FROM `GOOD MORGAN!' TO GOODBYE FOR ROBERT W.; LISTENERS AND LUMINARIES PRAISE RETIRING DISC JOCKEY.Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Staff Writer His resume resembles a multicar pileup on the Scrabble superhighway. To the uninitiated, a long list of radio station call letters - WWST, KHJ KHJ Katholische Hochschuljugend (German: Catholic University Youth) , KIQQ, KMPC, KMGG, KRTH - looks that way. But after 40 years of playing alphabet soup with his business cards, the king of L.A. radio, Robert W. Morgan Robert W. Morgan (born July 23, 1937, died May 22, 1998) was a renowned disc jockey who was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1999. He did most of his work in Los Angeles, California at stations such as KHJ, where he was known as one of the "boss jocks" that dominated the Top , will officially call it quits today in a retirement party at the Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills. Six years ago, when oldies Oldies is a generic term commonly used to describe a radio format that usually concentrates on Top 40 music from the '50s, '60s and '70s. Oldies are typically from R&B, pop and rock music genres. fans started tuning into KRTH-FM (101.1) in droves, Morgan made a seamless move to the high-profile station, where he signed on each morning with the hearty signature line ``Good Morgan!'' Now suffering from lung cancer lung cancer, cancer that originates in the tissues of the lungs. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States in both men and women. Like other cancers, lung cancer occurs after repeated insults to the genetic material of the cell. , Morgan plans to take it easy at his Tarzana home. ``I knew I was destined des·tine tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines 1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic. 2. to be in radio when I realized my parents' initials were AM and FM (Arthur and Florence Morgan),'' Morgan, 60, said. ``It gave me a great excuse for not finishing my final year in law school. So, I landed a job at WWST in Wooster, Ohio, for a dollar an hour.'' The world may have lost a lawyer, but it got a quintessential morning man - once billed as ``the Rooster rooster its crowing at dawn heralds each new day. [Western Folklore: Leach, 329] See : Dawn rooster symbol of maleness. [Folklore: Binder, 85] See : Virility from Wooster'' - instead. Until leaving the daily helm of KRTH's morning program a year ago, Morgan was the longest-running morning personality in Los Angeles radio, arriving on the scene in 1965 as the original morning man at powerhouse top-30 station Boss Radio 93/KHJ, where he scored rating shares in the high 20s, an accomplishment never duplicated. ``Success in this business is measured by audience acceptance, and I've had enough to keep alive in this market for 33 years,'' Morgan said. ``You're never quite sure whether it's the station or you that's getting the numbers. When you move to a new station, you find out. If, that is, management promotes you and lets the people know you're there.'' Cancer diagnosis Last May, in an emotional on-air statement, Morgan announced he had developed lung cancer after 35 years of smoking two packs a day and would take time off to fight the disease. ``One more thing,'' he told listeners that day, ``don't smoke, OK?'' Since then, Morgan has continued to broadcast on a part-time basis from home. Today's invitation-only retirement party, simulcast on KRTH from 6 to 9 a.m., will be hosted by veteran local radio and TV personality Gary Owens and Morgan's longtime sidekick Joni Caryl. Various civic leaders, celebrities and radio fixtures are expected. ``Robert W. had a wonderful sense of showmanship,'' said Owens, a friend of Morgan's for 30 years. ``He was always topical with little zingers For other uses, see . Zingers are an American snack cake made by both Dolly Madison and Hostess, two iconic American snack food brands owned by Interstate Bakeries Corporation. thrown in and an appreciation for good oldies. He put that whole package together very well. The on-air presentation was always great.'' Also today as part of the tribute, Dick Clark will narrate a specially produced and commercially uninterrupted retrospective of Morgan's career at 8:30 a.m., followed by a rededication Noun 1. rededication - a new dedication; "the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem" dedication - a ceremony in which something (as a building) is dedicated to some goal or purpose of Morgan's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a pavement along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States, which is embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of not only human celebrities but fictional characters honored by . A replica of Morgan's star, awarded in 1993, will be unveiled and put on display at the museum since the actual star is unviewable due to subway construction in Hollywood. ``I'm a disc jockey that got a little lucky, that's all,'' Morgan joked. ``Plus, I work