Happy “Hair” gets a Buzz Cut

I had been dominant in the San Diego ratings since beginning my second round of mornings at KCBQ in January 1969. but now, it’s late ’70, and I am seated alone in an office barely tolerating the tardy arrival of a man whom I had never met, but whose reputation I knew well. My twitchy legs had finally settled down when in barreled the mustachioed new Program Director, Buzz Bennett.

He hurled a broad brimmed hat onto the side board of his desk revealing a bandana covering his brown Woodstock hairdo. A fringed leather coat. enveloped his lean frame. A final touch: cowboy spurs jangled on his boot heels.

Without even a superficial “hello, how are you?”. he glared, and said, “Hey Maaaan, I’ve been listening to you, and there is no way.,” all the while fixing me with a Simon Cowell glare. Then, when I thought he had run out of theater, he began twirling his mustache. Playing the game, I glared back and said, “I agree. There is no way.” Then I got up, and left without shaking hands, not that his was extended.

On the way out, I walked through a gauntlet of sobbing sales, and traffic women, and solemn faced guys reaching out to touch me as I passed. Some did not touch me, apparently fearing I was contagious.

I have never written about this or told anyone, but I was cool with Buzz, because I had been grimly “tipped” by GM Dick Casper that I was “out.”

Flash back………….

I had just returned from eight amazing years with Specs Howard, in which we had made history in the Midwest. George Jay, the imminent promotion man described us as “giants” in his published evaluation of jocks around the country.

In 1968, I returned to San Diego with no clear idea of what I wanted to do, except buy cheap California real estate. Radio was neither top of the mind. nor the bottom of the feet, just sort of hanging by a loose thread.

San Diego had been the scene of my first major triumph in the mid and latter 50’s. In that pioneering era, I had helped escort socially scourged rock and roll into the mainstream by 1960 when I went to New York. Major consultants were taping me as a template for injecting personality into a tight music format,

Buzz Bennett, kept a tight reins on his jocks but presented them as an enthusiastic team with strong promotions to back them up. Bennett benefited greatly by using Jack McCoy’s promotions (The Last Contest, et al) which shine as beacons even today. The sole personality standout among his jocks was Rich Brother Robin, a savant whose brain still fires those radio neurons..

The irony is that in laying pipe to fire me, Bennett told my boss, Dick Casper, that he regarded me as a “square” who did not understand a tight format. Truth is that I had evolved beyond the simplistic tight and bright rock platform, all the while maintaining giant ratings, and bringing about social changes in San Diego: fostering a campaign to bring the Pandas into this country, launching Charter Schools, doing involved shtick like the Cupeno Indian Rain Dance accurately predicting rain 18 times in a row in 1969, swimming across the city in 200 swimming pools, walking Death Valley, and much more, all the while dominating the market, including KGB, Bennett’s station. I will write more next week about competing in an ever undulating radio market.

Back to this jaw dropping allegory: I was untouchable in ‘69’-’70, not just fending off KGB but. dispatching a world class (Some say the greatest ever) jock, Don McKinnon, who had been brought in by competitor KDEO to whack me. During that period, the trade’s evaluation of me was that I was a “titan.”

Flashback: In late 1968, I had been back from Cleveland and Detroit for most of a year when GM Dick Casper invited me to dinner, and asked me to host his KCBQ morning show. The dinner consisted of me, my wife Carol, Dick, and George Wilson, the National PD of the Bartell chain.

Casper was a cheery bald headed man, with a rotund girth that belied his blazing psychic and physical energy. He did all the talking in a rush of enthusiasm while Wilson sat silently. It was Casper’s show.

Along with consuming a four star meal, I ate up Casper’s unqualified confidence in me to turn the station around His wishes were simple. In latter 1968, KCBQ ranked #5 in the market, way down from the #1 in 1961 when I left for the Midwest. He said he wanted # 1 (echo sfx) one ONE again, and that I was the one to get it done.

Three wines and a Baked Alaska later, I was “closed” and it was only then that Casper turned to Wilson for comment. who, not dazzled, asked simply, “Can you play 13 songs an hour?”

“Of course,” I replied, vague about what 13 songs an hour signified in the big picture.. Even then, I was a Zen creature. Wilson seemed mollified,

I launched into the morning show. Three months later, the Jan-Feb-Mar 1969 ARB came out and I was # 1 ( echo sfx.) I one ONE ! helping vault KCBQ into a stratospheric 400,000 cumes in a market of a million souls.

I have described my KCBQ era in prior chapters, so will jump to 1970 when we were riding high in the ratings, which abruptly dumped. The gifted Gary Allyn was the Program Director. I liked and respected him, but noticed that he was beginning to move in on me, telling me not to do so much shtick and otherwise making PD pronouncements. I mentioned this to Casper who grimly told me that we had just had a bad book, and that Gary was simply doing his job.

All of us in radio and television know about “bad books,” but was this an aberration or a bad book for a fixable reason?.

Other station insiders expressed their concern to me that during this period, KGB had begun doubling all of the money giveaway amounts that KCBQ was touting, Worse, according to Allyn, rather than match their money, we began to shrink our money giveaways,

For some reason, Casper was skimping on the promotion money, creating a crenau for Buzz Bennett .Casper’s creating such a hole in our programming was all Bennett needed to pounce. He was a master at running promotions with exciting production.

