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Wolfman Jack

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For other people named Robert Smith, see Robert Smith (disambiguation).
Robert Weston Smith A.K.A. Wolfman Jack
Born(1938-01-21)21 January 1938
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died(1995-07-01)1 July 1995 (age 57)
Belvidere, North Carolina, U.S.
OccupationRadio personality
SpouseLou Smith
ChildrenJoy Rene Smith
Tod Weston Smith
ParentJoe

Robert Weston (Bob) Smith (21 January 1938 – 1 July 1995) was a gravelly-voiced disc jockey who became world famous in the 1960s and 1970s under the stage name of Wolfman Jack.

Biography

Early career

Born in Brooklyn, Smith was a fan of disc jockey Alan Freed who helped to turn African-American rhythm and blues into rock and roll music. Freed originally called himself the "Moondog" after New York City street musician Moondog. Freed both adopted this name and used a recorded howl to give his early broadcasts a unique character. Smith's adaptation of the Moondog theme was to call himself Wolfman Jack and add his own sound effects. The character was based in part on the manner and style of bluesman Howling Wolf.

Film, television, and music career

In the early days, Wolfman Jack made sporadic public appearances, usually as an MC for rock bands at local LA clubs. At each appearance he looked a little different because Smith hadn't decided on what "The Wolfman" should look like. Early pictures show him with a goatee; however, sometimes he combed his straight hair forward and added dark makeup to look somewhat "ethnic." Other times he had a big afro wig and large sunglasses covering his eyes. It wasn't until he appeared in the 1969 film A Session with the Committee (a montage of skits by the seminal comedy troupe The Committee) that mainstream America got a good look at Wolfman Jack.

In 1973 he appeared in director George Lucas' second feature film, American Graffiti, as himself. His broadcasts tie the film together, and a main character catches a glimpse of the mysterious Wolfman in a pivotal scene. Lucas also gave the Wolfman a fraction of a "point," the division of the profits from a film, in gratitude for participating in the seminal project and these proceeds finally provided the deejay a regular income for life.

Subsequently, Smith appeared in several television shows as Wolfman Jack. They included The Wolfman Jack Show; The Odd Couple; What's Happening; Vega$; Hollywood Squares; Married... with Children; and Galactica 1980 [1]. He was the regular announcer and occasional host for The Midnight Special on NBC from 1973 to 1981.

He also helped promote Clearasil in radio commercials in the '70s, and even appeared in a TV commercial for the product.

He also furnished his voice in The Guess Who's 1974 tribute, the top 40 hit single, "Clap for the Wolfman." A few years earlier, Todd Rundgren recorded a similar tribute, "Wolfman Jack", on the album Something/Anything?. Canadian band The Stampeders also released a cover of "Hit the Road Jack" in 1975 featuring Wolfman Jack; the storyline of the song involved a man named "Cornelius" calling Jack on the phone, telling him the story of how his girlfriend had thrown him out of the house, and trying to persuade Jack to let him come and stay with him (at this point, Jack ended the call). His voice is also featured in the songs "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" by Sugarloaf (band) and "Did You Boogie With Your Baby (In the Back Row of the Movie Show?)" by Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids. A clip of a 1970s radio advertisement featuring Wolfman Jack urging registration with the United States Selective Service (aka "the draft") is incorporated into the Depeche Mode cover of the song "Route 66" (Beatmasters Mix). Those radio advertisements were actually half hour radio programs pressed as vinyl records, and distributed to radio stations across the country. Each music program was sponsored by the United States Air Force. The series ran from 1971 until 1974.

In July 1974 Wolfman Jack was the MC for the Ozark Music Festival at the Missouri State Fairgrounds, a huge three-day rock festival with an estimated attendance of 350,000 people, making it one of the largest music events in history.

Radio Caroline

When the one surviving ship in what had originally been a pirate radio network of Radio Caroline North and Radio Caroline South sank in 1980, a search began to find a replacement. Due to the laws passed in the UK in 1967, it became necessary for the sales operation to be situated in the United States. For a time the manager of Wolfman Jack acted as the West Coast agent for the planned new Radio Caroline.

As a part of this process Wolfman Jack was set to deliver the morning shows on the new station. To that end Wolfman Jack did record a number of programs which were never aired due to the failure of the station to come on air according to schedule. (It eventually returned from a new ship in 1983 which remained at sea until 1990.) Today those tapes are traded among collectors of his work.

Death

Wolfman Jack died of a heart attack in Belvidere, North Carolina, on July 1, 1995, age 57. The day before his death, he had finished broadcasting his last live radio program, a weekly program nationally syndicated from Planet Hollywood in downtown Washington, D.C. Wolfman Jack said that night, "I can't wait to get home and give Lou a hug, I haven't missed her this much in years." Wolfman had been on the road, promoting his new autobiography Have Mercy!. Lou Lamb Smith, Wolfman's wife, got that hug. He died shortly after in his home.

His business, Wolfman Jack Productions (based in Hertford, North Carolina), is still listed in the local telephone book.[2]

Parody

In the Ray Stevens song "The Moonlight Special," Wolfman Jack is parodied as Mr. Sheepdog.

