Offline
This is simply an amazing interview with Cousin Brucie of Sirius XM (and WABC) fame, a piece written by another music legend, Toronto’s own Larry LeBlanc. It’s very long (it took a while to read the whole thing) but his recollections of his career and the current state of radio are certainly worth the time.
Among other things the 84-year-old (he’s already 84!) reflects on in the piece:
-Who inspired him
-Who programs his shows
-How he got started
-Where the infamous “Cousin” nickname came from
-How important it is to play the original version of an oldie and why he lets the wrong one play – but only for so long
-His old DX listeners
-The records he wrote and released
- Why a Chuck Berry record is always his first played song
- How WABC execs. rejected the first Beatles record in a music meeting
-The danger when he co-hosted the Beatles playing their first big concert at Shea Stadium
-The day Bob Hope & Jackie Gleason crashed his show
-And the importance of getting the music mix right.
“I played what the audience wants to hear, and I play an eclectic mix and I just do it from my gut. If it doesn’t fit, I won’t play it. But that’s very rare...Once in a while, I’ll say, “Oh my God. Look at what I just played. I played A and then I played this one. That’s weird.” Years ago, a programmer would have been going crazy.”
A fascinating man with a fascinating career. You can read the article here.
Thanks to FYIMusicNews.ca for the link.
Offline
Excellent article. Especially the piece on how Ed Sullivan learned about the Beatles from Walter Cronkite's teenage daughter. That was funny.