Hy Lit; Philadelphia radio legend
Hyfler/Rosner
By Rob Jennings
November 17, 2007 - For more than a half century Hy Lit was
one of the most popular disc jockeys in one of the greatest
music cities in the country. He died today at the age of 73.
He was a pioneer in rock and roll broadcasting. Hy's son Sam
remembers The Beatles sleeping over at their house.
"They couldn't find a hotel where they wouldn't be
inundated. So they came back to the house in which we lived.
And they slept on the floors and stuff like that," said Sam.
"So as a kid, I may have been more preoccupied with wanting
to play with my Tonka trucks. But I will tell you this: When
I realized that the sheets and pillow cases that they slept
on were being given away the next day, the impact of the
whole endeavor began to settle in on me."
Hy mc'd shows with The Four Tops, The Beatles, The Rolling
Stones, Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys and many, many others.
His weekly sock hops were very popular with teens in the
60's. He was on several radio stations, most notably WIBG
and then WOGL, during a career spanning 5-decades. He was
also on syndicated television shows across the country.
Hy was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia
Hall of Fame 4 years ago.
Hy lost his wife to cancer some years ago, and about 10
years ago Hy was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease. In
recent years Hy has been a leading spokesman for finding a
cure for Parkinsons.
Over the past few years Hy and his music could be heard, and
still can be heard at his website, HyLitRadio.com.
He died this morning from heart and kidney failure at Paoli
Hospital. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
(Copyright 2007 by Action News and 6abc. All Rights
Reserved.)
--
Visit www.aodeadpool.com
bway...@gmail.com
> Philadelphia Radio Legend Hy Lit Dies
> By Rob Jennings
Poor Hyski. Loved him.
Interesting that this report came from the Channel 6 (WPVI) website,
since Channel 6 was where rival DJs Hy Lit and Jerry "The Geator"
Blavat had their famous showdown interview on Wally Kennedy's "AM
Philadelphia" in 1995. Long story short: mob informant Phil Leonetti
claimed that, back in 1984, Blavat had asked Nicky Scarfo to rub out
Hy Lit for cutting to Blavat's record hop business. The interview - in
which Blavat denied everything, Hy claimed he had heard the rumor
years before, and Hy forgave Blavat - was riveting.
The best moment (and these quotes are to the best of my memory):
JERRY BLAVAT: "Why would Jerry Blavat want to get rid of Hy Lit? That
would be like Sammy Davis trying to get rid of Wayne Newton."
HY LIT: "Pick somebody better than Wayne Newton!"
-Tim
Rick B.
news:FcudneD9l6u7B6La...@rcn.net:
"You know Hy--he don't lie"--and neither does the subject line. Hy was
supposed to have been working on an autobiography recently; I hope it comes
out, because it'll take a book to tell the whole story. Among other things,
Hy brought album rock to Philly with "Hyski's Underground" on WDAS-FM,
programmed Atlantic City's first black music station with "United States
Soul" at WUSS, and toured with the Harlem Globetrotters as PA man when the
radio biz got slow.
"Hyski O'Roonie McVoutie O'Zoot...calling uptown, downtown, crosstown..."
bway...@gmail.com
Inquirer:
Hy Lit, 73, pioneer DJ, dies after knee injury
By Michael Klein
Inquirer Staff Writer
Hy Lit, 73, one of Philadelphia's pioneer disc jockeys, died yesterday
at Paoli Memorial Hospital of what his son termed "bizarre
complications" after a knee injury.
Sam Lit said his father fell on Nov. 4 and was admitted to Lankenau
Hospital to have the knee drained. What followed, the son said, was a
"terrible situation that should have never happened."
Over the next week and a half, the DJ, heavily sedated, was
transferred to Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital and, on Thursday, to Paoli
Memorial, Sam Lit said.
A spokeswoman for Paoli Memorial last night referred questions to Mr.
Lit's family. No cause of death has been announced.
Hy Lit, who lived in Lower Merion, had suffered in recent years from
Parkinson's disease, but his son said it hadn't slowed him down.
Father and son had started a music Web site, www.hylitradio.com. Mr.
Lit had cut audio for the site the day before he went into the
hospital.
"This should not have happened," Sam Lit said last night. "We didn't
have to lose him now."
"Hyski," or "Hyski O'Rooney McVoutie O'Zoot," as he called himself -
or Hyman Litsky, as he was born in South Philadelphia - came of age
with rock-and-roll, in an era when disc jockeys talkedlikethis.
Mr. Lit, whose family moved from Fifth and Ritner Streets to 46th
Street and Osage Avenue when he was young, got started in the business
in 1955, fresh out of the University of Miami.
He flourished in radio alongside such popular Philadelphia DJs of the
early rock era as Frank X. Feller, Dean Tyler, Jimmy Bishop, and Joe
Niagara.
Mr. Lit's biography credits Georgie Woods, another influential radio
personality, with saving him one night during an early appearance,
when the mostly African American audience did not believe that the
white man at the microphone truly was Hy Lit.
It's said that in the 1960s, Mr. Lit's nighttime show on
"Wibbage" (WIBG) drew three-quarters of the listening audience, many
under covers defying parents' direct orders to shut off that music and
go to bed.
