Big Wilson
jfsa...@news.delphi.com
Does anyone remember Big Wilson, one of the first "call-in talk show
hosts" on clear-channel radio? He was broadcasting in New York City over
WNBC (I believe) 25 years ago. Whatever happened to him?
Ultim...@aol.com
rha...@netcom.com (Ron Harris) writes:
>5B was the home of Monitor on the weekends, with (at
>that point) hosts like Henry Morgan, Gene Rayburn and even >Mel Allen!
It should also be pointed out that, when the plug was pulled on MONITOR in
early 1975, the final broadcast was hosted by Big Wilson (first three live
hours, thereby also being the last three hours on the refeed) and John
Bartholomew Tucker (last three live hours).
Daevid Aachen, Mornings, WRJQ-AM 1570, Appleton WI
DennisN77
(JFSA...@DELPHI.COM) writes:
:Does anyone remember Big Wilson, one of the first "call-in talk show
:hosts" on clear-channel radio? He was broadcasting in New York City over
:WNBC (I believe) 25 years ago. Whatever happened to him?
There is a person that does the intro's for a Florida Public TV program
about astronomy (with Jack Horkhimer) who is listed in the credits as "Big
Wilson." Could this be the same person?
Charlie541
writes:
>>Biggie (Malcolm John Wilson, I believe) ended up in Miami doing radio
and
then TV -- something like an afternoon movie host, I believe. Sadly, he
passed away several years ago.<<
I had the pleasure of working with Big at WHN, New York in the early
'70's. He was an extremely nice guy and a talented broadcaster.
Charlie Kaye
CBS News Radio
New York
Suzanne Ferree King
Suzanne King
Ron Harris
: Does anyone remember Big Wilson, one of the first "call-in talk show
: hosts" on clear-channel radio? He was broadcasting in New York City over
: WNBC (I believe) 25 years ago. Whatever happened to him?
Biggie (Malcolm John Wilson, I believe) ended up in Miami doing radio and
then TV -- something like an afternoon movie host, I believe.
Sadly, he passed away several years ago.
I remember going to watch him broadcast live on WNBC from the Florida
Showcase, a tourism promotion office in Rockefeller Center. His show was
wonderfully friendly, warm and very enjoyable to hear.
WNBC (around that time, "The Big Voice of Big Town U.S.A." - ouch!) had a
number of interesting talkers, including Brad Crandall, Long John Nebel,
Lee Leonard and Bill Mazer. And, of course, Sterling Yates' FortunePhone.
Brad and Long John have also passed away.
That was Studio 5A. 5B was the home of Monitor on the weekends, with (at
that point) hosts like Henry Morgan, Gene Rayburn and even Mel Allen!
There were several booth announcers who had been there for YEARS,
including Fred Collins and probably the most-heard but least-known voice,
Mel Brandt. Mel did the famous "The following program is brought to you
in Living Color, on NBC" TV v/o!
WNBC was a great radio station back then!
-- RH
--
| Ron Harris * a/k/a rha...@netcom.com * West Hollywood, CA |
| |
| "That's right - Monday is "Wacky Hat Night" |
Scott D. Green
>From: jfsa...@news.delphi.com (JFSA...@DELPHI.COM)
>Subject: Big Wilson
>Date: 4 Nov 1994 03:11:19 GMT
>Does anyone remember Big Wilson, one of the first "call-in talk show
>hosts" on clear-channel radio? He was broadcasting in New York City over
>WNBC (I believe) 25 years ago. Whatever happened to him?
"Hello, Big."
He died. In Florida. In his retirement, he apparently was the
announcer for "Jack Horkheimer, Star Hustler" a 5-minute daily PBS show out of
Miami for us budding astronomers. It was a generic opening and closing, so
Big's still doing the gig.
