Bob Livorio

Image from Fifties Rewind

How many of you guys remember WKPA in New Kensington, 1150 on your AM dial? They had quite a roster of DJs stacking its on-air roster, with talent like Charlie Apple, Al "Jazzbeaux" Collins, Jeff "The Olde Rocke Shoppe" Allen, Phil Brooks, Alex Mellon, Sean Israel, Joe Fenn, Ford Shankle, Kelly Pidgeon, Mike Alexander, George Hart, Bill McKibben, Jim Dicesare, Terry McGovern, Jim Gray and their last morning drive guy, Ken Hawk.

But if you don't have Bob Livorio at the top of that list in bold red capital letters, shame on you.

The station began in 1940, located at 810 Fifth Avenue in downtown New Kensington, with the studio on the top floor of a two-story building known as the Paragon. The owner's Cooper Brothers music store occupied the street level. The building stood until 1994, when it was felled by flames.

The brothers operated the station under the Allegheny-Kiski Broadcasting Company banner. Like most small town stations, it was heavy on ethnic music, local news and sports at the beginning, but gradually made a move into the Pittsburgh area pop market along with its sister station, WYDD FM.

Now those jocks in the lead paragraph could spin some discs, but the undisputed leader of the WKPA pack and the Allegheny Valley teen club scene was the soft spoken Bob Livorio. He had picked up the turntable bug while in the service, and in 1957 or so landed a gig at his hometown station. Livorio would broadcast from WKPA's Fifth Avenue studio for the next 36 years.

The station started him off in the 3-8 PM slot, but he quickly claimed the Saturday morning position for his request show. Livorio was one of the groundbreaking Pittsburgh DJs who played "race" (R&B and doo-wop) music, though not as exclusively as Porky.

While he'd pop in a rocker or two like "Psycho" by the Sonics or "Surfer Joe"/"Wipeout" by the Surfaris (after all, he was a dance jock, too), he was best known for spinning ballads, airing the grinders "Forever" by the Marvelettes, "I Only Have Eyes For You" by the Flamingos, "Angel Baby" by Rosie & the Originals and "Have I Sinned" by Donnie Elbert.

Livorio also aired all the more obscure tunes Pittsburghers loved such as "I Need Your Love" by the Metallics, "My Confession Of Love" by City fav Elbert, "Bring Back Your Love To Me" by the local Smoothtones (which he broke), "Ankle Bracelet" by the Pyramids and "Valley High" by Bill & Doree Post.

Not one for gimmicks or catchphrases, his morning program was simply "The Bob Livorio Show." His calm conversational tone behind the mic was as much of a hit as his records, and he was deluged by kids who wanted a personal dedication during the show.

He received several hundred written requests every week, and his daughter Cynthia Brennan, a DJ and voice-over/ad spokeswoman, recalled for Rex Rutkoski of the Valley News Dispatch the times they were "sitting on the living room floor on Friday nights with her brothers, Bob and Frank, and their mother, Barbara, as her dad sorted the letters, and the family discussed them." What better way to choose a teen playlist than to have the kids help decide?

Livorio was so popular that when the Allegheny-Kiski Valley area highs had their Kennywood picnic outing scheduled for a Saturday in 1961, the students asked the park to broadcast his show through the PA so they wouldn't miss a Livorio spin while standing in line for a seat on the Racer.

He was just as popular with the local artists. When the British Invasion landed in Pittsburgh, Livorio stuck to his guns and his format by playing the Skyliners, Vogues, Fenways/Racket Squad and Lou Christie. And like any good jock, he issued a couple of vinyl LPs filled with songs he played on the show, which are now collector rarities.

But Livorio really hit his stride as a hop DJ in the Valley. Kids set their weekend calendars around his shows. On Friday night, his fans would follow him to Henry's in Tarentum or the Ridge Avenue School, Saturday morning was time to tune into the show, then catch Livorio that night at the YMCA and end the weekend on Sunday night when he jocked at the Birdville Fire Hall in Natrona Heights.

That intersection of radio and dance DJ also makes Livorio the most likely guy to have broken Tommy James "Hanky Panky." He's often credited with discovering the record, popularizing it at his dances and on his show before the 800 pound gorillas at KQV and KDKA, Chuck Brinkman and Clark Race (who also has dibs as the first jock to spin the 45 from a studio), blew it up on the Pittsburgh airwaves.

Bob Mack, who was huge playing Valley dances at the Tarena, also has a claim on it, as does Mad Mike, both of whom wore out the James' wax at hops. Livorio refuses to be drawn into the fray, although Ed Salamon, in his local mother lode of information "Pittsburgh's Golden Age of Radio," mentioned him as a strong candidate to have first played the song. Where else but in Pittsburgh would guys still be trying to straighten out a 45 year old story?

(Ed wrote to let us know that there is still no definitive answer to the "Hanky Panky" mystery. He explained that "Bob Mack/Mad Mike make the claim and Clark Race believed he started it. "Pittsburgh's Golden Age of Radio" mentions Livorio's story, which he gave me in writing, but was worded as not to preclude the Mack/Mike and Race's claims, as I believe they each could have been unaware of the others." Hey, maybe the Tommy James' hit is a case of spontaneous combustion on Pittsburgh's turntables.)

Livorio survived a pair of new owners and a format change or three at WKPA, but in 1992 the station was sold to a religious programmer, becoming WGBN, and that was the end of the oldies road for the jock. He's still living in New Kensington, and last we heard was the owner of the Dairy Queen on Freeport Road in Natrona Heights, still spinning the sweetest treats in the Valley.

Bob Mack

"Bob Mack Presents Hanky Panky" - label shot from The Interrobang magazine.

Robert McConnell, aka Bob Mack, made his living in the music industry the old fashioned way. He played and booked dances, operated a string of hop halls, ran a record shop, owned a label or two, and even had a radio gig back in the day when you could earn your daily bread by serving platters to teens.

First and foremost, he was among a select crew of influential dance DJs in the late fifties and sixties who could pack a club with kids and push them to buy the discs they danced to. He spun rockers and grinders, "race" records, and all the wild and bluesy music that made our little slice of heaven the home of the celebrated and unique "Pittsburgh Sound."

A record collector turned DJ, Mack told Ed Salamon that he started out by doing "...local dances, held in schools or small neighborhood halls. In 1958 I saw an opportunity when Pittsburgh deejay Barry Kaye left town, and I took over Kaye's regular Friday night 'record hop' at the Masonic Temple in nearby Washington."

He started building a chain of clubs the next year and burned the turntable at venues he ran like the White Elephant, Tarena, Blue Fox, Teenland, Wildwood Lodge, Bethel Roller Rink, Lebanon Lodge, Sugar Shack, Teen Scene, and other dance halls stretching from Washington to Erie. He later would open adult dance clubs Infiniti, Zodiac and Frontier.

Beside the hot wax, he brought in live acts like Sam & Dave, Donnie Elbert, Smokey, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Little Anthony, Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, the Isley Brothers, the Coasters, the Shirelles, the Drifters and the Five Satins, along with the local performers, who were all drawn to Mack's sold-out teen club circuit.

In that era, being a radio DJ was not exactly a ticket to joining the 1%. However, for a dance jock, the exposure was priceless. So in 1962, Mack produced a home demo tape for Carnegie's spanking new dawn-to-dusk station WZUM. Owner and station manager Jimmy Psihoulis, a polka player who performed as Jimmy Pol of "Steeler Fight Song" fame, popped it in the recorder and quickly put Mack behind a mic.

