a bout with cancer, and Jones was already deep into their three-hour show when word reached the Jersey City broadcast studio of his passing. Near the top of the show, Jones had told listeners for the first time that Burns was gravely ill; now he had to tell them he was dead.

After spinning "Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones, Jones cut in with the sad news.

"I’ve been lying to you for the past hour and twenty minutes," Jones said, with his voice about to crack. "Five minutes before the first mic break, X.Ray Burns, Ken Green, passed away. This is not a joke. I know this show is like a professional wrestling show sometimes. When Burns fills in for me and vice versa, we say things like Glen Jones is dead. But this is very real."

"We're all kind of shell-shocked," said WFMU station manager Ken Freedman. “There was nobody else like him. And there will never be any one like him again.”

The Glen Jones Radio Programme Featuring X.Ray Burns runs from noon to 3 p.m. every Sunday and is one of WFMU's most popular shows – even if the broadcast happens at a time when everyone seemingly has something better to do.

"I've listened to that show religiously for the past 10 years, and am damn sure I was near the radio with no distractions every Sunday at 1 p.m.," said Jon Bocksel, a Brooklyn resident, formerly of Randolph. "Yeah yeah, I know the show starts at noon, but the real action always started at 1, and 2:30 respectively. Bagpipes, classical, all with New Jersey wit and sarcasm on top, nothing like it. Radio will never be the same."

"It was like you got to listen in on the two drinking buddies having a conversation in a bar," said Eric Fusco, a Jersey City resident.

Like many WFMU listeners, Fusco knew Burns was sick, but was hopeful he would recover. He was listening to the show on Sunday when the Jones made the announcement.

"My knees just buckled and I had to sit down," said Fusco, 52. "I knew he had cancer but I always thought he would pull through. I thought he would live forever."

By day, Burns was a real estate appraiser in Kearny, the gritty old industrial town that rises above the banks of the murky Passaic River where he spent all of his life. He was gruff, frequently fatalistic, and often world weary, but his sense of humor was pure blue collar and always seemed fresh.

"I could have had it all, Jones!" was a frequent refrain heard just about every Sunday afternoon.

And then there was this pearl of wisdom, as found on the Facebook page dedicated to Burns, Sh*t X Ray Burns Says:

"If you don't have nobody to sell your genius, you're crap out of luck."

To their legion of listeners, they were X.Ray Burns and "Jonesy," two kids from Kearny who never quite grew up. They both attended Kearny High School in the late 1970s, but didn't meet until 1980 – fittingly, at a funeral parlor in town.

Like Jagger and Richards, Jones and Burns had chemistry. Jones described himself as "more of an outsider" while Burns was more the cool guy.

"I was the outsider, and he seemed to get a long with all types, jocks, burnouts, everyone," Jones said on Monday. "He was kind of new wave, had Roger Moore good looks."

"We always had a real chemistry together," Jones said.

That chemistry carried over to the airwaves when Jones, a record nerd, landed a radio show on WFMU in 1986. The two started working together on sound collages for the show; Burns joined as Jones on-air sidekick in 1988.

Outside of a few suspensions when the on-air party got out of bounds, the Glen Jones Radio Program kept the crazy going for 30 years.

Michele Colomer, assistant general manager of WFMU, formerly co-hosted “Shut Up Weirdo,” her own two-personality talk show on Friday evenings. It's a common format on WFMU which includes Ken Freedman’s own “Seven Second Delay.”

“I think a lot of people took influence from them [Jones and Burns] because they were a partnership," she said. "Most of the WFMU talk shows have two people and they have to have a certain chemistry in order for it to translate on the radio. That is something they did effortlessly.”

Colomer added Burns and Jones shared a rebel radio persona that fit in well with the free-format station.

“They also didn’t have a care in the world,” she added. “He [Burns] just lived life however he wanted to with no apologies. It’s interesting because his politics weren’t the same as a lot of people on the station. But he had all different kinds of friends and different people were drawn to him."

Unlike most WFMU personalities, Burns politics were to the right. He was a Republican as well as an animal lover. With his wife, Sharon, the couple raised three dogs, Eisenhower, Nixon and Kissinger, all named after Republicans.

It was only in November that things began to change, and Burns began missing Sunday shows. The traditional Kill the Holidays party, that annual rite of passage from Christmas into winter in which Burns dressed as Santa Clown in homage to his favorite band, the Insane Clown Posse, didn't happen this year.

Burns did his last show two weeks ago. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. Freedman said his voice had changed, but he was still funny and upbeat.

Jones said he went on the air Sunday knowing that his sidekick was gravely ill, and decided to break that news to the audience. But then Burns died during the broadcast and he had to make another decision: whether to tell the listeners.

He decided to share the news, but let the music do most of the talking. He started the set with "Love on the Rocks" by Neil Diamond, then later, "I Shall Be Released" by Joe Cocker, "The 12th of Never" by Johnny Mathis and "We've Got Tonight" by Bob Seger.

"I wanted it to be love songs, because I really loved the guy," Jones said. He said the Glen Jones Radio Program will continue.

"But of course, it won't be the same," he said.

A private funeral will be held on Friday.

Email: katzban@northjersey.com and CowenR@northjersey.com

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