Gary Owens

Gary Owens was born Gary Bernard Altman on May 10, 1934. He started his radio career in 1952 as a news reporter at KORN, Mitchell, South Dakota and two years later was promoted to news director.

In 1956 he left KORN for a newscaster job at KMA, Shenandoah, Iowa before moving on to a disc jockey job at KOIL, Omaha, Nebraska. One day, the DJ that was working with Gary, left in the middle of his show, and no one was there but Gary. He was left with six turntables, two magnacorder machines, and three remaining hours of the show to fill. His days as a newsman were over, and his disc jockey career had begun.

He also worked in Dallas, New Orleans, St. Louis, and at KIMN in Denver before relocating to California in 1959, working at KROY in Sacramento and KEWB in Oakland before finally settling in Los Angeles.

Owens moved to KEWB's sister station KFWB in Los Angeles in 1961. From there, he joined the staff of KMPC in 1962, where he remained for the next two decades, replacing previous afternoon host Johnny Grant, working the 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. shift Monday through Friday.

A gifted punster, Owens became known for his surrealistic humor. Among his trademarks were daily appearances by The Story Lady (played by Joan Gerber); the Rumor of the Day; myriad varieties of "The Nurney Song"; and the introduction of the nonsense word "insegrevious," which was briefly included in the Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary.

His regular on-air radio terms included "krenellemuffin," as in "We'll be back in just a krenellemuffin." Gary always credited his radio engineer at the end of his broadcast: "I'd like to thank my engineer, Wayne Doo, for creebling at the turntables" (referring to KMPC engineer Wayne DuBois). He also created the previously non-existent colors "veister" and "krelb".

In the early 1960s, like punster-TV star comic colleagues Ernie Kovacs, Steve Allen, and Jonathan Winters, Gary Owens created a few comic characters of his own, such as the gruff old man Earl C. Festoon and his wife Phoebe Festoon, the stuffy old businessman Endocrine J. Sternwallow, and the goofy good ol' boy, Merle Clyde Gumpf. Another character was crotchety old cantankerous Mergenthaler Waisleywillow.

Attn: Chicken Dept.

KMPC Los Angeles, August 1, 1969. [ LISTEN ] (25:32)

One week remaining in Gary's Chicken Joke Contest. Daily winners receive an autographed egg, win the week and get a six month supply of Kentucky Fried Chicken!

Owens also did amusing radio promotions, such as sending in for "Yours," which turned out to be a postcard from him at the radio station which simply said "Yours" on it; autographed pictures of the Harbor Freeway in Los Angeles; and his famous "Moo Cow Report," in which Gary and his character Earl C. Festoon would describe where cows were moving inbound on the crowded freeways of L.A.

W/Geoff Edwards smooching bunnies

Hosting the Miss Beautiful Ape Contest

During this time Owens was also known as "Superbeard," because like his contemporary radio icon Wolfman Jack, he sported a goatee-beard, Hawaiian shirts, baggy Bermuda shorts, and his 1941 wide necktie with a hula girl on it.

According to IMDb, Owens appeared on eight episodes of the 1966-67 television series The Green Hornet.

Owens also did his famous "Good Evening Kiss" on KMPC when he was on from 9 p.m. to midnight, by saying, "Now I'll just snuggle up to a nice warm microphone, and embracemoi," making a big wet kiss sound effect followed by the sound effect of a gong striking. In 1966, Owens collaborated with Bob Arbogast, June Foray, Daws Butler, Paul Frees, and others on a comedy spoof record album titled "Sunday Morning With the Funnies" with the Jimmy Haskell Orchestra on Reprise Records.

During this period, Owens became more widely known as the voice of the eponymous television cartoon characters in Roger Ramjet and Space Ghost, the excitable narrator/announcer from The Perils of Penelope Pitstop.

Perhaps the most well-known, was the hand-on-the-ear announcer in the booth on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, while continuing his show on KMPC. He also hosted its daily game show spin-off, Letters to Laugh-In, during its brief run in 1969.