The roster of Mr. Lit's stations - WHAT, WRCV, WIBG, WDAS-FM, WPGR,
WSNI and WOGL - reads like a roll call of Philadelphia music. Mr. Lit
also had the distinction on Aug. 15, 1990, of launching the oldies
format on WCAU (1210).
"Hi, this is Hy Lit. Welcome to Oldies 1210," he said, leading into
"Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay." His signature tunes were "Quarter to
Three" by Gary U.S. Bonds and the instrumental "A Night with Daddy 'G'
" by the Church Street Five.
Mr. Lit was on hand for much rock-and-roll history as it played out in
Philadelphia. He played Rolling Stones music early on and accompanied
the Beatles to the city in 1964.
A dashing figure with a face for television, he also hosted dance
shows on WKBS in Philadelphia and a New York station.
Another longtime fixture in local radio, disc jockey Jerry Blavat,
last night called Mr. Lit's death "the end of the era for personality
radio."
"I would be nothing if not for him," said Joe "Butterball" Tamburro,
program director of WDAS, whom Mr. Lit took under his wing in the
early 1960s. Tamburro remembered Mr. Lit as a "fascinating, dynamic
impresario."
"There's a piece of Hy Lit in all of us," said DJ Bob Pantano last
night from his dance party, a concept that Mr. Lit embraced and helped
to develop in the late 1950s. "My greatest thrill was working with
him."
"Here's a guy who made it for all of us," said Don Cannon, another
radio personality. "He was kind of wild back then."
Cannon supervised Mr. Lit in the 1990s at WSNI, "and he was always
trying to take the edge on me. I used to tell him, 'If you had a 25-
year-old program director here, you'd be out on your butt.' He could
get away with it. Everyone wanted to be Hy."
In recent years, Mr. Lit endured financial strain, and friends rallied
around him with fund-raisers. After his last station, WOGL, reduced
his hours, Mr. Lit sued it for age discrimination. The case was
settled in December 2005. Mr. Lit then retired.
Jim Loftus, general manager of WOGL, said, "It's a sad day for
Philadelphia and a sad day for radio. He was one of a kind."
His son last night called him "the magic man. When he spoke, people
listened. People were interested in what he had to say. A lot of
people say that anyone can spin records. That's wrong. There's a
science to it. He knew it."
His many honors include a spot on the Avenue of the Arts Walk of Fame;
the first March of Dimes Lifetime Achievement of Radio Award in 1994;
an AIR Award for best show in 1997; and Radio and Records magazine's
Oldies Personality of the Year for 1999. He also was inducted into the
Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in 2003.
Besides his son, he is survived by a daughter, Benna, three
grandchildren, and a sister. Mr. Lit was divorced from the former
Miriam Uniman in the 1970s. His second wife, Maggie, died in 2000.
Sam Lit said funeral arrangements were incomplete last night.
See video of Hy Lit's induction into the Broadcast Pioneers of
Philadelphia Hall of Fame via http://go.philly.com/hylit
Contact staff writer Michael Klein at 215-854-5514 or
mkl...@phillynews.com.
Find this article at:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/20071118_Hy_Lit__73__pioneer_DJ__dies_after_knee_injury.html
(c) Copyright 2007 Philly Online, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
tr...@iwvisp.com
> Philadelphia Radio Legend Hy Lit Dies
> By Rob Jennings
> November 17, 2007 - For more than a half century Hy Lit was
> one of the most popular disc jockeys in one of the greatest
> music cities in the country. He died today at the age of 73.
One of the reasons I spent 21 years in radio.
Lit, Niagara, Dr. Don, Long John Wade all within a few years. And yet
Wee Willie Weber still lives...go figure.
Ray Arthur
AndrewJ
> On Nov 17, 5:49 pm, "Hyfler/Rosner" <rel...@rcn.com> wrote:
>
> > Philadelphia Radio Legend Hy Lit Dies
> > By Rob Jennings
> > November 17, 2007 - For more than a half century Hy Lit was
> > one of the most popular disc jockeys in one of the greatest
> > music cities in the country. He died today at the age of 73.
>
> One of the reasons I spent 21 years in radio.
>
> Lit, Niagara, Dr. Don, Long John Wade all within a few years
Also Ed Sciaky.
bway...@gmail.com
Inqlings | Hy Lit's tribute canceled
By Michael Klein
Inquirer Columnist
A three-hour tribute to Hy Lit by his longtime former station was
pulled moments before air time Sunday night after Lit's son, Sam,
raised a fuss.
Lit the younger yesterday said WOGL (98.1) was trying to "exploit" his
father, who died Saturday.
Sam Lit, 49, has had issues with WOGL and parent company CBS since his
father sued them in federal court in 2004, alleging age and disability
discrimination.
Hy Lit, who started on WOGL in late 1988, was diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease in 1992. It didn't affect his performance, the
suit said.
When the case was settled for an undisclosed sum in late 2005, Lit
retired. Father and son developed an Internet station, www.hylitradio.com.
News of Lit's death - hours after WOGL marked its 20th anniversary
with a party at Benny the Bum's - had sent WOGL's Harvey Holiday and
Tommy McCarthy to the archives.
Station manager Jim Loftus would say only: "We respect the family's
privacy."
Find this article at:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20071120_Inqlings___Hy_Lits_tribute_canceled.html