Bob Mack's Wax Museum was a show not unlike Porky's WAMO program, featuring lots of obscure R&B and doo-wop. The Museum took off, featuring "Mac's Monsters," and was one of the most popular shows on local airwaves within a few months. But a programming change led to Mack eventually leaving the station.

WZUM's management wanted to update their image and told Mack to add some contemporary sounds to his oldies format. He protested, but to no avail. His ratings slid, and he resigned in early 1964, to be replaced by Johnny Walker.

But radio was never Mack's bread-and-butter vocation; he had several irons in the fire. The music entrepreneur kept on spinnin', and ran a couple of small labels, Romac ("Lonely Heart" by The Enchantments) and Viscount ("Comes Love" by The Skyliners. The label was co-owned by Joe Rock), promoted acts through Atlantis Productions, and operated a record store in town on Smithfield and Liberty, the Tri-State Record Shop.

The record shop segues into one of Pittsburgh's most famous and murky tales, the "Hanky Panky" revival.

The story goes that Mack found the record as part of a midwest collection he had bought for the shop, sped it up a couple of RPM, which is a common practice for DJs who want to juice up the tempo even today, and broke it on the hops circuit in late 1965.

Other say Bob Livorio of WKPA was the first to play it, with Clark Race and Mad Mike putting in claims.  James is no help in piecing together the puzzle, as he was working at a Michigan record store while all the dances (and bootlegging) were going on in Pittsburgh.

But no matter. If not the first, Mack was still one of the earliest jocks in on the record and promoted Tommy James locally. He booked dates, helped him line up The Raconteurs after seeing them play at Greensburg's Thunderbird Lounge to replace the original broken-up Shondells, and took him to New York where James signed a deal with Morris Levy and Roulette Records. In fact, the Roulette label lists "Bob Mack Presents" as part of the credits.

Oh, yeah, one more thing about that record store that Mack owned. His shop majordomo was a skinny North Side kid named Michael Metrovich, who used to pick out records for Mack to spin. He became a hop and radio DJ of some local renown, too. Metrovich even replaced Bob Mack's WZUM replacement, Johnny Walker, after a brief stint at WPIT. You might know him better by his stage persona, Mad Mike.

Small world, Pittsburgh.

(For a comprehensive interview of Mack and his partnership with Mad Mike, click on the PBRTV article written by Ed Salamon.)

The Enchantments featuring Leroy on Romac Records - 1962

TL Back on the Air

Terry Lee from WIXZ 1360 Memories (Photo provided by Jim Metzer)
George Blake Balicky, host of the Jazz Cafe and long-time music biz pro, dropped us a line about the Mon Valley's favorite son, Terry Lee. He told us:

"Terry has moved back (to the area from Ohio) and will be on the air four nights per week on WLSW, Music Power 104 (103.9 FM). He will have a show on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights from 8 PM until midnight. You can reach Terry at MAGICTLSOUND@gmail.com "

Rejoice, young lovers, especially those of you with gray hair - TL is spinning again. Think you can find your way back to China Wall?

Chuck Brinkman

Chuck Brinkman - 1971 from Jeff Roteman's KQV Pages
Hey, who grew up in the sixties without at some time or another flipping the car box to KQV's Fun Lovin' Five of Hal Murray, Steve Rizen, Dave Scott, Dexter Allen and Chuck Brinkman? Broadcasting from the corner of "Walk and Don't Walk" - their studios were in a first floor window of the Chamber of Commerce Building in town - everybody could walk by, mug, and give a wave to their favorite Groovy QV radio jock.

The undisputed king of the gang was Chuck Brinkman.

Brinkman was born a local boy in July of 1935; his family lived on McFarland Road in Dormont, between West Liberty Avenue and Banksville Road. They packed up and went to Cleveland when he was five, but he came back to attend Kiski Prep School.

After graduating, he went to Ohio University in Athens, near Columbus. Brinkman's first radio gig started while he was a student there when he worked for WAND in Canton. He dropped out of school after two and a half years to become a staff announcer on a Warren station, and weeks later he moved on to Dover.

Then his first big break came in 1956 in New Haven, Connecticut, when he joined WELI as their afternoon disc jockey. But his nomadic career continued; Brinkman switched to a station in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, hoping to attract the attention of the Detroit audience.

Well, that plan didn't work; the station was 40 miles outside Motown and couldn't dent the Motor City market. He then worked as a newsman and announcer for station WJW in downtown Cleveland before signing up to serve in the National Guard in 1958. Brinkman spent his six months of active duty at Fort Knox. After his tour, he joined WCUE in Akron for a year and then returned to WELI for a few months.

Then he hit paydirt; Brinkman came aboard KQV in 1960. He worked the graveyard shift for six months, and then filled the 1 to 3 PM and 7 to 9 PM off-prime shifts. But his KQV career ran into a nine month bump. The Russians were getting grumpy in Berlin, and he was recalled to active duty.

Brinkman was stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia. He kept his skills sharp by moonlighting at a Savannah TV station during his off-duty hours, bringing home the staggering sum of a dollar per hour (hey, after all, it was 1961; it took Old Mon's crew until 1967 to earn that much pumping gas!)

He was released from active duty just in time to take over KQV's evening slot in August of 1962 from Larry Aiken, who left the station. Brinkman worked the 7 PM to midnight show for the next five years. He turned his TV gig into an asset in 1966, hosting the "Come Alive" dance show on WIIC-TV for a year-and-a-half.

The DJ gave up his TV duties when he moved to the 3 to 6 PM Monday through Saturday drive-time slot, and also took on the role as music director. He played the hops circuit, too, as did all the spinners of that era.

Brinkman's biggest claim to fame was outdueling Clark Race during Pittsburgh's 1964 Beatlemania phase. In March of 1964, he flew to England for interviews with a dozen top British groups. He flew to the Bahamas with the Beatles once, and introduced them at their Civic Arena concert after bumping Race and flying in from NYC with the Fab Four. KQV had a promotional tie-in with local promoters DiCesare-Engler; the Beatles were just one of many acts Brinkman brought on stage.

He also met his wife, Carmella, thanks to his ability to spin vinyl. She was the chairlady of the Student Nurses Association of Western Pennsylvania, and sat down with Brinkman in 1966 to set up a dance the group wanted him to jock. Guess you could say they made sweet music together.

Aside from his smooth on-air persona, Brinkman introduced several of The Vogues hits as well as breaking Billy Stewart's "Sitting In The Park", Mungo Jerry's "In the Summertime" and Crazy Elephant's "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'." And while TL and Porky are often associated with Scott English's "High On A Hill," Brinkman was a big factor in its' rise to Pittsburgh cult status.

Of all the KQV Fun Lovers, Brinkman was there the longest (twelve years), and worked in every time slot at the station: over-nights, evenings, mid-day, and of course afternoon and morning drive time.

In 1972, the MOR jock jumped ship from KQV to WTAE for a midday slot. A decade later, Brinkman took a job with KOGO in San Diego. After a short time on the Left Coast, he returned to Pittsburgh to do a morning show and become the program director at WHYW (now WRRK), then a soft-rock station.

Following that job, Brinkman spent the next seventeen years as the program director and afternoon drive jock at oldies station KLUV-FM in Dallas. He left KLUV in 2005, and spent some time at 770 KAAM.