In 1972, he released the comedy LP Put Your Head On My Finger for the MGM-Pride label.

Capitalizing on Owens' "Laugh-In" fame, Mel Blanc Audiomedia, an audio production company based in Beverly Hills, California, developed and marketed "The Gary Owens Special Report," a 260-episode package of syndicated radio comedy shows.

Owens appeared in many series for Walt Disney, and did over 30,000 commercials. He was also a guest star on The Munsters, I Dream of Jeannie, and McHale's Navy.

During the late 1960s, when the films of 1930s comedians such as the Marx Brothers, W. C. Fields and Mae West were finding a new audience, Owens narrated phonograph records containing sound clips from the films. He appeared as the racing correspondent in Disney's The Love Bug (1968).

In 1973, Owens wrote The (What to Do While You're Holding the) Phone Book (ISBN 0-87477-015-7), a comedic look at the history of the telephone.

On the album Uptown Rulers, Owens can be heard on the first track introducing New Orleans funk band, The Meters. The live recording took place on March 24, 1975 at Paul and Linda McCartney's release party for the Venus And Mars album held aboard the Queen Mary.

Owens did the humorous news blurbs that are interspersed throughout the 1975 film The Prisoner of Second Avenue.

In 1976-77, he hosted the first season of the nighttime version of The Gong Show; he was replaced by the show's creator, Chuck Barris. The same year Owens became the voice of a new cartoon character, the Blue Falcon, a character who fought crime in fictional Big City with the "help" of his clumsy sidekick, Dynomutt, also known as Dynomutt, Dog Wonder.

Andy Williams visits Gary at the KMPC studio to promote his Love Story album.

The series was a parody of Batman, specifically the live-action version starring Adam West.

It was not uncommon to see the Blue Falcon use various "falcon gadgets," much like Batman used various "Bat-Equipment" items. The falcon belt was used in a similar fashion to Batman's utility belt with an endless supply of weapons and other devices.

Owens would provide the voice of the Blue Falcon from 1976 through 1977 in 20 half-hour episodes. The 1977 episodes were broken into two parts that ran 11 minutes each — 16 episodes in 1976 and 4 episodes in 1977.

Also, he narrated Yogi's Space Race in 1978 and announced for Disney's Wonderful World, starting in 1979.

Owens received a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star in 1980, between those of Walt Disney and Betty White.

On August 30, 1983, Owens emceed the unveiling ceremony for the Hollywood Walk of Fame Star for The Three Stooges. Owens, a long-time friend of the Stooges, had been a major driving force in helping the Stooges get the Star. The ceremony was featured on Entertainment Tonight.

In the 1980s, he announced on jazz radio station KKJZ (then KKGO-FM) in Westwood, Los Angeles, California.

On the weekend of September 12–13, 1981, Owens substituted for his old KEWB station partner Casey Kasem on American Top 40; this was his only appearance on radio's first nationally syndicated countdown show. In that same year, Watermark chose Owens to replace Murray "The K" Kaufman as permanent host of Soundtrack Of The Sixties, an oldies retrospective show that ran in syndication through 1984. Immediately afterward, he hosted Creative Radio's Gary Owens' Supertracks, which was an oldies retrospective show similar to Soundtrack Of The Sixties, except it presented the fifties, sixties, and seventies.

He was the narrator of Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center pavilion, World of Motion, which operated between 1982 and 1996. His television special was "The Roots of Goofy" which aired from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s.

Owens moved from KMPC to KPRZ-1150AM (also in Los Angeles) in the early 1980s, hosting mornings at the "Music Of Your Life"-formatted station. Owens in the morning and Dick Whittinghill in afternoon drive was an inversion of Owens' KMPC years.

At KFI

When Roger Barkley surprisingly walked out of the long-running "Lohman and Barkley Show" on KFI in Los Angeles, Owens briefly teamed with Al Lohman for the successful morning commute show. Jeff Gehringer was brought on as producer. The station changed formats to talk and the program ended.

