Dan Daniel called himself "the world's most adequate swinging disc jockey", but he was much more than that.

Daniel spent nearly a half-century in commercial radio, beginning with his first gig at KXYZ Houston in 1955 (he had previously worked at Armed Forces Radio with the U.S. Navy). From there he went to WDGY Minneapolis before joining the "Good Guys" at WMCA New York in 1961. After starting in overnights, "Dandy Dan" moved to afternoon drive in 1963 as part of a stellar lineup that included Joe O'Brien, Harry Harrison, Jack Spector and B. Mitchel Reed.

Daniel spent nearly nine years at WMCA, leaving in 1970 a couple of months before the station switched to a talk format. He later played country music at WHN and did two stints at WYNY, the last ending in 1996. New York oldies outlet WCBS-FM then quickly scooped him up for weekends where he spun many of the same hits he had played three decades earlier at 'MCA. Daniel replaced Ron Lundy in late mornings at WCBS-FM in 1997, holding the shift until his retirement from radio in 2002.

Daniel, who would end each show with a reference to "size nine" (his wife), died June 21, 2016. He was 82.

Enjoy Dan Daniel on WMCA here.


(Scrapbook archives)

Talent: DICK CLARK with DAVE JOHNSON
Station: CHUM Toronto
Date: May 27, 1963
Times: Part 1 - 29:57 (Upgraded 1-5-12)
             Part 2 - 23:10

In 1963, CHUM Toronto started carrying The Dick Clark Show, a syndicated program that had been offered to other stations around North America. It was a direct response to the hiring of the popular Dave Mickie at rival CKEY.

The programs ran on CHUM from 7-9 p.m. weeknights for a few months beginning May 27. While fronted by Clark, the shows were co-hosted by Dave Johnson who followed with his own program solo from 9-10:30 p.m. Clark was on tape for all but the first show while Johnson was live. For the story behind the story, read this from CHUM's Doug Thompson...

"Here's the deal with Dick Clark. I started at 1331 Yonge Street in 1965 replacing a board op named Claude Deschamps. Claude was being promoted into production, partly because of his incredible work op-ing the Dave Johnson/Dick Clark show. Claude has told me many times how most people had no idea that Dick wasn't actually there in the studio with Dave. Dick came into Toronto a few times (I'm not sure how many) and recorded time checks for every minute of his shift - It's 8:01, CHUM time 8:02, etc; temperature checks for every conceivable temp and all kinds of other so-called live liners.

All of these individual Dick Clark elements were put on carts. It was Claude's job to marry Dick Clark's voicetracks and Dave Johnson live in-studio seamlessly. I also recall him telling me that they ran a party sound effects cart under all the Dick and Dave banter so that probably helped any differences."

Dave Johnson, Freddie Cannon and Dick Clark at Clark's first show, May 27, 1963. (The CHUM Archives)

This first Clark show came from The Terrace, a now-demolished curling club and roller skating rink in downtown Toronto. It's interesting to hear commercials from long-ago local firms like Mann and Martel, a major Toronto realtor at the time.

Enjoy Hour One of the first Dick Clark show on CHUM here.

Enjoy Hour Two of the first Dick Clark show on CHUM here.
 

L-r: John Spragge, Brian Skinner, Al Boliska, Bob McAdorey, Dave Johnson, Dick Clark, 1963. (The CHUM Archives)

Brian Skinner with Dick Clark, May, 1957. (The CHUM Archives)

(The Aaron Mintz Collection)

AUDIO ENHANCEMENT by Andy Rebscher

Talent: DAVID JELL
Subject: RADIO LUXEMBOURG
Date: 1963 (re-creation)
Time: 10:51

Radio Luxembourg, The Station of the Stars, first signed on in 1933 and entertained millions before leaving the airwaves on December 30, 1992. In the 1950s and '60s, Radio Luxembourg was the only radio station on the European continent to broadcast entirely in English. For a time, Alan Freed's taped WINS show appeared on Radio Luxembourg every Saturday night.

Canadian-born David Jell got his start at Calgary's CFAC right out of high school, eventually becoming that station's Paris correspondent. In 1955, he moved to Radio Luxembourg as a summer replacement deejay and eventually became a full-time jock.

Enjoy this aircheck of David Jell - which we understand is a re-creation - here.
 

(The Doc Phillips Collection)

Talent: DAVE MICKIE
Station: CKEY Toronto
Date: June 17, 1963
Time: 42:06 (unscoped)
           19:09 (scoped)

For many Canadian boomers, Dave Mickie/Marsden has been a big part of the soundtrack of their lives.