Brinkman, in his mid-seventies, is now part owner of Greenville, Texas, oldies station 1400 KGVL, The Big 14 GVL, and is still spinning his disks.

He hasn't completely dropped of the local airwaves, though. In 2009, his show "Chuck Brinkman Remembers 1963" was broadcast on Carnegie-Mellon University-based station WRCT, and last year they played "Chuck Brinkman Remembers 1964." We're hoping they pick up 1965.


High on a Hill - Scott English 1964

Clark Race

Clark Race image from Jeff Roteman
Hey, everyone of a certain age recalls the glory years of Pittsburgh radio with the likes of Porky, TL and Mad Mike. But the guy that drew the listeners of the Steel City en masse was KDKA's Clark Race.

He started out by making rather than spinning music. Race was the youngest of eight children growing up in the Depression era, but his parents always managed to scrape together enough coin to keep him in instruments.

As a kid, he played trumpet, accordion and trombone, and led his high school band. Race and his folks attended a fundamentalist church when he was a boy where he developed a love of gospel music.

Race even tried his hand at the tunesmith's craft, writing and recording the ballad "Shy Boy" in 1959. Though it was never released, his wife still has the demo tape.

Like many radio jocks, the Hudson, N.Y., native started his radio career in 1958 as a sportscaster doing local baseball games in Albany. His career as a vinyl spinner began out of the blue when his station manager told him that he wanted him to DJ.

It was the era of jock-driven programming, so he went out to an Albany record store and bought some disks of the songs he liked. Listeners liked the tunes, too, and his show caught on.

Westinghouse heard of Race's popularity and offered him a job at KDKA-AM as part of its effort to attract a younger audience. The 26 year-old came to Pittsburgh in 1959, and hosted a drive time show that owned the City's ear and car radios until 1970.

His opener of "Hi!" - "Hello Clark Race, Hello" (sung), - "And welcome to the show" followed by his theme song, "String of Trumpets" by Billy Muir was burned into the memory of virtually every teen AM radio listener in the sixties. So was his signoff "It's so nice to know so many nice people," lifted from noted DC jock Eddie Gallaher.

At its height, Race's show captured more than 50 percent of the audience, a huge number in the competitive local market. Like the other DJ's, the Top 40 was whatever he decided it would be, and his tastes covered the board.

Following the suburban jocks, Race brought the music of black artists to his mainstream audience. His playlist mixed pop, rock, soul, country and standard hits, and featured local artists like Lou Christie, the Vogues, the Electrons, the Racket Squad and Bobby Vinton.

Race was a master of evaluating songs, breaking Lou Christie's "Lightning Strikes," Bobby Vinton’s breakout tune, "Roses Are Red" and even the novelty ditty of the Royal Guardsmen, "Snoopy and the Red Baron."

He helped create huge local hits by spotlighting "Hanky Panky" by Tommy James, "Because Of You" by Rome & Paris, "It Ain't No Big Thing" by the Electrons, "Cross My Heart" by Billy Stewart, "Hung Up" by the Racket Squad and many others.

How big was he? Beatles manager Brian Epstein invited Race to go to London and meet the Beatles along with Murray the K. That eventually led to one of the few one-upped moments of his life.

The "Fun Lovin' Five" of KQV were KD's main music radio rivals. Their station manager finagled a plane ride from New York to Pittsburgh for Chuck Brinkman and Dexter Allen with the mop-tops that had been promised to Race, who got rudely bumped off the passenger list, along with intro honors (which hadn't been promised; the promoters had a KQV tie-in) for the Beatles' 1964 Civic Arena show. He made sure his audience knew all about the slight, too.

And Race wasn't just a studio wonder. His hops drew kids from all around the region, and in 1963, KDKA-TV began airing Clark Race's "Dance Party," a knock-off of Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" (he inherited the show from Randy Hall) every Saturday until 1966. To get some camera love on the show was a big thing to a high school pair. He drew all the top acts for his fans' dancing pleasure, like the Supremes and Chubby Checker.

His most memorable moment may have been when he had the Strangeloves of "I Want Candy" fame on the show. They had an elaborate cover story of being Australian brothers named Strange. It was concocted by their producers to create a little cachet; in reality they were just touring session players from New York. One part of the tale was that one of the members was a boomerang champ from the Land Down Under.

Live on air, Race handed the guy a boomerang for a demonstration. Never having so much as seen one before, the Strangelove promptly threw it into a camera, knocking it over. Clark asked if that was really the right way to toss the boomerang, and the quick-witted if somewhat sassy reply was "That's why I'm the champion and you're not." Now that's reality TV.

Heck, he even started one of his brother KD jocks on a second career. The late Bob "Tiger Troop" Tracey saw Race ride his Vespa, one of his passions, into the station lot one Saturday. Tracey borrowed it over the weekend, and his love for two-wheeled vehicles was born. He operated Bob Tracey's World of Cycles in Moon for twenty years after he got out the business.

But all things come to an end, and after eleven years in Pittsburgh, Race joined KMPC, owned by Gene Autry, in Los Angeles in 1971. Race was widely considered to be the heir apparent to the station's morning top dog Dick Whittinghill. He got to moonlight, too, when in 1972 Race became the host for ABC-TV's game show "The Parent Game," produced by Chuck Barris.

But working the overnight shift, he never connected with the Southern Cal listeners like he did with his Pittsburgh audience.

Race left the station in 1978 and drifted to gigs in San Francisco and San Diego, finishing his West Coast broadcasting in 1980 working mornings for contemporary Christian music station KBRT on Catalina Island. Like many radio jocks from the early years, he left the business because the power had switched from the DJs to the programming directors.

He returned to Pittsburgh in 1986, opening a bed and breakfast in Sewickley with his wife Diane, and in 1993 they bought another B&B in Amish country, New Wilmington. The Lawrence County inn became Clark & Diane's home. It was actually a dream vocation for the pair, who could often be seen tooling around the area, running errands and giving local tours to their guests.

Race had offers to return to local radio, but always with an oldies format. Race turned them down, not wanting to be caught in that niche; he was listening to Natalie Merchant, Enya and Kenny Rogers, not Bobby Vinton and Lou Christie, in the eighties and nineties.

In 1999, Clark Race died at the age of 66 after a heart attack and a lengthy battle with throat cancer. Diane Race said one of her husband's last hopes was that he could scare off others from smoking, a long-time habit of his.

He had an impressive send off. After all, as Clark Race always said, "It's so nice to know so many nice people." They knew and remembered him.


"String of Trumpets" by Billy Muir

TL Returns To The Elks

After a couple of shows at the Palisades in McKeesport, Terry Lee has taken his hops to Monessen - the Monessen Elks Lodge #733 on Pioneer Drive, to be exact.

The next pair of dances will be on Saturday, October 9th and Saturday, November 13th. Admission is $10, the gig runs from 8-midnight, and a cash bar and the Elk's kitchen will be open.

Call 724-344-5040 for reservations.

Porky In The Sunday Paper

Hey, you know there's more to the Sunday paper than the sports, crosswords, and comics. Today there was an article written about - or actually to - Porky Chedwick. It was written in the Post Gazette by Don "Champ" Early, a Mon Valley doowopper with the Sabres, who did "Calypso Baby"/"You Can Depend On Me" in 1955 on Bullseye.

