Today, we shine the light on another hometown hero. Donaldson Toussaint L’Ouverture Byrd II, better known to the music world as Donald Byrd, was born on this day in 1932.
He was born in Detroit, Michigan. His mother introduced him to jazz music, and his uncle gave him his first trumpet. He attended Cass technical high school. Byrd played in a military band while in the US air force, took a music degree at Wayne State University in Michigan and then studied music education at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. He joined the Jazz Messengers in the mid-1950s. Byrd’s trumpet predecessors in Blakey’s company had already included the graceful, glossy-toned Clifford Brown and the Dizzy Gillespie-influenced Kenny Dorham, but the newcomer with his polished phrasing and luxurious tone was recognised as a technical master equal to both. He was even heralded as the new guiding light in jazz trumpet.
He was prolifically active in the late 1950s, in demand for sessions on the Savoy, Riverside, Fortune, and Blue Note labels. At the end of the decade he was also leading or co-leading his own ensembles. He was mostly operating in the laconically pyrotechnical, blues-inflected hard-bop style.
He formed the Blackbyrds, a soul and funk band, from a pool of his Howard University student. In the early 70’s his music ventured into dancefloor jazz and fusion. In 1973, his album Black Byrd was a million seller and brought Blue Note label more income than it had ever generated from any release before.
In 1975, he released the album Places and Spaces. Allmusic awarded the album with 4 stars and its review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine states: “Boasting sweeping string arrangements, sultry rhythm guitars, rubbery bass, murmuring flügelhorns, and punchy horn charts, the music falls halfway between the cinematic neo-funk of Street Lady and the proto-disco soul of Earth, Wind & Fire.”
In the late 80’s, when I worked at WKSG, Kiss-FM, we had a regular listener who would call and ask for Donald Byrd, even though we were an oldies station. He called every station in town and it wasn’t odd to be listening to another station and hearing him on the air. His name was Joe. He always asked for the same song, “Wind Parade.”
On one occasion, my pal Johnny Molson and I were talking with Joe, and he has some funky jazz playing in the background. We asked him what he was listening to and found out it was Byrd. So we did to him what he did to us, we requested he play Wind Parade. Neither of us had ever heard the song before. I think we were both genuinely interested to hear it.
As the song begins, there is a piano and syncopated cymbal beat. The a guitar riff plays along with the established beat. What Johnny and I did not expect was Joe belting out the words and singing along to the song. I cannot even describe what it sounded like, but John and I immediately collapsed in laughter.
As we laughed at this unexpected solo, the music continued. At some point he stopped singing and asked, “How do you like it, Johnny?” He had barely caught his breath long enough to say, “That’s great, Joe” only to continue laughing more.
And that is how I discovered Donald Byrd. One day, while shopping at a local record store, I couldn’t believe it when I found his greatest hits CD. I picked it up without hesitation and gave it a listen. There is no doubt, he could play the trumpet well, and there were some neat tracks on the CD. It was “Wind Parade” that got the most play. Every time the vocal hit in the song, I could hear Joe singing along!
He passed away in 2013. One obituary said, “Byrd’s real legacy is his contribution to music education in a culture that spawned jazz but then neglected it – a role he pursued from the unique vantage point of having been a leading player in the idiom. His work has been sampled by pop and hip-hop artists including Public Enemy and Ice Cube, and many young musicians at work today owe their education, and the widespread acceptance of their art, to his tireless pursuit of stature and respect for jazz.”
Normally, I would steer clear of this song, but because it is his birthday, I will feature it today.
Happy 83rd Birthday to Bob Lind!
In 1965, Bob Lind signed a contract with World Pacific Records, which was a division of Liberty Records. It was there that he recorded his composition (and only hit) Elusive Butterfly.
From songfacts.com:
Bob Lind wrote this song, where he sees himself as a butterfly hunter. He is looking for romance, but he finds it as elusive as butterflies are to capture. It turned out to be the only hit for Lind, who did a lot of traveling as a kid and ended up playing folk music around Denver when he flunked out of Western State College. He wrote “Elusive Butterfly” as the sun was coming up after staying up all night. He says the song is about “The magic of the quest, the thrill of searching, even when that which is sought is hard to see.”
One of music’s greatest bass players, Carol Kaye, played on the song. She told songfacts.com:
“It was at Sunset Sound. It was kind of a boring tune. I think it was D-flat or something, and it stays a long time in that chord and then it moves in a funny way to the next chord, it’s like a sidebar phrase or something like that. I missed it and I went to go up to the G-flat or whatever and I missed it and I came right back down. I did a slide up and down. And they stopped and I thought, ‘Uh oh, he caught me.’ He said, ‘Do more of those!’ (laughing) So the slide was born, then. I’d stick that slide in here and there on the records I cut.”
I chuckled when I read her quote calling the song “boring.” When I was at WKSG in Detroit, this song would come up on the play list from time to time. Johnny Molson, who did the evening show before I came on the air, had the best description of the song. He told me that the song “sounds like someone ate a Hallmark card … and threw up.”
Happy Birthday to Johnny, by the way. Who knew he and Bob shared a birthday?
Plagued by drug and alcohol problems, Lind gained a reputation in the business for being “hard to work with.” He eventually left the music business for some time, but his music was recorded by over 200 artists. Those artists include: Cher, Glen Campbell, Dolly Parton, Eric Clapton, The Turtles, Johnny Mathis, Nancy Sinatra, The Four Tops, and Petula Clark!
In 1988, he moved to Florida. He wrote five novels, an award-winning play, and a screenplay, Refuge, which won the Florida Screenwriters’ Competition in 1991. He also worked briefly for the Weekly World News and is credited with co-writing their famous “Bat Boy” story.
I’d say that he should stick to singing, but I’m not really keen on that either… So, Happy Birthday, Bob.
Today is a day to celebrate the Disc Jockey. I was lucky enough to be both a radio DJ and a Mobile DJ. I have mobile DJ stories, but they aren’t as interesting as my radio DJ stories. This is an adaption of an earlier blog. If you are a newer follower, these will be new to you. If you’ve been around since the inception of this blog, enjoy these again.
In my over 30 year radio career, I have (like all of my radio friends) a gazillion stories. There are some that I just can’t share here. But, here are some that I’ll share off the top of my head. I am sure there are plenty more, but for now – enjoy these:
WKSG –
My career started here. I was a lowly intern ripping news and sorting it. I then started to intern with Paul Christy, the morning guy. He eventually was responsible for me doing overnights full time.
Keith Who?