Owens had a hilarious bit part as an emcee for "Pimp of the Year", a dream scene in the 1988 comedy, "I'm Gonna Git You, Sucka!" Owens also co-starred in a number of documentaries about dinosaurs in the 1980s alongside Chicago's Eric Boardman. These documentaries were distributed by the Midwich Entertainment group for the Disney Channel before it went from being a premium pay channel on cable to a standard channel.

Owens guest starred on an episode of "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!" Owens was the voice narrator on the ABC Saturday morning animated series, Mighty Orbots in 1984.

In the late 1990s, Owens hosted the morning show on the Music of Your Life radio network, where he later had the evening shift and hosted a weekend afternoon show until 2006.

He also announced pre-recorded station IDs for Parksville, British Columbia radio station CHPQ-FM, and for humorist Gary Burbank's long-running afternoon show on WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio (Burbank took his stage name from Owens).

Owens was also the announcer for America's Funniest Home Videos from 1995–1997, the last two years of Bob Saget's hosting tenure, replacing Ernie Anderson.

In 2004, Owens co-wrote a book titled How to Make a Million Dollars With Your Voice (Or Lose Your Tonsils Trying). In his last years, Owens was the promotional announcing voice for Antenna TV, an over-the-air digital network dedicated to classic shows of the past, like Three's Company, The Monkees, Adam-12 and Gidget.

Owens died on February 12, 2015, at age 80 from complications due to diabetes, a condition with which he was first diagnosed at the age of eight. He was survived by his wife of 57 years, Arleta. The couple also had two sons, Scott and Chris Owens. Chris Owens is a respected musician and producer in Hollywood.

WHERE DID GARY WORK? Here is the list: KORN, KMA, KOIL, KIMN, KILT, KTSA, WNOE, WIL, KEWB, KFWB, KMPC, KPRZ, KKGO-FM, KLAC, KJQI, and XTRA.

Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Airchexx.

[ READ ]

Johnny Canton

Born October 4th, 1941, in Kansas City, Kansas, Johnny Canton was one of the indisputably most popular disk jockeys of the 1960s at WDGY in the Twin Cities. Johnny claimed that the first "rock and roll" record he ever heard over the radio was either by Chuck Berry or Little Richard, on a late night 15-minute program aired on a station in Shreveport, Louisiana.

At age 16 Johnny made his on air debut as a DJ on May 8, 1958. The first record he played on the show was “Yakety Yak” by The Coasters. Johnny was the host of a one hour Saturday afternoon show that featured rock’n’roll music (sponsored by a local record store), the only time slot for rock music amidst the radio station’s softer Hit Parade programming. Johnny worked the weekend shift at KLEX and worked Saturdays from 1:00 PM until sign-off and Sundays from Noon until sign-off.

Canton's broadcasting journey took him to stations in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Kansas City, Rochester, New York, Cleveland, Ohio, and the Twin Cities, in Minnesota. In addition to being an on-air personality he has been a Program Director, News Director and Music Director at various stations.

As a kid with his wooden microphone.

Beginning in June of 1959 at KOKO, Johnny hosted a Saturday evening Top-40 show from 6:00 to 10:00 PM.

The stations mainstays were The Four Freshmen, Peggy Lee, Perry Como and similar artists. Johnny was on the air weekdays from 7:00 AM until 12:30 PM, then went to classes at Central Missouri State College from 1:00 PM until 4:00 PM and then it was back to KOKO for a second shift from 4:30 to 6:00 PM. At college, Johnny took taking classes in theater, speech, and drama and also helped put the college radio station on the air.

In late 1960 at KZIX Johnny is once again at a new radio station, this time with no air time allotted for rock’n’roll music. The station played the Kingston Trio, Peggy Lee, Bobby Darin, and similar artists. Johnny became the news director and then program director, as well as being an on air personality.