This was a benevolent prod to me to pull out the stops and either succeed or go down in flames. Years ago, I had made a contract with myself that if I was a party to a legitimate ratings collapse, I would resign regardless of the sanctity of my usual two year firm contract.

Bad timing: Just prior to the ill-timed low rating book, I had confronted Casper, demanding a doubling of my pay.

There was a negative trifecta going on here. Bad book, my big pay increase demand, and Bennett privately promising Casper that he could deliver his air staff from KGB for less than he was paying me alone. Casper tipped me off. that Buzz Bennett and he had made the deal, and that I would be cut. Happy Hare, the titan, was now the Titanic

The staff “cut” also called for removing the afternoon jock: Bob Collins, Yes, THE Robert L Collins who immortalized himself at WGN in Chicago.

It was sheer frustration, when an unsuspecting P.D. Gary Allen considerately told me that a new rating book had come out, and I was back up again, and to do whatever I wished with the show. I was a Gary Allyn fan after that. This show of humility was not the way P.D.’s normally behave. Read Gary’s pieces in Radio Daily News.

Then, Bonus! Bonus! The 1970 4th quarter Pulse came out, the one we had generated while on the way out, and KCBQ had rebounded to #1, beating Buzz’s KGB. Bennett called the fired Gary Allyn from his new digs at KCBQ, and said “Hey maan, the new Pulse is out and you whipped us at KGB.”

The obvious counter move for me would have been to go to KGB and beat up on Chuck Browning, the journeyman morning jock that Bennett had brought in from KGB to replace me. But….“Revenge isn’t sweet, it is a cold meal eaten alone,” I forget who said it.. Either The Buddha or Chuck Blore...

The Fog of Radio: Buzz Bennett and his cohorts were gone within a year of his tumultuous arrival at KCBQ. Next week, I will publicly reveal the heretofore unknown circumstances surrounding his mysterious departure..

Bennett paid a price for his persona. The lore is that Bill Drake, who had never met him, was considering him for PD at KHJ in Hollywood. It was only supposed to be a dental inspection, but they say that Buzz showed up for the job interview in full regalia: the Hippy-esque long hair, wispy mustache, fringed rawhide coat, and boots with spurs. Drake blew him off..

In the erosion of time, Now that I am writing, I have become fascinated with Buzz Bennett and regret not having gotten to know him. He has long since disappeared from the frenetic radio scene he helped create.

I know from long personal experience: that tight and bright promotion-ridden formats ultimately become heavy and dull, specially to a programmer as restless as Buzz Bennett. Those spurs are no good when riding a one trick pony.

In 1970, while I was still at KCBQ, CBS placed Specs Howard and me on a short list of morning show candidates at WCBS in New York if they “went music.” Instead, WCBS “went talk,” and brought in Pat Summerall,

Loyal friends were beginning to encircle me protectively. Among them were CBS Radio Vice President Tom Dawson and his radiant wife, Nita, who sent me a meditation for achieving serenity in troubled times.

1. Picture yourself lying on your belly on a warm rock
that hangs out over a crystal clear stream.
2. Picture yourself with both your hands dangling in
the cool running water.
3. Birds are sweetly singing in the cool mountain air.
4. No one knows your secret place.
5. You are in total seclusion from that hectic place
called the world.
6. The soothing sound of a gentle waterfall fills the air.
7. The water is so crystal clear that you can easily make out the face of the person you are holding under water.

After I left KCBQ in 1971, the offers came in, including from three major markets. Peter Lund, the VP/GM of San Diego News/Talk KSDO wanted me to host the morning news. I reluctantly “passed,” In 2004, he sent this message which Roger Hedgecock read at my Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony.

I’m sorry I can’t be with all of you as we salute a legendary radio personality, Harry Martin.

Back in the old days circa 1972, when I was General Manager of KSDO radio, I listened with jealousy to Harry on KCBQ. I was jealous because he was so good and consequently kicking our butt. When I first met him at various industry events, I was prepared not to particularly like him . Alas, I did, because he was greater than my expectations, as warm and friendly and caring and involved as he was on the air. He was, and is, equally so in person, finally someone in radio who lived up to one’s imagination. Over the years as I slogged through the corporate morass of broadcasting I had the opportunity to work with dozens of stars and personalities, and while comparisons are difficult, I can say without qualification that none of them outdid Harry in the truly important qualities of being a human being. If you’re one of the lucky people who can call Harry a friend, then you have something special. Because to Harry, that relationship is above all else. If I were to be slammed into a Tijuana jail Harry would be the first call I would make, because I know he would hang in there until I was released.. So I’d like to add my congratulations to a guy who started in my imagination as a ten and, after I met him, grew from there. Harry, you are the best.

                                       Peter Lund, former president of CBS and more importantly, friend of Harry Martin

Trivia: From February ’71 to February ’72, a 19 year old prodigy picked the music for Dick Casper at WMYQ in Miami. Who was he? Answer next week.

Or, send me your answer now if you know. Rollye James already did.

Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to go, but still had the feeling that you wanted to stay?........….Jimmy Durante