I only used my real name once in my entire career – and almost didn’t. Every hour at the top of the hour we had to play our Legal ID. The FCC requires the station to identify itself and where the signal originates from. Our Legal ID had was what we called a “donut” in the middle of it. The voice guy gave the station slogan, followed by the Station ID. After that there was a 2-3 music bed where the DJ would say what time it was and their name. I’d heard it a hundred times. “It’s 10 O’clock and I’m Jim McKenzie”, “It’s 3 O’clock and I’m John Bailey”, “It’s 7 O’clock and I’m Johnny Molson” – every jock did it. My first night ever on the air, I hadn’t decided what name I was going to use yet. The ID played and I had no choice – “It’s midnight and I’m … (brain fart – and real name)”. I really had no intentions of using my real name, I just hadn’t decided on my on air name yet. A gal I went to high school with was listening that night. I remember her calling and asking if I was Keith (real name). It freaked me out. She told me that she heard my that first night and thought that I had said my real name. I used Keith Allen every day after that and have never been anyone else.
Thinking Inside the Box
Speaking of those live ID’s, Johnny Molson was on before me each night. It seemed that he and his crew always were trying to mess with me when the ID played. They would make weird noises, bang on cart racks, or knock over my music stack. They would do all kinds of things to try to get me to mess up when I turned on the microphone. . Sometimes they’d get me to crack up and sometimes I was able to keep it together.
One night, the time was ticking away to the ID and they were all out of the studio. The ID started and I heard the studio door behind me open fast. They had found a huge box and as I started to talk, they threw it over my head. My hands, thankfully, were still by the mixer board so I could see what button I had to push next. I didn’t know what to do, so I just continued to talk with the box was over my head. Listeners heard nothing but a muffled voice and the music bed. Johnny was cracking up the whole time. He told me, “I can’t believe you just kept going”!
Saturday Snooze
At one point during my time at Kiss-FM, I was doing Friday night and Saturday mornings. This consisted of me being on air from 12a-6a doing my own show. Then running Paul Christy’s show on tape from 6a-10a.
I don’t recall why I hadn’t slept much the day prior, but I was tired. I finished my show at 6. I got about an hour into Paul’s show, and I was feeling exhausted. I had started a song, put my elbows up on the board, my fists to my cheeks, and nodded off. About 20-25 minutes later, my head fell from my hands and I was startled awake. I had no idea where I was. The phones were all lit up, and nothing was on the air!
In a panic, I grabbed the first song on the music stack and jammed it into the machine. Fittingly, the song was “You’ve Got Your Troubles” by the Fortunes. Once the music started, the phones stopped ringing. I, however, knew that Paul was always listening! I dreaded the call that I knew was coming. I was sure to get fired for messing up his show! 10 minutes later the “PC hotline rang”.
I answered it and as usual, Paul was chomping on something (he was always eating when he called). “How’s it going?”, he asked. There was no way he didn’t hear the silence! He had to have heard it, I knew he did. Why wasn’t he saying anything? I finally blurted out that I had fallen asleep for a couple minutes and awaited the verbal beating. Nope. Not Paul. He laughed and said, “You Asshole! I remember this one time I fell asleep while I was at Super CFL in Chicago….” and told me his sleepy story. That was the kind of guy Paul was … a damn cool dude!
Hot Java
One more Paul story for you. He drank coffee all throughout his shift. He liked it black and hot! One time he had Vince, a morning show member, get him some coffee. It sat next to him for awhile while he was doing other things. He finally grabbed it and took a sip. He was disgusted.
He yelled, “What the hell is the matter with you guys?! You call this hot coffee?! I could piss warmer than this!! Get me some fresh stuff and make sure it is hot!” So Vince went to the coffee pot, filled the cup and then put it in the microwave for about 2 …or 10 minutes. I don’t remember, but it was in there for a good while. He took the steaming cup to Paul. Well, rather than setting it down as he normally did, put it to his lips and took a sip. Needless to say, it burned the hell out of his tongue and lips! Paul yelped, “Jesus! What is wrong with you?!” Holding his tongue in pain, he continued, “I use this thing for a living!!” I think every one of us broke a rib laughing so hard. I can still see him holding his tongue with one hand and fanning it with the other!
WMXD
I followed Paul here to do some part time work after being let go from Kiss-FM. The format started as a mix of Urban/R&B music and Pop. Eventually it went all R&B and Urban. It was here that I met The Electrifying Mojo.
Keef
I had known of Mojo for years. He was a Detroit legend. He had this mysterious persona on t he air. I don’t know that there were any photos of him anywhere. So when I saw him for the first time, I was taken aback. He was much shorter than I had imagined.
I have to say, Mojo was one cool dude. He played most of his stuff off vinyl records. The thing I remember most about Mojo was that the studio was always like a sauna! It was always SO hot when I came in. I don’t know how he was able to work with it that hot.
The studio was always a mess, too! Not garbage messy, but music messy. There were always vinyl records all over the studio. He’d have them stacked on the reel to reel tape machine or on the counter tops. Sometimes, there were stacks of them on the floor of the studio. With the records everywhere, it was hard for me to get in and gather the first hour of music for my show. You could barely move in the studio.
He always called me “Keef” or “Baby Keef” when he got ready to wrap up his show. He had a signature line that he always said at the end of his show:
“Hold on tight. Don’t let go. Whenever you feel like you are reaching the end of your rope – tie a knot. Don’t slide off. Keep hanging. Keep remembering that there ain’t nobody bad like you.”
I had heard him say this on the radio many times, but to watch him say it live in the studio … I was in awe.
WHND
Honey Radio! I grew up listening to this station and I was honored to have the chance to work with radio legends! Richard D, Jon Ray, Boogie Brian, Ron Tavernit, Bill Stewart, Greg Russell, and so many others were such an influence. Honey was the first oldies station in the country – and I got to be there as they turned out the light…..
Worst Five Minutes of Detroit Radio – EVER
You can read all about my buddy Rob in a previous blog. I am not sure if I tell this story in that blog or not, so I apologize if I did. It was the last week Honey was on the air – the week of Thanksgiving 1994. Our listeners knew that this was Honey’s last week and we had been given free reign to have fun.
We had a listener who used to call up and his name was Mitchell. I had gotten to the point where I could do his voice pretty well. I had been doing a character based on the real listener and I called him “Mitch”. True story – Mitch would call and talk to us and really never have anything to say. He’s jump from topic to topic. If you let him, he’d never stop talking. So I decided to prerecord some calls as Mitch where I just rambled about nothing and then hung up. Afterward, we’d say something like “He’s a nice guy, but ….” kind of a thing. It was ridiculous.
So now it’s the last week we are on the air. It had become clear that some people were upset the station was going off the air. They were calling us in the studio and calling the managers to voice their anger. I said to Rob, “I bet Mitchell is really angry about the station.” He said, “They better lock the doors, man. That guy is likely to come in here with a gun or something. That was the idea. So we planned a bit.
I was going to do the character live on the air. I was going to come in and say how upset I was the station was going off the air. I would yell and scream and (using the theater of the mind) pull out a gun and start shooting it (keep in mind this was 1994 and public shootings were not as prominent). At this point in the bit, our bouncer character (loosely based on Charles Bronson) was going to come in and grab the gun. He would then beat up “Mitch” and throw him out the studio window. To accomplish the bit we needed sound effects (to make it sound real on the air).
