Gary Pucket (part 2) and D.J.'s are "Turkeys"

Hi again, from the “stacks of dusty wax, right here in “The Groove Yard.” I can not tell you how many times I have sat in promotional meetings trying to come up with the next big station event. I don't think I ever came out of a meeting with less than a ½ dozen idea's. One of my favorite promotions was a Thanksgiving promotion called “The Great Turkey Race.” The idea each D.J. Was a Turkey, Ok we all were, and they ran a race like a horse race. The prize for picking the correct “Turkey” was of course a Thanksgiving turkey. Some of the names I came up with for the racing turkey's included Dave's Drumstick, Stu Stuffing, Sue's Sauce, and Kel's cole Slaw. Another favorite of mine was “Next Prize.” We had a tape of all kinds of different prizes, I would get the caller on the air and run the tape, the contestant would listen and say stop, then what ever the next prize on the tape is what they won. Some were good and some were not really prizes, like Kel's used coffee cup. One promotion that was very interesting to me was back in the early 70's when I worked at WILQ in Williamsport, The station had just changed call letters and was promotion then selves as “Q 105.” The idea was the most creative ways that the listener could show the logo. We had cakes, pictures of people with Q 105 tanned on their body, to a very large hay field mowed with that legend. The farmer who did that flew over the field and took a picture. The previous two were very successful promotions and created a lot of interest. One promotion that got the station into trouble was the parking meter stuffer. Each DJ had a regular shift and a route in the business district, armed with a couple of rolls of nickels and a stack of cards that said “your parking ticket was prevented by WLYC/WILQ. We ran this promotion for a couple of weeks until we got a visit from the Police Department Parking Enforcement division. According to them by putting money in a parking meter where a car other than your own was parked was against the law. I really don't remember the outcome but I think we stopped the promotion.

The last chart hit for them was “This Girl Is A Woman Now,” I liked the song and once again featured Gary's powerful voice. It was about this time that he made a business decision by refusing to cut another ballad, that decision proved to be the end of a very promising group career for the Union Gap. They did release a high forgettable song called “Let's Give Adam And Eve Another chance.” I do remember playing the song, BUT not for very long as it was a “bomb.”

These days Gary Puckett still tours and often appears with his good friend B.J. Thomas. During his shows Gary does a tribute to the veterans called “Home.” in our interview Gary described that segment of his show as “A moving experience.” He says it is not un common for Vietnam vets to come up to him after the show and tell him they remember his music on Armed Forces radio. Something that Gary said surprised him was the they vets tell him “it was your music we took with us to the battlefield.”

About the time of our interview, Gary was in the process of releasing a CD called “The Lost Tapes.” These were songs that Gary and his brother wrote back in 1974-75. While the songs were recorded, they were never released. Gary told me “the record companies did not know how to define the music, so they did not want to put it out.”

I did a follow up show with Gary, and we featured cuts from “The Lost Tapes.” The music is good, but if you think you are going to hear the traditional Gary Puckett ballad then you will be surprised. If you would like to order Gary's music and check out where he is appearing his web site is www.garypuckettmusic.com

During the run of “The Legendary Artist Series” I have interviewed over 50 different artists, most of the artists were good interviews, but Gary was one of the outstanding ones.

Trivia: What Union Gap song was re-released in 1974 in England and hit the top 5 becoming a “Certified Silver Record.” It was Gary's next hit from 1968. That hit was the classic “Young Girl.” Gary's next hit of “Over You” I felt that was a return to the more traditional sound with Gary really belting out a song. As was the case with all the Union Gap songs, the orchestration was great.



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