IN DETROIT IT’S SWINGIN’ TIME CKLW… APRIL 2, 1966
Posted February 29, 2012: this exhibit has been updated. Just added: “Swingin’ Time” video (the entire show!) dated September 10, 1966.
— OR FOR MORE —
You can go to ‘CATEGORIES‘ on the left panel and click CKLW.
A MCRFB news brief: 1964
WXYZ Debuts ‘Lovable’ Radio
DETROIT — WXYZ Radio, the ABC-owned station in Detroit, has introduced “Lovable Radio” to the Motor City. Promulgating the “love affair” are WXYZ deejays Fred Wolf, Dave Prince, Joel Sebastian, Russ “The Weird Beard” Knight (formerly of KLIF; Dallas) Bob Day and “Big Daddy” Don Zee, who hear themselves as romantics romeos over the Detroit airwaves, anyway. END
Addendum: Anyone still recall hearing those radio spot promos, “The Weird Beard’s Coming!” The Weird Beard’s Coming!” heard over on WXYZ-AM 1270 in 1964?
Amid much radio fanfare, publicity and advertisement dollars invested prior his arrival here from (Gordon McLendon’s) KLIF 1190 in Dallas, WXYZ went on to retain the celebrated arrival of the legendary Russ Knight to Detroit in June 1964.
But what had been great for KLIF in Dallas, Texas, wasn’t all necessarily that good for WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan. In passing, the Weird Beard’s tenure on 1270 would become a short blip in Detroit radio history — was there 5 months — that was it.
By the second week in November 1964 Russ Knight found his way back on the radio in Texas once again. This time, on another Gordon McLendon radio station, KILT 610 AM in Houston.
A side note: Incidentally, Russ Knight held the distinction of having had contact with Jack Ruby, first at Dallas police headquarters, and again at KLIF during that stunning, tragic November weekend in Dallas 1963.
On July 23, 1964, while employed at WXYZ in Detroit, Russ Knight was deposed for information regarding his brushes with Jack Ruby on Saturday, in the early-hours of November 23, by Warren Commission Counsel Burt Griffin at the U.S. Courthouse in Chicago, Illinois.
Knight, during his deposition (see: Testimony of Russell Lee Moore; Knight), stated he first met Ruby at the Cotton Bowling Palace in Dallas, the year prior, sometime during 1962. He went on the official record in having said he met with Ruby about a dozen times since. During further questioning Knight also testified he, accompanied along with his wife, had been at Ruby’s Carousel Club sometime earlier in 1963.
Russ Knight was immortalized in the “Cruisin'” LP series by Ron Jacobs (‘Cruisin ’62’ KLIF) in 1970.
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
*** UPDATE ON RUSS KNIGHT: Russ Knight passed away Oct. 12, 2012 ***
By Robert Philpot
DFW.com | Posted 3:08 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 15, 2012
Russell Lee Moore, better known to radio listeners as Russ “The Weird Beard” Knight, died Friday at age 80.
Knight, a 2003 Texas Radio Hall of Fame inductee, worked at several stations nationwide, including in the early ’60s at then-Top 40 powerhouse KLIF/1190, where, according to his obituary, he proclaimed himself “the savior of Dallas radio.”
The KLIF-era Knight was the featured DJ on Cruisin’ 1962, one of a series of albums that consisted of hits from a particular year interspersed with DJ patter. (There’s much more on Knight and the Cruisin’ series here.)
After Knight left KLIF, he worked at KILT in Houston, where he introduced the Beatles when they came to town. For a lot more about that era, go here. There is also information on some of the later parts of his career here.
Services are Tuesday in Trumbull, Conn. Information is in the obituary link above. Updates are possible here and on the Texas Radio Hall of Fame Facebook page.
(Source: Dallas Ft. Worth.com; October 15, 2012)
(Information and news source: Billboard; October 24, 1964)
From the MCRFB music calendar:
Events on this date: August 3
1959: Folk group the Kingston Trio are featured on the cover of LIFE magazine.
1963: After nearly 300 shows over two years, the Beatles play their last headlining gig at Liverpool’s popular Cavern Club.