To help you understand what happens next, here is a picture of a studio. It is not the WHND studio, but the Cart machines in the picture are like the ones there.
If you look at the left side of the picture, you will see the machines above the headphones. There are three machines on the left, a stack of carts in the middle and three machines on the right. At Honey, the machines went like this:
1 4
2 5
3 6
Ok, now to the mess.
We had these 6 cart machines and every song, commercial, or sound effect was on its own cart. So in cart player #1 was the song we just played. Cart #2 had the door closing sound effect for when Mitch comes in. Cart #3 holds the gunshot sound. Cart #4 is the “fight scene” – the sound of two guys beating each other up. Cart #5 is where the sound of glass breaking (the studio window) for when Mitch gets tossed out . Finally, Cart #6 had our first commercial.
The plan was that after Mitch was thrown out the window, we would go to a commercial break. I would have already put the commercial we were going to play first in Cart player 1. Once the glass breaks and we wrap up the bit, go to commercial and proceeded with the show. That however, is NOT how it happened on the air.
As soon as I began to do the character live on the air, I saw Rob crack a smile. That is all it took. Seeing him smile made me start to laugh hard. As his Elvis character, Rob tries to save the bit. So I once again try to do the “Mitch” character – which only made me laugh harder. By this point we are both laughing so hard that we have tears in our eyes. Rob, as Elvis, says “That takes care of that bit, man!”
Because we are totally losing it on the air, my first thought is PLAY THE COMMERCIAL! I go to start the commercial, but the commercial never made it to the machine! So the button I pushed was the gunshot sound effect, which only made us laugh harder….you hear us dropping carts and shoving the commercial in the machine and finally we went to commercials. I have often called this the worst 5 minutes of Detroit radio. To me it is also the funniest 5 minutes of our show.
Update: I found the Audio and made a YouTube Video:
My apologies ahead of time …
Becoming The President
The late Richard D was one of the funniest men I ever worked with. He gave me lots of direction and I have talked about him in previous blogs, as well. I was producing his show the Top 12 at 12. This was an hour of his show which featured the Top 12 songs in Detroit on that day. They found those 12 songs from local charts from radio stations and newspapers. Each day featured a different year.
It was a fun show to produce. It included new stories, TV and movie clips, old commercials, info about how much things were from that year, etc… Richard had to play that day’s 12 songs from the chart. Every now and then there was extra time because of short songs. We would then give him songs that were on the charts from that week to play as “extras.” Usually it was a song that was just being released or had been a hit earlier in that year.
On one show, the countdown was from 1966. I had put a Dean Martin song in there as an extra and he played it. After the song, he made some comment about it not being the greatest song or something and moved on. So I went into the studio, as I often did, to give him crap. I said something along the lines of “Why are you messing with Italians! Dean was Italian and so I am I! Look here you “old bastid (a term of endearment), If I were you, I’d watch what you say about Dean Martin … and Frank Sinatra for that matter!” The whole time he laughed. I left the room as he continued to laugh hysterically.
I thought that would be the end of it, but Richard loved an opportunity to make me the butt of a joke. After the next song he said on the air, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I must offer an apology. A little while ago I played (whatever the song was) by Dean Martin and made some negative remarks about it. Immediately after that, Keith Allen came in here with about 12 goons who roughed me up a bit and told me that my comments were distasteful. So I must now publicly apologize. I really had no idea that Keith Allen was the President of the Dean Martin Fan Club!”
From that day on, I always tried to find a way to sneak a Dean Martin song into my show. After each of those songs I would say I was President of the Dean Martin Fan Club.
Related side story
When Honey went off the air, I received a package from a listener named Sandy. She and I remain friends with to this day. The package was a complete surprise and it was awesome. Sandy had sent me a membership to the REAL Dean Martin Fan Club! To make things even better, there was a note in the package. It read: “I thought you might actually want to be a member of the Fan Club you claim to be President of….”
The Sign Off
For years I listened to Boogie Brian rhyme as he talked up song intros until he nailed the post (where the vocalist starts to sing). He would do this with no effort at all. His energy was constant and the smile in his voice was ever present – until November 25, 1994. That was the day Honey stopped broadcasting locally before eventually signing off. My partner Rob and I were listening to his sign off from the other room. The day had already been full of listeners wishing us well and many tears were shed. The biggest tears came as Boogie signed off that day. A powerful memory that I will never forget.
WWWW
My Worst Prediction
In 1994, I had just come back from working on the west side of the state. It was there that I did country radio for the first time. After I was hired at W4 Country, there was a change in management. The new PD, Tim Roberts, would take the chair and offer some advice that I still use today. Every year, Tim was responsible for booking acts to the Downtown Hoedown. It was a huge three day festival with many stages and many acts. At the time took place in Hart Plaza in Detroit.
We worked at the Hoedown in shifts as I recall and mine was over. I was waiting in the blue W4 Country Suburban to go back to the station with Tim Timmerman. The Dixie Chicks were an up and coming act who had a very traditional sound. Their music was really not like anything on the radio at the time. While I loved it, I didn’t think it would do as well as it did. Tim looked out the window of the Suburban and said “Dude, it’s the Dixie Chicks! We should go get a picture!” I was exhausted and I told him that he could go if he wanted to. I then said something about them being way too traditional and that “they probably won’t go anywhere”. Boy, was I wrong! There’s an opportunity I missed and regret to this day!
Thanks for reading, it’s always fun to share radio stories. There are plenty of my DJ Heroes mentioned above, too. That’s fitting for National DJ Day!
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.
A brand new decade has dawned and I will turn 20 in 1990. It was a time of change for me, as well. I had been working at WKSG for a little over 2 years. I truly believed that I’d have that job for years, but had yet to learn how unstable radio jobs were. When I was fired, I called my old boss (now at another station in Detroit) and cried like a baby. He brought me in part time at WMXD.
As I looked through the music from 1990 and 1991, there were many songs that I played while at WMXD. When I started there, the music was a mix of Adult Contemporary and Urban songs. Eventually, they would go all Urban Contemporary and I was let go again.
One of the songs I played, I wrote about recently, but it still makes my list here. If you want to know more about Elton John’s Club at the End of the Street, you can read the earlier post here:
Next on the list is a song that was released on my 20th birthday, May 15, 1990. “Vision Of Love” was Mariah Carey’s first single. The song debuted at #73 in America, but two months later, in August, spent four weeks at the #1 spot. I remember playing this one on WMXD, as well. It was a song that really showcased her outrageous vocal range! The first time I heard her belt out that high note, I couldn’t believe it!
