The Wolfman Howls Again Volume 3

American disc jockey and music television host (1938–1995)

Wolfman Jack
Wolfman Jack in 1979
Born	Robert Weston Smith (1938-01-21)January 21, 1938 Brooklyn, New York Urban center, U.S.
Died	July i, 1995(1995-07-01) (anile 57) Belvidere, North Carolina, U.S.
Occupation	Disc Jockey radio personality musician goggle box presenter
Spouse(s)	Lucy "Lou" Lamb
Children	2

Robert Weston Smith, known every bit Wolfman Jack (January 21, 1938 – July 1, 1995), was an American disc jockey.^[one] Famous for his gravelly vocalization, he credited it for his success, saying, "Information technology'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 prissy raspy sound."^[two]

Early career [edit]

Smith was born in Brooklyn on January 21, 1938, the younger of two children of Anson Weston Smith, an Episcopal Sunday school teacher, writer, editor, and executive vice president of Financial World, and his wife Rosamond Small. He lived on 12th Street and fourth Artery and went to Manual Training High School in the Park Slope department. His parents divorced while he was a kid. To help keep him out of trouble, his father bought him a large Trans-Oceanic radio, and Smith became an avid fan of R&B music and the disc jockeys who played it, including Douglas "Jocko" Henderson of Philadelphia, New York'due south "Dr. Jive" (Tommy Smalls), the "Moon Canis familiaris" from Cleveland, Alan Freed, and Nashville's "John R." Richbourg, who later became his mentor. Later selling encyclopedias and Fuller brushes door-to-door, Smith attended the National Academy of Broadcasting in Washington, D.C. After he graduated in 1960, he began working equally "Daddy Jules" at WYOU in Newport News, Virginia. When the station format inverse to "beautiful music", Smith became known as "Roger Gordon and Music in Skillful Taste". In 1962, he moved to country music station KCIJ/1050 in Shreveport, Louisiana, as the station manager and morning time disc jockey, "Big Smith with the Records". He married Lucy "Lou" Lamb in 1961, and they had two children.^[iii]

Freed had originally called himself the "Moon Dog" after New York City street musician Moondog. Freed both adopted this name and used a recorded howl to give his early broadcasts a unique character. Smith'southward accommodation of the Moondog theme was to call himself Wolfman Jack and add his ain sound furnishings. The character was based in part on the manner and way of bluesman Howlin' Wolf. At KCIJ,at he start began to develop his famous alter ego Wolfman Jack. According to writer Philip A. Lieberman, Smith'due south "Wolfman" persona "derived from Smith'due south love of horror films and his shenanigans every bit a 'wolfman' with his two young nephews. The 'Jack' was added as a role of the 'hipster' lingo of the 1950s, as in 'Take a page from my book, Jack,' or the more popular, 'Hit the road, Jack.'"^[4]

In 1963, Smith took his human activity to the border when the Inter-American Radio Advertising'south Ramon Bosquez hired him and sent him to the studio and transmitter site of XERF-AM at Ciudad Acuña in Mexico, a station across the U.South.-United mexican states border from Del Rio, Texas, whose high-powered border blaster signal could be picked up across much of the Us. In an interview with writer Tom Miller, Smith described the reach of the XERF signal: "We had the most powerful signal in N America. Birds dropped expressionless when they flew besides shut to the tower. A car driving from New York to Fifty.A. would never lose the station."^[5] Most of the border stations broadcast at 250,000 watts, 5 times the U.S. limit, pregnant that their signals were picked upward all over N America, and at night every bit far away equally 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 Pentecostal preachers and psychics, and past taking fifty% of the turn a profit from anything sold by mail social club. The Wolfman did pitches for domestic dog food, weight-loss pills, weight-gain pills, rose bushes, and baby chicks. Even a pill called Florex, which was supposed to enhance ane's sex bulldoze, was sold. "Some zing for your ling nuts", the Wolfman would say.^{[half dozen]}

That sales pitch was typical of Wolfman Jack's growling, exuberant on-air style. In the spirit of his character proper noun, he punctuated his banter with howls, while urging his listeners to "get naked" or "lay your easily on the radio and clasp my knobs". Part of the persona was his nocturnal anonymity; listeners from coast to coast had no idea how to recognize the confront behind the voice that said things such equally, "Wolfman plays the best records in the business, and so he eats 'em!"