In the WDGY studio circa July 1970.

In 1961 Johnny landed a gig at WNOW in York, Pennsylvania - his first job at a radio station with a Top-40 format - and also became the program director as well as being an on air personality.

In August, 1961 WRAW was a newly purchased radio station by Bill Rust (who also owned WNOW) and was in third place in the local radio stations when Canton came to work for them as a DJ and as program director. He switched the format to Top-40 with all on air personalities and in 90 days the station moved from third place to first place in the local ratings.

Between 1963 and 1966 Johnny worked as an on air personality and program director at both KUDL in Kansas City, Missouri and WIXY in Cleveland Ohio. Sandwiched between was a stint at WHAM in Rochester NY between June, 1964 and December, 1965.

At WIXY with the Beatles in 1966.

During the height of Beatlemania at WIXY the station was playing one song by The Beatles for every three songs played. On August 14, 1966, Johnny added his name to a very small and very elite group of people who had the once in a lifetime opportunity to introduce The Beatles at one of their concerts in the United States.

The show was held at the Cleveland Stadium and including opening acts: The Remains; The Cyrkle; The Ronettes; and Bobby Hebb. A local businessman provided a custom made mobile home that was set up right behind the stage near second base as a “holding room” for The Beatles. In the mobile home, Johnny got to visit with The Beatles and their manager, Brian Epstein, prior to the concert.

While working at WIXY, Johnny received a phone call from George “Bud” Armstrong, Executive Vice President of Broadcasting for Storz Broadcasting. George advised Johnny to contact WDGY Radio in Minneapolis where there was going to be an opening. Johnny called WDGY and talked to Phil Trammel, the GM, and was offered a job over the phone. He accepted, and soon after departed Cleveland, Ohio and relocated to Minnesota.

Johnny started out as music director and on air personality and took over the Noon to 3:00 PM afternoon shift (formerly occupied by Johnny Dollar).

With John Denver (& wife Annie) in '71.

Canton also appeared as the M.C. in the Joe Cocker film, “Mad Dogs & Englishmen,” also partially filmed in the Twin Cities.

In 1968, Johnny received a Radio-TV Mirror Magazine Award for radio Personality of the month. Johnny Canton, along with other DJ’s at the station supported the local rock bands, a tradition that went back to DJ Bill Diehl during his tenure at the station.

In 1969, Johnny was selected to play a minor role of a ticket agent in the Ross Hunter/Universal Film “Airport” which was partially filmed in Minneapolis.

Johnny played the records of the local bands on the air and worked as an emcee at local band jobs including shows at the St. Paul Winter Carnival, the PromCenter, the Bel Rae Ballroom, and numerous other venues including events for the Minneapolis Aquatennial.

30 Star 1970

May 11, 1969

Johnny is behind the mic at WDGY. [ LISTEN ] (31:24)

The broadcast includes a 20/20 news, weather, and sports report.

In addition to working with the local bands, Johnny also brought in national talent and emceed their shows. National acts that Johnny brought to the Twin Cities were Aretha Franklin, Tiny Tim, Dionne Warwick, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Sonny Bono, and for Christmas shows, Andy Williams and Roger Miller.

A WDGY scoped aircheck with Johnny on June 4, 1973. [ LISTEN ] (12:35)

Hear the WeeGee $10,000 Record Stash promo and Johnny ply "1130 Caret Gold." This is the place where "it pays to listen." Johnny's also does a brief Art Fern imitation.

Also during his years at WDGY, Johnny was known for interviewing many famous musicians, in person and over the “Hit Line” including: Andy Williams, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Helen Reddy, Tony Orlando, Frankie Valli, Neil Sedaka, and Bette Midler.

Here is Johnny interviewing John Lennon on October 8, 1974 [ LISTEN ] (15:14)

Lennon discusses his new album along with singing background for Ringo and Elton John. Black recording artists have always influenced John's music. He blames the break up of the Beatles on - boredom and lack of musical creativity - more than anything else. But it's quite possible that they could record together again. In closing John records two WDGY promos.