cheap.'' Staying power Even in an era of local radio when Spanish-language stations dominate the market and loudmouths like Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh and Bill Handel top the English-language ratings, Morgan kept KRTH in the top 10 for across-the-board morning listenership lis·ten·er·ship n. The people who listen to a radio program or station. . ``It's the fact that everyone knows him and his tremendous talent,'' said Mike Phillips, KRTH's program director. ``I'm a big fan. I love his sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour , his spin on current events. He had an incredible voice, and he knew how to use it. I've always admired the amount of hard work and thought he put into his shows. He's the hardest-working morning man I've ever worked with.'' Over the years, KRTH has become home to other heritage jocks from the golden age of pop radio, including Humble Harve, Machine Gun Kelly George R. Kelly aka George "Machine Gun Kelly" Barnes (July 18, 1895 — July 18, 1954) was a notorious American gangster during the prohibition era (Roaring Twenties). His crimes included bootlegging, armed robbery and kidnapping. , Johnny Hayes, Jay Coffey, Brian Beirne and the Real Don Steele, who passed away last year. And while modern-rock KROQ's off-the-wall Jed the Fish Edwin Fish Gould III or Jed Gould III (born July 15, 1955), known to radio listeners as Jed the Fish, is a disc jockey on KROQ in Los Angeles,[1] currently on the air from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays. and KLSX's Stern are among the most imitated voices in radio today, Morgan says the biggest changes in the industry came when Limbaugh rose to national prominence almost 10 years ago. ``I attribute the big change to Rush, who transformed the talk format completely,'' the Ohio-born Morgan said. ``He made talk radio sound like rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. . Before him, there were mostly these straight, polite voices. He came along and polarized A one-way direction of a signal or the molecules within a material pointing in one direction. the audience, which hadn't been done before for fear of offending the listeners. I remember when Clinton got elected, everyone told Rush his act was over. He said it was just beginning.'' Morgan - who also hosted several syndicated radio shows as well as TV dance parties - has received numerous professional awards, including Billboard's Air Personality of the Year and the Gavin Professional Programmer Man of the Year, and he was cited by the National Association of Broadcasters for ``significant achievement in American broadcasting.'' Samples of his work are on permanent exhibit at the Museum of Television & Radio in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and Beverly Hills, as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music industry, particularly in and Museum in Cleveland. Who's Boss? ``I heard his first show on KHJ in April 1965,'' recalled Bill Earl, a longtime local radio fan who wrote a book about the legendary '60s top-30 outlets. ``I wondered why they put him on in mornings, since he was an unknown quantity here. From that day until now, he's been a big part of my life, and he will certainly be missed by me.'' For his part, Morgan says all he ever wanted was to be a morning man. ``I was always searching for something to set myself apart,'' he said. ``It was a combination of little things - `Zap, you're Morganized,' `Good MorOgan,' a sense of humor and wit that was a cut above.'' Married for 27 years to his wife, Shelley, onetime secretary to the program director at Boss Radio, the couple have a 23-year-old daughter who works in the art conservation field. The Morgans have lived in Tarzana for 14 years. As for his illness, Morgan says he's staying ahead of it: ``The treatment seems to be reversing it somewhat.'' Looking ahead, Morgan doubts he will miss the life of a radio rooster, which involves rising for work at 3:30 a.m., coming home and trying to get a nap in before dinner and an early night. ``Thanks to everyone who listened,'' he said. ``But I've had enough. I'm sure I'll miss it eventually more than I do now. These days, radio is so fragmented. Back then, there were only two kinds of pop music: Jo Stafford and Patti Page, and the new rock 'n' roll.'' CAPTION(S): 4 Photos Photo: (1--Cover--Color) Good Morgan! The king of L.A. radio goes out today - where he started - on top Michael Owen Baker/Daily News (2) ROBERT W. MORGAN (3) Morgan, left, mugs during a 1993 personal appearance at the Northridge Fashion Center Northridge Fashion Center is a large shopping mall located in Northridge, California. It opened in 1971. It was severely damaged during the Northridge Earthquake in 1994, but renovated extensively in 1995 and 1998. with ``Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' star Jason Frank, right, and an unidentified fan. (4) Morgan on the air in 1994 with the Northridge Little League champs. |
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