Art Hellyer is Not Dead

Art Hellyer, said in a 1993 interview on 97.1 WNIB that he wasn't really a DJ he just "played music as a fill between commercials." Hellyer was a mainstay of Chicagoland radio starting back in the 1940s and lasting for five decades. His zany off-beat humor was part of what shaped our modern radio gestalt bridging the gap between guy s like J. Aku Head Pupule and the modern morning zoo. He was on air at WGN, WJOL, WLS, WMAQ, WJJD, WOPA, WIND, WAIT, WOWO, WCFL, WBBM and certainly others. His biography The Hellyer Say is not to be skipped. 

His first show was on WKNA in Charleston, WV in 1947 interviewing auto salesmen.  Despite behaving like Art Hellyer, he was not fired from that job. (In his book he actually devotes a whole chapter to what he was not fired for.) It was a theme in his career. His zany behavior got him ratings. WBBM famously fired him over a dress-code violation and then re-hired him. As he told the Chicago Tribune in 1996 more simply that he got fired "a lot."

"...I counted 14 times. It may have been more than that... I always said every one of my battles was over creative control. I wanted to be creative, and they wanted control."

It's hard to say which of his programs was the most important to his career as several of them held the number one slot in one decade or another. In the 1950s his program The Art Hellyer Show aka the Morning Madcap on 1000 WCFL-AM, again on 780 WBBM with his Supper Club shows in the '60s while also doing mornings at WAIT, Then again on WLS-FM in the '70s until they went progressive rock in 1969. He was number one again on 1160 WJJD-AM in the '80s. His time at WOPA straddles some of that doing WOPA Art Hellyer's Memory Lane in the mid sixties.

What probably got his career going the most was his time on on WCFL. There he was given carte blanche for the first time in his career and he more or less ran amok. He offended big sponsors, like Coca-Cola and General Motors but the listeners loved it.  In he did spend a few serious on air. He advocated for the seat belts in cars in the 1950s and in 1960 spent time explaining to listeners the importance of the then brand new Polio vaccine to quiet the anti-vaccination nuttters. In 2011 he made another come back of sorts and began Internet radio station Party 934. Not bad for a guy that one quipped that "...the average life of a disc jockey in Chicago is three years."

Transcription Mystery Disc #181

I had to give this one a good wipe down before I even tried to play it just to get the grit and sand out of the grooves.Obviously this one has gotten wet and stayed wet and rusted, cracked and started to de-laminate. It's a near death experience for an acetate. However, part of this Recordisc did survive and lived to be ripped today. It has a metal core (obviously) outer-edge start and spins at 78 rpm. It's labeled "Red Flannel" and Hot Shots"  It bears the date 11/29/41.

Hoosier Hot Shots


The Hot Shots herein are surely the Hoosier Hot Shots, a band that first appeared in 1930 on WOWO in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and continued to operate in one form or another until about 1970. They relocated to WLS in Chicago in 1933 and it is from a live syndicated broadcast there that this recording was probably made. Mutual had them on with Uncle Ezra,Merry-Go-Round Up and their own Hoosier Hot Shot Show. The clip is short.. it could have been any of them. But the song appears to be "Put On Your Old Red Flannel Nightgown" which was released on the Vocalion label #5132. That was pressed in 1939 so the chronology bears out.

Herb Shriner Time

Herbert Shriner  would never have made it big today. Being affable, knowing some funny stories and playing the harmonica wouldn't be enough to put him over the top these days. He was sort of the Will Rogers of Indiana, if Indiana ever needed their own. But comedy was a different animal back then. He was born in Toledo in 1918, and grew up in Ft. Wayne. How he ended up as a radio celeb seems almost by accident.

He began as a humorist, what we now call a stand-up comedian. He played harmonica on radio programs like a Hoosier version of Johnny Puelo. No source gives a specific date as to his first appearance but it's generally dated to about 1940. He was being booked by the William Morris agency. His first regular spot was Camel Caravan, a comedy-variety program. He started there in 1942. That fits well in the time line since by 1952 Billboard was calling him a "TV comedian." What happened in between was WWII. Herb performed for the USO live and on air including The Philip Morris Follies.