From his early days as legendary CKEY night-time jock Dave Mickie, to his metamorphosis into FM rock announcer-programmer extraordinaire David Marsden, this radio legend has entertained a generation and while blazing a trail for the next.

But even legends have to start somewhere. Rock Radio Scrapbook asked Marsden about his beginnings in the radio business and he was kind enough to respond...

"After a year and a half of banging on radio station doors and sending out scores of tapes I got my first job - CFCO Chatham. Operator for the morning show, typing out music playlists and literally sweeping the floor. Three months. Jack Beardall, the station owner and the only person seemingly willing to hire me, had sold the station to Hildebrand who brought his own team. The new Program Director was named Sandy Hoyt and he fired everyone at the station except Frank Proctor.

At that point I had a big three months experience and went looking for a new gig. After a couple of months I found it. CHLO - St. Thomas. I was hired as a newsperson. After a few months I was offered the evening shift as a DJ. At the time CHLO played what was termed as Beautiful Music. Ray Conniff, Percy Faith etc.

After a few months of playing this music I became bored. I liked Rock and Roll!! One night I brought my own 45s in and started playing them. In attempt to match the Rock music David Mickie was born (I was a fan of Biondi, therefore he was my influence).

I got away with that performance for about three weeks. Then John L. Moore - the owner - tuned in and almost had a cardiac. He fired me the next day. About a week later he called me at my little apartment in St. Thomas and asked me to come to a meeting. Turns out there had been significant phone calls and letters about 'where had Mickie disappeared to' - he hired me back. But this time he promised I could do whatever I wanted. ;-) 
  
That was the turning point for CHLO. A station who later became a major rocker in the London/St. Thomas market. During that time a goofy young kid named Paul Skirownski (sp?) answered my phones and helped around the studio. When I left to go to CKEY I suggested to John L. Moore that he keep Paul around. Something about him said - radio. Today he is known as Paul Ski.

About a year after being hired back at CHLO - Walt Grealis (then a promo man for London Records) was in London working the promo at station level. He tuned in and had a listen. He visited the station and asked if I had ever thought about being in Toronto radio.

Two weeks later I got the big call from Gene Kirby, PD for CKEY. My dream had always been to work at CKEY. At first I thought Gene's call was a hoax. After three calls I finally took the bait and called him back. It really was HIM. Walt Grealis became my manager and a few weeks later I did my first show at CKEY.

Yep - with less than two years experience I made it to Davenport Road and CKEY. Back then one counted on having to have a minimum of seven years. I got lucky! ;-) "

Hear Dave Mickie on CKEY (UNSCOPED) here.

Hear Dave Mickie on CKEY (SCOPED) here.

 

The CKEY Good Guys in 1963

The CKEY Good Guys in 1964

(Larger view here)

(The Bill Dulmage Collection)

Talent: HAL RAYMOND
Station: WDGY Minneapolis
Date: July 3, 1963
Time: 22:26

Hal Raymond saw a lot of America during a career that lasted nearly half a century.

His first radio gig came in 1950 when he was a senior at Hillsboro High School in south-central Illinois. His family thought he should go into radio, so he did at WSMI in nearby Litchfield. With his quick wit and mellifluous voice, Raymond was off and running toward an amazing radio career.

For the next 48 years, Raymond jocked on the west coast, in Portland, Oregon, (KISN, KGW, KEX) and Seattle (KAYO), in the south, in Dallas (KBOX), in the mid-west, in Peoria, Illinois (WEEK) and Decatur, Illinois (WDZ), in the east, in York, Pennsylvania, (WSBA, WOYK-AM) and in the north, in Minneapolis (WDGY), where he can be heard in this aircheck at "The Station With the Happy Difference", a tenure that lasted from July 1963 to September 1964.

While Raymond moved around a lot, he did spend nearly half his career - 22 years - at WSBA, his longest time at any one station. WSBA's Operations Manager Jim Horn said of Raymond, "he was a superheavyweight." Raymond was at WSBA from 1973 to 1995. He then moved cross-town to WOYK where he stayed until his retirement in 1998. He died in 2005, aged 73, after a two-year battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease).

"Hal was Mr. Everyday - goes to work, boss yells at him, can't get a break. All the tribulations an everyday guy went through," said his co-worker and friend Jim Horn. "He was either the hero or the butt of the joke. He was an absolutely hilarious theatre of the mind - stunts jokes and pranks. Hal had a remarkable gift for writing comedy that people would belly-laugh out loud to."

Hear Hal Raymond on WDGY here.
 

