Radio People
Favorite Radio Stories (Ps)
The Pittsburgh Trivia Test (from Larry Richert)
Answers
- Newscaster Bill Burns used to end his newscasts with this phrase:
__________, ______ ______ and _______ ________.- Name two members of the Rooney family. _____________ _______________
- Pittsburgh once had a bridge to __________________.
- What was Ricki Wertz dog's name?__________________
- Famous Pittsburgh DJ Clark ___________.
- What was Bill Cardille's nickname?_______________
- What pro wrestling champ was from Pittsburgh?________________
- Paul Long's news partner was Don ____________.
- Name the parts of a Primanti's sandwich.
____________________________________________________________- Bob Prince's nickname was:_________________________
- Myron Cope invented the Terrible__________________
- What tunnels are on the Parkway West?______________
- What tunnels are on the Parkway East?______________
- What is the Pittsburgh subway system called?_______
- Paul Shannon hosted:____________ ________________
- Nosmo King was played by:_________ ________________
- What famous Market Square restaurant can a street person eat at the same table as a business executive?__________
- What part of Pittsburgh was Forbes Field in?_______________
- What part of Pittsburgh is Three Rivers Stadium in?________
- Name the three rivers in Pittsburgh_______ ______ _______
- What number did Roberto Clemente wear?________
- What number did Joe Greene wear?_________
- If you go up the Incline, where will it take you?________
- What state park is located in downtown Pittsburgh?_______
- Name the first radio station in Pittsburgh:_____________
- During the 70's, what radio station encouraged listeners to answer their phones with "I listen to the new sound of _______"
- The Host of Dialing for Dollars was Del ___________.
- The host of Bowling for Dollars was Nick __________.
- The host of Popeye and Knish was Hank _____________.
- Jack Lambert said quarterbacks should ______ ________.
- A Saturday morning Tarzan Theater was hosted by Don _____.
- The minor league hockey team in Pittsburgh was __________
- The Two ABA franchises in Pittsburgh were _______ _______
- Chicken on the Hill with ___________
- Who can? ______________
- Ring a ling a ling give _________a ring.
- Century Three Chevrolet ________ ________ ________.
- Eat and Parks the place for ___________.
- What cabaret type showroom was located in Monroeville?___
- Name four quarterbacks from the Pittsburgh area that played in the Super Bowl. (there are more than four)
____________ ____________ ___________ _____________- Who played Handy Man Negri on Mister Rogers Neighborhood? ______________
- What section of Pittsburgh would you go to buy fruits and vegetables?___________
- The Civic Arena is located just below what area of Pittsburgh? ___________
- What 3 Pittsburgh Colleges play Division 1 basketball?
_______________ ____________ ____________- Wholey's is known for:_________________.
- What hotel is famous for it's dancers?_______________
- Pittsburgh railroad workers did a dance while they worked.
It became known as ________ __________- The first owner of the Steelers was:_________________
- The paddle boats on the rivers are the ________ _________ Fleet
- The Pittsburgh USFL team was the ______________.
Larry Richert
E-mail: richert@kdka.com.net
Marty Prater - The Professor of Rock and Roll
I appreciate the interest, but I don't rank with the Biondis of the world.
I was born in Buffalo Jan 12, 1943, and grew up with WKBW, WBNY (Art Roberts' closing line -- "This has been a work of Art."), and (ho, hum) WBEN.
I was first introduced to the former station when my father got me a crystal set. I put it together, placed it under the bed, and every night went to sleep with The Hound Around inside my head. That was in about '56. I didn't realize the pioneering aspect of what George was doing at that time. Nor did I know that the personality stuff that Biondi had me in stitches with would soon become a thing of the past. In 57 I graduated from PS78 and went to Kensington High. Kind of a loner. Not too popular. Liked science. Nerd stuff.
After graduating Ken Hi in 61, I went into the Navy, as mentioned. Specialized in electronics, ultimately with the Naval Security Group. First command was Midway Island, after ET school at Treasure Island. While on Midway, KMTH, the AFRTS affiliate put out a call for jocks, so I went, auditioned and wound up doing a M-W-F evening gig called "A Date With Music." T-T alternated with a jazz show. Not much rock (a little Pat Boone or Connie Francis tossed in once in a while to stir the pop). Did that for about a year -- all volunteer work, outside the normal NSG routine.
From Midway to Japan to Washington State, all in the Nav, and along the way married and divorced the "girl next door" from Buffalo. Didn't work out. Then to Guam, remarried, and on to Florida for school and then Spain.
