G.O. has Died

[Robnoxious]

I don't think anyone can ever duplicate or even come within close contact with radio legends like Bill Ballance, Gary Owens, Casey Kasem or Sweet Dick Whittington these days. It's truly a bygone era in the medium. It used to be that you would have to have the chops in radio to get to television but that hurdle is much more easily sidestepped these days with a pretty face and defined cheekbones.

Gary Owens didn't have that problem. His pipes and visage were perfect for both radio and television. A true pioneer.

I have a couple G.O. airchecks, one with him on KMET doing a retrospective of Color 98 KFWB and a KMPC set from the early 70's.

Regardless of the decade, Gary Owens was all class pro the entire way.

The world sounds a lot less cooler now that Gary Owens is nor longer within it.

Gary Owens and Stan Chambers in the same day, wow!
The legends are fading fast and we really have no good backups to replace them.

That is really the saddest note of them all.

 

[TheBigA]

Gary Owens and Stan Chambers in the same day, wow!
The legends are fading fast and we really have no good backups to replace them.

Well that IS a big part of what makes them legends. I've heard the same about certain musicians and actors too. They are one of a kind.

The challenge for all of us who walk the earth is to take the time and circumstance we have, and try to affect it in some way. To make an impact. To leave a legacy. Guys like Gary figured out how to do that, and do it for a very long time. That's the sign of a life well lived. Something to celebrate, not to be sad about.

There will be other legends, other people who took THEIR particular time and circumstance, and affected it in some way. Maybe not in the SAME way. Because the times and circumstances are different. But we should all strive for that. That's the challenge of life. So let's not be sad, but be happy we lived in a time when we were able to experience his talent.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Gary signed my book: "Hello Steve and Hello Steve FM. Gary Owens, 10-11-1897."

That reminds me of one of Gary Owens' bits on the old Laugh In show.

Dan Rowan is dressed as a high-ranking military officer discussing strategy with some other officers. Gary walks into the room in a military uniform holding some radio equipment. Rowan turns to him and says "Oh, ROTC?" and Gary replies "No, ROTC-FM!!!"

R.I.P. Gary, and thank you. A reminder of the fun days of personality based music radio.

 

[Hot Hits]

I don't think anyone can ever duplicate or even come within close contact with radio legends like Bill Ballance, Gary Owens, Casey Kasem or Sweet Dick Whittington these days. It's truly a bygone era in the medium.

I would never think of putting Whittinghill & and "Sweet Dick Whittington" in the same sentence? Whittinghill was a special little man who achieved incredible success. Even sang with the Pied Pipers! Gary Owens was even more special but for different reasons. I'm not sure I'd even put Bill Balance in the same category as the other two although very funny. You know Bruce Vidal once told me he was the 4th most famous and listened to Radio personality in America, I laughed, he was serious. No one can duplicate the talent of an Owens or Whittinghill except Casey also belonged in that small elite group!

 

[K.M. Richards]

Dan Rowan is dressed as a high-ranking military officer discussing strategy with some other officers. Gary walks into the room in a military uniform holding some radio equipment. Rowan turns to him and says "Oh, ROTC?" and Gary replies "No, ROTC-FM!!!"

I wonder how many here get the joke, which has to do with the way a certain FCC rule was written at the time.

 

[Thomps2525]

Many of us remember in 1976 when 1150 and 102.7 became "KIIS AM & FM" and a few years later, when most of the KIIS listeners were tuning to 102.7, the stations were known as "KIIS FM & AM."

The Los Angeles Times story about Gary Owens includes this comment from a 1980 interview: "I overheard a doctor tell my parents he didn't expect me to live past my teens." Knowing about that prediction makes me much more thankful that we got to enjoy hearing Gary for the past 60 years. Rest in peace, Gary.

