Bruce Morrow
Encyclopedia
Radio personality
A radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk radio show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather,...
known to many listeners as Cousin Brucie.
Radio work
Morrow's first stint in radio was in BermudaBermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
at ZBM-AM, where he was known as "The Hammer."
Morrow began his stateside career at New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Top 40 station WINS
WINS (AM)
WINS , known on-air as "Ten-Ten Wins", is a radio station in New York City, owned by CBS Radio. WINS's studios are in the combined CBS Radio facility at 345 Hudson Street in the TriBeCa section of Manhattan, and transmitting towers in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.WINS is one of the nation's oldest...
in 1959. In 1960, he moved to Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
for a brief stint before returning to the New York airwaves the following year on AM 770 powerhouse WABC
WABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
, another Top 40 outlet. Morrow's return to New York City came at the precise moment that rock and roll music was exploding across the Baby Boom
Baby boom
A baby boom is any period marked by a greatly increased birth rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds and when the number of annual births exceeds 2 per 100 women...
demographic and Morrow found himself on the most powerful radio station on the East Coast at the onset of the so-called British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
. His main competition came from his previous station WINS, which featured "Murray the K
Murray the K
Murray Kaufman , professionally known as Murray the K, was an influential rock and roll impresario and disc jockey of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s...
," a DJ who claimed close association with the Beatles.
"Cousin Brucie" quickly became a success on WABC's teen-oriented evening shift in the 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. slot. Morrow became a commercial radio powerhouse and household name through his ability to maintain a rapport with his listeners while smoothly mixing the diverse musical genres of the time (Motown soul, pop, hard rock, surf music, novelty records), and then seamlessly segueing into commercials for youth-oriented sponsors like Thom McAn
Thom McAn
Thom McAn is a brand of shoes distributed by Footstar, Inc., formerly the Melville Corporation . The brand is currently sold in Kmart and Wal-Mart stores, and consists of leather dress, casual, and athletic shoes...
shoes, local clothing outlets in the New York and New Jersey areas, and events such as concerts and drag-strip races.
On August 15, 1965, it was Morrow who introduced the Beatles during the first of their historic Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
concerts. The Shea stadium concert was released as a concert film in 1966 as The Beatles at Shea Stadium
The Beatles at Shea Stadium
The Beatles at Shea Stadium is a fifty-minute-long documentary of the Beatles' August 15, 1965 concert at Shea Stadium in New York, the highlight of the group's 1965 tour. The documentary was produced by Ed Sullivan , NEMS Enterprises Ltd. , and the Beatles company Subafilms Ltd...
. Morrow had a close relationship with Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, who called him at home on a regular basis.
He served at WABC for 13 years and 4,014 broadcasts until August 1974, when he jumped to rival station WNBC
WNBC (AM)
WNBC was a radio station that operated in New York City from 1922 to 1988. For most of its history, it was the flagship station of the NBC Radio Network...
; after three years there, he left the airwaves to team with entrepreneur Robert F.X. Sillerman
Robert F.X. Sillerman
Robert FX Sillerman is an American businessman and media entrepreneur. Once on the Forbes 400 list, he also briefly owned the WLAF's New York/New Jersey Knights.-Biography:He grew up in the Riverdale section of the Bronx...
to become the owner of the Sillerman Morrow group of stations, which included WALL
WALL
WALL is a radio station licensed to Middletown, New York that serves Orange County, New York. WALL is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts at 1340 kHz with 1,000 watts, daytime and nighttime, both nondirectional....
; WKGL, now WRRV
WRRV
WRRV is a modern rock radio station licensed to Middletown, New York and serving the mid Hudson Valley and Catskills of New York state plus nearby areas in New Jersey and Pennsylvania...
, in Middletown, New York; WJJB, later WCZX
WCZX
WCZX is an hot adult contemporary radio station licensed to Hyde Park, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state...
, in Hyde Park, New York; WHMP in Northampton, Massachusetts; WOCN in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts; WRAN (now dark) New Jersey 1510 in Randolph, New Jersey; and television station WATL Atlanta. The group later purchased WPLR
WPLR
WPLR based out of New Haven, Connecticut, is a rock station owned by Cox Radio....
in New Haven, Connecticut.
In 1982, Morrow returned to the DJ role with New York's WCBS-FM
WCBS-FM
WCBS-FM is a CBS-owned radio station in New York City. The station's studios are in the combined CBS Radio facility at 345 Hudson Street in Manhattan, and its transmitter is located on the Empire State Building....
