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eMAIL inBOX
Occasionally I receive emails I feel would be of interest
to Detroit Memories Newsletter subscribers.
With permission from the authors, I'll publish them.
Hi Eileen --
Having worked with both Tom Clay and Byron MacGregor, I have intimate knowledge of these gentlemen. I thought I would add to the sum total of Detroit DJ's who have had huge hit records. I wrote and produced a theme song that I used in Buffalo at the 50,000 Watt monster called WKBW in 1959 and used it with words (top tunes, news and weather, this is the spot where things get better on the Tom Shannon Show....KB radio etc.). The requests from the listening audience were so overwhelming that I knew there must be something to the melody. When presented with the opportunity to record the instrumental, I rushed a group of four fellows who played at my hops in Buffalo into the studio. We titled it Wild Weekend (<--click link to listen) since it was written when I was on the weekends at the start.
In 1963, the record went into the Top Ten. It has now been heard on Friends, two episodes of the Simpsons, and various movies including, most recently, Arthur and the Invisibles.
So, as a DJ who spent 20 years collectively in the Detroit area (WXYZ, CKLW, WTWR, WWJ-TV,WJBK-TV and WXYZ-TV) I suppose I might qualify as another DJ with a hit song. By the way, Billboard magazine has listed Wild Weekend by the Rockin Rebels and Tom Shannon as the only DJ who wrote and produced a theme song that was a Top Ten Hit.
Sad news about the passing of Ernie Harwell, a great guy and also a songwriter.
Hope all is well with you. Continued success with Detroit Memories.
Regards,
Tom Shannon
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Eileen:
The piece on Chuck Gleason (May 2010, Vernor's Jingle) brought back some memories. He was the assistant musical director of Make Way For Youth while I was there, until the Army grabbed him. He auditioned for — and made — the Army chorus. To hear him tell it, he spent his whole career in the Army singing. Dangerous duty!
I studied voice privately with Chuck for a short while. An excellent teacher.
EILEEN: Here's the story as reported by Jason Beck / MLB.com:
Little did Kell know when he was playing that he would earn a similar regard by getting behind the microphone once his playing days were over. Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell introduced him to the profession by inviting him to the booth while he was injured during that 1957 season in Baltimore, where Harwell was working at the time.
"He sat in the booth with me after he'd been hurt and did a couple of innings with me," Harwell told WWJ radio. "And that got him started in radio and TV. And then, when he got the job at the Tigers broadcasting with Van Patrick, and Van left, George called me and asked if I could come to Detroit."
After handling pregame work for CBS Television in 1958, Kell was back in Detroit, replacing the late Mel Ott on Tigers radio and television broadcasts. Except for 1964, he remained a voice of the Tigers in various outlets through 1996. Together, Kell and Harwell became the voices of the Tigers through generations.
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George passed away in 2005. Read more about him in Absolute Michigan, which also includes some interesting links. Check out the Facebook page for his fans.
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Eileen:
If any the Detroit Memories Newsletter subscribers are interested in Detroit's traditional jazz history, check out the website of this local jazz artist, bass player
Taken inside Joey's Stables, that's me on the far left
next to my Aunt Martha Malicki (the owner).
Eileen:
I'm looking for pictures of Joey's Stables Bar & Restaurant, inside and out, for a
100-year-old lady named Clara Danneel. Her husband Don played the drums and accordian in the house band. I visit with Clara weekly in a convalesent home. She belongs to our parish and is a beautiful woman who looks like she's in her early 80s.
I thought it would be nice to share something about Joey's Stables since it was also
in my old neighborhood of Delray.
Thanks for your effort, greatly appreciated.
Rich Gadwell
Crossville TN
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EILEEN: What a terrific friend you are, Rich! I'm certain Ms. Daneel is appreciative.
Here's what I found...
From Joe Benso: I lived at 8850 Copeland St. My aunt and uncle, Martha Malicki
and Joey Nykiel, owned Joey's Stables. My mom worked there for over 40 years.
My three Malicki cousins are doing well and living in Farmington Hills: Eve is 88,
Jane is 86 and Marytherese is 82.
Rich: Via email, I forwarded a several photos from Joe, which included the one above.
Hey! Do you have a Facebook group for us ol' Detroiters living in Japan?
Edward Bandlow
Otaru Hokkaido Japan
EILEEN: Hey! No, but if you're able to locate another ex-Detroiter over there who'd be willing to sign up with you, I'll be glad to create a page for our Japan-Detroiters!
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JUNE CONTEST
PHOTO #1 of 3: Detroit Postcard
Detroit area amusement parks were once home to these three rides.
Fast-forward about 40 years. When I created my website dedicated to local Detroit kids TV, Irv “Ricky the Clown” Romig was the first person I interviewed. Irv and his lovely wife Rosie welcomed me into their home and treated me like an old friend.
At this stage in his life, Irv was well into his 80s. His body was pretty beat up from the years of rough and tumble acrobatics that he performed in professional circuses for most of his career. Irv walked with a very pronounced limp. His doctor wanted him to have a knee replacement, but at his age he was reluctant to have the operation.