In the song "Wolfman" on the Adam Sandler album Shhh...Don't Tell, a man pretends to be Wolfman Jack because he is in denial about his sexuality.

On the Canadian children's show The Hilarious House of Frightenstein, the show's creator Billy Van played "The Wolfman", a lycanthropic disc jockey (a literal "wolf-man") for radio station EECH, with a voice and mannerism clearly modeled after Wolfman Jack.

A Wolfman Jack functionary appears as the owner of a 1950's-themed diner in the Simpsons episode "Take My Wife, Sleaze". The business closes after a week. As he locks the door for the last time, he complains that doing the voice hurts his throat.

Johnny Thunder the radio station DJ from That 70's Show is based on Wolfman Jack.

Legacy

A memorial was dedicated to the Wolfman's memory at Del Rio, Texas, where he first began his career in radio on the clear-channel AM station XERF.

Wolfman Jack was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1996.

In addition, Wolfman Jack's widow, Lou Lamb Smith, has released a one- to two-hour syndicated program built from what were thought to be "lost" archives and airchecks of his shows. The airchecks used in the shows date from the 1960s all the way up to his death in the 1990s. About a dozen oldies-oriented stations in the United States and Canada have picked up the show, and air times for the show vary by station.

Beginning on October 31, 2005, a 1960s-themed channel, "XM '60s on 6" on XM Satellite Radio, began airing a regular program utilizing airchecks from Wolfman Jack's older syndicated shows. The first show was broadcast in October and was Halloween themed. The promo for it was the announcement of a Halloween show so special that they were bringing someone back from the dead. It ended with a squeakly coffin opening and then the voice of the Wolfman saying, (paraphrased) "Hi everyone, it's the Wolfman and I am back. Be sure to join me for a very special ghoulish show this Halloween night". After that Halloween show, Wolfman's show was a nightly regular on XM's '60s channel. The XM show currently airs one hour per week at 11 PM US Eastern Time and five hours on Sunday night at 7 PM US Eastern Time. link

The following radio stations air the Wolfman Jack Radio Program (as of July 22, 2007): KAZM, 780 AM Sedona, AZ; KORC, 820 AM Walport, OR; WQLF, 102.1 FM Freeport, IL; KABX, 97.5 FM Merced, CA; KDCQ, 92.9 FM Coos Bay, OR; KDZA, Oldies 108 FM Pueblo, CO; KVEN, 1450 AM Ventura, CA; CKOC 1150 AM, Hamilton, Ontario; CHQT COOL 880 AM, Edmonton, Alberta; WODS 103.3 FM, Boston MA; KOMY 1340 AM, Santa Cruz CA; The Moose (Chain of Radio Stations) Moose FM, CISL AM 650, Vancouver Canada; KAYN, 100.7 FM, Twin Falls, Idaho.

Both varieties of the show airing today are available for free on the Internet.

"Mad Dog," a DJ in the 2005 Activision PC Videogame The Movies, is based on Wolfman Jack.

In the film Six-String Samurai, the disc jockey heard on the radio several times throughout the film is voiced by Keith Mortimer but is obviously based on Wolfman Jack.

He was a Minister with the Universal Life Church[citation needed].

He is mentioned in the song "Ramble on Rose" by Grateful Dead

Pop Culture

Wolfman Jack is mentioned in

Additional appearances include:

  • being sampled on "Funky Love Vibrations" by Bass-O-Matic on the album "Science and Melody"
  • in an episode of Married With Children where he comes home to people and hand out prizes from different magazines.
  • in the Galactica 1980 episode, The Night The Cylons Landed.

References

  • "Wolfman hits the road, Jack." – The Village Voice, July 4, 1974. – Article by Paul Levinson about Wolfman's year in New York City on WNBC Radio.
  • "Wolfman Jack's old station howling once again." – Dallas Times Herald, January 2, 1983. – Article about Bill Mack and the restoration of the old RCA 250 kW transmitter by Mike Venditti.
  • "Del Rio to Honor Wolfman Jack" – San Antonio Express-News, June 16, 1995. – Article describing how Bob Smith (Wolfman Jack) came to Del Rio, Texas, to meet Arturo Gonzelez at his law office on Pecan Street and wanting to know who was the owner of radio station XERF. Arturo Gonzelez who was 94 in 1995, recalls his first meeting with Bob Smith in 1963.
  • Border Radio, by Fowler, Gene and Crawford, Bill. Texas Monthly Press, Austin. 1987
  • Big Beat Heat (Alan Freed and the early years of Rock & Roll), by Jackson, John A. – Schirmer Books, New York. 1991. ISBN 0-02-871155-6
  • Mass Media Moments in the United Kingdom, the USSR and the USA (includes details of XERF in 1984), by Gilder, Eric. – "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu Press, Romania. 2003 ISBN 973-651-596-6
  • "You sound sexier than the Wolfman!" is a quote in the long running musical favorite " Little Shop of Horrors ."
  • "It's a late night show on the radio

Going down the road with the Wolfman"* taken from the song "Mississippi Moon" by John Anderson.


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