In early 1977, WDGY hired a new program director and General Manager Dale Weber decided to switch the Top-40 format to country music. In December of 1977 the Top-40 format came to an end and all of the employees were let go. Johnny was offered a job as Executive Vice President for Metropolitan Advertising which worked in print and broadcasting. This job led to the formation of Canton Communications, Inc. in 1978, an ad agency and radio-TV production firm, still operating in the Twin Cities.

Sadly, Johnny passed away on December 31, 2016, after suffering a severe stroke. Johnny Canton was a Twin Cities icon and a genuinely nice guy.

Some materials used on this page were originally published by the following: MinniePaulMusic, Radio Tapes, Vintage Pics, Twin Cities Radio Airchecks.

[ READ ]

Casey Kasem

Casey Kasem was born Kemal Amin Kasem on April 27, 1932, in Detroit, Michigan, of Lebanese descent. Kasem grew up wanting to become a professional baseball player, but at Detroit's Northwestern High School, he turned to what would become a lifelong pursuit when he joined the school's radio club.

In the 1940s, "Make Believe Ballroom" reportedly inspired Kasem to follow a career in radio and later host a national radio hits countdown show. Kasem received his first experience in radio covering sports at Northwestern High School in Detroit. He then went to Wayne State University for college. While at Wayne State, he voiced children on radio programs such as The Lone Ranger and Challenge of the Yukon. In 1952, Kasem was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Korea. There, he worked as a DJ/announcer on the Armed Forces Radio Korea Network.

After the war, Kasem began his professional broadcasting career in Flint, Michigan. From there, he spent time in Detroit as a disc jockey for radio station WJBK-AM (and doing such shows as The Lone Ranger and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon); WYSL in Buffalo, New York; and a station in Cleveland before moving to California. At KYA in San Francisco, the general manager first suggested he tone down his 'platter patter' and talk about the records instead. Kasem demurred at first, because it was not what was normally expected in the industry at that time. At KEWB in Oakland, Kasem was both the music director and on-air personality.

KRLA circa 1969.

He created a show which mixed in biographical tidbits about the artists' records he played, and attracted the attention of Bill Gavin who tried to recruit him as a partner. After Kasem joined KRLA in Los Angeles in 1963, his career really started to blossom and he championed the R&B music of East L.A.

Kasem earned roles in a number of low-budget movies and acted on radio dramas. While hosting "dance hops" on local television, he attracted the attention of Dick Clark who as a producer hired him to co-host a daily teenage music show called Shebang in 1964.

Casey in The Glory Stompers.

Kasem appeared in network TV series including Hawaii Five-O and Ironside. In 1967, Kasem appeared on The Dating Game, and played the role of "Mouth" in the motorcycle gang film The Glory Stompers.

Casey is playing records at KRLA on June 16, 1967. [ LISTEN ] (8:51).

In 1969, he played the role of "Knife" in the "surfers vs. bikers" film Wild Wheels, and had a small role in another biker movie, The Cycle Savages, starring Bruce Dern and Melody Patterson. Kasem's voice was, however, always the key to his career. At the end of the 1960s, he began working as a voice actor. In 1969, he started one of his most famous roles, the voice of Shaggy on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! He also voiced the drummer Groove from The Cattanooga Cats that year.

In 1964, Kasem had a minor hit single called "Letter From Elaina". A spoken-word recording, it told the story of a girl who met George Harrison after a San Francisco concert.

On July 4, 1970, Kasem, along with Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs, launched the weekly radio program American Top 40 (AT40). At the time, top 40 radio was on the decline as DJs preferred to play album-oriented progressive rock. Loosely based on the TV program Your Hit Parade, the show counted down from #40 on the pop charts to #1—the first #1 was Three Dog Night's "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)"—based on the Billboard Hot 100 each week.