XERB was the original call sign for the border blaster station in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, which was branded equally The Mighty 1090 in Hollywood, California. The station boasted "50,000 watts of Boss Soul Power". That station continues to circulate today with the call sign XEPRS-AM. XERB too had an role in the rear of a small strip mall on Third Artery in Chula Vista, California. It was not unlike the modest broadcast studio depicted in the film American Graffiti (which was filmed at KRE in Berkeley). It was located only 10 minutes from the Tijuana–San Diego border crossing. The Wolfman was rumored to actually broadcast from this location during the early to mid-1960s. Smith left Mexico subsequently 8 months and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to run station KUXL. Though Smith was managing a Minneapolis radio station, he was still dissemination equally Wolfman Jack on XERF via taped shows that he sent to the station. Missing the excitement, however, he returned to border radio to run XERB, and opened an part on Sunset Boulevard in the Los Angeles area in January 1966. The Wolfman recorded his shows in Los Angeles and shipped his tapes across the border into Mexico, where they would then exist beamed beyond the U.Due south.^[7] During his time broadcasting on XERB, Smith met Don Kelley, who became his personal manager and business partner for more than 20 years. Kelley saw the potential for Wolfman Jack to become more than a radio personality. Kelley started to work on a strategy to transform Smith from a cult effigy to a mainstream entertainer in film, recordings, and television. He promoted Smith to the major media and formed enduring relationships with fundamental journalists.

In 1971, the Mexican authorities decided that its overwhelmingly Roman Catholic citizens should not be subjected to proselytizing and banned the Pentecostal preachers from the radio, taking away 80% of XERB's revenue. Smith then moved to station KDAY 1580 in Los Angeles, which could but pay him a fraction of his one-time XERB income. Smith capitalized on his fame, though, by editing his old XERB tapes and selling them to radio stations everywhere, becoming one of the first rock-and-roll syndicated programs (as the tapes began to age, they were eventually also marketed to oldies stations). He also appeared on Military Radio from 1970 to 1986. At his acme, Wolfman Jack was heard on more than than 2,000 radio stations in 53 countries.^[8] He was heard as far off as the Wild Coast, Transkei, on a station based there, Uppercase Radio 604.^[ix] In a deal promoted past Don Kelley, the Wolfman was paid handsomely to join WNBC in New York in Baronial 1973, the aforementioned month that American Graffiti premiered, and the station did a huge advertising campaign in local newspapers stating that the Wolfman would propel their ratings over those of their main competitor, WABC, which had "Cousin Brucie" (Bruce Morrow). The advertisements proclaimed, "Cousin Brucie's Days Are Numbered", and thousands of small-scale, tombstone-shaped paperweights were distributed that said, "Cousin Brucie is going to exist buried by Wolfman Jack".^{[x] [11]} 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.^[12] In the 1980s, he did a brief stint at XEROK lxxx, some other border-blaster station that was leased past Dallas investors Robert Hanna, Grady Sanders, and John Ryman. He besides hosted a Goggle box bear witness at Little Darlin's Rock n' Scroll Palace, which was eventually renamed Wolfman Jack's Rock'due north'Curl Palace.^[xiii] Ryman then moved Smith to Scott Ginsburg-endemic Y95 in Dallas, Texas.