Spain was the biggy. Got on the air with the Rota, Spain AFRTS gang, did lots of production (had a terrific teacher in one John Hopkins), and got rolling my own "Marty Prater's Rock Revisited" program. All oldies, based on the Whitburn books and Charlie Gillette's "Sound of the City", primarily. Very statistical and historical, but on the light side. The show was a big success there, and had a considerable shadow audience as testified to a trip we made to Gibraltar. While there, I visited the BBC facilities, and as I conversed with the jock on the board, noticed the place filling with people. It was early in the morning. I asked what the deal was, and he said they wanted to see the face behind "Rock Revisited" -- that they listened to it religiously there -- and he wanted to interview me for their local audience. I was quite surprised.
When Elvis Presley died, at the urging of coworkers, I put on an Elvis special. I didn't want to at first, figuring that Jim Pewter and Dick Clark would do that (and I didn't have the resources to match what they could do). But, I gave in, and the normal Sunday night, 3-hr show became a two parter. On what would have been EP's next birthday, I condensed it into a single show, and that program got me the Chief of Naval Information Meritorious Achievement award for small facility special program.
Rock Revisited in Spain became the longest running single program on that station, running under my hand for 2.5 years and proved to be extrememly popular. When I left Rota for Iceland, I took it with me, and put it on the air again under the aurora borealis for a year and a half. At the Nato base in Keflavik, I also turned it into a night club act, so every Friday night R/R was live at the NCO club and then on the radio on Saturday's. The live thing was all spontaneous, whereas the radio program, from its inception, was written out and totally planned (though not scripted) prior to airing.
My twilight tour in the Nav (all this, remember, was volunteer work for AFRTS -- the radio stuff, including a lot of engineering and maintenance for the Spain FM station) was in Virginia. No radio stuff there. Then I retired to Saipan in 1981 (my 2nd wife's home island), moved to Guam, got a job with Guam Cable TV and worked as studio engineer, pursuant to meeting Clay Caughill and working with him in the construction of GCTV's "Hit Radio 100" FM station. After putting it on the air, I happened to give a cassette of an old Rock Revisited AFRTS show to the afternoon drive time jock, Ray Gibson. The next day the Program Director grabbed me by the collar and said that I WILL put Rock Revisited on the new station. So, I did, and the oldies program ran again for a couple of years, this time on a "real commercial station."
Marital and personal problems intervened, and in 1986, I moved to Hawaii, leaving family behind. After a short stint with a paging company, I went to work for Clay Caughill and Bob Palitz an engineer, and did that until 1992. I married my present wife (or, "last wife" as she puts it, also a broadcast type from radio and TV experience in the Pacific) in 1991. She went to law school in Denver, and after a year without her, told Clay that it was, regretfully, time to pull up stakes and be with her again. In 1992, I did, and have been in the Mile High city since.
No radio stuff. The uniqueness of Marty Prater's Rock Revisited has since been overshadowed by the influx of sat programs and oldies dedicated stations, but it sure was fun while it lasted. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the Spain or Iceland tapes any more (I did record every show, but they stayed with my ex). The Spain station gang kept hammering on me to syndicate, but I didn't want to become a burned out showman after a few years. It was just a really fun thing to do. Personality radio went away and I kind of went with it. I did try to emulate the Biondi's and Roberts' and Imus' and Tunas' in what I did, and make the show fun. A lot of Military people seemed to enjoy the shenanigans, and the information. (Mess up a date, and watch the phone go nuts!)
So, now I am a Senior Electronics Tech with the new Denver International Airport, and flying for fun has replaced the jocking for fun (I have a Private Pilot cert and am working on the instrument rating now).
Well, John, there you are. Somewhere out there, there may be someone who pops a question regarding what happened to the `Old Professor of Rock and Roll' , who always ended the program with, "This has been a non-compus-mentis production... Come get me mother. I'm through." to the strains of Charlie Hodge doing a very good imitation of Jerry Lee Lewis on "High School Confidential" from the "The Session" JLL album set.
Thanks for asking. Putting down this little(!) bio brought back a lot of good memories.
/s/Marty Prater
ps. True to the form of the fifties jocks, I had a specific in-theme, too: "Midnighter", by the Champs (flip of "El Rancho Rock"). A real kicker, and with the hard chord out, it was easy to splice and dice into a bunch of stingers that I took everywhere and dropped before and after every commercial break.
Marty Prater
E-mail: MSPrater@aol.com
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