Harry Abraham hasn't had a radio show since 1978 and that is a travesty. In 1978 WHAM-AM flipped to country music and Harry hit the road, his jazz show ended abruptly. He died May 7th 2009 and that too was a goddamn shame. Even in 1982, just 4 years after the show was nixed Larry King at Billboard was reminiscing about the program in print.1180 WHAM was a clear channel station.. it could be heard from Rochester south to Dallas, west to Denver East into the Atlantic, and North deep into Canada. That mean that from midnight to 5 AM Harry owned the night. His show "The Best of All Possible Worlds" was one of the greatest jazz programs that ever was. In a time of jazz greatness when classic sides were born, Harry was there to play them. More here.
He signed off the show the same way every time '...wishing you the best of all possible worlds..." After radio he tried his hand at a number of gigs, computer networking, photography, and one not-so-successful bank robbery. While in prison he studied up and went straight, but never went back to radio.
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Harry provided an alternative to "Top 40" Rock stations, and introduced thousands to the world of Jazz.
ReplyDeleteFirst heard Harry (1969) when I was a student at WVU, in Morgantown. Continued listening from Dayton, after getting hired by GM, as an Industrial Engineer.
Harry has influenced my life as much as anyone in the entertainment industry.
I wish I had clips of his show. I only know him by reputation.
ReplyDeleteAfter leaving WHAM, Harry got involved in bank robbery and spent time in prison.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in SE Wisconsin. Dad's Buick could pick up Harry in the driveway. I'd sneak out after 11:00 some nights and listen to the man. He never talked over a cut. He gave information about the cut like the engineer and the rest of the talent. He'd tell you who was next, play them, tell you about them and cut to the news.
ReplyDeleteOne February Friday night, I fell asleep in the car and lost part of a toe to frostbite.
I'd loose another toe if I could find a jazz D.J. to fill the void. We used to have a show called "The Swing Years and Beyond" here in Seattle but it's gone now. We have a good Jazz station (KCNX) which has to serve.
Damn, I miss Harry. I didn't picture him with the fro though.
Monty
Got a link? that's amazing.
ReplyDeleteCobbled together a pair of ear plugs to a pocket sized GE transistor radio from the mid sixties so as not to wake my brother in the bed across the room. Always something interesting and new to me to hear. Still remember Jeremy Steig with the crayon colored album cover.
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