Recordings of Wolfman Jack's old shows were reintroduced to syndication a decade after his death and remain bachelor to local stations, through Envision Networks as of 2020.^[xiv]

Moving-picture show, tv set, and music career [edit]

In his early days, Wolfman Jack made desultory public appearances, usually as a principal of ceremonies for stone 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 on pictures show him with a goatee, but sometimes he combed his straight hair forwards and added night 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 one-act 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 anthology Boogie with the Wolfman past Wolfman Jack and the Wolfpack on the Bread Label. He was as well responsible for engineering, producing, and assembling the band.^[15] Wolfman Jack also released Wolfman Jack (1972) and Through the Ages (1973) on the Wooden Nickel label.^[16]

In 1973, he appeared as himself in George Lucas's second feature film American Graffiti. Lucas gave him a fraction of a "point", the division of the profits from a film, and the extreme financial success of American Graffiti provided him with a regular income for life. He likewise appeared in the motion-picture show'due south 1979 sequel More American Graffiti, though only through voice-overs. In 1978, he appeared every bit Bob "The Jackal" Smith in a fabricated-for-TV movie Deadman'southward Bend based on the musical careers of Jan Berry and Dean Torrence of Jan and Dean. Smith appeared in several idiot box shows as Wolfman Jack, including The Odd Couple, What's Happening!!, Vega$, Hollywood Squares, Married... with Children, Emergency!, The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, and Galactica 1980. He was the regular announcer and occasional host for The Midnight Special on NBC from 1973 to 1981. He was the host of his diversity series The Wolfman Jack Show, which was produced in Canada by CBC Tv in 1976 and syndicated to stations in the U.Due south. He as well voiced the chief of the Rama Lama tribe on the Television set special Garfield in Paradise in 1986.

Jim Morrison's lyrics for "The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)" were influenced by Wolfman Jack'southward broadcasting. He is as well mentioned in the Grateful Dead song "Ramble On Rose".^[17] He furnished his vocalisation in The Guess Who'south elevation-10 striking 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/Annihilation?; the single version of the track includes a shouted talk-over introduction by the Wolfman, only on the album version, Rundgren performs that office himself. Canadian band The Stampeders besides 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 Drupe Farm, which transforms itself into Knott'south Scary Subcontract each year for Halloween. It was the most successful special outcome of any theme park in the country, and often sold out.^{[18] [nineteen] [20]}

In 2012, the estate of Wolfman Jack released a hip-hop single featuring Wolfman Jack clips as the vocals.^[21] In 2016, clips from the Wolfman Jack Radio Program were used in the Rob Zombie film 31.^[22]

Radio Caroline [edit]

When the ane 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 the laws passed in the Britain in 1967, the sales operation needed to be situated in the U.S. For a fourth dimension, Don Kelley, Wolfman Jack'southward business partner and personal managing director, acted as the W Coast agent for the planned new Radio Caroline, but the deal eventually roughshod apart.

As a part of this process, Wolfman Jack was set up to evangelize the morning shows on the new station. To that end, he recorded a number of programs that never aired, considering the station did non come on air according to schedule. (It eventually returned in 1983 from a new ship, which remained at bounding main until 1990.) Today, those tapes are traded among collectors of his work.^{[ citation needed ]}

Death [edit]

On July i, 1995, Smith died from a heart attack at his house in Belvidere, Due north Carolina, before long after finishing a weekly circulate.^{[2] [23]} He is cached at a family unit cemetery in Belvidere.^[24]

Filmography [edit]

Year	Title	Part	Notes
1971	The 7 Minutes	Himself
1973	American Graffiti	Disc Jockey / Himself
1975	Emergency!	Disc Jockey	"The Inspection"
1978	Sgt. Pepper's Alone Hearts Gild Band	Our Guests At Heartland
1978	Hanging on a Star	Gordon Shep
1978	The New Adventures of Wonder Adult female	Infra Carmine	"Disco Devil"
1979	More than American Graffiti	Himself
1980	Motel Hell	Reverend Billy
1980	Galactica 1980	Himself
1985	The Midnight Hr	Radio DJ	Made-for-tv set movie
1988	Mortuary University	Bernie Berkowitz
1989	Midnight	Himself
1992	Swamp Thing	Hurly	"Children of the Fool"
1995	Married... with Children	Himself	"Ship Happens: Part 1"

