Sadly, Pete Myers took his own life Friday, Oct. 4, 1968. He shot himself with a shotgun in the bathroom of his 370 E.76th Street New York apartment.
He had one brother, H. Ernest Myers, a disc jockey in California who I would like to contact if you can locate him.
Pete "Mad Daddy" Myers was overshadowed by big names such as Alan Freed and Dick Biondi and unfortunately has been overlooked by most rock and roll history. He was one of the strangest DJs in the north-east during his time at WHKK Akron in 1957 and WJW and WHK Cleveland 1958-9. As Mad Daddy he had a frenetic, rapid-fire patter delivered entirely in rhyme. He coined phrases still used today such as "wavy gravy" "mellow jello". He played an eclectic mixture of rock and roll and rhythm and blues featuring such oddities as Andr� Williams' "The Greasy Chicken" "Ghost Satellite" by Bob & Jerry. He wrote his own commercials creating some classic rhyming ads for Gillette adjustable razors.
His career began at WHKK, Akron in 1957 where he created the Mad Daddy persona. He moved to WJW, Cleveland in January 1958 where he stayed until June. In August 1958, he switched to WHK where he reached the peak of his popularity, hosting record hops and after midnight live shows dressed in a Dracula costume. Airchecks which are available of his last two shows at WHK broadcast June 25-26, 1959 provide excellent examples of his talent. In July 1959 he moved to New York's WNEW where Mad Daddy was not well received. He played it straight as Pete Myers there until 1963 when he moved to WINS and resumed the Mad Daddy Show which was syndicated to other stations until WINS went all-news in 1965. As Pete Myers, he returned to WNEW once more and remained there until his untimely death by suicide Oct. 4, 1968.
Mad Daddy Myers deserves to be more than just a footnote in DJ history and hopefully this information will help you fill out the information in your directory.
More on Mad Daddy:
www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/7356/maddaddy.html
Jay Hunt Ottawa, Canada