EPISODE 658 HUMBERSIDE DISC JOCKEY and HANK WILLIAMS

EPISODE 658    HUMBERSIDE DISC JOCKEY AND HANK WILLIAMS


alan skeoch
Oct. 13, 2022

We Can't Quit You, Hank Williams | The New Yorker
HANK WILIAMS
Your cheatin’ heart will make you weepYou’ll cry and cry and try to sleepBut sleep won’t comeThe whole night throughYour cheatin’ heart will tell on you
When tears come down like fallin’ rainYou’ll toss around and call my nameYou’ll walk the floor the way I doYour cheatin’ heart will tell on you
Your cheatin’ heart will pine somedayAnd crave the love you threw awayThe time will come when you’ll be blueYour cheatin’ heart will tell on you
When tears come down like fallin’ rainYou’ll toss around and call my nameYou’ll walk the floor the way I doYour cheatin’ heart will tell on you


IT BEGAN AS A P.A. ANNOUNCEMENT AT HUMBERSIDE. C.    I. IN 1955

“WBEN radio wants a student disc jockey — doing book and music reviews — if anyone 
is interested come to the main office today.” This appeal was part of the morning 
announcements at Humberside Collegiate Institute one morning in 1955.
“Who would be stupid enough to do that,” was general student reaction except for me.
Along with two nice girls from Bloor Collegiate, I became a disc jockey for a few months.

Once a week we would meet with the real disc jockey at the tiny studio on the second
floor of a nondescript office building.  This was not big time but it was interesting…even fun.
The radio station wanted to attract high school students as listeners and the three of us
were the bait.  Once a week we would do a short on air review of a book or a musician.
Free books and recordings was payment.  Fame Would follow our insight into fine literature 
and great music.


1950's radio station studio | Internet radio station, Radio, Radio station
PICTURE OF A RADIO STATON LIKE WE USED IN 1955
I was about the age of this disc  jockey. It was possible to run
around the broadest table as my female friends from Bloor
Collegiate discovered.



Well things did not exactly go as planned.  The books were not earth shattering.  And who had
time to read them anyway.  Most of my high school time in the fall of 1955 e playing football in
the mistaken belief that my uniform would attract girls.  I never read the books.  Maybe picked 
a page then made some asinine comment about the author. “Must be smart uses a lot of big words”
 No danger of lawsuits because no one
I knew even listened.

There were two events that made my disc jockey career memorable however.   

The two girls from Bloor Colegiste were gifted.  Really bright.  Cheerful. Good looking.  And they 
actually read the books and played the records.  My comments were generally stupid.  For instance
I had the same comment for every record. 

“And what do you think of that recording, Alan?”
“Well, I like the beat.”

Liking the ‘beat” was my sole claim to fame in 1955.  I don’t remember one girl at Humberside
ever saying a word about my role as a reviewer.  And saying “I like the beat” may have shortened
my radio career.

The experience all boiled down to two memorable events.

TWO MEMORABLE EVENTS

1)  Our host was a professional and lonely disc jockey. Place the emphasis on the word lonely.
He  had sexual interests in the girls from Bloor Collegiate. They counted on
me to protect them.  One of our last meetings when I was a little late I entered the broadcast
booth to find our host chasing the girls around the table.  Was he for real?   The girls laughed and
ran but I think they were losing interest in their ‘on air’ experience.  Was he radio host serous?
Was he capable of molesting the girls.  I think not.  Then again maybe he was serious  Ho could
he molest two girls at once?  (Today, in the year 2022, this would be scandalous. In 1955 it
seemed funny to me, perhaps a little sad.  Not sure the girls agreed)

“Alan, try not and be late again.”

2)  The Bloor C. I. girls were very cultured.  Think they read the books  I fondly remember their
taste in music. Classical music.  Think they were real musicians.  But they did not like
Hank Williams who I adored.   Somewhere in our cellar is a 45 rpm collection of Hank’s
recordings.

“Alan, we do not like country music.  You do the review ,,, and keep the Hank Williams album”
“Great!”