It doesn't go on about the patter and hype of the Daddio of the Raddio; it explains why he was a Pittsburgh legend for taking kids under his wing. This is Early's tale about how one piece of Porky advice - "Champ, don't let the streets consume you" - put him on his life's trail. Click on the link and read it; you'll appreciate Porky just a little more.

Brinkman Back

Legendary Pittsburgh radio personality Chuck Brinkman returns to the local airwaves again on WRCT (88.3 FM), saluting the music and memories of 1964. “Chuck Brinkman Remembers 1964″ will be heard from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Memorial Day, Monday, May 31, and on www.wrct.org.

A member of KQV’s famous “Fun-Lovin’ Five” from the ’50s through the ’70s and a personality at Pittsburgh’s WTAE and Y-97, Brinkman now lives in Texas.

Terry Lee

Terry Lee from WIXZ 1360 Memories (Photo provided by Jim Metzer)
Hey, we never got a chance to run a post on the guy Old Mon listened to religiously during his cruisin' years, Terry Lee of WMCK and his "Music For Young Lovers." It's time to catch up with TL.

The New Eagle (just outside Monongahela) native's given name was Terry Lee Trunzo. He credits his radio name to his mom, who told him that it had a nice ring to it. And like most moms, she was right. As TL, he was one of Pittsburgh's ruling radio jocks in the decade between the sixties thru the mid '70's when the kids spent their weekends on the dance floor instead of playing "Guitar Hero" on their X-Box.

Lee became a DJ when he and some bandmates from Mon Hi played a dance at the Finleyville Community Center, and the scheduled DJ didn't show. In between sets, Lee plugged a turntable into his guitar amp and let a local girl play some records she ran home to fetch, according to Ron Paglia of the Tribune Review.

He enjoyed the experience - you didn't have to know the chords to play the song or worry about hitting the right harmonies, and could switch moods in a heartbeat - and traded his ax for a turntable. In fact, he rented the FCC the next week, his first gig as a DJ and the segue to a storied radio career.

He spun wax for WESA in Charleroi ('59-'63, as Tim Lee), WZUM in Carnegie ('63, briefly), WARO in Canonsburg ('63-'64), WMCK in McKeesport ('64-'69), WIXZ in McKeesport ('69-71; '73-'74), WLSW in Scottdale (briefly in '74), and WRUA in Monroeville. He also had recent gigs on 1320 AM WJAS and WLSW 103.9 FM, Stan Wall's station.

Lee later became a local promoter and producer while running a Charleroi record shop after WRUA folded in the seventies. Then, *poof*.

TL became one of the great mysteries of Pittsburgh radio when he dropped off the face of the Tri-State map in the eighties. The question of "Where's TL?" spawned a ring of conspiracy doo-woppers who had him doing everything from DJ'ing under another name to owning a farm in West Virginia.

The truth is that Terry Lee Trunzo did what so many other Pittsburgh area folk did - he ended up out west where the sun shines all day, syndicating a show based out of Phoenix's KOOL FM. Oddly, no one in the Pittsburgh market ever picked up the program to air. Or for that matter, seemed to know it even existed. Now's he settled down in nearby Ohio with his bride, a short hop away from Pittsburgh.

TL's "Music For Young Lovers" was one of the great baby-making radio shows of the sixties, and was the top-ranked program in the area during the era. For those of you old enough to remember red lights inside the cars, China Wall in South Park, Hurst five-speeds, and reverb speakers, no evening was complete without snuggling up to your sweetie while TL spun those lover's concertos over the nighttime AM airwaves.

Heck, part of his echoing on-air rap was the line "If you happen to be out in your car, take it easy," a double entendre if there ever was one. It covered everything from drag races roaring down Route 51 from the Eat 'N' Park to Streets Run Road to submarine races in the backseat of the buggies hidden away in South Park's dark and private expanses.

TL was on six nights a week from WMCK's Elk's Temple studio, with a four-hour Sunday afternoon show. You would win any bets that the weekend gigs were taped, along with many of his weekday night shows.

He did so many dances (he regularly spun three on Friday, three on Saturday, and three more on Sunday, plus weekday gigs) that it was impossible for him to be in the studio during prime hop hours. Lee would show up at the studio after his DJ duties were over and tape the next day's program, along a few tracks from whatever bands he happened to be managing at the time; he was a sort of local lo-fi recording pioneer.

He also hosted "Come Alive," a local version of "American Bandstand" on WIIC, and "The Terry Lee Show" on KDKA and WPGH.

According to local lore, Lee turned the Swamp Rats, whom he managed, over to Nick Cenci for an audition spot for "Come Alive." TL got the gig, and Cenci got the Swamp Rats, perhaps the first Steel City punk act. Lee got the better of the deal; the band broke up shortly after switching to the Co-Ce label.

WMCK became WIXZ in 1969, and according to Mon Valley legend, the owner first offered the station to TL, but he turned down the deal because of the time commitment. TL was raking in more benjamins at the hops and with his Night Train club in West Elizabeth than he would have ever made as a radio suit. (He would, after he left town, own stations in Naples, Florida and Mansfield, Ohio.)

Whether that tale was so or not, a group of Top-40 guys from Cleveland bought the station and turned it into WIXZ. TL was the only DJ they kept from the old roster when they changed the format, and he switched from a grinder to a rocker to keep up with the station's frenetic pace.

In truth, he always had a soft soft for a heavy beat. Lee managed and produced the Arondies ("69"), the Fantastic Dee Jays ("Love Is So Tuff"), the Swamp Rats ("Psycho"), the Fenways ("Walk"), and the Racket Squad ("The Loser"). He even had his own Sherry and Stone labels to break a song locally.

Lee was a fan of anything that got a place jumping, especially if it featured a tight harmony or a garage rock beat. And he would parlay that formula into a sizzling dance hall resume.

TL, although a huge radio presence in the region, really hit his heights as a hops' host. Lee was one of the kings of the dance scene, along with Mad Mike and Porky; not only did he have the hot wax, but he could lure some of the big groups of the era in for a quick set, too, helping to sell his shows (and their records) to his teen followers.

If he gigged a dance, rest assured that it sold out. Tales abound that TL pulled in so much long green at his events that he had to travel with a bodyguard to get the night's take home intact.

He often drew over a thousand fans to his dances at venues like the Night Train (which he owned), Redd's Beach (now Pine Cove Beach), the Wildwood Lodge, the White Elephant, the Linden Grove, Burke Glen Ballroom, the Red Rooster, the Lebanon Lodge, the Blue Fox and the Varsity House, along with fire halls and social clubs throughout the Mon Valley. Heck, he even once did a show from a ferris wheel!

Lee left the business in 1992 after selling his Florida radio station. But he's back, after a rousing reception for 2010 hop he spun at the Palisades. According to his web site:

"Some of the projects I'm working on are transferring my record collection to CD, pulling all the photographs from the 60's and 70's for a book that I am in the process of writing, and editing radio specials that I produced in 1969 on various Pittsburgh groups including the Jaggerz, Vogues, Racket Squad, DeeJays, Swamp Rats, etc. Also, I'm working on a Skyliner special that I produced at the network studios in Phoenix with Jimmy Beaumont in 1988."

Additionally, he has several CD's of his shows available for the discriminating oldies fan, jingles, commercials, and all along with the music from some of the bands he managed/produced.