The original demo of the song was described as a 1950’s shuffle, but that didn’t matter. The song was good enough. Songfacts says, The original version was included on Mariah’s demo tape for Columbia. It was one of the songs that caught the ear of Tommy Mottola, her future husband and, more importantly, the head of the label’s parent company, CBS Records. At the time, Mariah was working as a backup singer for Brenda K. Starr, who invited her to a label party in Manhattan where the demo tape made its way into Mottola’s hands. After listening to the tape in his limo on the way home, he went back to the party to track down the singer. Mariah had already left and no one knew who she was. Days later, she found a message on her answering machine inviting her to sign with the label. Mottola then sent her to Los Angeles to re-record “Vision Of Love.”
Let me be honest right here. After her second album, there were not too many songs by Mariah that I cared for. I don’t know this for sure, but I feel the “business” changed her. There were a couple of songs later that were good. I felt, however, her strongest stuff was on those first two albums.
Vision of Love
The Godfather trilogy will always be my number one, but my second favorite trilogy would be Back to the Future. In 1990, Back to the Future Part III was released in theaters. I couldn’t wait to see how it all wrapped up.
ZZ Top released their Recycler album in 1990. The lead single from the album was a song from Back to the Future Part III called Doubleback. The group made a cameo appearance in the movie playing an acoustic version. That version is on the soundtrack of the movie.
Doubleback
But wait, there’s more! Consider this a Double Shot of ZZ Top. From the same album, My Head’s In Mississippi sounded like classic ZZ Top to me. I just loved the shuffle and the vocals. Billy Gibbons said:
“My buddy Walter Baldwin spoke in the most poetic way. Every sentence was a visual awakening. His dad was the editor of the Houston Post. We grew up in a neighborhood where the last thing you would say is, ‘These teenagers know what blues is.’ But our appreciation dragged us in. Years later, we were sitting in a tavern in Memphis called Sleep Out Louie’s — you could see the Mississippi River. Walter said, ‘We didn’t grow up pickin’ cotton. We weren’t field hands in Mississippi. But my head’s there.’ Our platform, in ZZ Top, was we’d be the Salvador Dalí of the Delta. It was a surrealist take. This song was not a big radio hit. But we still play it live, even if it’s just the opening bit.”
In 2008, Gibbons stated, “‘My Head’s in Mississippi,’ which was one of the first completed tracks on the album, is a great example of how we mixed the new with the old. Initially, it was a straight-ahead boogie-woogie. Then Frank stepped in and threw in those highly gated electronic drum fills, which modernized the track.”
My Head’s in Mississippi
I have never owned a pair of parachute pants. They do look comfortable, however, and it looks like you have a lot of freedom in them.
As much as I didn’t really want to include this one, I did play it a lot while DJing. It always got folks out dancing, then again, so did Super Freak by Rick James. Believe it or not, James did NOT give Hammer permission to use the song.
Songfacts explains: Rick James tried to keep rappers from sampling his music, turning down any requests. According to James, his lawyers authorized the “Super Freak” sample without his permission. He heard about it when a friend told him about “U Can’t Touch This” and the song came on the radio they were listening to in the car. James said he was irate, but somewhat appeased when he found out how much money it was making for him. Still, he claimed he wouldn’t have done the deal if he was asked.
James had another beef as well: he wanted to be listed as a songwriter on “U Can’t Touch This.” He sued MC Hammer for credit. The case was settled out of court, with James getting listed as a co-writer on the track along with Hammer and Alonzo Miller. Miller was a disc jockey who wrote some lyrics on “Super Freak.”
He recorded the song at Capitol Records, where Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Dean Martin recorded, The label ran an innovative marketing campaign to promote this song. They mailed out free cassette singles of the track to 100,000 kids. The cassettes came with a letter from Hammer asking them to call MTV and request the video. The ploy worked, and the video became the most-played of 1990 on the network.
U Can’t Touch This
I don’t remember when my ex-girlfriend had sent this song to me. It was probably after we broke up the first time. I say that because I believe that this song is what led us to getting back together eventually. I remember being pretty messed up after the break up. I did end up dating someone else.
I don’t recall how my ex and I began chatting again, but it led to her giving me this song. I really loved and cared about my ex. I broke it off with the gal I had been dating to get back together with my ex. It was really unfair to her, but I was 20, almost 21, and didn’t really know any better.
While we enjoyed some very good times the second time around, it didn’t last. She broke up with me again, which led to me always wondering what I did to cause he to leave. Anyway, I tell you all that to play Cuts Both Ways.
Cuts Both Ways
In 1967, Otis Redding wrote and recorded his version of Hard to Handle. He wrote it with Allen Jones and Al Bell and the track was produced by the legendary Steve Cropper. It was released in 1968 (after his death) as the B-side to his song “Amen.”
The song was first covered in 1968 by Patti Drew. The Black Crowes covered the song on their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker. Two versions of the song exist. First, the original album version and the hit single remixed with an overdubbed brass section. The latter is available on the 30th Anniversary edition of Shake Your Money Maker.
Songfacts says: This was The Black Crowes’ third single, following “Twice As Hard” and “Jealous Again.” It made #45 in the US in December 1990, as the group was rapidly gaining momentum. After “She Talks To Angels” hit #30 in May 1991 – over a year after the album was released – “Hard To Handle” was reissued, this time going to #26 and becoming the highest-charting single for the band on the Hot 100.
This has always been a song that I love to crank up. It’s funky and fun!
Hard To Handle
My next song is another one that I played while at WMXD. I was familiar with James Ingram before I worked there and always liked his voice. I Don’t Have The Heart was his only solo number one song. The song won him a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1991.
The song was written by the duo of Allan Rich and Jud Friedman. It was the first song they wrote together. Speaking about Rich’s lyrics, Friedman told Songwriting Magazine, “Allan says he’s not a poetic lyricist, and he’s not a flowery lyricist. He is very conversational, but in a good way, and that has its own poetry. It’s the poetry of reality and the poetry of life and interactions. And the thing about I Don’t Have The Heart, among many brilliant things about Allan’s idea for the song, is it’s an example of taking a phrase that’s very well known, ‘I don’t have the heart,’ and flipping it. ‘I don’t have the heart to hurt you but I don’t have the heart to love you.’ He used it in two different ways, and that was poetic. We’ve all been there, sometimes wearing one of the shoes and sometimes wearing the other.”
That was the thing that caught me, too. The flip. I love when a lyric does that.
I Don’t Have the Heart
Whitney Houston hadn’t been on the radio since 1988. While she had her fair share of uptempo songs, but I feel like radio played more of her ballads. So the first time I played I’m Your Baby Tonight, I was wowed by it.
According to Songfacts:
By the time Houston released her third album, I’m Your Baby Tonight, she was coming off of a three-year hiatus. Prior to this, she had a record-breaking string of seven consecutive #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. The problem was, her record label felt she was losing touch with her black audience. Houston balked at the claim, telling USA Today, “I don’t sing music thinking this is black, or this is white… I sing songs that everybody’s going to like.”
But producers L.A. Reid and Babyface agreed with the assertion. Reid told Billboard: “We wanted to come up with something that was different than anything Whitney had sung. So we approached it from that angle. We wanted to give her a new direction, and pick up where we felt she was lacking. We felt like she needed more of a black base.”
