Humble Harve Miller began his career in 1958 at radio station WAAT in Trenton, New Jersey. Soon after, he moved to WIBG in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he worked from 1958 to 1962. Miller subsequently moved to Los Angeles, California, and after a stop at KBLA he became part of the enormous hit station KHJ as part of the "Boss Radio" DJ teams working under Bill Drake and other executives.
Harve narrated Mondo Mod in 1967.
KBLA 1966
Harve was the top-rated nighttime disc jockey throughout a five year period, and also did commercials, voice-over work, and narrated the 1967 counterculture documentary film Mondo Mod. He also narrated the late-1969 syndicated version of KHJ's The History of Rock and Roll 48-hour special, which aired throughout the early 1970s.
Miller with his wife.
After two weeks in hiding (at Phil Spector’s mansion, according to one account), he was caught. Miller pleaded guilty, got five-to-life for second-degree murder, and went to prison in August.
In December, Billboard reported that Miller was going to program a new radio station set up at the Chino Institute for Men, where he was incarcerated. Radio stations and record labels would donate equipment and records. (Miller was supposedly furloughed from prison to make a trip to San Diego, driving his own car, to pick up donated records from radio station KGB.)
The Columbia School of Broadcasting of Los Angeles planned to offer classes for inmates, although Billboard snarked that “Harve doesn’t need any lessons, of course.” In January 1972, a one-line item in Billboard reported, “Chino Men’s Prison has been hearing some good rock since disk jockey Humble Harve began serving his term.”
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Music surveys featuring Harve at KHJ
Harve at KRLAIt’s unclear just how long Miller was in prison. One source mentions that he “received a 14-month sentence.” If that’s how long he served, he would have been out in October 1972. A May 1974 edition of Billboard noted Miller’s return to the Los Angeles airwaves on KKDJ. In July 1974, he sat in for Casey Kasem on American Top 40.
When KKDJ was purchased by the owners of KIIS in 1975, he was installed on an evening shift, the same daypart he worked on KHJ in the 60s. His voice was featured in the 1975 movie Aloha Bobby and Rose, as the title characters listen to their car radio. And in 1976, he became the host of the National Album Countdown. (However, another source states he wasn't released until 1980.)
Among the Los Angeles radio stations Humble Harve has worked for throughout the years are KIQQ, KIIS, KUTE, KRLA, KRTH, KCBS-FM, and KZLA. In addition, Miller also worked for WIBG in Philadelphia in 1985 and KVI in Seattle, Washington from 1986-1989, and also narrated a variety of syndicated radio specials during the 1980s and 1990s.
Harve c.1979.They did not abandon him when he went to jail, or afterward. All these years later, in a less-forgiving media era, one must wonder if a similarly prominent person convicted of such a crime would ever get his local gig back, let alone gigs of national prominence.
WHERE DID HARVEY WORK? Here is the list: WAAT, WIBG, KBLA, KHJ, Armed Forces Radio Service, KIQQ, KKDJ, KIIS, KUTE, KRLA, WFIL, KRLA, KVI, KRLA, KRTH, KCBS-FM, KZLA, and KIEV.
Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Ellis Feaster's YouTube Channel, Los Angeles Daily News.