He was part of one great lineup on the late "W - eNNNNNNNN - B - C": I think
Joe O'Brien led off the AM (did Imus ever do the warm up for Big's show?),
then Big middays, and Ted Brown in PM drive. And wasn't Jim Lowe in there
somewhere too? I know at some point WNBC seemed to raid WNEW-1130 ("in New
York") air staff - at least Ted and Jim. I don't think they ever got Julius
LaRosa or William B. though.
btw, I think Brad Crandall and Long John Nebel were doing call-ins overnights
at WNBC long before they let Big talk "risque" to housewives in the morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scott D. Green 315 Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall
The Wharton School 3620 Locust Walk
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6302
voice: +1.215.898.2744 fax: +1.215.898.2400
gr...@wharton.upenn.edu
Eric Braun
>
>
> Suzanne King
>
That was a pretty neat era at a station that spawned "The Mike Douglas Show," Mark Russell (Washington political humorist) who hosted a mid-day show called "3 on the Town" and others. I hadn't realized that "Big" passed away.
Eric Braun
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Ron Rothenberg
RH>WNBC (around that time, "The Big Voice of Big Town U.S.A." - ouch!) had a
RH>number of interesting talkers, including Brad Crandall, Long John Nebel,
RH>Lee Leonard and Bill Mazer. And, of course, Sterling Yates' FortunePhone.
RH>Brad and Long John have also passed away.
RH>That was Studio 5A. 5B was the home of Monitor on the weekends, with (at
RH>that point) hosts like Henry Morgan, Gene Rayburn and even Mel Allen!
That was a different day, too. On two or three occassions in 1966 and
1967, my mother and I got on the elevator at Rockefeller Center and took
the trip up to WNBC radio studios. I was 11 at the time. We peered
through the glass wall of the studio and watched radio. I met all the
WNBC talk guys you mention, except for Brad Crandall, who I worshipped
anyway. I was pretty sick at the time, and Sterling Yates even dropped
me a get well card in the hospital. Six months later when I revisited
the studios, he remembered my name. I was impressed. My mother once
won a set of Tupperware on Fortune Phone.
Was Long John on WNBC, or was he on WMCA at that time?
=rsr=
Ron Rothenberg
Buyer Broker/CFP (Certified Financial Planner)
HomeBase Real Estate
Belmont, MA 02178
(617) 489-4812
Member: CA & MA Ass'n of Buyer Agents
* SLMR 2.1a * "4DBYRDS" is my Calif License Plate.
Ron Rothenberg
JF>Does anyone remember Big Wilson, one of the first "call-in talk show
JF>hosts" on clear-channel radio? He was broadcasting in New York City over
JF>WNBC (I believe) 25 years ago. Whatever happened to him?
I do, I do! I listened to him as a pre-teenager, for several years
surrounding 1966. It was a great show, and I liked it a lot when he
could play the piano on the air. There was a broadcasters' strike
sometime during that period, and the new contract required extra pay for
playing instruments on the air. The management nixed the piano, and
that was it.
His theme song was, "This Could Be the Start of Something Big." He came
on at 6:00 or 6:15 am. During that time I had a serious illness, and
at least twice my mother took me to WNBC studios at Rockefeller Center -
I was a big radio fan even then - and I met all the hosts. Big Wilson
was definitely as nice in person as he was on the air. I remember most
of the rest of the lineup - Sterling Yates with Fortune Phone - Lee
Leonard w/ Afternoon Talk - Bill Mazer had the sports show - Brad
Crandall did evening talk (does anyone know what happened to him - I
know he was injured and had to leave the air - but he was real good.
When I listen to Gene Burns or David Brudnoy today, I'm reminded of Brad
Crandall.)
I know he worked in Miami in the 80's. Two or three years ago I read
his obituary. Biggie had died, I believe of heart disease, at the age
of 65.
-rsr-
Ron Rothenberg
Buyer Broker/CFP (Certified Financial Planner)
HomeBase Real Estate
Belmont, MA 02178
(617) 489-4812
Member: CA & MA Ass'n of Buyer Agents
* SLMR 2.1a * He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Ron Harris
Brad Crandall passed away here in Los Angeles about 3-4 years ago, sad to
say. I remember the night he bought me my FIRST drink, in Hurley's, no less!
(I ws, of course, underage, but Brad was cool about it!)