It definitely was a fresh sound for her, but I don’t know hear it as “more black” or “more white.” To me, it is just a great song!
The Julien Temple-directed music video shows Houston in the guise of different pop culture figures. They include silver screen siren Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn, and all three of The Supremes.
I’m Your Baby Tonight
Allow me just one more song from my WMXD days. Let me set this up for you. When I was at WKSG, these two sweet old ladies always called to request songs. They were sisters named Virginia and Dorothy. They always seemed to call toward the end of my overnight shift.
Virginia suffered with respiratory issues, so it took her a bit to say what she wanted. She would get a couple words out and have to take a breath. She had emphysema and really struggled to breathe.
Dorothy, on the other hand, was always on the go. She was always talking about where she was over the weekend. She was always at a party or something, even though she didn’t drive. She took a bus or Your Ride where she needed to go.
When I told them that I was leaving the station, Dorothy gave me her address to keep in touch. When I moved to Ludington, she and Virginia wrote me often. Eventually, communication was over the phone. When I moved back home, we actually ran into each other at a Weight Watchers. meeting.
I was closer to Dorothy, and she would invite me to stop by for coffee. She always had some sort of baked good ready. She was born the same day as Frank Sinatra. She was such a sweet friend. I am sure that I lost touch with her after I married my ex, and was sad to hear that she (and her sister) had passed away.
She once told me that she didn’t like all of the music we played at WMXD. One song she loved was The First Time by Surface. This song went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Whenever I hear it, I think about my friend and am grateful to have known her.
The First Time
Robert Palmer’s Don’t Explain album was very different. It contains 18 tracks and a variety of styles. There is R&B, Rock, Jazz, and more. It also includes some cover songs. I love the track “Top 40” because it swings a bit with a great sax line. It, however, wasn’t released as a single.
The song that is closest to what he had success with in the 80’s is You’re Amazing. I love the guitar line in the song. Billboard said, “Palmer’s reliably strong soul stylings added to headbanger guitar riffs and sweet background harmonies proves to be a quirky, but potent, combination.”
I don’t know that I would call the guitars “headbangers,” but I suppose they are a bit harder than Palmer usually presents. Now, the background harmonies – yeah, I dig those!
You’re Amazing
1990 Bonus Song
I just can’t pass up one song. It is a song that my best friend, Jeff, and I still laugh about. I can’t be sure who heard this first, but I know we laughed about it for years. The idea of taking the voice from a 1970’s instructional dance record and incorporating it into this is brilliant. The Bingo Boys did just that!
It is this vocal part from that record that makes us laugh so much. I cannot even being to picture a couple in their living room trying to learn a dance to that guy! It is so absurd that after a few of his lines, Princessa jumps in to shut him up. “Act like the end of a record and fade out …” is the lyric. I think that’s an awesome line.
The Bingo Boys were a trio from Austria. The song was actually released in the US first. It was released in the UK in 1991. It went to number one on the Hot Dance Club Play chart and reached number 25 on the Hot 100.
The song borrows heavily from a number of earlier recordings, including “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)” by Chic, “Dance (Disco Heat) by Sylvester, “Kiss” by the Art of Noise and Tom Jones, the popular James Brown “Yeah! Woo!” sample loop, the bassline motif from Mantronix’s single “Got to Have Your Love”, and a synth motif from The Whispers’ “And The Beat Goes On”. See if you can catch them all ….
How To Dance
That’s a wrap on 1990. Next week, we’ll check out 1991. That was the year I turned 21 and moved out for the first time. What kind of surprises will pop up?
Did I miss any big 1990 songs from your list?? Drop them in the comments!
On August 16, 1977, 47 years ago today, Elvis Presley died in Memphis, Tennessee. I was just 7 years old when he passed away, but I can recall how his passing hit my father and many others who grew up with his music and his legacy. As a kid, I knew Hound Dog, Teddy Bear, All Shook Up, and Don’t Be Cruel. It wasn’t until after he passed and as I began to dive deeper into his music that I came to appreciate his talent and why he was adored by his fans.
The first radio station I worked at (WKSG-FM, 102.7 Kiss-FM) was an oldies station, so I played my share of Elvis songs there. I played even more when I moved over to Honey Radio (WHND AM560) as they focused on early rock and roll. Discovering “new” Elvis music by playing unfamiliar (to me) songs on the radio only made me a bigger fan.
It was in the early 2000’s that I had the chance to go to Memphis on a radio trip. After we had finished our business at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in preparation for our radiothon, I had the opportunity to go to Graceland – Elvis’s home.
We had to wear these Walkman like headphones and carry a small device attached to them that allowed us to hear narration of the rooms and such on the tour. When we pulled up in front of the house I was surprised. It really doesn’t look as big as it does in the pictures.
Naturally, I had brought a camera, but the lighting within the house wasn’t that great for picture taking and there was a “No Flash Photography” rule on the tour. This was before we all carried around cameras on our phones. I had a camera with actual film in it that had to be developed. My photos came out dark or blurry. I was really upset by this.
The tour itself was really amazing. The various colors of the rooms, the 1977 appliances, the Jungle Room, the piano where Elvis played on the night he passed away, and the memorabilia had my brain overloading. One wall had gold records, awards, album covers and more line from floor to ceiling! Throughout the place were outfits from his movies and movie posters and various other things encased in glass. I was loving every second of my visit, snapping as many pictures as I could take and getting excited to show them to my dad when I developed them. And then, in an instant, I was silenced.
Full disclosure: the above photo is not mine. Mine came out blurry.
As you walk outside, you are almost at once in front of Elvis’ grave. The emotions that hit me were completely unexpected. I was overwhelmed to the point where I was almost in tears. I remember thinking, “Why am I almost crying? I never met Elvis before, yet I am overcome with feelings of sadness, wonder, and awe.” It was a humbling experience.
I had seen photos of the grave before, but now I was literally standing in front of it. There were flowers everywhere. It was beautiful. I stood there for quite a long time just lost in my thoughts and the moment. I had even forgot to press the button on the little audio thingy to hear this part of the tour.
As I think back to that moment, I really can’t explain what I was feeling or experiencing. It was surreal. It was like feeling a bunch of emotions all at once. There was respect and admiration as well as reverence and grief. Those few minutes at Graceland are certainly in my Top 5 “Most Complex” moments of my life.
There have since been some additions to the Graceland Graveyard since my visit. I wonder if it would hit me the same way if I were to go back.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again, social media is great for catching up with old friends. However, I can honestly say that it cannot beat catching up in person.
In 1988, my radio career started at WKSG, Kiss-FM in Detroit. I met so many great people there, and many I am still friends with. A couple years before I was let go, the station hired a new Production Director.
Cam Smith was no stranger to radio. He was in radio long before that seed was planted in my mind. As a matter of fact, he worked at many of the stations (or in buildings) that I would eventually work at, too.