(The Bill Dulmage Collection)

Talent: STAN ROBERTS
Station: WTRY Troy, N.Y.
Date: July 30, 1963
Time: 19:39

He made his mark in Buffalo radio, at stations like WKBW, WGR, WBUF and WECK. But just prior to his days in the Queen City, Stan Roberts plied his trade in Central New York, at WTRY in Troy to be exact. The easy-going style and cornball humour that made him one of Buffalo's all-time favourite morning men is quite evident on this aircheck.

Hear Stan Roberts on WTRY here.
 

(Scrapbook archives)

Talent: MAD DADDY
Station: WINS New York
Date: October 5, 1963
Time: 9:11

After wowing the teen crowd in Akron and Cleveland, Pete Meyers took his Mad Daddy act to New York in 1959. It didn't play well at staid old WNEW - Mad Daddy lasted only one shift but Myers continued on that station with a middle-of-the-road approach more suited to 'NEW's easy listening approach. He revived his Mad Daddy persona at WINS and continued there until that station went to an all-news format in 1965. He then returned to WNEW as Pete Meyers.

Meyers took his own life on October 4, 1968 after learning that his shift had been changed from afternoons to evenings.

Hear Mad Daddy on WINS here.
 

(Scrapbook archives)

Talent: B. MITCHEL REED & JOE O'BRIEN
Station: WMCA New York
Date: October 10, 1963
Times: 21:43 (unscoped)
             9:32 (scoped)

Two of WMCA's most popular jocks worked at opposite ends of the clock.

Joe O'Brien arrived at WMCA at the dawn of the Big Band era in 1935 and left during the Age of Aquarius in 1969. O'Brien went to WNBC after his departure from 'MCA and in 1972 became the first voice on WHUD-FM in Peekskill, New York. O'Brien spent 14 years as morning man there, then worked as a part-time as a part-timer until 2000. He died in a car accident in 2005, a week after his 90th birthday.

B. Mitchel Reed came to WMCA in 1963 from KFWB Los Angeles, where he was known as "The Fastest Tongue in the West." BMR spent two magnificent years at WMCA before heading back west to KFWB. The one-time fast-talking jock became a slow-talking "progressive" jock on FM in the years to come. He died in 1983 of heart problems at the age of 56.

Enjoy B. Mitchel Reed and Joe O'Brien on WMCA (UNSCOPED) here. 

Enjoy B. Mitchel Reed and Joe O'Brien on WMCA (SCOPED) here. 


(The John Harrison Collection)

Talent: DAVE MAYNARD
Station: WBZ Boston
Date: November 3, 1963
Time: 31:58 (unscoped)

Like the Red Sox, Beacon Hill and baked beans, Dave Maynard was a Boston institution.

Maynard got his start in the Hub in 1952 at WHIL, later moving to WORL and serving as a rock 'n' roll jock at both stations. In 1958, he began a 33-year run at 50,000-watt powerhouse WBZ. He hosted music programs, mostly in middays, until 1979 when began doing talk on the all-night show. A year later, Maynard replaced Carl DeSuze as WBZ's morning man, and his Maynard in the Morning Show was number-one in the market throughout its decade-long run. He moved back to middays in 1990 and retired a year later.

An accomplished chef who wrote three cookbooks, Maynard was resident chef in the '80s on WBZ's Evening Magazine and also originated the Phantom Gourmet radio show. For 21 years beginning in 1965, Maynard hosted the amateur talent showcase Community Auditions on WBZ-TV. He also found time to teach in the Communications Department at Boston University for 17 years and dedicate himself to numerous charitable causes.

Maynard died February 9, 2012 in Citrus Hills, Florida. He was 82 and had suffered from Parkinson's Disease.

Enjoy Dave Maynard on WBZ here.
 

(The Don Shuttleworth Collection)

Subject: WKBW SALES DEMO "INSTANT 'KB"
Station: WKBW Buffalo, N.Y.
Date: Fall 1963
Time: 8:22

Many of the great WKBW voices of the '60s are heard on "Instant 'KB", a sales promo distributed on vinyl to national and local sponsors. Narrated by Irv Weinstein, "Instant 'KB" features the voices of deejays Stan Roberts, Fred Klestine, Jay Nelson, Dan Neaverth and Joey Reynolds. There's a brief snippet of a Henry Brach newscast and a portion of Weinstein's documentary "Buffalo and La Cosa Nostra."

The demo points out that with its 50,000-watt signal, 'KB can be heard not only by a million and a quarter people in Erie and Niagara counties, but 17 states and 50 per cent of Canada! It also promotes 'KB's weather forecasts, traffic bulletins, school closing information and ski reports. With all that, how can you NOT buy time on 'KB?

Enjoy the "Instant 'KB" sales demo here.
 

(The Steve Bleecker Collection)

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