Best of all, Lee is back on the airwaves, now using 21st century technology. He streams "Terry Lee Live" every night from 8-11PM, of course saving the last hour for his "Music for Young Lovers" segment. His Magic Communications Network is on the air 24/7. Just click on his website (link above), then hit "Live Feed," and you'll be transported back to the halycon days of sixties and seventies. And yes, he still takes requests, although by e-mail now.

As an added bit of sugar, every Friday afternoon at 4PM, Pittsburgh Oldies Radio features Porky Chedwick spinning for three hours along with Lee's show. There's a treat that's hard to resist - the Magic Memories man and the Daddio on the dial together.

TL is behind the turntable again on the hop circuit, too, hosting shows at McKeesport's Palisades, Castle Shannon's Linden Grove, Stockdale Fire Hall, Monessen Elks and Troy Hill's Most Holy Name, spinning records to a packed house, sometimes with his brother legend of the era, Porky.

And hey, whatever he's up to, it's good to have him back. As he used to say every night: "On behalf of Terry Lee and WMCK, goodnight and God bless you." We add God bless us oldies fans, everyone.

Mad Mike

Mad Mike's Moldies from Jancee Records
Yah, we know everyone and his momma has a Mad Mike piece this week, as Brooklyn's Norton Records is issuing its 3-record set of "Mad Mike's Monsters." The release party is tonight, starting at 7 PM at Pietro's Pizza Pub at 2957 Banksville Road.

But hey, nothing like striking while the iron's hot, right?

Mad Mike Metro was part of the fearsome foursome of influential underground jocks in the 1960's, along with Porky, TL, and Bob Livorio, ruling Pittsburgh's airways from their small town thrones.

His given name was Mike Metrovich. He was born in Manchester in 1936 and grew up in Overbrook. While in the Navy and stationed at the Brooklyn Yards, Metrovich was turned on to the music of the Turbans, Big Joe Turner and Fats Domino.

When Uncle Sam set him free in 1959, Mad Mike, by now an avid record collector, started hosting hops, which led to his first radio job. He started at WPIT-AM in 1964, and quickly moved on to what would become his radio home until 1972, a small Carnegie station with the call letters WZUM-AM. His first show there was aired on August 2, 1964.

Metro would make those Carnegie call letters as familiar as Chedwick made Homestead's WHOD and WAMO, Lee made McKeesport's WMCK, and Livorio made New Kensington's WKPA. They were preset on every kid's car radio. He later hosted oldies shows on WYEP-FM, WEDO, WWCS and WARO/WCNG.

Old DJ Charlie Apple called Mad Mike's music "obscure, highly desirable, and extremely danceable." Right on. Not only was he an avaricious collector, but Mike managed Bob Mack's Tri-State Record Store in town, surrounded by discs. He even picked out records for Mack to spin on his "Wax Museum" show on WZUM.

Metrovich was famous for his bargain bin searches, and he'd hit the buried stacks of unknown tunes from  coast-to-coast or work out swaps at the shop. He's sometimes credited with launching Tommy James and the Shondell's career when he dug out a copy of "Hanky Panky."

That's not the only act Mad Mike uncovered. He introduced the East Coast to punk when he brought Tacoma's Sonics to town to play "The Witch" and "Psycho." It was allegedly the only gig the Sonics performed outside of the Pacific Northwest during their heyday.

Another quirk he was noted for was not announcing the group that cut the song he was spinning. The odds were that the band was obscure, and Mad Mike didn't see any reason to turn his hours of digging through dusty discs into someone else's glory. His theory was it was the sound that counted anyway, not the band.

Besides, if you wanted to hear what Metro was playing, well, you had to listen to him because no one else had the song. That's one way to build fan loyalty. Needless to say, it provided the Moldie record anthology folk with quite a headache when they tried to run down whose songs the Mad One was spinning.

His privacy phobia with his beloved vinyl was legendary. He'd scratch off the name of the song and group, or cut out the record circle of another song and paste over the real one, sometimes even gluing the comics over the record info. He'd regularly talk over a song, or invent a new name and band for it. Metro didn't want anyone at the hops to discover the tunes he had rescued from obscurity, nor tape them while he was on the air and then make a bootleg.

Some discs he'd only play a couple of times before tossing them back into his disarrayed collection - and he was one of the great record collectors of his time, filling his crib with vinyl. When he said "Listen in - you may never hear this song again," Metro meant it.

Unknown bands or not, Mad Mike packed the rooms he played. He was a regular at West View's Teen Danceland, Mt. Lebanon's Lebanon Lodge, Castle Shannon's Linden Grove, North Park's Wildwood (his first major gig; Mack hired him to be the house DJ), and McKeesport's White Elephant. It wasn't unknown for Metro to do three shows a night, and if you weren't in the house by nine, the odds were you weren't getting in.

One famous story has Mad Mike at Danceland in 1964, spinning records for a couple of thousand teens, while the live act next door drew 200 fans. That band was the Rolling Stones.

His show covered all the bases. His first segment, Mad Mike's Moldies, spun R&B and doo-wop tunes. His second segment, Mad Mike's Monsters, featured garage rock, surf music, wild instrumentals, and just about anything he could slap on a turntable that would get your feet movin' and booty shakin'.

Do "Goo Goo Muck" by the Gaylads or "Sen-Di" by King Rock ring a bell?

He countered the English invasion by almost single-handedly introducing Pittsburgh to wailing guitar instrumentals, a new sound to a city weaned on R&B flavored sax and piano grooves, with an occasional rock-a-billy twanger thrown into the mix.

Metro was also a studio electronics whiz. Over the years, he worked as an engineer at many stations around town. He even built the studio used at Pietro's, and repaired transmitters and broadcast equipment for area radio booths.

After a hiatus from spinning wax, he returned to the airwaves in 2000 to host an oldies show on WZUM. Mad Mike was back where it all started for him. He launched "Nostalgia Music 2000," hosting his own show and putting together a group of other DJs, many of whom grew up listening to him, to man time slots he and son-in-law Pete Shanley purchased from the station.

The shows grew from weekends to weeknights, airing live from Pietro's Pizza Pub. We've heard that every Tuesday night a group of fans still meet at Pietro's for a weekly Mad Mike Metro Memorial Cruise. What goes around...

But it was to be a short-lived, if sweet, comeback. Mike Metrovich passed away on October 31, 2000, at the age of 63 after battling various ailments. Somehow, Mad Mike joining the other side on Halloween seems appropriate.

Though he jocked in Pittsburgh all his days, his popularity was nation-wide. The six volume "Mad Mike's Moldies" (missing #3 & 6, which never were released because of a rights imbroglio), were pressed by NRM on discs made of different colored vinyl (Old Mon recalls red and green), and were huge hits. Collectors still go ga-ga over them today.

Hey, maybe we'll see you at the release party tonight. Old Mon thought it'd be a good way to introduce his 26 year-old son to the ways of the world, as it once was. And if nothing else, it promises to deliver some great sounds, memories, pizza, and a cold one or two on a Saturday night. Sounds alright to us.

And it was. The joint was packed, the turnable was rockin' with "Camel Walk," a vanload of fresh brews arrived in the nick of time, and it was bedlam. The Norton Records girl was selling LP's and CD's outta her trunk, and we're sure it was a scene Mad Mike woulda loved.

Hey, TJ, if you're reading this, here's your shoutout, and some love to New Eagle. We moldie South Hill's dinosaurs gotta hang together.