The show, however, was not just about the countdown. Kasem mixed in biographical information about the artists, flashback, and "long-distance dedication" segments where he read letters written by listeners to dedicate songs of their choice to far away loved ones.

Over time, there were all kinds of Casey dedications. A teenage girl wrote to scold singer-actor Leif Garrett for reading "Playboy" magazine, and Casey played "Does Your Mother Know" by Abba. Another girl dedicated "Babe" to the Raggedy Andy doll she'd had since age two and told Casey, "I'll make sure he's sitting by the radio." A couple in New Zealand were reunited thanks to the song "You Needed Me" by Anne Murray...and would name their daughter after Casey. A mother wrote to dedicate "Tragedy" because the Bee Gees' song helped her young daughter overcome a fear of thunderstorms.

He often included trivia facts about songs he played and artists whose work he showcased. Frequently, he mentioned a trivia fact about an unnamed singer before a commercial break, then provided the name of the singer after returning from the break. Kasem ended the program with his signature sign-off, "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."

AMERICAN TOP 40
June 26, 1971
[ Part 1 ] (1:18:06) [ Part 2 ] (1:08:52)

The show debuted on seven stations, but on the back of Kasem's "always friendly and upbeat" baritone voice it soon went nationwide. In October 1978, the show expanded from three hours a week to four. American Top 40's success spawned several imitators including a weekly half-hour music video television show, America's Top 10, hosted by Kasem himself.

Due to his great knowledge of music, Kasem became known as not just a disc jockey, but also a music historian.

At one point, the show was broadcast to more than 1,000 radio stations worldwide. Also emerging from the show was what would become Kasem's signature sign-off message: "Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars." American Top 40 ran for nearly two decades, ending in 1988.

The Incredible 2 Headed Transplant

In 1971, Kasem provided the character voice of Peter Cottontail in the Rankin/Bass production of Here Comes Peter Cottontail. In the same year, he appeared in the low-budget film The Incredible 2 Headed Transplant, in what was probably his best remembered acting role. From 1973 until 1985, he voiced Robin on several Super Friends franchise shows. In 1980, he voiced Merry in The Return of the King. He also voiced Alexander Cabot III on Josie and the Pussycats and Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, and supplied a number of voices for Sesame Street.

In 1988, Kasem left American Top 40 due to a contract dispute with ABC Radio Network. He signed a five-year, $15 million contract with Westwood One and started Casey's Top 40. He also hosted two shorter versions of the show: Casey's Hot 20 and Casey's Countdown. During the late 1990s, Kasem played host to the Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

With wife Jean at star ceremony.

Kasem was granted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame radio division in 1985, and the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1992. Five years later, he received the Radio Hall of Fame's first Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2003, Kasem was given the Radio Icon award at the Radio Music Awards.

On June 15, 2014, Kasem passed away at St. Anthony's Hospital in Gig Harbor, Washington at the age of 82.

Some materials found on this page were originally published on the following: Wikipedia, The Internet Archive.

[ READ ]

Alison Steele

Alison Steele was an American radio personality, writer, television producer, correspondent, and entrepreneur who was also known by her air name, The Nightbird. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Steele was born Ceil Loman on January 26, 1937 in Brooklyn, New York City. She had two sisters, Joyce and Emalie Daniel. She had wished for a career in show business at three years of age. At fourteen, she landed a job running errands for a local television station, and opted not to study at university as she was "too impatient". She married, at nineteen, to orchestra leader and radio and television host Ted Steele who was twenty years her senior. The marriage ended in divorce. The couple had a daughter, Heather, born in South Dakota.

In the 1950s, Steele had worked on her career to become an production assistant and associate producer for various New York City television and radio stations. Among them was Ted Steele's television show, The Ted Steele Show, on WWOR-TV, where she hosted interviews and performed fitness routines that encouraged viewers to take part in. Ted was still married to his second wife Doris at the time.

On July 4, 1966, Steele landed her first radio job when she became a part of the new line-up of disc jockeys for the newly launched rock station, WNEW.