He’s been living in Florida for sometime and we reconnected on Facebook quite a few years back. He recently messaged me to tell me that he was coming up to Michigan and wanted to get together while he was in town. He gave me some dates to look at and we decided that today would work.
As I left the house this morning, my wife said, “How long do you think you’ll be gone?” I told her that Cam and I hadn’t seen each other in 30 years, so it could be a bit. She smiled and knew that would be the case.
We met at the Tim Horton’s close to my house. The only thing that’s changed is we’re both a bit greyer and he still has more hair than me! We grabbed coffee and a sandwich and the radio stories began to flow.
He had already met with many radio folks over the past few days. He was posting pictures on his Facebook page. It was fun to see many of them, as I worked with some of them, too. He got together with the WSAM/WKCQ – Saginaw gang as well as the WTRX-Flint folks. He told me some great stories that I had never heard before about the hijinks from those places and the talk incorporated many of the mutual radio people we had both worked with.
It was so great to sit and talk about our Kiss-FM Program director, Paul Christy. Paul, gave me my big break in radio and he was there when Cam was hired. There were many stories about Paul and a whole lot of laughs. We were both laughing so hard at times, I thought they might kick us out.
Our age has caught up with us, though. There were way too many times that we were like, “What was the name of that promotions guy who was there?” or “Do you remember that one listener who used to come out to all the car cruises?” Then at the same time, there were plenty of things that jogged my memory about things I had forgotten. Things like former station call letters or formats, old promos that ran, and sales people I had forgotten. There are things that we talked about that I have saved as MP3 that he’s never heard that I need to send him, so I’ll be going through the hard drives later this week.
The sad thing is that there is never enough time. I know we could have easily spent another 4 hours telling stories, but I had to leave and head to work. I couldn’t be happier to spend time sharing stories and reliving great memories. I hope it isn’t so long between visits next time and that maybe we can get more folks together to share with us.
What a great time! Thanks, Cam! It was so great to see you. Safe travels back home, buddy!
For this week’s edition of the Friday Photo Flashback, we go back to Spring Break of 1989. I had graduated high school, was working at my first radio job, and my high school band was heading to Florida to perform at Disney World. My brother was still in band at the time and my parents and I tagged along on the trip as chaperones.
My grandmother and aunt had moved to Florida. At some point on the trip, my grandmother met up with us. If my memory serves me correctly, my friend Steve also came on this trip, and we were hanging out together. I wish I had spent a little more time with my grandma on this trip, but you know how 19 year old kids are …
I love this picture of my mom and my grandma. They both would be diagnosed with breast cancer and their lives would be cut short by it. In this picture, they are both healthy. This is the way I will always remember my grandma. She always seemed to wear her hair that way. It was the late 80’s, so both her and mom have those big round lenses on their glasses. I can see the watch that she always wore, too.
My mom is wearing a T-Shirt with the Kiss-FM logo. That was my first radio job, and I am sure I was still working there when this was taken. What I wouldn’t give to have one of those shirts today! Blonde was not my mother’s natural hair color, but I always loved when she wore it that color. Her hair seems to be a bit short in this picture, too.
The more I look at this photo, the more I think that this was taken just before we all loaded up the busses to head back home, or maybe before my grandma was heading home. Mom is holding shopping bags, so we had probably all just come back from one last trek to buy souvenirs. It is hard to say.
I don’t think this was the same trip (mom’s hair looks longer), but it could be.
When I found out my grandma had cancer, I avoided seeing her. I regret this. A lot. It is one of those things that comes up a lot in my mind. If I could turn back the clock, I would. I didn’t want to see her sick. I remember someone had taken some pictures of her after she had gone through some chemotherapy or radiation and she was a shell of her former self.
Those pictures sort of assured me that I was doing the right thing by not seeing her. Well, at least I thought so. I know now it was not. I should have seen her. I should have called her. I should have held her hand and said I love you. I should have had the chance to say goodbye. In Sinatra’s “My Way,” he says, “Regrets. I’ve had a few…” This is one of my biggest regrets. The only good thing about my not seeing her sick is that when I think of her, she is just as she was in these photos.
I think of these two brave women every October – Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I miss them both very much.
The great comedian, Soupy Sales, was born today in 1926. In honor of his birthday, I thought I would share a story I don’t talk about often, because it still makes me sick to my stomach to think about it.
Back in 1989, I was working at WKSG, Kiss-FM in Detroit. I was doing the overnight show and often hung out afterward to help the morning guy, Paul Christy. I had contacted Soupy’s manager and asked if he could cut a few lines for my show. (My favorite was: “Hi Everybody, this is Soupy Sales! Whenever I’m in Detroit, I never miss the Keith Allen Show. I don’t listen to it and I don’t miss it!) In a few weeks, Soupy sent them to the station on a cassette for me along with a note with his phone number. He said to call him If I ever needed any more lines.
A few months later, we were all in the studio and Paul noticed that Soupy was going to be playing a show in town that weekend. He asked me if I still had his phone number. I told him I did. Without missing a beat, he said, “Give it a call and find out where he is staying, so we can get him on for an interview.” Now, it was like 6 am, and the show had just started. I gave him a look and he was dead serious. “Go make the call!”
Paul was my boss. I didn’t want to make him mad, so I was off to the production room and made the call. I’m not sure who I thought I was calling, but I guess I hoped it was his office. It was his home number! His wife, Trudy, answered the phone and it was obvious I woke her up. I told her who I was and why I was calling. She gave me the name of the hotel where Soupy was staying and she assured me that Soupy would get a hold of me. Oh, he did.
That afternoon, I was at home and the phone rang. When I answered it, it was Soupy. He was not very happy. It was obvious that his wife had called him wondering why some schmuck had called her at home at the butt crack of dawn! He gave me a “talking to!” My heart sank as my comedy hero yelled at me for bothering his wife so early. I felt awful.
After it all sank in, I knew I had to make it right. I sat down at the computer and wrote two letters. One to Soupy and one to his wife. I explained how I was wrong for calling so early. I explained how I was just trying to do what my boss had asked me to do. I apologized profusely in both letters. I felt so bad for being disrespectful and for what happened. It was the absolute worst feeling! I cried as I wrote those letters. I felt so bad about the entire incident! Even writing about it now brings back that feeling of “nausea” I had when it happened.
I friend of mine knew the hotel that Soupy was staying at. He said that he would take the letters there for me. He dropped them at the desk and that was that. I would have taken them myself, but the last thing I wanted was to run into Soupy, who at that time I had never met yet. I already felt like crap, and I certainly didn’t want to meet him under those circumstances.
