Wolfman Jack speaks from beyond the grave...

I just got done with a great book, Wolfman Jack's autobiography 'Have Mercy'. I love radio, or at least what radio USED to be like. I was lucky enough to be a youngster living in the New York City area when Wolfman had his show on WNBC-AM in the early 70s, and I guess if you're a Gen Xer you probably saw him every once in a while on 'The Midnight Special' Friday nights on NBC television. I was always a fan of his and loved the scene with him in 'American Grafitti'. My parents took me to see that movie when it came out in '73. Made a big impression. Any of you Cali people hear him in his border blaster days on XERB or later on when he was on KDAY? That's more of the baby-boomer generation but I know we got a couple of you guys on here. Anyway, great book! I highly recomend. Wolfman was amazing. Can't believe he's been gone over 10 years already.

I'm a baby boomer and remember very well catching a few of the Wolfman Jack shows. You might like this sight. http://www.wolfmanjack.org/

I grew up in San Diego, and I mostly remember Los Angeles for Disneyland and Hollywood and of course the Wolfman and also that gal that used to host Saturday Sci-Fi Horror movies, Elvira.

The Wolfman Jack show was so great....I seldom heard it unless I was in the LA area...but what a great voice he had. I have heard that book you read is excellent.

Thanks for the book tip. I loved that scene in American Graffiti because it looked so unrehearsed and real, like it could have really happened. Or perhaps Richard Dreyfus' character Curt just dreamed it because he was asleep in his car and wakes up right before the scene, right?

I never got to hear the Wolfman on XERB, but I did occasionally listen to Dick "Huggy Boy" Hug late at night on AM radio. Once in a while DJ Rex plays a Wolfman aircheck on his Fools Paradise show on WFMU.

Here's a great site with everything you ever wanted to know about American Graffiti:

http://www.geocities.com/kippullman/

I used to hear him on XERB years ago. I can't even remember when it was, but I had a transistor radio that would get the station and I would hear Wolfman Jack on it all the time. In fact, that is where I first heard him before he was on Midnight Special.

I'll definitely check out that book, thanks for the tip on that.

As a side note, the radio station where Richard Dreyfus meets the Wolfman in American Graffitti is at radio station KRE, in Berkeley. The radio station is still there, and an antique radio club - California Historical Radio - has vintage radio and electronics swap meets in the KRE parking lot every month. For the past two years, California Historical Radio has been fixing up and restoring the old KRE radio station, here's a page that shows some of their work. And believe me, there is still a lot of old equipment there that looks like it came right out of that scene in American Graffitti!

Thanks so much for those pictures and info Mai Tai. That's pretty damn interesting. I always wondered what radio station they used for the location in 'American Graffiti'. It's also good to see so many people interested in the history of something like that. Wish they had something like that out here on the East Coast.

Remember when Wolf Man Jack, issued that challenge to Bruce Lee, and Bruce Lee got those scratches on his chest?

On 2007-01-21 20:48, donhonyc wrote:
I just got done with a great book, Wolfman Jack's autobiography 'Have Mercy'. I love radio, or at least what radio USED to be like. I was lucky enough to be a youngster living in the New York City area when Wolfman had his show on WNBC-AM in the early 70s, and I guess if you're a Gen Xer you probably saw him every once in a while on 'The Midnight Special' Friday nights on NBC television. I was always a fan of his and loved the scene with him in 'American Grafitti'. My parents took me to see that movie when it came out in '73. Made a big impression. Any of you Cali people hear him in his border blaster days on XERB or later on when he was on KDAY? That's more of the baby-boomer generation but I know we got a couple of you guys on here. Anyway, great book! I highly recomend. Wolfman was amazing. Can't believe he's been gone over 10 years already.

I have fond memories of the Wolfman growing up in L.A. and listening to his show on XERB whilst cruising Lakewood High School at lunchtime in a 60's American lead sled with windows rolled down and radio full up digging James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Sam Cooke, Junior Walker, Otis Redding and the whole Motown and Soul hit makers of the day, punctuated by the infamous Wolfman HOOOOWL. Ahhh...good times.