, an oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
station. Initially, he filled in for Jack Spector every third Saturday evening for the Saturday Night Sock Hop program. Following Spector's resignation in 1985, Morrow took over the show and renamed it the Saturday Night Dance Party. The station also added his nationally-syndicated show Cruisin' America. In 1986, he took on the Wednesday evening slot, where he hosted The Top 15 Yesterday and Today Countdown. In 1991, the Wednesday show became The Yearbook, focusing on music from a year between 1955 and 1979. Cousin Brucie was also the "breakfast presenter" on Atlantic 252
Atlantic 252
Atlantic 252 was a long wave radio station broadcasting to Ireland and the United Kingdom on 252 kHz from its 1988 purpose built transmission site Clarkstown radio transmitter, which provided service to Atlantic 252 from 1989 until 2002. The station's studios were located just 12 km away in...
from 1992 to 1996.
When Cruisin' America ended its run in December 1992, Morrow continued hosting a show called Cruising with the Cuz Monday evenings until the end of 1993. After that show ended, he hosted the Saturday night and Wednesday night shows there until the station's change to the adult hits
Adult hits
Adult hits is a radio format, popular in the early 2000s, that does not adhere to a specific music genre, but instead draws from a wider playlist...
format called Jack FM
Jack FM
JACK FM is the alternative name and on-air brand of 60 radio stations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Jack stations play a mix of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s hits with some current hot adult contemporary singles. Jack's slogan "playing what we want" can also be...
on June 3, 2005. Shortly thereafter, he signed a multi-year deal to host oldies programming and a weekly talk show on Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
.
Morrow was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1988. In April 2010, he received the Bravery In Radio Award from William Paterson University
William Paterson University
William Paterson University is a comprehensive public institution located in Wayne, New Jersey serving nearly 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students through five colleges: , , , , and ....
and its radio station WPSC
WPSC
WPSC-FM is William Paterson University's non-commercial radio station. Licensed to Wayne, New Jersey, USA, the station serves the northern New Jersey and western New York City area...
88.7 FM, for a track record of "inspirational radio programming and lifelong commitment to the medium of radio."
Current programs
As of 2010, Morrow hosts programs on Sirius XM satellite radioSatellite radio
Satellite radio is an analogue or digital radio signal that is relayed through one or more satellites and thus can be received in a much wider geographical area than terrestrial FM radio stations...
, on the '60s on 6 channel. Cousin Brucie's Saturday Night Party - Live airs Saturday nights, while Cruisin' with Cousin Brucie airs live on Wednesday nights, with repeats on Sunday nights.
Television work
His voice can be heard in the films Across the UniverseAcross the Universe
"Across the Universe" is a song by the English group The Beatles. It was written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song first appeared on the various artists charity compilation album No One's Gonna Change Our World in December 1969, and later, in different form, on Let It Be,...
, Gas Pump Girls
Gas Pump Girls
Gas Pump Girls is a 1979 American comedy. Directed by Joel Bender, it stars Kirsten Baker as June. Following their high school graduation, she and her friends take over the operation of June's uncle's gasoline station, which faces stiff competition from the new, bigger, more modern station that has...
, and Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic film. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach...
; he also had a bit part in the latter title, playing the magician who saws Baby (Jennifer Grey
Jennifer Grey
Jennifer Elise Grey is an American actress. Her first major roles came in the 1984 war film Red Dawn and the 1986 comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In 1987 she starred as Frances "Baby" Houseman in the hit film Dirty Dancing for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe. In the early 1990s, Grey...
) in half. Morrow also appeared in the 1978 film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and had a guest appearance in the 1990s Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
television series (in "War Without End" (Part 2), playing the first officer of Babylon 4). In "Across the Universe" the radio station call letters he used were WEAF which were the call letters of 660 in New York before it became WNBC. He also played a TV contest announcer in "Between Time and Timbuktu," a 1972 PBS production featuring several short stories by Kurt Vonnegut, linked together by an unfortunate astronaut, played by William Hickey, who was launched into a time warp after winning the contest.
Charity work
For the last two decades, Morrow has actively worked for the Variety Children's Charity in support of disadvantaged, physically challenged, sick and needy children.Honors
Morrow was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of FameNational Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame
The NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame is a yearly honor from the National Association of Broadcasters. One inductee from radio and one from television are named at the yearly NAB conference.-Radio:*2011 * 2010 Ron Chapman* 2009 Vin Scully* 2008 Larry Lujack...
in the radio division in 2001.
Books
- Cousin Brucie: My Life in Rock 'N' Roll Radio (1987)
- Doo Wop: The Music, the Times, the Era (published November 1, 2007)
- Rock & Roll:...And the Beat Goes On (published October 1, 2009) ISBN 0982306431