Klavin & Finch introduce Alison and “The Girls” at WNEW-FM on July 4, 1966. [ LISTEN ] (1:57)

An aircheck introducing the girls: Ann Clements, Alison Steele, Arlene Kieta and Margaret Draper.

The station wished to only hire female air staff at first as part of its middle of the road format it marketed "sexpot radio", with Steele chosen as one of the final four selected out of the 800 women that applied. Steele worked the 2–7pm slot, Sunday through Friday. When WNEW abandoned the format after the eighteen-month trial to the increasingly popular progressive rock format, Steele was the only host that was asked to stay at the station.

According to Jimi Hendrix's manager, Michael Jeffery, the song "Night Bird Flying", recorded by him and released posthumously on the album, The Cry Of Love, was inspired by Allison's late night Manhattan radio program.
[ LISTEN ] to Jimi and his band. (2:09)

Alison Steele, February 11, 1969 (62:08) The Nightbird, doing her flight till dawn, setting up musical moods and motifs that were suitable to late-night radio in the psychedelic sixties. Part 1 (29:14) | Part 2 (32:54)

Alison was a striking redhead

On January 1, 1968, WNEW placed Steele in the overnight "graveyard shift" which granted her more creative freedom, leading her to develop her personality and rapport with her listeners.

"I thought there must be a lot of people ... that need something to relate to in the middle of the night, and if I could create some kind of camaraderie, a relationship between myself and the rest of the night people, then it would be more than just music". She thought of a new air name, based on the gender ("bird" being slang for a girl) and her night owl hours of work, and chose The Nightbird.

Steele would begin her night show by reciting poetry over music, before introducing her show in her distinctive soft and sultry voice, aided by her preference of smoking small cigars. She often hosted with her dog, a French poodle named Genya.

Her introduction was: "The flutter of wings, the shadow across the moon, the sounds of the night, as the Nightbird spreads her wings and soars, above the earth, into another level of comprehension, where we exist only to feel. Come, fly with me, Alison Steele, the Nightbird, at WNEW-FM, until dawn."

She then made a transition to recordings of some of the more exceptional and experimental music being recorded at the time, as well as featuring the best of the familiar favorites of her audience. As well as music, Steele also recited poetry.

The wonder and beauty of WNEW-FM’s format was that the DJ’s were far more than disc jockeys. While playing music, they also spoke to the listener. They commented on current events. They read poetry. They told stories.

Vintage WNEW and Alison Steele from the prime years of commercial free form radio in New York. The first clip is from September 6 1972 and the second from July 11 1975. The music is fantastic as Alison plays King Crimson, The Nice , The Moody Blues and more.

February 17, 1974

She was a supporter and promoter of the English rock bands Yes, Genesis, and The Moody Blues. By 1974, she had over 100,000 listeners at any given average quarter hour of her show, and hosted a syndicated rock radio show to 600 stations nationwide, a radio show for women, and a cable television talk show.

According to Jimi Hendrix's manager Michael Jeffery, the song "Night Bird Flying", recorded by Hendrix and released posthumously on the album The Cry of Love (1971), was inspired by Steele's show. Steele also became known as The Grande Dame of New York Night.

By 1971, Steele had acquired approximately 78,000 nightly listeners, with the majority being men between age of 18 and 34.

Away from radio, Steele also did charity work and was a member of the board of the New York City chapter of the Epilepsy Foundation, worked for the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, and was on the credit committee of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

"The Tea House" featuring Alison Steele with Lou Reed c.1973

This piece seems to be sponsored by an organization that encourages people to drink tea, although no organization or sponsor is actually mentioned. Or, perhaps Alison thought it was simply an interesting concept. In either case, this complete but very short aircheck is of Alison interviewing Lou Reed. It's unknown if this every played on WNEW-FM. [ LISTEN ] (3:02)

At one point, Steele served as the station's music director. In 1976, Steele became the first woman to receive a Billboard Award for FM Personality of the Year, and the magazine also named an award in her honour, The Alison Steele Award for Lifetime Achievement, which was awarded to Casey Kasem in 1997.