In 1946 he was the star of the "Hoosier Radio Round Up," a radio event that was networked 300+ programs across 19 radio stations broadcasting from the Indiana State fair.  The program showcased talent in the Hoosier state. There were appearances by Singing Sam, Herb Shriner, Hoagy Carmichael, Chick Johnson, Ole Olsen and many others. Networked stations includes WISH, WIBC, WFBM, WIRE, WHOT, WHBU, WLBC, WKMO, WASK, WKMO, WKBV,  WKBF, WMLL, WBOW and WOWO. He did it again in1947. After it was all over Governor Ralph gates gave him a medal.

In 1948 he got his own radio show on CBS, Herb Shriner Time. The show also had the Raymond Scott Quintet, singer Dorothy Collins, and announcer Durward Kirby. The Herb Shriner TV Show began in 1949 which ran for 2 years. ABC picked him up for a year in 1951 and that petered out in the Fall of 1952.  CBS picked him up for a third spin in the Fall of  1952. He did a stint hosting a TV game show after that which ran until 1955. In the 1950s he did some comedy LPs, and an all harmonica orchestra which was an abomination. He went back to the night clubs. He retired to Florida, and was killed in a car wreck in 1970.

KEX and the Castle Jazz Band

It's a tale of a conflict of interest. Some of this relates to another post here, but I'll summarize briefly. The basic story is a to and fro for KEX-AM. They moved repeatedly from a member of a network to a station without one.It begins in Portland, OR. 1250 KEX-AM began broadcasting on December 23rd, 1926. It's important to note that date because from that time until October 3rd, 1928 all programing on KEX was local. After that date they syndicated some programming from KJR. that was when they joined the Northwest Network. The next week ABC started working with CBS and KEX was able to syndicate some of those programs as well. In August the Northwest Network folded. KEX was back into local programming (and moved to 1080.)

But in 1931 they were bought by NBC and were back into a very syndicated schedule. In January 1942, KEX's was caught up in an antitrust lawsuit and NBC had to divest KEX. They sold it to Westinghouse. (Who moved the station to 1190) Westinghouse already owned WOWO who shared the 1190 frequency. But WOWO has the clear channel license. Their interest in the property was partly to protect WOWO. KEX had to operate as a daytimer.

The Castle Jazz Band were not the only band playing on KEX. Live music was a huge focus in radio well into the 1960s. Seems quaint now, but it was once the meat and potatoes so to speak. Which brings us to the Castle Jazz Band. This band came together in about 1944: Monte Ballou, banjoist, and vocalist put the first incarnations of the band together. Early members included Bob Gilbert, Freddie Crews and Bob Short, Bob Scobey, George Brunis, Don Kinch, Chris Tyle and most importantly George Edward Bruns.George Bruns (sometimes Brunis or Burns) was born July 3, 1914 in Sandy, Oregon. He played trumpet, trombone, clarinet, piano, string bass, and tuba. He was also the Music Director for KEX and simultaneously the the Music Director at 970 KOIN-AM. More here. He'd already played in the Jim Dericks Orchestra, Jack Teagarden's band and Harry Owens' Hawaiian Band. This must have impressed some people at the job interview. George joined the Castle jazz band at the end of 1945 when he returned from WWII. I dont' know which came first, the radio gig or the jazz band.. but he made it work for him.With this direct connection to radio the band exploded in Portland. Their success was so great that they opened their own club in 1949. In 1951, after the cooperative dissolved, Ballou opened a second club in Portland, with a new band which included Bob Gilbert, Freddie Crews and Bob Short. But Bruns only stuck with the band for 4 years. He left Oregon for Los Angeles in 1949. Eventually he ended up working for Disney scoring films such as Sleeping Beauty. His best work was obviously behind him. More here.