The Daddio of the Raddio

Porky Chedwick poster from South Pittsburgh On Line

Back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, a relatively unknown DJ named Porky Chedwick was making quite a splash here in Pittsburgh. He was a white man broadcasting "race" music; blues, R&B, doo-wop, gospel and jazz.

Some parents went as far as to call him a satanic influence on their children. In fact, the nuns that taught his future wife said he did "the devil's work."

The innuendoes were put to rest when he was commended by Senator Estes Kefauver for his work organizing youth baseball teams to combat juvenile delinquency. He even had a few kids remanded to his custody from juvenile court.

Actually, Chedwick was one of the first DJs to promote a Christian lifestyle, free of alcohol, drugs and tobacco (By his own admission, Porky's only vice was girls, although his friends say the only thing he really can't resist is coconut creme pie!)

His generosity is legendary. He's made millions, and given away whatever business leeches didn't swindle from him. One well known story tells of Chedwick giving a homeless man some change. The change was his bus fare, and he walked home so the more unfortunate guy could eat.

In a time when Frank Sinatra, crooners, and big bands reigned, Chedwick broke all the radio rules, and the kids flocked to him and his shows.

"Pork the Tork", the "Daddio of the Raddio," your "Platter Pushin' Papa," the "Boss Hoss with the Hot Sauce," the "Pied Piper of Platter," had rubbed the magic lamp, and the R&B genie would never get stuffed back into the bottle. "Porky's golden ear, breaking hits from year to year," was his credo.

He was born George Jacob Chedwick on February 4, 1918 in Homestead, one of ten children of a steelworking father. His mom passed away when he was still a child. He was raised in a close-knit, culturally and racially diverse neighborhood, which he often compared to "a secluded island," where skin color didn't matter.

As Chedwick told Wikipedia, "We all had one thing in common - poverty." The origin of the nickname, "Porky" remains up for debate, but he insists it was given to him by his mother because he was a stubby youngster.

His old Munhall high school classmates claim it was because...ah, we won't get into that, hehe.

He had changed his first name from George to the more flowing Craig Chedwick when he got his first job as a sports stringer for the Daily Messenger in Homestead and as a PA announcer at local sporting events. Then he heard about an opportunity to broadcast on the new Homestead radio station.

And so his career in radio began on August 1, 1948 with a stint on WHOD, a tiny station located behind a Homestead candy store known as "The Station of Nations," doing a 10 minute sports and music program. The station was the forerunner of WAMO.

Chedwick began playing blues and R&B records by musicians like Bo Diddley and Little Anthony and the Imperials. He introduced the new material as his "movers and groovers," and never pushed any vinyl because of payola. Chedwick spun his beloved oldies, too, his "dusty disks." He appreciated soul and put it on the air.

Most of his listeners, who tuned in for Chedwick's music and off-the-cuff rhymes and patter (he claimed "I had more lines than Bell Telephone. I was the original rapper," or "I'm going to shatter this platter and make your liver quiver"), had no idea that he was white.

A sizzling performance from a band would make him say, "This record is on fire. We're burning," (which once led to a listener calling the Homestead fire department!) or just alerting the audience that he had a "hot platter." He'd infuriate labels by turning a record over and featuring the B side if he thought it was a better song.

And Chedwick refused to play covers of those songs copied by white musicians on the big labels. As the told the Tribune-Review in 1998, "I wouldn't even play Elvis Presley's version of 'Hound Dog.' I played Big Mama Thornton's."

To this day, many of those black artists pay tribute to Chedwick for giving them their first air play and sticking with them. As Bo Diddley said "Any entertainer of my era who say they don't know who Porky Chedwick is ... they're damn lyin'! That's the cat that played the records. I know."

Besides Diddley, some of his R&B admirers are Smoky Robinson, Hank Ballard, and Little Anthony.

Chedwick essentially invented the concept of oldies 60 years ago with his "dusty disks." They were oldies even when Chedwick first played them. He bought or was given unwanted 78s, records by black acts, and dropped the needle on them.

"The falsettos, the bass, the togetherness. They wrote about poverty and handicaps I could understand. This was a message nobody was getting. I blew the dust off them. I was giving kids the music. One day they would know I was speaking the truth." He had invented his signature "Porky Sound."

Chedwick is responsible for making Pittsburgh "The Oldies Capitol of the World," a reputation it still carries today in the music industry.

Chedwick's career moved from WHOD and WAMO to KQV in 1972, and then to WNRZ from 1985 to 1986. After a 10 year hiatus, Pork returned to WAMO in 1996, then moved to WWSW in 1998 and to WLSW in 2000. Chedwick is currently spinning disks for WKHB.

Luigi Sacco, aka Lou Christie, said being cool when he grew up meant listening to Porky Chedwick. His hops and R&B revues were on the must-see list of every Pittsburgh teen. Chedwick still likes to say that he has seen "more hops than the Easter Bunny." He estimates he's done well over 7,000 of them.

It's reputed that his excellent physical condition (except for his eyesight and bad hearing - not bad for a 90-year old man) is partly due to the times he had to resort to taking the shoe leather express to his record hops. Many nights he’d walk for miles, lugging along his records, when he couldn’t bum a ride.

He did have one health bump in 1991, when Porky had a benign brain tumor removed. The troops held a benefit for him at the Syria Mosque, and they couldn't keep away the acts: Wolfman Jack emceed the show, and Jim Quinn, Bob Livorio and Charlie Appel said a few words.

The performers were Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, the Moonglows, Lou Christie, Jimmy Beaumont and the Skyliners, the Vogues, the Marcels, the Cleftones, Johnnie and Joe, Bobby Comstock, the Contrails and the Elmonics. Others sent their wishes by tape and letter, including the Coasters, Bo Diddley, Dick Clark, the Chirelles, Bobby Vinton, the Penguins, Danny and the Juniors, the Cadillacs, the Chantels, Marv Johnson, Phil Phillips, the Tune Weavers, Lenny Welch, Jerry Blavat, Jay Michael and Barry Kaye.

His best known story is of the time when Chedwick did a live show at the Stanley Theater. An hour before he went on the air, 500 people crowded around the building. Before the show was over, 10,000 people surrounded the theater. Downtown Pittsburgh became a parking lot.

Kids were stuck on buses in the logjam created by Chedwick's appearance. They got off, crossed the bridges and walked to the Stanley Theater to see him. He told the teens pouring into town to stop their cars and listen to the music wherever they were at because there was no more room for the fans of Porkology in the Golden Triangle.

They did. Chedwick spun "Dancin' in the Streets," and they hopped out of their cars on streets all over the city and started dancing. Pittsburgh was tied up for hours. Porky-mania had taken control. It still rules.

Chedwick has been recognized on the floor of the United States Congress for his pioneering contributions to radio and rock and roll (and countless times around Pittsburgh, including a 50th anniversary oldies concert called "Porkstock," in 1998 at Three Rivers Stadium.)

A bronze plaque commemorating Chedwick and WAMO was placed on the building that housed WAMO on 107 E. Eighth St., near the Homestead Grays Bridge. The plaque is partially dedicated to "The Bossman." September 23, 2006 was declared “Porky Chedwick Day” in Allegheny County by the elected suits.

WQED-TV has featured Chedwick on their nationally broadcast PBS R&B/doo wop television specials, taped at The Benedum Center.

He's the only Pittsburgh DJ to be recognized in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At age 88, Chedwick celebrated his 58th anniversary on the air at Hall of Fame's Alan Freed Radio Studio on August 12, 2006.