February 14, 1977.

After her departure from WNEW, Steele focused her career around television and writing. From 1982 to 1984, she was the announcer for the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow, and produced/corresponded for Limelight on CNN.

In 1984, Steele returned to radio on WNEW–AM which lasted until 1986. For a number of years, Steele was also the disc jockey for the pop/rock in-flight audio entertainment channel on board Trans World Airlines.

Here is a generous portion of another classic WNEW-FM broadcast dated October 18, 1982. Alison's popularity coninued to generate a loyal listening audience. [ LISTEN ] (49:54)

Larry Fine at Woodstock

Steele's final radio job was working overnights at WXRK from 1989 to 1995. She also did some work for VH1, as well as running the cat boutique Just Cats with her sister in Manhattan.

Steele did much voice-over work for radio and television commercials, and she provided the narration for one of Howard Stern's most popular radio bits, "Larry Fine at Woodstock", featuring impressionist Billy West.

Alison once said to explain her popularity, "I've never called in sick; I've worked hard and built my own following."

Unfortunately in June 1995, Steele was forced to leave WXRK due to a serious illness. She died from stomach cancer on September 27, 1995 in New York City. She was only 58 years old. In addition to her sister Joyce, she was survived by a daughter, Heather Steele, another sister, Emalie Daniel, and a granddaughter.

"The flutter of wings, the sounds of the night, the shadow across the moon, as the Nightbird lifts her wings and soars above the earth into another level of comprehension, where we exist only to feel. Come fly with me, Alison Steele, the Nightbird..." With these words Alison Steele began her overnight radio show on WNEW-FM in New York City.

"Flying"

Alison always ended her shows with The Beatles instrumental song, "Flying", over which she would say her goodbye message.

Some materials used on this page were originally published on the following: Woodstock Whisperer, New York Radio Archive, Paul Scelzo-Youtube.

[ READ ]

Boom Boom Brannigan

Born in Utica as Joseph Charles Motto, Boom Boom Brannigan became well known during the 1960s as a disc jockey at Albany-Troy giant WPTR (1540-AM). Rock ’n’ roll music was a sensation, and Brannigan became a popular local ringleader for fans of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Dave Clark Five, Herman’s Hermits, Turtles and other bands of the era.

Brannigan looked the part. A dark wavy pompadour was his hairstyle. The Boom Boom wardrobe included leopard-skin tuxedo coats, velvet jackets, ruffled shirts and big boots.

Boom Boom with kids in 1961.

Personal appearances were part of the job, including parties, talent shows, bar mitzvahs and sock hops.

Brannigan was going by the name Ronny Victor at a Buffalo radio station when he landed the job at WPTR during the early 1960s. In a 1998 interview with The Daily Gazette, Brannigan said he was trying to think of a new name for the Capital Region market when he tuned in his new employer and learned his stage identity had already been chosen.

February 19, 1965

“I heard this jingle that said ‘Boom Boom is coming’ and then there would be this sound of drums,” he said.

Brannigan remained at WPTR until 1975, when the popularity of disc jockey-driven rock ’n’ roll had been replaced by album-oriented rock formats and talk radio. He secured slots at other local stations, including WABY, and did some television work on local cable access.

During the WPTR days, Boom Boom had chances to move to bigger broadcasts in New York City and Philadelphia. Station chiefs wanted him to compete against national talents such as Dick Clark and Wolfman Jack, but he didn’t want to move.

In 1964, two guys named Paul and John phoned WPTR — the two most famous Beatles wanted to talk to Boom Boom.

Brannigan was just a really nice man. He was not particularly egotistical, and he could have been because he so dominated the market. He was never taken by himself, just a simple, fun-loving rock ’n’ roll jock. He passed away on October 19, 2010 at the age of 82.

[ READ ]