Fast Forward a few years:
Soupy was playing a show at Pine Knob. My buddy Vic and I were going to the show that night. Vic knew Soupy because he worked in New York and often worked near where Soupy lived. That night, before the show, Vic wrote a note on his business card and sent it back to Soupy’s dressing room with a security guard. Next thing I knew, we were being escorted back to see Soupy. Soupy got up and shook hands with Vic. Vic introduced me and when Soupy heard my name, he looked at me and said, “Didn’t we have an incident a few years ago?” I once again felt my heart sink, but Soupy chuckled and said everything was ok. He said he appreciated my apology and proceeded to chat with us as if nothing had happened.
What a relief to finally know that Soupy (and his wife) did get my letters. That was the thing that worried me for years, never knowing if they had actually got to him. He was so gracious and pleasant to me that night. I am glad that I had the chance to shake his hand.
In the Creative Writing class I had in college, one of the exercises they had us do was to grab a piece of paper and just write whatever pops into your head. That’s kind of where this blog is coming from. What will it contain? Read on and see …
The above quote is from Sidney Poitier. Randomness will follow:
A forgotten favorite
I forgot how much I love French Toast. We bought frozen French Toast sticks for the boys at the store recently and Sam asked me to make some for her. I asked if she would rather have regular French Toast. She did, so I made her some. I made some for me too. It’s been forever since I have had some. It was awesome.
Back when I worked at Kiss-FM (WKSG) in Detroit, I would work on Saturday nights and on Sunday Mornings, we’d go to the Big Boy right down Gratiot and get the breakfast bar. We’d grab French Toast and bacon. It was a weekly tradition, the waitresses knew us, and always had crispy bacon for us. Good times!
A Cheesy Story
I saw a story this week about a woman who has been washing her hands regularly because of the coronavirus, only what she thought was a bar of soap … was a block of cheese! I don’t get it. You would think the absence of bubbles or lather would have been a clue, much earlier than it was! Of course, she said she probably left out the cheese when she was drunk … thank you, alcohol, for another funny tale. Here is the story:
If you have been on social media at all, there are people who are in quarantine due to the corona virus. Many pictures are of whatever they are watching on TV, whatever they are eating, or their feet up on the ottoman. The rest are selfies. Those selfies take time to get “just right.” According to a new survey, the perfect selfie takes about 20 minutes to get! Who the hell studies this? I have taken selfies in the past, and I may take one or two, but it takes me far less than 20 minutes …. of course, I have no hair, so I don’t have to be sure it is perfect.
The survey says that the subject of the selfie will mess with lighting, angles, and edit with various apps to make sure the picture is “post worthy.” One final fact – only 8% of people will post a candid picture on social media. Many opt for staged photos. Now you know.
Long Before Eminem …
No cheating. What was the first song to feature a white rapper on MTV? It happened in 1981. It was a female singer. Got it? Sure you do! Remember Blondie’s song “Rapture?” It features the first rap verse on the channel and it was a #1 song. Here are some other white rappers and their songs you may have forgotten about:
It’s Good To Be The King – Mel Brooks. (It was a tie in with the movie “History of the World Part 1” Mel was first white artist with a rap song on the Billboard R&B chart in 1982.
Rappin’ Rodney – Rodney Dangerfield. In 1983, I had this on a 45. He was holding a boom box on the cover.
The Rappin’ Duke – Shawn Brown. Duh Haw Duh Haw! Ok, I know, Shawn Brown is black, but the actor he is imitating – John Wayne – is white. This got a lot of radio play in 1983.
The Beastie Boys. They hit the scene in 1986 and were HUGE! Their album License to Ill sold over 100,000 copies the first week! (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) still is requested at weddings and parties!
Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice. This one hit wonder dropped in 1990 and sampled Queen and David Bowie’s Under Pressure. This was the first hip hop single to reach #1 on Billboard’s charts. Eminem once said that Ice Ice Baby actually made him want to STOP rapping!
Good Vibrations – Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Another #1 song that came a year after the Ice Man in 1991.
Jump Around – House of Pain. From 1992, I’m not going to lie – I love this song! I still get requests for this at high school dances!
Eminem shows up on the scene in 1999 with “My Name Is”.
I wonder if I still have that 12 inch single of Rappin’ Duke….
2020 Seniors
My son Dante’ is a senior this year. This coronavirus has basically robbed him (and every other high school senior across the country) of the best year of their lives! It saddens me. Over the weekend, he was so happy to tell me that the girl he asked out to prom said yes. Now, the prom has been cancelled. Kansas has basically called school “over and done” for the year. Just like that – it’s over.
He posted a picture of a headstone that read “My Senior Year” on his Facebook page this week. It hurts me to see how sad this makes him. Oh, I am sure that some students are glad, but my son was looking forward to so much more before the school year was over. I still don’t know how they are handling commencement ceremonies. U of M and MSU have cancelled theirs.
A Louisiana teacher posted a letter to the 2020 Senior Class that is worth sharing here. If you have a high school senior and haven’t seen it – share it!
Growing up in the 70’s, there were plenty of Super Hero shows on TV. Wonder Woman was one of them. Lynda Carter was – and still is – beautiful. Even as a 5-7 year old boy, there was something about seeing her in that outfit! Lyle Waggoner, who passed away this week at age 84, played Steve Trevor on the show. I don’t remember much about his character, but I do remember that whenever they showed him in the opening credits, there was this “sparkle” that flashed off his teeth! HA! I tried very hard to find a picture of just that, but couldn’t. I am sure if you YouTube the opening credits, you will see what I mean.
Lyle also had a role on The Carol Burnett Show. He was actually on more shows than I remember. He played comedy well. He was a great strait man and could deliver comedic lines as strait and as good as Leslie Nielsen! Did you know he was almost Batman on the 1966 TV show? He actually did a screen test, but lost the role to Adam West.
December 2020
It’s funny to me what people think about. I have seen all kinds of memes and posts on social media joking around about the quarantine for the coronavirus. There are lots of jokes about how there will be a boom of babies born in December of 2020 because so many people are stuck at home. Dr. Oz even came out and said that couples should have sex to break up the boredom! If you are stuck home alone, there was another article about how masturbation can actually boost the immune system!
It will be interesting to see just how big the Baby Boom of 2020 is!
Work
The situation is changing every minute. For now, my lab is open. We had only a couple patients last night, but I was able to work. It looks like if we have low census or the lab closes, they will find work for us within the hospital system screening people, answering phone, or stuff like that. That freaks me out a bit, but at least I can work and get some or my hours.
It’s a time like I have never seen before. I am guessing its the same for you. Traffic is light. Everything seems to be closed. Meetings and gatherings are taking place via video chats. Life events like weddings are being cancelled (or postponed). People are fighting over toilet paper. Visitors are being limited or prohibited in medical facilities and nursing homes. It is crazy!
I wanted to share a few things friends posted on social media – feel free to share.
You can probably add to the above list. There are many things we take for granted. When this is all over, perhaps we will be a bit more grateful for them.
The following is a prayer read by our classic rock morning man, Carl Coffey just before St. Patrick’s Day. It was pretty powerful, too.