He'll be the subject of an upcoming documentary that was begun that day by Emmy Award winning producer Daniel Friedman, the son of one of the original owners of WAMO in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburghers can still find him packing local nightclubs with his sock hops, just as he has since the late 1940s. He lives in Brookline with his wife and business manager, Jeannie, and their two little dogs. (As of this writing, he's back in Florida.) The two met at a hop at the Linden Grove in 1990, and were married a few months later. His surviving sons are Paul of Mount Washington and Michael, who lives in Atlanta.

He decided to move in 2008 to Florida to soak up the sun in his twilight; Porky decided instead to come back home for good before the year ran out - there were too many old people in the Sunshine State to suit his taste. (He did move back, and is said to be looking to return to the Steel City. With our recent winters, we'd strongly suggest dual residency!)

Hey, Porky Chedwick did more to put Pittsburgh on the music map than any other performer in the City. R&B acts opened here because he made the 'Burgh the hottest soul market of his time. Oldies radio began because of his playlist. Everyone made money off of Chedwick - except Chedwick. He doesn't care.

He's what everyone in Pittsburgh aspires to be - a honest, hard working family man with a soul (and ear) of gold, talkin' trash and boppin' through life. Porky will always be the city's "Boss Hoss."

(A portion of this post and a very good bio of Porky is available South Pittsburgh on Line - "Daddio of the Raddio")


Dave Crawley KD Country report on Porky from 1989

oldies but goodies yet again

John "Sir Walter" Christian from Poise Foundation
OK, Porky was the king of the radio jocks, no argument. But if he was king, Sir Walter Raleigh was the Prince of Soul DJ's in the early days of Pittsburgh R&B radio.

In 1955 John Christian starting spinning disks at WILY, an East Liberty station, joining local radio pioneers Lee "3-D Lee D" Dorris and Bill Powell, all three playing soul for the black audiences of Pittsburgh. He owned an appliance store that advertised on the station and got into the business through a bit of serendipity. The station manager heard his voice over the phone and offered him a job.

Two years later, Christian, dubbed "Sir Walter" in Time magazine for his faint British accent, left to team up with Porky at WAMO. Bill Powell joined him there. Brother Matt came on later, giving WAMO a dominant lineup of jocks.

"And that's when WAMO took off," Christian told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. "There was a segment of people who obviously appreciated what Porky was doing. They were primarily white people. When they brought on African-American talent, that's when the total community, white and black, became involved." WAMO to this day draws on a large mixed audience for its' music programming.

He used to dress up in an English butler outfit or in a white suit, sometimes with tails. Christian would sport a monacle and talk in a faux accent. He often was seen wearing a top hat or bowler. Sir Walter had very large, white mutton chops. And he referred to everyone as "M'Lords and M'Ladies."

Some thought his persona was a takeoff on satirist Lord Buckley, who would do bits with a veddy British accent and over the edge costumes. Whatever the origin, Christian's act worked like a charm in Pittsburgh. He was a popular hop jock like all the primo DJs of the era.

He eventually left radio because of "creative differences". Control of the playlist had been torn from the DJ's and given to the accountants, and Christian figured it was time to move on. A Top 40 list was anathema to the old school jocks. He then scored a long running gig with TV station WPXI.

Now he's best known for his charitable work. The John Christian Charity Trust Fund awards grants to different area social and community causes. Its' big money maker is his annual celebrity golf outing.

*****

And add the Stockdale Fire Hall in Washington county to the hop havens of the 1950s & '60s. The Pittsburgh Tribune Review and Post Gazette both just ran articles on it and a big reunion dance it hosted to celebrate 50 years of platters. Other old Mon Valley halls mentioned in the PG: the Jumpin' Jive Bee Hive and the Cougar Canteen in Charleroi, the Italian Hall in Monessen, the Blue Fox and Italian Citizens Club in Monongahela, and the Twin Coaches in Rostraver.

To the east in Westmoreland county, Harry Lattanzio's Rink in Latrobe brought in the Pittsburgh R&B jocks to rock the joint for the locals & the kids from Indiana and Ligonier.

More songs? The Girl from the 'Burgh recommends "Cry Like A Baby" and "The Letter" by the Boxtops, "Close Your Eyes" by Peaches and Herb, and "Dream" by the Everly Brothers. A few other tunes that you may remember: "Dedicated to the One I Love," Shirelles; "Houseparty," Showstoppers; "I Only Have Eyes For You," Flamingos; "Showtime," Detroit Emeralds; "Image of a Girl," Safaris; "Because," Dave Clark Five; "Wipe Out," Surfaris; "This Diamond Ring," Gary Lewis and the Playboys; "For Your Precious Love," Jerry Butler; "Chains," Cookies; "Don't Say Nothin' Bad About My Baby," Sapphires; "Forever," Marvelettes; "Up on the Roof" and "Under the Boardwalk," Drifters; "Stand By Me" and "I Who Have Nothing," Ben E. King; "Baby Love," Supremes; "My Girl," Temptations; "Midnight Hour," Wilson Pickett; "Try a Little Tenderness," Otis Redding; "You Don't Own Me," Leslie Gore; "Chapel of Love," Dixie Cups; "(Remember) Walkin' in the Sand," Ronettes; "A Lover's Question," Clyde McPhatter; "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," Platters; "It's Only Make Believe," Conway Twitty; and "It's All Right," Impressions.

those oldies but goodies part 2

Brother Love's Underground from Larry's page

Yah, yah, I know I missed a lot of 1960s music in my "Oldies But Goodies" post. And I'll miss a lot more - after all, 40 years worth of memories do get somewhat diluted as the neurons quit firing with their usual reliability. But here's a couple of additions that popped into what's left of my mind (a terrible thing to lose, take my word for it!)

How could I forget Chuck Brinkman from KQV radio? He was one of the premier top 40 jocks of the era, and the first host of "Come Alive" on WIIC - TV, a local teen dance party show. Brinkman spun disks on TV for eighteen months before handing the torch to Terry (TL) Lee. He came to KQV in 1960 and eventually worked every time slot they had to offer.

Brinkman's famous for stealing KDKA's thunder when the Beatles came to town in 1964. He and brother jock Dexter Allen got to New York to interview the Beatles. Through connections, they managed to talk their way into a seat on the Beatle's private plane to the 'Burgh, bumping KDKA's Clark Race in the process. Once here, they got the KQV banner hung front and center on the Arena stage, and Brinkman introduced the Beatles to the screeching mob, one upping Race again. Clark Race bitched about it on air for the longest time.

In 1972, he moved across town to WTAE and ten years later made a clean break from here and went to San Diego. He came back to Pittsburgh briefly and has worked the Dallas area for the past two decades, moving from an oldies format to adult contemporary.

And speaking of dance shows, some folks used to watch "9 Teen Time" from WSTV in Steubenville, which used to have a pretty strong signal into the area. Its' hosts were Wayne Van Dine, later a TV consumer advocate on Pittsburgh TV, and Stan Scott.

I ran across some more on Brother Love's Underground. Ken Reeth was Brother Love's given name, and he was part of a morning comedy team in Hartford, where he and his partner Eddie King actually did stand up gigs at the local clubs. He came to Carnegie's WZUM in the 60s and then moved on to WAMO.

