Wolfman Jack
Wolfman Jack | |
---|---|
Born | Robert Weston Smith January 21, 1938 Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. |
Died | July 1, 1995 | (aged 57)
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1960–1995 |
Spouse | Lucy "Lou" Lamb |
Children | 2 |
Robert Weston Smith (January 21, 1938 – July 1, 1995), known as Wolfman Jack, was an American disc jockey active for over three decades.[1] Famous for the gravelly voice which he credited for his success, saying, "It's kept meat and potatoes on the table for years for Wolfman and Wolfwoman. A couple of shots of whiskey helps it. I've got that nice raspy sound."[2]
Early life
Smith was born in
Broadcasting career
After graduating from NAB in 1960, Smith began working as "Daddy Jules" at WYOU in Newport News, Virginia. When the station format changed to "beautiful music", he became known as "Roger Gordon and Music in Good Taste". In 1962, Smith moved to country music station KCIJ/1050 in Shreveport, Louisiana, as the station manager and morning disc jockey, "Big Smith with the Records". He married Lucy "Lou" Lamb in 1961, and they had two children.[4]
Cleveland's Alan Freed had originally called himself the "Moon Dog" after New York City
In 1963, Smith took his act to the border when Inter-American Radio Advertising's Ramon Bosquez hired him and sent him to the studio and transmitter site of
Many of the Mexican border stations broadcast at 150,000 watts, three times the U.S. limit, meaning that their signals were picked up all over North America, and at night as far away as Europe and the Soviet Union. At XERF, Smith developed his signature style (with phrases such as, "Who's this on the Wolfman telephone?") and widespread fame. The border stations made money by renting time to
Missing the excitement, however, Wolfman returned to border radio to run XERB, and opened an office on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles in January 1966. He recorded his shows in Los Angeles and shipped his tapes across the border into Mexico, where they would then be beamed across the U.S.[8]
In 1971, the Mexican government, under pressure from the Roman Catholic church, banned the Pentecostal preachers from the radio, taking away 80% of XERB's revenue. Smith then moved to station
In a deal promoted by Don Kelley, the Wolfman was paid handsomely to join
After less than a year, WNBC hired Cousin Brucie, and Wolfman Jack went back to California to concentrate on his syndicated radio show, which was carried on KRLA-Pasadena (Los Angeles) from 1984 to 1987. He moved to Belvidere, North Carolina, in 1989, to be closer to his extended family.[13] In the 1980s, he did a brief stint at XEROK 80, another border-blaster station that was leased by Dallas investors Robert Hanna, Grady Sanders, and John Ryman. He also hosted a TV show at Little Darlin's Rock n' Roll Palace, which was eventually renamed Wolfman Jack's Rock'n'Roll Palace.[14] Ryman then moved Smith to Scott Ginsburg-owned Y95 in Dallas, Texas.
Recordings of Wolfman Jack's old shows were reintroduced to syndication a decade after his death and remain available to local stations, through Talent Farm as of mid-2020.[15]
Film, television, and music career
In his early days, Wolfman Jack made sporadic public appearances, usually as a master of ceremonies for rock bands at Los Angeles clubs. At each appearance, he looked a little different because he had not decided what the Wolfman should look like. Early pictures show him with a goatee, but sometimes he combed his straight hair forward and added dark makeup to look somewhat "ethnic." Other times he had a big afro wig and large sunglasses. The ambiguity of his race contributed to the controversy of his program. His audience finally got a good look at him when he appeared in the 1969 film A Session with the Committee, a montage of skits by the comedy troupe The Committee.
Wolfman Jack started his recording career in Minneapolis while working at KUXL Radio in 1965 with George Garrett, who helped record the album Boogie with the Wolfman by Wolfman Jack and the Wolfpack on the Bread Label. He was also responsible for engineering, producing, and assembling the band.[16] Wolfman Jack also released Wolfman Jack (1972) and Through the Ages (1973) on the Wooden Nickel label.[17]
In 1973, he appeared as himself in
Jim Morrison's lyrics for "The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)" were influenced by Wolfman Jack's broadcasting. He is also mentioned in the Grateful Dead song "Ramble On Rose".[18] He furnished his voice in The Guess Who's top-10 hit single "Clap for the Wolfman". Wolfman Jack was regularly parodied on The Hilarious House of Frightenstein as "The Wolfman," an actual werewolf disc jockey with a look inspired by the original The Wolf Man movies. A few years earlier, Todd Rundgren recorded the tribute "Wolfman Jack" on the album Something/Anything?; the single version of the track includes a shouted talk-over introduction by the Wolfman, but on the album version, Rundgren performs that part himself. Canadian band The Stampeders also released a cover of "Hit the Road Jack" in 1975 featuring Wolfman Jack. From 1975 to 1980, Wolfman Jack hosted Halloween Haunt at Knott's Berry Farm, which transforms itself into Knott's Scary Farm each year for Halloween. It was the most successful special event of any theme park in the country, and often sold out.[19][20][21]
In 2012, the estate of Wolfman Jack released a hip-hop single featuring Wolfman Jack clips as the vocals.[22] In 2016, clips from the Wolfman Jack Radio Program were used in the Rob Zombie film 31.[23]
Radio Caroline
When the one surviving ship in what had originally been a pirate radio network of Radio Caroline North and Radio Caroline South sank in 1980, a search began to find a replacement. Because of new laws passed in the UK in 1967 (Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967), the sales operation needed to be situated outside of the UK. For a time, Don Kelley, Wolfman Jack's business partner and personal manager, acted as the West Coast agent for the planned new Radio Caroline, but the deal eventually fell apart.