References [edit]

1. ^ Herszenhorn, David M. (July 2, 1995). "Wolfman Jack, Raspy Voice Of the Radio, Is Expressionless at 57". The New York Times.
2. ^ ^{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 xviii, 2015.
3. ^ John A. Drobnicki, "Wolfman Jack (Robert Weston Smith)", in The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Vol. four (Scribner'south, 2001), p. 581.
4. ^ Philip A. Lieberman, Radio's Morning Show Personalities: Early on Hour Broadcasters and Deejays from the 1920s to the 1990s (McFarland & Company, 1996), p. 58.
5. ^ Tom Miller. On the Edge: Portraits of America'southward Southwestern Frontier, pp. 84–85.
6. ^ Wes Smith, The Pied Pipers of Rock 'n' Roll (Longstreet Printing, 1989), p. 272.
7. ^ Gene Fowler and Bill Crawford, Border Radio (Limelight Editions, 1990).
8. ^ John A. Drobnicki, "Wolfman Jack (Robert Weston Smith)". in The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Vol. 4 (Scribner's, 2001), p. 582.
9. ^ "Wolfman Jack in Africa, 1980. Borderblasting in a Bantustan". July 16, 2012. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved September xi, 2017.
10. ^ Ben Fong-Torres, The Hits Just Keep on Coming: The History of Superlative 40 Radio (Miller Freeman Books, 1998), p. 142.
11. ^ Paul Levinson (July four, 1976). "Wolfman Hits the Route, Jack". The Hamlet Voice. p. 34.
12. ^ James F. Mills, "Wolfman Turns into Country Gentleman: North.C. Mansion Home to Rock 'northward' Coil DJ", Charlotte Observer (February 27, 1994), p. 8B.
13. ^ "Wolfman and 'Midnight': Nostalgia but No Regrets". Los Angeles Times. May 21, 1988. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
14. ^ "The Wolfman Jack Radio Show". Envision Networks . Retrieved Feb five, 2020.
15. ^ Minnesota Rocked, Tom Tourville, second Edition, 1983, LCCN 82-74566
16. ^ Callahan, Mike; Edwards, David; Eyries, Patrice (October 26, 2005). "Wooden Nickel Album Discography". Archived from the original on Jan thirteen, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
17. ^ "The Annotated "Ramble On Rose"". Artsites.ucsc.edu. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
18. ^ Merritt, Christopher, and Lynxwiler, J. Eric. Knott'southward Preserved: From Boysenberry to Theme Park, the History of Knott's Berry Farm, pp. 126–29, Angel City Press, Santa Monica, CA, 2010. ISBN 978-1-883318-97-0.
19. ^ "Scary Farm". Ultimatehaunt.com. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
20. ^ "Knott's In Print: Halloween Haunt in the Starting time". Knottsinprint.blogspot.com. October 24, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
21. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Wolfman Jack – Topic (October eleven, 2015). "Lay Your Hand On the Radio". Retrieved September 11, 2017 – via YouTube.
22. ^ "'31' Review: Rob Zombie Makes Sickest Film Notwithstanding, Also His Most Fun". September 2, 2016. Retrieved September xi, 2017.
23. ^ "A short synapses nearly Wolfman Jack, his accomplishments, and his life". Archived from the original on July 27, 2013.
24. ^ "Kin Programme Park, Museum in Award of Wolfman Jack". Deseret News. Nov 12, 1995. Retrieved December 23, 2018.

External links [edit]

• "New Year's Eve, 1993, With Wolfman Jack !"
• Wolfman Jack: The Mouth Heard 'Round the Earth (interview)
• Kip Pullman'south American Graffiti Weblog
• Wolfman Jack and the gun battle in the Mexican desert
• What made Wolfman Jack neat?
• Wolfman Jack at IMDb
• Wolfman Jack at Observe a Grave

mooneygess1976.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfman_Jack

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