Wolfman Jack was a one of a kind, they truly broke the mold.
Full name was ‘Robert Weston Smith’, and he was known as the ultimate master of timing when it came to radio, as in ‘talking it to the post’ (meaning talking over the introductory instrumental portion as a song began and knowing when to stop JUST before the vocals started, likewise timing the ending of a song coming up on the top of the hour when the legal station identification + network news would intrude for a few minutes), I did not know the Wolfman although I was lucky enough to get through on his request line at WNBC in New York one night, I was listening to him on my Dad’s short wave in our basement just outside Washington D.C., picking him up on ‘AM skip’, and when I actually heard him answer the phone I said “oh my God, it’s you!” and he starts laughing and says “who were you expectin’, the Good Humor Man?” And we obviously were not ‘live’ on the air, and he says “who are ya, and what do ya wanna do with yourself?”
And like any teenager already hooked on radio I said “I want to do radio” and he said “it’s a tough way to go, and it takes a lot of years, but if you want it bad enough, stay with it and don’t take ‘no’ from nobody and you’ll make it!”
Some would say that was simplistic but it was also good advice and it did take a lot of years before I found myself on the air, but it was well worth it.
Like many of his fans, I wept when I heard of his death on July 1, 1995, he had literally walked in the front door of his home, a farm he owned in Belvidere North Carolina, embraced his wife Lou after having been on the road for a book tour, and collapsed, dying of a heart attack right there in her arms.
Right to the end, a master of timing.
Good story. I enjoyed reading it