Kel's "List Of Shame"

Ok boys and girls, snuggle up close to the radio it's time again for “The Class Reunion.” A large percentage of we “Baby Boomer's'” were born at a very unique time in history, well at least from my perspective. The “Golden Age of Radio” was winding down, and TV was just getting underway. I can remember as a young lad growing up in the Williamsport, Pa area or being glued to the radio for The Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans, Gunsmoke, Mystery Theater and more, this truly was a fantastic time for some really great programming. One program that stands out in my mind was on N.B.C. Radio on the weekend. That program was “Monitor.” Even thpough I never worked at an NBC Affiliate during that time, I was a regular listener. Such great acts as comedians Bob & Ray, news, interviews, special features and more. I still credit “Monitor” as a very early forerunner of today's talk radio format. As I was sitting her typing this I can easily remember ABC Radio's “Don McNeil's Breakfast Club” and the great “Art Linkletter's House Party” on CBS. By the late 60's these shows were gone, replaced by music formats on radio.

This time I have decided to deviate from writing about on specific artist and pass along some thoughts about unusual things I have heard and seen in my time in radio, I hope you enjoy my ramblings.

Records that NEVER should have been released: There are a lot that fall into that category that I, and a lot of other people, consider to be just plain BAD MUSIC. Right at the top of my list was an album of Beatles music. I may surprise you that even though I grew up during the “British Invasion” I was not a Beatles fan, BUT that said, I did like their music. I think that all of their songs at one time or another have been covered (re corded) by another artist. Some of the best, in my opinion came from Sergio Mendes and Brazil 66. If you get a chance to pick up a copy of their CD, I am sure you will like it as well. Ok, now the worst cover of a Beatles song belongs to none other than Bing Crosby. Bing's late 60's version of “Hey Jude” is without a doubt one of the worst songs I have ever heard. I can remember at the time I was the Music Director of WMPT in South Williamsport Pa. And they had just put the first Stereo FM station on the air. The owner, not wanting “Rock and Roll” on the FM at night contacted for a music service to be run on the stations home brew automation system. One element of the service was a show called "Music With Mc Master." I often listened to the show partly because I had just installed a brand new combination 8 track track, stereo FM radio in my car! Anyway I was on my way to the station and heard old, Bingo “groaning bo-do-oh-dooby oh- do.” When I got there I went to the automation pulled the reel off the tape machine, (a news cast was on the air) and threw it in the station dumpster! I told the supplier if they ever sent that cut again I was canceling the service. BTW if you have a wish to ruin your ears, Bing's version of "Hey Jude" was released on CD in 1997 by Rhino Records under the title "Golden Throats IV -- Celebrities Butcher the Beatles."

Don't get me wrong, I like Bing, I also like Peggy Lee, but she had another of “Kel's Despised Records” “Is That All There Is.” The song asks the same question over and over, like 'is that all there is to the fire?” “is that all there is to Love, life,” ETC. On the plus side Peggy's version of “Fever” is a real classic song. For the Disney movie “Lady and the Tramp, Peggy wrote a great deal of the songs and did four different character voices.

Some of the other songs on “Kel's List of Shame” Include, My Sharona, You Light Up My Life, Which Way You Goin' Billy,” and high lighted by records released by William Shatner, that included Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. Even Mr. Spock , Lenord Nimoy, got into the act covering “Hey, Mr Tambourine Man”. To be sure there are many others, some of them got to my list because I had to play them so many times while they were popular.

Trivia question: Who did the sound effects of Jack Benny's Maxwell Automobile? The answer, none other than the very highly talented Mel Blanc. Mel Blanc is probably the best known voice artist ever, giving us Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Barney Rubble, and he was even the first voice of Woody Woodpecker, before he left Walter Lance to go to Warner Brothers.I think every disk jockey in the business looked to Mel Blanc for inspiration for their character voices. I know I did adapting Foghorn Leghorn as my character “General Confusion,” and have always loved to do Elmer Fudd, a role Mel inherited in later years. The original voice of Elmer, by the way, was Arthur Q. Bryan and most of the "Woody" cartoons were voiced by Gracie Lantz, Walters wife, who won the role in a blind audition.