Another friend posted this:
“And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And people began to think differently. And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal. And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.” – Kitty O’Meara
Today’s blog stems from a daily writing prompt – “What was your first job?”. I’m surprised that I haven’t written about this before. The more I think about it, the more I realize that my first job actually led to my radio career! Let me tell you how…
Let’s be honest, what 16 year old really wants to get a job?! I know that was the last thing on my mind! Oh sure, I wanted to have money, but I was perfectly content asking my parents for it! Once I got my driver’s permit, and wanted to drive the car, my dad told me I was going to have to start helping with gas money. He thought it was time for me to work.
My dad played in a wedding band for many years. One of the guys he played with worked at a boat marina right down the road from my house. He asked if they needed any help and he said they did. So I went in and talked with Dennis. I knew him from the band. He asked me a few questions and then told me I’d be helping out in the back cleaning and such.
I don’t really remember, but I think minimum wage was like $3.35 an hour when I started. I was clueless about boats. I remember the first couple days I did a lot of cleaning. I swept the floors and emptied trash. I also remember washing and waxing boats that were being delivered. It was hard work. Hell, I didn’t like cleaning my room, and here I was cleaning the shop and washing boats. It was quite a change for me! I remember chuckling at the brand of boat I was waxing – a Sea Nymph!
Now, I know that according to the dictionary a “nymph” is “a mythological spirit of nature imagined as a beautiful maiden inhabiting rivers, woods, or other locations”, but a 16 year old kid knows the other (more sexual) definition and, of course, finds it funny.
Dennis was my boss. He was also a salesman. A couple other salesmen worked there, too. Bob and Gary. I remember Gary always called me Cosmo (this was long before Seinfeld). I don’t remember much about the showroom, other than some of the boats that were in there, the racks of accessories, and a sign for one of the brands of motors we sold.
In the shop, there were some mechanics who worked on the motors. The only one I remember was Leo. He was a big guy who I always thought looked like a wrestler or body builder! He was very friendly, though and I liked him. He made me laugh a lot.
Dave was the Service Manager. I think we started talking about the Three Stooges one day, and became instant friends. When I was promoted to work in the Parts Department, I worked very closely with him. He would send parts requisitions and orders for jobs that they were working on in the back. My job was to gather what parts we had in inventory and order what we didn’t have.
It was while I was working back in the Parts Department that I really got a glimpse at how expensive owning a boat was! I was clueless about motors and Dave was very helpful in schooling me on some of the important basics. He told me about the most commonly ordered parts and I learned about water pumps, crankshafts and O-rings! I also learned that this fancy gadget is called an “impeller”:
And this thing is called a “Flush Muff”:
Whenever someone came to the Parts counter, I needed to ask them what motor they had. Once I knew if it was a Johnson, Evinrude, Mariner, Mercury or Volvo, I could grab a Microfiche and look for whatever part they needed. We had this big honking microfiche machine where I slid the films into and it would project the schematics on the screen so I could find parts.
There were plenty of times I had NO CLUE what the customer was asking for, so I called Dave up to the office. He could usually find whatever it was in like 3-10 seconds! He also knew the “exceptions”. “Oh, that’s a 1979? Well, for that motor, you need ….” I was amazed at how much he knew. He was such a great help!
I remember he always ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day. I remember he was a big Monty Python fan, and we often spoke in quotes from their bits. There were times where him and I would be working late and for no reason at all he’d hit the page into the shop and just laugh or say something silly. So I’d be in the parts room and I would hear the “ding” in the shop followed by him laughing! He did a spot on Archie Bunker impression, too! We had a lot of laughs while I was there.
Dave remains a good friend. He often offered up an ear when I was dealing with stuff at home. He always had some great advice. He also was instrumental in clearing up some issues I was having with some things of a religious nature. I can never thank him enough for his counsel on those things!
As I think about it, I was very lucky to work here. They were very understanding of my schedule, even if it meant more work for everyone else. As a band kid, we had football games, concerts, after school rehearsals, band festivals, and so many other things. I would often go right after school to work and on a normal day worked 3p-6p (they closed at 6). Some days I would only be able to go in and work a couple hours. Many times, I would only be there long enough to put in the orders for the day because I had band rehearsals. I know that Bob probably hated the fact that I was there sporadically.
Summer time I was there more. We used to run over to the Dairy Freeze for burgers for lunch. I’d work full days until the week of Band Camp. Summers were busy at the boat place! There would be a steady stream of customers at the window needing parts. The radio played all day while I worked. The two things I remember ordering the most were (1) these little blue O-rings that everyone seemed to need and (2) propellers.
I am sure they are more expensive now, but I remember these things being about $120 for aluminum props. I remember having to know what “pitch” they were, too. The stainless steel props were like $300 if I remember right. We also sent props out to be reconditioned. Usually they’d bring it in with some big chunk taken out of it because they hit a sand bar or a log or something. Sometimes they could fix it, other times they couldn’t.
When winter rolled around, we did a lot of winterizations of motors and shrink wrapping of boats. That’s the crappy thing about Michigan, you can really only use your boat about 3-4 months out of the year. I want to say by October or November, they would run on a skeleton crew. Hours were cut because we just weren’t busy. After all the winterizing was done, I had to do inventory. I HATED inventory. You had to go into every box and count everything to make sure that the inventory was correct.
It was during this slow time that I paid more attention to the radio. Paul Christy and the Christy Critters were on WKSG Kiss-FM in the morning. I would get to work at 9am and hear their last hour. At 10am, Jim McKenzie came on. I listened to him every day. I always tried to guess his “Slow Motion Stumper” (a song intro that he slowed down a lot). One day I actually won – movie tickets to see the movie “Can’s By Me Love” which starred a VERY young Patrick Dempsey!!
The more I listened to Jim, I always felt like he was having fun. He was great talking with listeners. He always had great topics to talk about. He had loads of trivia stuff that would say about the songs he played. This guy was getting paid to do something FUN, while I was counting friggin’ O-rings and impellers! It was during the summer of 1987 that the idea of working in radio first entered my head….all because of Jim McKenzie and Kiss-FM.
It’s funny how that first job eventually led me to my radio career. I started as an intern and eventually got the overnight show.
I still hear from Dave regularly on Facebook. Dennis and I are still friends, too. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to work at Suburban Marine. I had hoped to find a copy of their logo, which was kind of a boat steering wheel like this:
I can’t remember how many years I worked at Suburban, but it was probably like 2-3 years. I remember while I was in school, I also started doing work as a stage technician (running lights and sound), and was working at Kiss-FM as an intern every morning before school late in my senior year.
If I had actually gone out to look for a job as a 16 year old, I know I would have never looked at a boat place. I probably would have ended up at some fast food place or something. It was a good job where I learned a lot. It also gave me plenty of time to work on homework, study, practice my trumpet, or go out toilet papering houses at night.
Now that I think about it … I wonder why no one from work ever took me fishing?! I must have been a real pain in the ass……
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 