As a part of this process, Wolfman Jack was set to deliver the morning shows on the new station. To that end, he recorded a number of programs that never aired, because the station did not come on air according to schedule. (It eventually returned in 1983 from a new ship, which remained at sea until 1990.) Today, those tapes are traded among collectors of his work.[citation needed]
Death
On July 1, 1995, Smith died from a heart attack at his house in Belvidere, North Carolina, shortly after finishing a weekly broadcast. He was 57 years old.[2][24] He is buried at a family cemetery in Belvidere.[25]
Legacy and portrayals
Wolfman Jack is portrayed by Jack Black in the 2022 satirical biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. He is portrayed as a rival of Dr. Demento (played in the film by Rainn Wilson).
In 1978, an
On
Wolfman Jack’s voice was used in the 1989 beat 'em up arcade video game
In his 2020 song "Murder Most Foul," Bob Dylan invokes Wolfman Jack many times.[26]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1971 | The Seven Minutes | Himself | |
1973 | American Graffiti | Disc Jockey / Himself | |
1973 | The Odd Couple | Himself | "The Songwriter" |
1975 | Emergency! | Disc Jockey | "The Inspection" |
1978 | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | Our Guests At Heartland | |
1978 | Hanging on a Star | Gordon Shep | |
1978 | The New Adventures of Wonder Woman | Infra Red | "Disco Devil" |
1978 | What's Happening!! | Himself | "Going, Going, Gong" |
1979 | More American Graffiti | Himself | |
1980 | Motel Hell | Reverend Billy | |
1980 | The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang | Narrator | Animated |
1980 | Galactica 1980 | Himself | "The Night the Cylons Landed" |
1984 | Wolf Rock TV | Himself | |
1985 | The Midnight Hour | Radio DJ | Made-for-television movie |
1988 | Mortuary Academy | Bernie Berkowitz | |
1989 | Midnight | Himself | |
1992 | Swamp Thing | Hurly | "Children of the Fool" |
1995 | Married... with Children | Himself | "Ship Happens: Part 1" |
References
- ^ Herszenhorn, David M. (July 2, 1995). "Wolfman Jack, Raspy Voice Of the Radio, Is Dead at 57". The New York Times.
- ^ a b Bob Pinheiro (July 1, 1995). "Wolfman Jack, pioneer disc jockey dies at 57". Modestoradiomuseum.org. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
- ^ "Family tree of WOLFMAN JACK". Geneanet. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ John A. Drobnicki, "Wolfman Jack (Robert Weston Smith)", in The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Vol. 4 (Scribner's, 2001), p. 581.
- ^ Philip A. Lieberman, Radio's Morning Show Personalities: Early Hour Broadcasters and Deejays from the 1920s to the 1990s (McFarland & Company, 1996), p. 58.
- ^ Tom Miller. On the Border: Portraits of America's Southwestern Frontier, pp. 84–85.
- ^ Wes Smith, The Pied Pipers of Rock 'n' Roll (Longstreet Press, 1989), p. 272.
- ^ Gene Fowler and Bill Crawford, Border Radio (Limelight Editions, 1990).
- ^ John A. Drobnicki, "Wolfman Jack (Robert Weston Smith)". in The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Vol. 4 (Scribner's, 2001), p. 582.
- ^ "Wolfman Jack in Africa, 1980. Borderblasting in a Bantustan". July 16, 2012. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
- ^ Ben Fong-Torres, The Hits Just Keep on Coming: The History of Top 40 Radio (Miller Freeman Books, 1998), p. 142.
- ^ Paul Levinson (July 4, 1976). "Wolfman Hits the Road, Jack". The Village Voice. p. 34.
- ^ James F. Mills, "Wolfman Turns into Country Gentleman: N.C. Mansion Home to Rock 'n' Roll DJ", Charlotte Observer (February 27, 1994), p. 8B.
- ^ "Wolfman and 'Midnight': Nostalgia but No Regrets". Los Angeles Times. May 21, 1988. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
- ^ "The Talent Farm Adds the Wolfman Jack Show". radioinsight.com. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- LCCN 82-74566
- ^ Callahan, Mike; Edwards, David; Eyries, Patrice (October 26, 2005). "Wooden Nickel Album Discography". Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
- ^ "The Annotated "Ramble On Rose"". Artsites.ucsc.edu. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ISBN 978-1-883318-97-0.
- ^ "Scary Farm". Ultimatehaunt.com. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ "Knott's In Print: Halloween Haunt in the Beginning". Knottsinprint.blogspot.com. October 24, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Wolfman Jack – Topic (October 11, 2015). "Lay Your Hand On the Radio". Retrieved September 11, 2017 – via YouTube.
- ^ "'31' Review: Rob Zombie Makes Sickest Film Yet, Also His Most Fun". September 2, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
- ^ "A short synapses about Wolfman Jack, his accomplishments, and his life". Archived from the original on July 27, 2013.
- ^ "Kin Plan Park, Museum in Honor of Wolfman Jack". Deseret News. November 12, 1995. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
- ^ "Murder Most Foul | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.