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Just saw a notice in the Tulsa World that he passed away over the weekend
at 64. Young guy.
The first one went up right up in front of McLain High School, the next along 11th Street across from Skelly Stadium. Funny thing about the one out north is that the place had a Scottish theme complete with the plaid outfit on the girl. Next was that their burger "Super Scot" was also the name of McLain's alumni, and Dennis Scott was a teacher at that school at the time, whose nickname was "Super Scott". Happy eats along the strip...hahaha
From your recent post, am I to understand you are not interested in a hotel or condo deal in Mexico? Could I talk to you about an island in the Arkansas River? I know it's a lot to think about right after a vacation trip. My people will talk to your people. This will give you time to consult Dazé.
Adios Amigo!
One port of call for our cruise ship, the Celebrity Constellation, was Cozumel, Mexico. Gaye and I wanted to do some snorkeling. Just off the ship, we were approached by a fellow named Victor who offered a free 1-day pass to the beach, an open bar and food if we would listen to a 1-hour presentation about the La Ceiba hotel. I had stayed there on a scuba trip in the early 90s and was curious about how it had weathered the hurricane last year. We took the bait. We were soon told emphatically that it was NOT a timeshare deal. That's when I knew it was a timeshare deal. I once accompanied a friend (the individual quoted in this Tulsa Tiki story) to a hotel in Puerto Vallarta to hear a similar pitch, and knew all the high-pressure techniques that would be employed. Sure enough, it was the same thing, only the "closer" wasn't rude like the Vallarta closer, Mr. Kurtz (I remember his name by association with Heart of Darkness/"Apocalypse Now"). The lack of rudeness was possibly due to the fact we could walk back down the pier to our ship, rather than depend on a bus or taxi to get us out. We earned the pass. While we snorkeled out from the beach to see the plane wreck (sunken for the 1977 Mexican movie, "Survive 11"), a nice shipmate named Ursula kept an eye on our stuff. When we got back to shore, we met her husband Malcolm, who said they currently lived in Sacramento. I asked if he listened to Capital Public Radio, and he did. I asked if he listened to Gary Chew and he did. He said he liked Gary's movie reviews. I told him that Gary's reviews were on my site. Small world. We talked about Panama, Costa Rica, world affairs, and cigars (did you know that a cigar can keep in a humidor for more than 200 years?)
Gaye and I got two free drinks each and a piece of cake before the open
bar and buffet were closed down for us non-buying types. We didn't get the
Mexican blanket promised us (not that we needed it), just as Mr. Kurtz hadn't
delivered the promised bottle of Cuervo (OK, he did cough up a laughably
small bottle, plus passes to a bullfight.)
If anyone has kind memories not yet revealed here, let the memories flow. Cheryl did mention that she read in one of the blogs, that Bill had once worked for KVOO Channel 2? I had never heard him mention that nor had she. Can anyone confirm that? She also mentioned that one of Bob Gregory's sons, Scott Gregory (Bill Pitcock's nephew,) is keeping alive the broadcast tradition of the Pitcocks (Gregory being a nom de plume) by hosting a jazz program on KWGS-FM 89.5, Saturday nights from 10 till 12. If he has the Gregory tonsils, that should be soothing at that hour. King Lionel tried to emulate Bob's voice early on in his career but it caused a hernia. Curable of course...with Super-Glue, but an octave shift up to a Pitcock level saved the day.
Come on people now...let's have some "Moose Mems."
I'm his last living relative, and have found early fan letters, addressed
to him at KTUL, in my late father's estate. Uncle Bill was his younger brother,
and perished in World War II, aboard the U.S.S. Indianapolis. Please email
me with any memories.....Thank You.
We can still listen to him on Big Band Saturday Night at 8 pm on 89.5 FM.
Rock on Alan!
Don't forget that Tulsa's infamous Billy James Hargis raised a few bucks playing that same tune. I wrote an article about it for the November 1972 issue of CREEM magazine.
The next night Dr. Scott was reading messages and said, "Here's a call from Pawhuska, Oklahoma. 'Can the band play some Jerry Lee Lewis just to let Jimmy Swaggart know we're thinking about him?'" His crowd cheered and the next day the band played "Whole Lot of Shakin'" and "Great Balls of Fire" all night. Shortly after that I was watching Scott read messages and he started..."Dear Dr. Scott, I am an orderly from Tulsa, Oklahoma. I..." and he trailed off and read the letter to himself. I was glued to the TV. I was a classmate and good friends in the TU Lit. program with an orderly who, I knew, was watching Gene Scott all night while drinking. This is the same guy who had read "The National Enquirer" and came up with the idea of printing "The Miracle Prayer." He took out a full-page ad in "The Inquirer" for over $1000 and ended up selling five of them, and one person requested her money back. He was the same guy who, when I showed him a recording of "4'33" by John Cage, which is 4 minutes, 33 Seconds of silence, he exclaimed "This man is selling nothing! I've been trying to do that my whole life!" Scott finished reading the note to himself, then angrily shouted at his crew. "WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR GIVING ME THIS! I AIN'T SUPPOSED TO GET THESE!" He then went into a tirade about how the entire medical industry was filled with nothing but murderers because his own mother had died from starvation at a hospital, or something to that effect. He started rallying the troops, then he denounced the orderly from Tulsa to be a whining coward. The next day I saw my friend, who was drunk, and asked him what he wrote. He told the person who answered the phone that he had been watching the show and he thought that TV evangelism was something he would like to get into, and he wanted to see if Scott would give him some pointers on how to crack into the business. As he proceeded to drink, he started getting paranoid that Scott would track him down and have thugs beat him up because he was onto what Scott was doing.