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-gary-owens-20150213-story.html

 

[Thomps2525]

Mike Nolan retired in December 2014 after spending 41 years as a helicopter-borne traffic reporter. He was at KFI for the last 28 of those years. He shared this hilarious story (which I condensed somewhat) at LARadio.com:

"I was flying KOY In The Sky in Phoenix. Charlie Van Dyke was doing the afternoon show. He played Memories by Barry Manilow, then came to me. I said I prefer Barbara Streisand's version. He said something about how much Barry Manilow would appreciate that. A perfect setup. I said we came to Barry Manilow, not to praise him. Charlie lost it. Later, off air, I confessed to Charlie that I stole the line from Gary. A few years later, when I had the honor of working with Gary, I confessed to him too and Gary being Gary loved the story."

I imagine there are hundreds of DJs still using lines that they "borrowed" from Gary Owens.

 

[Thomps2525]

It was on this day in 1981---February 14---when Gary replaced the ailing Murray the K (Kaufman) on ABC/Watermark's syndicated Soundtrack Of The '60s program. Gary would continue as host until a few weeks before its cancellation in 1984. Charlie Van Dyke hosted the final few episodes. Gary went on to launch a new program, Supertracks.

 

[frankberry]

Didn't Gary do "Superfun" comedy bits in the early 70's? The bits were sold to radio stations and delivered on LP discs.

 

[Thomps2525]

Why, gosharooties, frankberry, you are correct. Gary was a contributor to SuperFun from the beginning. The 1968 demo is at http://www.reelradio.com/dr/superfun.html and some comments about SuperFun, along with a seven-minute clip of Gary's comedy bits, is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0soAxikCPy8

 

[Thomps2525]

The World Wide Web is quite impressive. If one or two websites get a certain fact wrong, pretty soon the wrong information will appear on hundreds of sites. Most sites say that Gary Owens was born in 1936. He was born in 1934. Most sites say that he became a news director at KORN in 1952. I discovered that he was hired as a newsman and was eventually promoted to news director. He also did news at KMA in Shenandoah before becoming a DJ at KOIL in Omaha, where he changed his on-air name to Gary Owens. I wonder if there are any recordings of him from KORN. To this very day, I have never met an aircheck collector from South Dakota!

 

[Hot Hits]

The World Wide Web is quite impressive. If one or two websites get a certain fact wrong, pretty soon the wrong information will appear on hundreds of sites. Most sites say that Gary Owens was born in 1936. He was born in 1934. Most sites say that he became a news director at KORN in 1952. I discovered that he was hired as a newsman and was eventually promoted to news director. He also did news at KMA in Shenandoah before becoming a DJ at KOIL in Omaha, where he changed his on-air name to Gary Owens. I wonder if there are any recordings of him from KORN. To this very day, I have never met an aircheck collector from South Dakota!

Much like your meticulously prepared L.A. Rewind getting isolated dates and facts wrong, found on the internet. Don't get me wrong its fun to read, as the Web is too, but we can't always trust what we read. We do know (there was no doubt) however that Gary was 80, soon to be 81. I bet Lee Baby Simms is laughing right now doing some sort of afterlife podcast.

 

[impala88]

Good-bye Gary. ((

 

[michael hagerty]

A final thought. He was 48 in October of 1984, I remember thinking how 'old' he was. I was 26. He had to be 80, I've done the math

Let's do the math again. If he was 48 in October of 1984, and his birthday was in May (which no one disputes), then he would be 78 in October of 2014, and since we're not to May yet, he still would have been 78, not 80, at the time of his death this week.

1936 was the year in circulation well before the internet came along and at a time of Gary's life when fudging about his age would have been irrelevant. He began his career at KORN at age 16. He did morning drive at KFWB at 25 and went to KMPC at 26. And that came from Gary himself.