1971: Paul McCartney announces the formation of Wings, his first band since the breakup of the Beatles. It features ex-Moody Blues’ singer Denny Laine and Paul’s wife Linda.
1974: Guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter leaves Steely Dan to join the Doobie Brothers.
1993: Boston Venture, the group to whom Berry Gordy had sold Motown in 1988 for $61 million dollars, sells the label and its holdings (5 years later) to Dutch conglomerate Polygram for a $325 million return.
1999: Country singer legend Patsy Cline is awarded a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
Deaths: Arthur Lee (Love); 2006.
Releases: 1963: “Surfer Girl,” The Beach Boys. 1963: “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh,” Allan Sherman.
Recording: 1966: “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?,” The Rolling Stones.
Charts: 1963: “So Much In Love,” The Tymes; hits No. 1 on the chart. 1968: “Hello, I Love You,” The Doors; hits No. 1 on the chart. 1974: ‘Bad Company,’ (LP) Bad Company; hits No. 1 on the Billboard LP chart.
Certification: 1971: “It Don’t Come Easy,” Ringo Starr; certified gold by the RIAA.
And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day…. 
From the MCRFB news archives:
CKLW PULLING AWAY IN RATINGS; WKNR RANKS THIRD IN NEW RADIO POLL
DETROIT — The latest radio station having a lot of things going right is “the new” CKLW in Detroit. Now under the guiding programming hands of Paul Drew, The June-July Hooper Report showed CKLW with a total rate time period figure of 18.3 share, while WKNR dropped back with a 14.3. Leader was WJR with their Easy Listening format, but it looks like the Drew operation has made a cut into WKNR, long having been a dominating Detroit leader in the market since early 1964.
The other Detroit radio stations doesn’t even resemble coming even close to these three. The latest Hooper tally indicated that the Monday through Friday noon to 6 P.M. period, CKLW leads both WJR and WKNR. The same was reflected in the Saturday daytime hours specified throughout the week. The latest radio ratings for the Detroit market represents an incredible upsurge for CKLW since Drew processed the Bill Drake format earlier this year in March. END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; August 19, 1967).
From the MCRFB news archives: 1963
C’MON EVERYBODY, IT’S MONKEY TIME
NEW YORK — The ‘Monkey,’ the newest teen dance, is a mighty hot one, with three records of monkey tunes really moving this week. Hottest of all three is “The Monkey Time” by Major Lance on Okeh Records. And just to add to the scene the label has issued an LP by the same title. “The Monkey Time” jumped to No. 12 on the Hot 100 this week.
Second hottest of the Monkey hits is “Mickey’s Monkey,” by the Miracles on the Motown Records Tamla label, which is the No. 39 most popular hit on the Billboard chart for the week. And the third most popular “Monkey” tune on the chart is “Everybody’s Monkey” by Freddie Cannon listed on the chart.
There is a fourth monkey hit making the new dance scene as well, pushing forward slowly on the chart, and it is King Curtis’ “Do The Monkey,” on the Capitol record label. And there have probably been a half a dozen other monkey dance-themed recordings issued in the past few weeks. On the same kick as well, there have been other related animal-dances like the ‘gorilla,’ and the ‘frog.’ END
(Information and news source: Billboard; August 31, 1963).
MAJOR LANCE * “The Monkey Time” * OKEH RECORDS (1963)
From the MCRFB news archive: 1965
Music Happenings In and Around Detroit Town, 1965
DETROIT — The Stan Kenton Orchestra will kick off the annual Town and Country and Gown Celebrity Series at the University of Detroit, Sunday, August 29. . . . Count Basie, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Smith and Carmen McRae and their respective groups are due here Sunday for George Wein’s first Festival Prelude at Cobo Hall. . . . Singers Lesley Gore, Stevie Wonder, The Shangri-Las, Coasters, Sunliners, Dis-Coquettes Dancers, along with the Choker Campbell Orchestra Band will team up in a special show “The Swingin’ Kind,” on WXYZ, emceed by 1270 deejay Lee Alan. It is tentatively slated for the ABC television network. . . . Musical comedy star Tessie O’Shea opened Monday, August 16 as headliner at the Elmwood Casino across the Detroit river in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. END
(Information and news source: Billboard; August 21, 1965).