My review was not earth shattering..  Just the usual, “I like the beat” . But I loved the album and
still remember the Hank Williams songs.  I did not know about  his alcoholism and his
early death of  a Heart attack when 29 years old.  Nor did I know he had a powerful influence
of other great pop stars of the 1950’s such as ” Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry,

How could these terrific girls not love Hand Willims?  Maybe they knew about his alcoholism which
I did not.  My musical interests were a notch or two below theirs that’s for sure

(Note: Years later when our oldest son took piano lessons I asked the instructor
who was a classical musician, “Could you teach Kevin to play the piano like
Jerry Lee Lewis?”  “Are you serious?”  “You bet, I like the way he pounds the piano and jumps
around.”  Which was the end of Kevin’s piano lessons.

There you have it.  Two memorable events in my career as a disc jockey.  Our host chasing my female
friends around the studio.  And my acquiring of a HanK Williams Album which included some of these wonderful
country blues  songs:

alan skeoch
Oct. 13,2022

POST SCRIPT> NOTES AND TITLES – HANK WILLIAMS

 song lyrics

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Hank Williams

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Hank Williams
Hank Williams Promotional Photo.jpg

Williams in 1951
Born
Hiram Williams


September 17, 1923

Mount Olive, Butler CountyAlabama, U.S.
Died January 1, 1953 (aged 29)

Resting place Oakwood Annex Cemetery
Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/WMA_button2b.png/34px-WMA_button2b.png 2x” class=”noprint wmamapbutton” title=”Show location on an interactive map” alt=”” style=”border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; padding: 0px 3px 0px 0px; cursor: pointer;”>32.3847°N 86.2913°W
Other names
  • Luke the Drifter
  • The Hillbilly Shakespeare
  • The Singing Kid
  • Timber Snake
  • Mr. Lovesick Blues
Occupation
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Spouses

    (m. 1944; div. 1952)

      (m. 1952)

      Children
      Relatives
      Musical career
      Genres
      Instrument(s)
      • Vocals
      • guitar
      • fiddle
      Years active 1937–1952
      Labels
      Website HankWilliams.com
      Signature
      Hank Williams signature.png
      Hiram “Hank” Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he recorded 55 singles (five released posthumously) that reached the top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 12 that reached No. 1 (three posthumously).
      Born and raised in Alabama, Williams was given guitar lessons by African-American blues musician Rufus Payne in exchange for meals or money. Payne, along with Roy Acuff and Ernest Tubb, had a major influence on Williams’s later musical style. Williams began his music career in Montgomery in 1937, when producers at local radio station WSFA hired him to perform and host a 15-minute program. He formed the Drifting Cowboys backup band, which was managed by his mother, and dropped out of school to devote his time to his career. When several of his band members were drafted during World War II, he had trouble with their replacements, and WSFA terminated his contract because of his alcoholism.
      Williams married singer Audrey Sheppard, who was his manager for nearly a decade. After recording “Never Again” and “Honky Tonkin'” with Sterling Records, he signed a contract with MGM Records. In 1947, he released “Move It on Over“, which became a hit, and also joined the Louisiana Hayride radio program. One year later, he released a cover of “Lovesick Blues“, which carried him into the mainstream. After an initial rejection, Williams joined the Grand Ole Opry. He was unable to read or notate music to any significant degree. Among the hits he wrote were “Your Cheatin’ Heart“, “Hey, Good Lookin’“, and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry“.
      Years of back pain, alcoholism, and prescription drug abuse severely compromised Williams’s health. In 1952, he divorced Sheppard and married singer Billie Jean Horton. He was dismissed by the Grand Ole Opry because of his unreliability and alcoholism. On New Year’s Day 1953, he suffered from heart failure and died suddenlyat the age of 29 on the way to Oak Hill, West Virginia. Despite his relatively brief career, he is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century, especially in country music. Many artists have covered his songs and he has influenced Elvis PresleyBob DylanJohnny CashChuck BerryJerry Lee LewisGeorge JonesGeorge StraitCharley PrideThe Beatles and the Rolling Stones, among others. Williams was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. The Pulitzer Prize jury awarded him a posthumous special citation in 2010 for his “craftsmanship as a songwriter who expressed universal feelings with poignant simplicity and played a pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force in American life”.

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