After graduating from NYU, where he founded the college radio station, Morrow sent demo tapes to eight stations in warm climates. He was ready to conquer the world, but wanted to be in a tropical area. His first offer came from a Florida station, where the then-magnificent sum of $82 a week turned out to cover equal time on the air and running the car wash component of the station owner’s business.
Morrow accepted the second offer he got, “to introduce rock and roll to the magnificent island nation of Bermuda.” He spent a year and a half there, developing many of his future skills. The island people called him the Hammer.
"Hey cousin"The origin of Brucie's nickname (1:24) occurrred with little fanfare back in the U.S. in the late 1950's. Bruce was working at WINS in New York, when he was approached by a woman, who during the course of their conversation asked “Do you believe we're all related?”, sparking inspiration. Bruce said “Yes” and she quickly replied by calling him Cousin, and asking for money.
Morrow began his stateside career at New York Top 40 station WINS in 1959. In 1960, he moved to Miami for a brief stint at WINZ before returning to the New York airwaves the following year on AM 770 powerhouse WABC, another Top 40 outlet. Morrow's return to New York City came just as rock and roll music was exploding across the baby boom demographic, and Morrow found himself on the most powerful radio station on the East Coast at the onset of the British Invasion.
Bruce is live with the Beatles.To really appreciate his popularity, you have to understand his ability to talk right to you just as a friend would. Good DJ's are not just radio people with good mechanics. Bruce always had a sincerity about him.
Movin' and Groovin' and having a ball with Cousin Bruce Morrow as he counts down the WABC All American Survey on October 29, 1963. [ LISTEN ] (11:03)
Bruce did his first "Saturday Night Party" on December 7, 1963. [ LISTEN ]
It featured Cousin Brucie with a background music loop playing as he supposedly mingled around the party while generally cranking the kids up. As time went by this became one of WABC highest rated programs earning Bruce upwards of 25% of the available radio audience on Saturday nights.
Cousin Brucie is his normal zany self at WABC in September, 1965. [ LISTEN ] (12:17)
Featuring Coke commercials, and more Coke commercials, (because it's Cousin Brucie for Coca Cola the entire program). Also a Ron Lundy promo.
Morrow quickly became a success on WABC's teen-oriented evening shift in the 6:15 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. slot. Morrow became a commercial radio powerhouse and household name through his ability to maintain a rapport with his listeners while smoothly mixing the diverse musical genres of the time (Motown soul, pop, hard rock, surf music, novelty records), and then seamlessly segueing into commercials for youth-oriented sponsors like Thom McAn, local clothing outlets in the New York and New Jersey areas, and events such as concerts and drag-strip races.
Here is a segment of just one of the thousands of shows that Cousin Brucie hosted on WABC. This one from September 9, 1968 featuring a Top 40 playlist including the Beatles' Hey Jude as it was then #11 and rapidly climbing up the charts. (53:26)
It's July, 1969 and Bruce is back at the turntable on WABC. (6:52)
The pace of this show is fast. Very fast. And there are more commercials and talk from Cousin Brucie than there is music.
WABC Survey Night, Bruce is counting songs down on April 4, 1972. [ LISTEN ] (5:59)
The aircheck begins with Bruce doing a "Costa Del Sol" wine advertisement - "take my hand...your skin is so nice". Very tongue in cheek and typical Brucie. These kinds of ads were frequently requested by the advertisers because they knew Bruce could get the listener's attention. Brucie probably sold more pimple cream than any other single person in U.S. history.
Morrow remained at WABC for 13 years and 4,014 broadcasts until August 1974, when he jumped to WNBC.
Bruce Morrow's departure was big news. Even bigger was that he was moving over to rival WNBC to compete with his former station. Even so, WABC program director Rick Sklar gave Bruce a big send off. He was allowed to do a "final show" [ LISTEN ] (4:46), which is very unusual in the radio business.