Irv wasn’t doing a lot of personal appearances as Ricky anymore, but he came up with an ingenious gimmick that he used for school assemblies. He would walk on stage in his street clothes, and introduce himself as Irv Romig.
He then sat on stage in front of a small mirror, with his clown makeup and props gathered around him. As he put on his makeup (see photo below) in front of the audience, he would explain the history of clowning and the Circus.
Now, what happened next always amazed me. I like to call it Ricky’s Clown Magic. While Irv put on his Ricky makeup, his voice would get progressively higher. It was so subtle, that it would take you a while to notice it. As he put on his clown face, his posture traightened, and, I swear, 30 years melted off of his body. When he put on his wig and derby to complete the transformation, he would step away from the table as Ricky the Clown, then do his act for the next half hour.
Remember the bad knee that I told you about? Not only did Ricky have no trace of a limp, he would do a comedy cowboy bit where he twirled a lasso and jumped repeatedly thru it. Ricky would then play the bugle, do a few funny bits, perform a couple of magic tricks, followed by questions from the audience.
When the show was over, Ricky would quickly make the transformation back to Irv, complete with hunched back and bad knee.
Irv would tell me that he was a has-been, but it’s better to be a has-been than a never was. I would remind him that Ricky was - and will always be - my hero.
Irv was a deeply religious man. In his biography “The Show Goes On,” he wrote:
“Of course we all have our ups and downs in life. My mother always taught me to go
to church every Sunday. Being that I did so, I am sure that it was the good Lord Jesus who helped me through it all. I hope when it is all over I can thank him in person, as I do in prayer. I think you all should do it also, it will help you through life as it did me.”
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Mr. Romig is survived by a son, Christopher, his sister Fay Romig and his adopted sister, Grace Mc Intosh, both of whom were circus performers and trainers.
Mr. Romig was buried at White Chapel Memorial Park Cemetery in Troy.
Read more about Irv Romig / Ricky the Clown on Ed's website:
Held every three years for all classes of grads, friends and neighbors of the area. 500-700 attendees each time. Classes from 1935-1970 represented -- the span
of the school and parish. Each class is asked to bring memorabilia. Great fun!
QUESTION: I'm a Detroiter circa 1931 (East Side). I remember a young lady named Joan Elmes who sang on the Radio Schoolhouse. She was given a contract by MGM and moved to California.
Is there any chance you might know about her career and if she still lives in California?
Jim Haile
Dunellon, FL
ED: Joan Elmes had a minor hit in 1953 with "Tell Me You're Mine" with Russ Morgan and his orchestra. She also made an unbilled appearance in "Cynthia," with Elizabeth Taylor and sang in "Nat King Cole and Russ Morgan and his Orchestra," a 1953 film short billed as "The First Musical Featurette in 3D."
It is reported that Elmes made a living in Hollywood by dubbing the singing voices of actresses who had limited vocal ability. And because the studios didn't want it known that their lead actress couldn't carry a tune, Elmes never received screen credit.
Her most unusual voice credit has to be providing pre-recorded messages for the B-58 Hustler supersonic jet bomber. Government research revealed that a woman's voice was more likely to gain a fighter pilot's attention than a male voice, so the Northrop Corporation, builder of the B-58, hired Elmes to record the automated voice warnings.
I haven't been able to track down her whereabouts.
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QUESTION: I recall a pantomime show on early Detroit TV called, "Wax Wackies." Various "performers" would come on stage or on screen and lip-synch to popular records, sometimes in outrageous costumes.
Our Cub Scout den got to go downtown to the studio and see a performance. I was a bit confused since the speakers in the studio were all off to one side, and the "performers" were all straight ahead. (Remember, I was just 8 or 9 years old!)
Are there any records of this program? I am guessing that it might have been an early program on Channel 7, but that is a 60+ year old guess.
Thanks for a nice website.
Ralph Irish
Utica, MI
ED: Wax Wackies was hosted by WXYZ-TV's Johnny Slagle. The performers who lip synched to the records were known as "The Gay Deceivers." The program aired live, before the invention of video tape, so no shows have survived.
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Discover who your 'Detroiter' neighbors are.
Share your memories of Detroit.
Get together for Tigers, Lions, Pistons or Wings games...whatever!
Detroit broadcasting history is rich with character and characters.
It began atop the Penobscot Building on October 23, 1946, when WWDT shot a signal to the convention center, part of a "New Postwar Products Exposition."
WWJ-TV offered scheduled programming in June 1947, and WXYZ-TV and WJBK-TV jumped in a year later. The medium has influenced the city's personality and social agenda ever since.
Soupy Sales turned getting a pie in the face into an art form. Mort Neff celebrated the state's outdoor charms. George Pierrot showed Detroiters the world.
Other beloved personalities include: Milky the Clown, Ed McKenzie, Sonny Eliot, John Kelly, Marilyn Turner, Robin Seymour, Bill Bonds, Dick Westerkamp, Jingles, Bill Kennedy,
Lou Gordon, Captain Jolly, Johnny Ginger, Auntie Dee, and many more.
