Cleveland Radio Tales: Stories from the Local Radio Scene of the 1960s, '70s, '80s, and '90s

by Mike Olszewski, Janice Olszewski

Overview

Remember when Cleveland radio crackled with a nonstop audio parade of larger-than-life characters?

Let’s go behind the microphone to meet dozens of intriguing and innovative local radio personalities, including …

• “Count” John Manolesco, the talk show host, astrologer, and former vampire who performed an exorcism live on-air
• A daytime host who raised eyebrows and gained headlines when he did his entire show in the nude
• Inventive Wayne Mack, whose make-believe big band concerts seemed so real that listeners drove around for hours in search of his fictional “Waltz Palace” ballroom
• Loudmouth Gary Dee, who scored big ratings interviewing strippers and once knocked a fellow DJ out cold
• Media mogul Milton Maltz, a “square” who teamed up with hippies to transform WMMS into a rock and roll giant
• Young Jack Paar, who nearly lost his first radio job while saving Cleveland from a Martian invasion
• The undaunted DJs of WABQ who broke FCC rules to stay on the air during the Glenville riots in 196
• Teenage amateurs whose pirate radio stations drew loyal local listeners—and angry visits from the Feds!
• Plus stories of live remotes gone wrong, unruly in-studio guests, management scuffles, the river of booze that fueled radio . . . and more true tales.

Plus stories of live remotes gone wrong, unruly in-studio guests, management scuffles, the river of booze that fueled radio . . . and more true tales.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781938441905
Publisher:	Gray & Company, Publishers
Publication date:	10/24/2017
Pages:	188
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.45(d)

About the Author

Mike Olszewski is a veteran Cleveland radio and television personality and the curator and archivist for the Ohio Broadcast Archive and Museum. He also teaches media and communications classes at Kent State University, the University of Akron, and Notre Dame College.

Janice Olszewski has more than three decades’ experience in the travel and tourism industry. Her photography has been published in "Filmfax," "Outre," and other national magazines.

Table of Contents

Preface “This station should kiss my ass . . . ” “Shooting pool with a rope!” “You’re never going to make it in this business!” “You stay in that world and you’ll be a bum . . . ” “Get down, dammit!” WKRP in . . . Willoughby “I didn’t saddle up to come in second!” Fired for Being Herself Meeting the Beatles The Buzzard—Behind the Curtain Belly Up To The Bar The Backstage Pass “There’s evil in this building” “Good line, smart ass” Theater of the Mind Power to the People! Air Pirates Mama, Don’t Let Your Cowboys Grow Up to Be Deejays At Your Service Short Circuits “You’re scaring my kids!” “Bouncy, Bouncy!” The Birth of the Buzzard Acknowledgments