And that friend is currently teaching high school English in Tulsa.
As an officially designated rock 'n roll disc jockey of the mid 20th century, I must contest the following headline currently online..... Green Onions Identified as Source of E. Coli Cases Man...Booker T. and MG's should take somebody to court over this!!!
Delmeaux de Gillette du Coffeyville
The fact is, the man was styling himself after Charles Spurgeon, arguably the greatest preacher to live since the Apostle Paul. Spurgeon used to preach at the great Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, often while wearing a hat and smoking a cigar. Scott also adhered to the Baptist theology of Spurgeon and taught the same on his show, but only in tiny spurts somewhere between the berating of his congregation and delivering his high-pressure fundraising spiels.
I remember the dancing ladies at the State Fair. Seems like a very strange
place to have such a show. Also, I remember back in the 70s that Judy Blue
was making the rounds in Tulsa. Is she any relation to Judy Booger?
A friend of mine from school was working the erotic dancer tent and let me in. You had to be 18 to get in. The premiere dancer was a lady that everyone knew and just loved and kept yelling Booger! Booger! Booger! She was doing a slow strip-type dance to the song "Lay Lady Lay". Of course there was no real nudity shown but by the reaction of the crowd, it didn't really matter.
I remember thinking what a strange thing to be yelling at a half-naked lady,
never knowing that was her name. Someone that night told me that she was
from Jenks. I thought it was pretty cool someone from here was the star of
a big time State Fair Show. Ahhh, to be young and dumb again.
"Get on the Phone NOW!!"
He was the influence for the long-running character Dr. Gene Squat performed
by Brent Douglas on KMOD FM 97.5 radio. Unfortunately, I discovered Dr. Gene
passed away in 2005, but not before ordaining his very young, hot wife as
the one to carry on his message. You can read a bio on Dr. Gene at
DrGeneScott.com.
A few weeks later, I was on the job at the Whitlock Auto Supply at the Town
West shopping center off of I44. I was at the back parts counter when Judy
came in for some parts. Needless to say, the light of day was not kind to
her. She looked VERY hard, which was a great contrast from the lady I had
met at the party dressed in knee-high furry boots.
The storyline involves Doug buying an ice-cream truck and I'll be darned if the truck jingle isn't the same one that the venerable old "Blue Melody" trucks played to entice us into chasing them down. It's on CBS tomorrow at 7:00 pm.
"Hockey... LOL... I was in a bowling league in the 60s with Jud McAtee. Before that, he was a highly regarded Canadian junior player, and played for the Tulsa Oilers.
"After hockey, he owned a liquor store at 16th and Main. In those days it
was Jud's Package Store. He sponsored our bowling team and there was no way
you could advertise a liquor store. So, our team was named the Question Marks,
with a big question mark on the back of our bowling shirts. We bowled at
Harvard Lanes in the Knights of Columbus league."
I am really looking forward to seeing this program. It's been too long since we've had one, and hope there are more to come.
P.S. KOTV 6 is rebroadcasting the program Monday the 4th at 7:00 P.M., thirty
minute program commercial free by Arvest. This must be "Fantastic Tulsa Films"
lite.
It's not the outside-billboard taxi thing, but the cabs in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, have been playing videos to the captive audience in the back seat for a few years. It's a real treat to land after 24+hours in the tender mercies of the world airline system, clear immigration at 2 in the morning local time, get the bags and schlep through customs, and the taxi line, only to have an ad play into your bloodshot eyeballs. Cabs are clean and drivers honest even with the ads...something I can't necessarily say stateside.
In other news, if you're one of the pathetic few people who enjoy the kind
of music I do, you might want to point your browser to www.am740.ca, Toronto's
CHWO, music for curmudgeons. Tonight while I was working, Frank Ifield, the
Ronettes, and Rick Nelson, along with the requisite Elvis. Other nights,
they feature older swing, martini-music, and even specialty shows for British,
Scottish, and Irish music. Comes in real good here as we get the early sunsets
here, but even niftier on the Internet. No western swing, but nobody's perfect,
and that's why Steve Bagsby's got CDs (a great gift and cheap at the price,
by the way).
They were supposed to do bus-stops in DC and on Metro subways and some busses
but it hasn't happened here yet. Though I am told that in many men's rooms
in restaurants that formerly posted sports pages (behind glass) will be switching
to LCD's with sports and advertisng above - uh certain male-used bathroom
devices.
"Casino Royale", reviewed here by the webmaster.
