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From the Vault...
06/22/2008
#1104 |
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info
Cruisin' Series
"Cruisin' 1962-Russ Weird Beard Knight"
© Increase Records
Year of Release: 1987
Rating:
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track listing
KLIF News Headlines
Soldier Boy--
The Shirelles
KLIF Summer
Spectacular
I Need Your Lovin'--
Don Gardner &
Dee Dee Ford
This Knight's Bullseye
Hey Baby--
Bruce Channel
KLIF Master Control
Let Me In--
The Sensations
What's Your Name--
Don & Juan
KLIF Station I.D.
Duke Of Earl--
Gene Chandler
You'll Lose
A Good Thing--
Barbara Lynn
Gillette Commercial
The Wanderer--
Dion
KLIF E.S.P. Promo
Flying High
In The Dallas Sky
Sealed With A Kiss--
Brian Hyland
KLIF D.J. Trading
Stamp Promo
I Know
(You Don't Love Me
No More)--
Barbara George
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Cruisin' Series
"Cruisin' 1962-Russ Weird Beard Knight"
The Cruisin' Series reviews continues as the year 1962 is featured
this week. (The Cruisin' Series is a look at rock & roll DJs who were
popular from 1955 - 1970.) WSVNRadio has featured the following years:
(1958; Jack Carney, 1964; Johnny Holliday, 1955; Jumping George Oxford,
1960; Dick Biondi, 1965; Robert W. Morgan, 1961; Arnie Woo Woo Ginsburg, and
this week's review is from 1962 -- Russ Weird Beird Knight, from radio station
KLIF, Dallas, Texas.
Who was Russ Weird Beard Knight? As you hear the opening of his show heard
here, it seems to be a flashback to another very popular DJ -- Wolfman Jack; not
as "shocking" as the Wolfman was, but there's a lot of fast-talking chatter.
What's interesting are the commercials -- L&M Cigarettes -- cigarettes are not
advertised on TV or radio these days. Gillette was another sponsor, and it
was also a sponsor on the 1961 Dick Biondi show.
KLIF Master Control travels into a War of the Worlds skit, interesting to
listen to, as this is something we don't hear anymore on local radio. The
jingles are awesome to listen to, especially the one that is almost identical
to what The Who used on their album, "Rock & Roll Radio London.. whoopee!"
I used to own the original vinyl recordings, but when they reissued them on
CD, many of the original songs from the shows were omitted. Some of the songs
such as "I Need our Lovin'" by Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford, "Let Me
In" by The Sensations, "I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)" by
Barbara George may not be remembered, and these songs were probably substituted
for the CD release.
It's obvious the original songs were not on CD, due to copyrights, where
listening and knowing the original recordings well, would spoil the
entertainment value when listening to the Cruisin' Series on CD. Which also
has me wondering why they stopped after the year 1970. Like on the TV show
WKRP in Cincinnati, many of the popular songs were deleted from the
show when it was in syndication, and this was the biggest complaint when the
first season was released on DVD. Maybe in the long travels, WKRP and the
Cruisin' Series will agree on the original copyrights, and be released again.
This show with Russ Weird Beard Knight is a fairly good show. The
commercials and the skits are entertaining, and these are sources no longer
heard in today's radio. There's fast-talking chatter, common back to the early
days of rock & roll radio. There are better radio shows from this series than
this one, but overall, it's what radio was, and part of radio history.
So again, who was Russ "Weird Beard" Knight?" Most of the DJs from this series
I did not know, just by the names themselves. Being from Chicago, Dick Biondi's name
was easily recognized, although his Cruisin' 1961 show was from Buffalo, New York.
Biondi would be famous in Chicago on radio stations WCFL and WLS. On a good note,
the Cruisin' 1970 release features WLS, and DJ Kris Erik Stevens. I don't remember
him growing up, but the fact of listening to the old WLS when it was a rock station
does bring back fond memories. I'm hoping that if they do release the radio DJ shows
from the 1970s, they will feature WCFL and Larry Lujack. There is a website that sells
old Chicago Radio Shows --
http://musicradio2005.ecrater.com --
It would be a good idea to browse through that site, and pick up a few of
Lujack's broadcasts, and go back to memory lane, by viewing the other Chicago
radio personalities there.
The Cruisin' Series can be found at
http://www.reelradio.com/rj/cruisin/index.html
UPDATE: It has been informed that Russ "The Weird Beard" Knight passed
away, on Friday, October 12, 2012. He was 80 years old. His real name was Russell Lee
Moore, but was better known as his DJ name, Russ "The Weird Beard" Knight. He was a radio
personality at many stations, but was best known at KLIF, Dallas. He was self-proclaimed
as the "savior of Dallas radio." More on his life and obituary,
here.
© WSVNRadio.net. All rights reserved.
Review or any portion may not be reproduced
without written permission. Cover art is the
intellectual property of
Increase Records
and is used for reference purposes only.
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