Also, the station gave Bruce a big going away party. As was tradition at Musicradio WABC, whenever someone left, a "party tape" was produced and played at that party. Here is Brucie's tape. [ LISTEN ] (22:47)
Also, the station gave Bruce a big going away party. As was tradition at Musicradio WABC, whenever someone left, a "party tape" was produced and played at that party. Here is Brucie's tape. [ LISTEN ] (22:47)
In return Bruce presented Rick with a puppeteer's rig. At the end of each string was a spark plug. This was payback for Rick's quotes in Billboard magazine, saying "disc jockeys are puppets and I'm the puppeteer who pulls their strings," and "they're like spark plugs...one goes bad and I plug another one in."
Brucie left the airwaves to team with entrepreneur Robert F.X. Sillerman to become the owner of the Sillerman Morrow group of stations, which included WALL; WKGL, now WRRV, in Middletown, NY; WJJB, later WCZX, in Poughkeepsie, NY; WHMP in Northampton, Massachusetts; WOCB in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts; WRAN (now dark) New Jersey 1510 in Randolph, New Jersey; and television station WATL Atlanta. The group later purchased WPLR in New Haven, Connecticut.
MORROW'S LAST SHOW ON WNBC
Friday, August 12, 1977 (2:40:40)
Friday, August 12, 1977 (2:40:40)
This is Bruce Morrow's last radio show on WNBC-AM, which was about to change format with a new programming team. Bruce made it sound like he was leaving radio completely, but he would eventually join WCBS-FM from June 1982 until June of 2005.
Cousin Brucie had joined the station in August of 1974, first in a 6-10pm slot, then moving in December to 10am and eventually back to evenings. Other DJs on the station included Joe McCoy, Walt Baby Love, Dick Summer and Johnny Michaels.
Cousin Brucie had joined the station in August of 1974, first in a 6-10pm slot, then moving in December to 10am and eventually back to evenings. Other DJs on the station included Joe McCoy, Walt Baby Love, Dick Summer and Johnny Michaels.
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The station also added his nationally syndicated show Cruisin' America. In 1986, he took on the Wednesday evening slot, where he hosted The Top 15 Yesterday and Today Countdown. In 1991, the Wednesday show became The Yearbook, focusing on music from a year between 1955 and 1979. Cousin Brucie was also the "breakfast presenter" on Atlantic 252 from 1992 to 1996.
When Cruisin' America ended its run in December 1992, Morrow continued hosting a WCBS show called Cruising with the Cuz Monday evenings until the end of 1993. After that show ended, he hosted the Saturday night and Wednesday night shows there until the station's change to the adult hits format called Jack FM on June 3, 2005. Shortly thereafter, he signed a multi-year deal to host oldies programming and a weekly talk show on Sirius Satellite Radio.
Morrow says he saw music change from the vocal harmonies of Bobby Darin and Neil Sedaka in the 1950s to the revolutionary changes in music marked by the Summer of Love in 1967, including the release of The Beatles’ “Sergeant Pepper”.
Cousin Brucie's show from November 29, 1967. [ LISTEN ] (40:02)
This aircheck was sent to the soldiers in Vietnam over the Christmas Holidays. It was common for WABC to record these to be sent overseas.
Brucie doing another aircheck for the Armed Forces most of whom were stationed in Vietnam on January 29, 1969. [ LISTEN ] (19:34)
Bruce does one of those famous "Propa PH" acne medication commercials on this aircheck as well as one of his famous Gimbels spots.
For the last two decades, Morrow has actively worked for the Variety Children's Charity in support of disadvantaged, physically challenged, sick and needy children and volunteers his time and talent with Gatewave Audio Reading Service for people who are blind or visually impaired.
In 2010, he received the Bravery In Radio Award from William Paterson University and its radio station WPSC 88.7 FM, for a track record of "inspirational radio programming and lifelong commitment to the medium of radio.
Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Airchexx, Rock Radio Scrapbook, Musc Radio 77, New York Radio Archive.