It recalls the 1976 Orleans album cover that shows the band shirtless, something that Hall's election opponent used against him at the last minute, apparently with no success. The Post calls Orleans music "wussy rock." Best lines from the article:
"Once we forgive Hall for penning such excruciatingly unshakable couplets
as 'You're still the one who can scratch my itch / You're still the one and
I wouldn't switch,' let us acknowledge his singular place in American history:
He is the first professional rock musician elected to Congress. No, we're
not counting Sonny Bono, because he didn't play an instrument, at least not
onstage."
Isn't the former leader of Orleans - the rock group - now a balding US Congressman from NY state or maybe New Orleans?
Stay safe in Tulsey - my brother drove last night from Chicago to Wichita
- dodging freezing sleet to arrive at 2:30am today. Friends in Dallas are
prepping for a possible ice storm and in Austin it will be about 15 degrees
tonight. Our 64 degrees in DC was downright lovable today!
Kansan broke ground on TV The Wichita Eagle BY BECCY TANNER Lorenzo Dow Fuller Jr. is known as the "voice coach to the stars" who worked with renowned composers such as Cole Porter and George Gershwin. But the Kansan also has the distinction of being NBC's first black TV host, from 1947 to 1952. "Television was so new then, you couldn't afford to have discrimination," said Fuller, 87, who spoke by phone last week from his home in New York City. A television documentary is in the works about Fuller's life. Fuller was born in Stockton. His mother came from Nicodemus and his father published an African-American newspaper in Coffeyville during the late 1890s. By the time he was 4, Fuller and his family traveled throughout the Midwest giving classical musical performances as the Fuller Concert Company. Fuller played the harp. By the time he graduated from Stockton High School, he had learned to play the piano and five other instruments. When he was 15, Fuller was accepted as a sponsored student at the University of Kansas, where he studied opera and classical music. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from KU and performed monthly on the university's radio station, KFKU. He was the first African-American to sing with the college symphony. Fuller studied voice with Belle Soudant at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. Upon graduation, he was hired by NBC and hosted a 15-minute musical show. He became a musical director and special effects manager for TV shows such as "Robert Montgomery Presents." He also composed music for the "Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts." Fuller had a radio show, "Van and the Genie" on WPIX in New York. He was the first black man to star opposite a white woman on a national radio program. "I didn't encounter discrimination until TV got so big that the Southern stations began to influence it," Fuller said. "But by then, I was on the staff of NBC and a coach for some of the singers." Fuller appeared in Broadway musicals such as "Finian's Rainbow" and "Kiss Me Kate," and choreographed Broadway productions. When George Gershwin took "Porgy and Bess" to Europe, Fuller went along to perform in the production. Later, he appeared on "Sesame Street." Angela Logan, who is coordinating efforts for the Fuller documentary, met him 20 years ago when she was doing a show on the life of Josephine Baker. "He was this incredible man who spoke French with a French accent and knew so much about the world," Logan said. "I wondered who he was... He has not been recognized historically for the things he has done, especially as a pioneer in broadcasting and television." Three years ago, Fuller returned to Stockton, where the town paid tribute to him. Jean Lindsey, board member of the Rooks County Historical Society, which oversees the Frank Walker Museum, said the museum in Stockton has devoted an area to Fuller and his accomplishments.
Fuller said he wants Kansans to know he is still working: "I am teaching
adults now -- teaching senior citizens to sing Spanish, French and some German,"
he said.
Please tell Santa I want a "Fanner 50" with the "Shootin Shells" and a "Steve Canyon" helmet with the cool visor! Can you tell Santa P L E A S E!!!!! Your Friend,
Jeff
David recently sent an MP3 of his version of the OTASCO Christmas theme.
Jim Giles retires from KOTV today after 25 years. Congratulations, Jim!
 David George, Jim Giles and Mike Anderson at KOTV in the 80s
26 years ago, when at OETA they pooh-poohed staff pot luck, but GM Bob Allen, who was against the custom "disrupting the office", often was the first as "right of the Manor" to go thru the line and taste stuff! The state provided us with free cheap coffee and napkins but we brought in holiday napkins and cider so as to "not abuse" state offerings. On Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Tex.
Seems like yesterday to us now old folks. Robert McNamara is about the only
one of JFK's Cabinet still alive. 2-3 years ago I would see him on the Metro
(subway) here in DC some nights when he was going home from wherever his
office is now; he was then writing a book. Most people nowadays would have
no idea whom he was.
Nothing is better on a cold evening than lighting up the fireplace, having your favorite food & beverage and be transported back to wonderful times gone by. It is especially nice during the holiday season. Thanks Jack!
Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving and we will see you at
"Lights On" in Utica Square.
The show will include my short home movie of George Harrison at the Assembly Center in 1974, along with dozens of other rare and archival films clips from Tulsa going back to the 1920s. It's by far the best collection of rare Tulsa films ever put out on a DVD (or TV show for that matter).
You can see clips and/or buy the DVD on Jack's new site,
TulsaFilms.com.
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Moose Mems