After San Francisco's Summer of Love, he thought Pittsburgh was ripe for some progressive rock. Somehow he sweet talked soul station WAMO into allowing him one night a week to pump out Iron Butterfly, Country Joe, Hendrix, the Doors, Vanilla Fudge, the Mothers and others of their ilk . The show became Brother Love's Underground.

The Underground was campy and true to Reeth's comedy roots. His studio sidekicks were Frank the Freak, Raymond the Condemned, the Observer, and the Mellon Square. He would engage them in comedy skits, ala Chilly Billy Cardille on Chiller Theater with his ensemble. Raymond and the Mellon Square were the crowd favorites. Raymond would spout bad poetry while the bewildered Square would rant about those darn hippies and the events of the day.

At one time, the Underground was broadcast by Dynamic Broadcasting into Boston, Miami and Buffalo, so Brother Love was more than a Pittsburgh phenonema.

He later made a complete about face and bought a country station in California. He DJ'ed under the moniker Romeo Jones there and eventually became a director for the Academy of Country Music. Reeth also wrote one of the first e-books, Dreamland, about his radio days. He passed away in Vegas in 2005 from leukemia.

And finally, a few more tunes that fell outta the cobwebs of my mind: "Hold Me," Mel Carter; "Our Day Will Come," Ruby & the Romantics; anything Skyliner, like "This I Swear" or "Since I Don't Have You," "Cara Mia," Jay & the Americans; "Draggin Waggin," Triumphs; "Elephant Walk," Donald Jenkins; "Dry Your Eyes," Brenda & the Tabulations; "My True Story," Jive Five; "Gloria," Shadows of Knight; any Righteous Brother tune, such as "You're My Soul & My Heart's Inspiration" or "Ebb Tide," "Walk," Fenways; "Harlem Nocturne," Viscounts; "Blue Moon," Marcels; "The Bird," Rivingtons; "Come Go With Me," Del Vikings; every Little Anthony song, like "Hurts So Bad" or "Going Out Of My Head," "The Loser," Racket Squad; "Oh What A Night," Dells; "My Heart Cries," Romancers (a cover that may be better than the original), "Farmer John," Premiers; "Rinky Dink," Baby Cortez; and everything by the Beach Boys (try "In My Room" or "Surfer Girl") and Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, who sang too many songs and gave me too many memories to fit on this page. Trust me on that.

That's it for now. Maybe my mind will shake loose a couple of more recollections as time goes on, and please feel free to nudge my memory if you recall things I've forgotten or missed.

those oldies but goodies

The Daddio of the Raddio from Old Radio

Did you grow up in Pittsburgh during the sixties? Then you remember the music scene.

Porky Chedwick: The Daddio of the Raddio, Your Platter Pushin' Papa, The Boss Man, the Pied Piper of Platter, Porky was all those things and more. Porky did all the dances, and his oldies/R&B playlist - and make no mistake, he originated "race" music in this neck of the woods - had kids flocking to his hops, and he still does an odd gig or two. DJ'ing out of WHOD/WAMO in Homestead, he was the man. I can still hear his theme, "Bongo Blues" (until his Porky jingles replaced it) playing in my head.

It's said he made a million dollars at the hops and either gave it away or had it embezzled from him - and he doesn't care. He said God took it from him because He knew the Daddio couldn't handle it. One benefit of his legendary disdain of money is that it kept him clean of the payola stain that covered so many other top dj's of his era.

Once Porky played Martha Reeve's "Dancin' In the Streets" from a downtown broadcast site and told his radio listeners to stop what they were doing and dance to her beat. Kids all over the area stopped their cars in tunnels, at stop lights, and at intersections and got out and danced. Traffic was tied up for hours as it was estimated that 10,000 teens were tuned in while on their way to town to catch Porky's act.

Terry Lee/TL: He spun wax out of McKeesport's WMCK/WIXZ and featured Music for Young Lovers complete with reverb, a biggie back in the day. All the cool cars had it, along with a red light in the back seat. Every radio in the cars parked along South Park's China Wall (a lover's lane frequented by romantic teens and peeping tom police with high voltage flashlights) had his show dialed in. TL managed the Arondies and Swamp Rats (nee Fantastic Dee Jays) and played the heck out them, along with "High on a Hill" by Scott English and "Have I Sinned" by Donnie Elbert. He closed out the show with "Goodnight, My Love," not sure of the artist. He made so much money at the hops that he had security with him to get the swag home.



Clark Race: A KDKA jock through the 1960s, Race had a 50% audience rating, meaning at any one time, half the teen radios in Pittsburgh were tuned to his show. He also hosted the wildly popular TV show "Dance Party," a local American Bandstand. Everyone checked it out just to see if they knew anyone boog-a-looing or slow draggin' on live TV, or better yet, someone that had ditched their steady for a less left-footed partner. He broke Lou Christie's "Lightning Strikes" and Bobby Vinton's "Blue Velvet." Clark Race was also a fixture at the hop scene.

Mad Mike Metro(vich): Mad Mike's show originated from WZUM in Carnegie and was broke into different segments. The more popular were Mad Mike's Moldie Oldies and the Progressive Teen Sound, a showcase for what was basically garage and surfer rock. He's the dude that launched Tommy James' career and he was a regular at West View Dance Land. One famous story has the early Rolling Stones playing live and drawing a crowd of 200 while Mad Mike's competing gig drew 2,000. Mad Mike died in 2000.


Mad Mike from Magic Music Machine

The Other Biggies: I couldn't find much on these guys, but they were giants in the 1960s - Charlie Appel, still a part-time DJ and full time reverend, from Monroeville's WPSL (he still has a crew of followers known as the Apple Corps), Brother Love of WAMO, who introduced progressive music to the Burg, and Bob Livorio of WKPA in New Kensington, another renowned hop jock.

The Dance Halls: I'm from the South Hills, and my memory can still dredge up the Linden Grove in Castle Shannon, the White Elephant in White Oak, I think, though it burned down long ago, the Lebanon Lodge in Mt. Lebanon, Sully's in Brentwood - that burned too, occupational hazard, I guess - and West View Dance Land where everyone got down to the Battle of the Bands. Kennywood did some dances, too. A few romances and many boozy parking lot fights were started at these venues. How else would a self-respecting Pittsburgh teen kill the weekend?

The Songs: Culled by memory in no particular order: "Wisdom of a Fool," The Jesters; "The Wind," Diablos; "69," Arondies, "Whip It On Me Baby," Billy Guy; "My Heart Cries," Etta & Harvey; "You're Pushing Too Hard," The Seeds; "High Flying Wine," The Igniters; "Fried Onions," Lord Rockingham; "Love You So Bad," The Empires; "Baby Let Me Bang Your Box," The Bangers; "Someone," The Contrails; "Ain't No Big Thing," The Electrons; "High on a Hill," Scott English; "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O," Larry Dale; "Shop Around," The Mad Lads; "Love Is So Tough," The Fantastic Dee Jays; "Don't You Hear Me Calling Baby," Ronnie Haig; "Have I Sinned," Donnie Elbert; "Psycho" & "The Witch," The Sonics. Our song? "Everlasting Love," Robert Knight, "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You," Frankie Valli, and "So Much In Love," The Tymes. One song wasn't enough.

If you can remember most of these names, places and tunes, congratulations - Altzheimers hasn't won yet. And by the power invested in me by The Boss Man, I dub thee an official member of the South Park Cruisers Club, circa 1967. It was a very good year.