 

[Thomps2525]

HotHits, I admit that I have made quite a few errors in the 12 years that I have been doing the Rewind features for LARadio.com. I try my best to verify all the information that I write but it ain't always easy. For example, I found three different birthdates for Regis Philbin and five different birthdates for Herbert "Zeppo" Marx! I couldn't find an exact birthdate for Lee "Baby" Simms even after checking dozens of websites and checking with with longtime friend and KRLA historian Bill Earl. I believe Variety was one of the first media outlets to report on Gary's death and they said he was 80. That age is also cited by CNN, NPR, FOX, USA Today, TV Guide, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News and many other sources, including KDLT-TV in Gary's home state of South Dakota:

http://www.kdlt.com/news/local-news/mitchell-native-gary-owens-dies-at-80/31265912

Hey, Gary, is all this confusion about your birth year just another one of your silly pranks? Gosharooties! Here is today's Rewind feature, which Don did not have room to include on LARadio.com because of all the many memories and stories being shared by Gary's friends and co-workers:

LARadio Rewind February 15, 1984. ABC/Watermark announces the cancellation of the syndicated Soundtrack Of The '60s show. The final episode will air on May 12. New York dj Murray the K (Kaufman) was the original host when the program began on June 7, 1980, but failing health forced him to quit in February 1981. He was replaced by Gary Owens. Gary, in turn, was replaced by Charlie Van Dyke on the final few broadcasts and launched a new program for Creative Radio Network, Gary Owens Supertracks, which would run for four years. Gary died February 12, 2015, at age 80.

 

[Hot Hits]

Let's do the math again. If he was 48 in October of 1984, and his birthday was in May (which no one disputes), then he would be 78 in October of 2014, and since we're not to May yet, he still would have been 78, not 80, at the time of his death this week.

1936 was the year in circulation well before the internet came along and at a time of Gary's life when fudging about his age would have been irrelevant. He began his career at KORN at age 16. He did morning drive at KFWB at 25 and went to KMPC at 26. And that came from Gary himself.

You are right, and I stand by my time line so he couldn't have been 80? I see more recent articles support the 1934 birthdate, including a quote from his son but I have to think you are correct.

 

[michael hagerty]

You are right, and I stand by my time line so he couldn't have been 80? I see more recent articles support the 1934 birthdate, including a quote from his son but I have to think you are correct.

Gary told me himself. He was 42 at the time (the 1979 R&R convention, two weeks before his 43rd birthday). Every trade publication story on Gary that mentioned a birthday in the 60s and 70s had 1936.

The 1934 date you're seeing online (and that Steve is using as source material) comes from the announcement of Gary's death by his agent, who simply got the date wrong. It happens.

 

[Hot Hits]

HotHits, I admit that I have made quite a few errors in the 12 years that I have been doing the Rewind features for LARadio.com. I try my best to verify all the information that I write but it ain't always easy.

No its not you, its the Internet. You do a fine job on the L.A Rewind although much of your research comes from the Web. However I need to agree with Michael and KM , he couldn't have been 80 and my math like most of the major new organizations in America was flawed. At best Gary would have been 79 if I asked him his age previous to his 1984 birthday which is possible. I saw and spoke with him daily from January 2nd, 1984 until most of the air staff exited in November before the merger of the two KIIS's again in 1985. We now know here at Radio Discussions he was NOT 80!

 

[Thomps2525]

So Gary was 78 and not 80. How could his agent have reported the wrong birth year? At any rate, that explains how CBS, CNN, NPR, FOX and so many other sources got his age wrong. I was thinking that if Gary was trying to get a job as a radio newsman, he might have said he was older than he really was, the way some men lie about their age in order to serve in the Armed Forces. So Gary Altman became a news reporter at KORN in 1952. Contrary to several Internet sites, he did not begin as a news director. From what I can verify, he was promoted to news director in 1954 and left the station in 1956.

Hey, Michael, since you're so smart, what can you tell us about the Zootmeister Broadcasting Network?

 

[Thomps2525]

Somebody who we all know and love...errr...harrumph!...has restored Gary's original birth year of 1936 on his Wikipedia page and credited Richards and Haggerty in the reference. It's amazing how rapidly a bit of false information can spread worldwide! Gary is probably up there laughing at us now.