Almost 20 years after those WNBC days, in the mid-80s, I needed to hire a
freelance announce for an industrial show I was producing; Brad fit the
bill, and it was a true joy to be able to hire the guy who would sit and
talk with me for hours, encouraging my interest in a career!
Somewhere, on one really poor quality reel, I have some Biggie and Long
John airchecks, plus one of Sterling Yates on FortunePhone mentioning my
name (I had caught a factual error in one of their questions, thus
validating my anal-retentive life!). And, yes, I still have the record
album I won from Big on the air by knowing "when we're eating breakfast
here, what meal are they eating in London?" and getting through
(PLaza 7-8866!)...
Great memories...
-- RH
--
| Ron Harris * a/k/a rha...@netcom.com * West Hollywood, CA |
| |
| "Living proof that store-bought teeth CAN work!" |
Notes 'R Us
Path: eisner!cloutier
From: clou...@eisner.decus.org (Steve Cloutier - Notes 'R Us)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.broadcasting
Subject: Re: Big Wilson
Message-ID: <1994Nov16.134146.7490@eisner>
Date: 16 Nov 94 13:41:46 -0500
References: <39c8on$c...@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu> <39kvj3$p...@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu>
Followup-To: rec.radio.broadcasting
Distribution: world
Organization: DECUServe
News-Moderator: Approval required for posting to rec.radio.broadcasting
Lines: 23
> In article <39c8on$c...@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu>, jfsa...@news.delphi.com
> (JFSA...@DELPHI.COM) writes:
>
> :Does anyone remember Big Wilson, one of the first "call-in talk show
> :hosts" on clear-channel radio? He was broadcasting in New York City over
> :WNBC (I believe) 25 years ago. Whatever happened to him?
>
Sure! I used to listen to him back in the mid-60s along with Brad Crandall
and Long John Nebal ( i might have messed up the spelling)
There was some clothing store called (I think) Dennisons or something like
that, with the motto "money talks nobody walks".
Those were good programs. How about Don McNeil and his breakfast club?
Anyone remember Truck-A-Luck?
(I'm showing my age :-)
Regards,
Steve Cloutier
BSOBEL
<CLOU...@Eisner.DECUS.Org> writes:
I was a kid growing up on Long Island in the 60's and wasn't allowed to
watch tv during the week. Radio was my only alterative and WNBC was the
station of choice! I was a huge fan of Brad Crandall and enjoyed Big
Wilson...Those were the days...Plaza 7-8866 certainly brings back
memories!
-Bill Sobel
Larry Bromley
: > In article <39c8on$c...@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu>, jfsa...@news.delphi.com
: > (JFSA...@DELPHI.COM) writes:
: >
: > :Does anyone remember Big Wilson, one of the first "call-in talk show
: > :hosts" on clear-channel radio? He was broadcasting in New York City over
: > :WNBC (I believe) 25 years ago. Whatever happened to him?
: >
: Sure! I used to listen to him back in the mid-60s along with Brad Crandall
: and Long John Nebal ( i might have messed up the spelling)
In the 70's and early eighties, Big Wilson worked at radio 610 WIOD as
well as WCIX TV Channel 6 on the Nite Owl Theatre, later seen on Channel
39 WDZL on a similar late night concept. I really enjoyed hearing that
mellow voice after those talkrealfastbetweenrecords DJ.s. I even met him
when WIOD covered the Strikers of the old NASL soccer. He had the WIOD
camper driven by his son, J.T. BTW, J.T. still lives down here. I
believe he is in advertising. Dammit, I miss Big Wilson and his kind of
music on WIOD.
--
Larry Bromley
a002...@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us
den...@roadrunner.com
> Wasn't Big Wilson in Cleveland before New York?
>
>
> Suzanne King
veland during the 50's and 60's, He carried my suitcase for me one day when
I was heading home from (what was later Cleveland State several blocks To
the Greyhound bus station. Great guy! Do you remember Candy Lee, also on KY
C? I went to BW with her. We were in the same dorm, became friends.