Wolfman Jack
Encyclopedia
Robert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack (21 January 1938 - 1 July 1995) was a gravelly voiced US
disc jockey
who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.
on 21 January 1938, the younger of two children of Anson Weston Smith, an Episcopal Sunday school teacher, writer, editor, and executive vice president of the Financial World
; and Rosamond Small. His parents divorced while he was young. To help keep him out of trouble, his father bought him a large transoceanic
radio, and Smith became an avid fan of R&B music and the disc jockeys who played it, such as "Jocko" Henderson of Philadelphia, New York's "Dr. Jive" (Tommy Smalls
), the "Moon Dog" Alan Freed
, and Nashville's "John R.
" Richbourg, who later became his mentor. After selling encyclopedias and Fuller brushes door-to-door, Smith attended the National Academy of Broadcasting in Washington, DC. Upon graduation (1960), he began working as "Daddy Jules" at WYOU-AM
in Newport News, Virginia
. When the station format changed to "beautiful music," Smith became known as "Roger Gordon and Music in Good Taste." In 1962, he moved to country music station KCIJ/1050 in Shreveport, Louisiana
to be the station manager as well as the morning disc jockey, "Big Smith with the Records." He married Lucy "Lou" Lamb in 1961, and they had two children.
Disc jockey Alan Freed
had played a role in the transformation of black rhythm and blues
into rock and roll
music, and originally called himself the "Moon Dog" after New York City
street musician
Moondog
. Freed both adopted this name and used a recorded howl to give his early broadcasts a unique character. Smith's adaptation of the Moondog theme was to call himself Wolfman Jack and add his own sound effects. The character was based in part on the manner and style of blues
man Howlin' Wolf
. It was at KCIJ that he first began to develop his famous alter ego Wolfman Jack. According to author Philip A. Lieberman, Smith's "Wolfman" persona "derived from Smith's love of horror flicks and his shenanigans as a 'wolfman' with his two young nephews. The 'Jack' was added as a part of the 'hipster' lingo of the 1950s, as in 'take a page from my book, Jack,' or the more popular, 'hit the road, Jack.'"
In 1963, Smith took his act to the border when the Inter-American Radio Advertising's Ramon Bosquez hired him and sent him to the studio and transmitter site of XERF-AM at Ciudad Acuña
in Mexico
, a station whose high-powered border blaster
signal could be picked up across much of the United States. In an interview with writer Tom Miller
, Smith described the reach of the XERF signal: "We had the most powerful signal in North America. Birds dropped dead when they flew too close to the tower. A car driving from New York to L.A. would never lose the station." Most of the border stations broadcast at 250,000 watts, five times the U.S. limit, meaning that their signals were picked up all over North America, and at night as far away as Europe and the Soviet Union. It was at XERF that Smith developed his signature style (with phrases like "Who's this on the Wolfman telephone?") and widespread fame. The border stations made money by renting time to Pentecostal preachers and psychics, and by taking 50 percent of the profit from anything sold by mail order. The Wolfman did pitches for dog food, weight-loss pills, weight-gain pills, rose bushes, and baby chicks. There was even a pill called Florex, which was supposed to enhance one's sex drive. "Some zing for your ling nuts," the Wolfman would say.
XERB was the original call sign for the border blaster station in Rosarito Beach Mexico, which was branded as The Mighty 1090 in Hollywood, California
. The station boasted "50,000 watts of Boss Soul Power." That station continues to broadcast today with the call sign XERB. XERB also had an office in the rear of a small strip mall
on Third Avenue in Chula Vista, California
. It was not unlike the small broadcast studio depicted in the film, American Graffiti
(which was filmed at KRE in Berkley). It was located only 10 minutes from the Tijuana
-San Diego border crossing. It was rumored that the Wolfman actually broadcast from this location during the early to mid-sixties. Smith left Mexico after eight months and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota
to run station KUXL. Missing the excitement, however, he returned to border radio to run XERB, and opened an office on Sunset Boulevard
in Los Angeles
area in January 1966. The Wolfman would record his shows in Los Angeles and ship his tapes across the border into Mexico, where they would then be beamed across the U.S. It was during his time broadcasting on XERB that Smith met Don Kelley who would become his personal manager and business partner over a period of over twenty years. It was Kelley who saw the potential for Wolfman Jack to become more than a radio personality. Kelley started to work on a strategy to transform Smith from a cult figure to a mainstream entertainer in film, recordings, and television. He promoted Smith to the major media and formed enduring relationships with key journalists.
In 1971, the Mexican government decided that its overwhelmingly Roman Catholic citizens should not be subjected to proselytizing and banned the Pentecostal preachers from the radio, taking away 80 percent of XERB's revenue. He then moved to station KDAY
/1580 in Los Angeles
, which could only pay him a fraction of his former XERB income. However, Smith capitalized on his fame by editing his old XERB tapes and selling them to radio stations everywhere, inventing rock and roll radio syndication. He also appeared on Armed Forces Radio from 1970-1986. At his peak, Wolfman Jack was heard on more than 2,000 radio stations in fifty-three countries. In a deal promoted by Don Kelley, The Wolfman was paid handsomely to join WNBC
in New York in August 1973, the same month that American Graffiti premiered, and the station did a huge advertising campaign in local newspapers that the Wolfman would propel their ratings over that of their main competitor, WABC
, which had "Cousin Brucie" (Bruce Morrow). The ads would proclaim, "Cousin Brucie's Days Are Numbered," and they issued thousands of small tombstone-shaped paperweights which said, "Cousin Brucie is going to be buried by Wolfman Jack." After less than a year, WNBC hired Cousin Brucie, and Wolfman Jack went back to California to concentrate on his syndicated radio show. He moved to Belvidere, North Carolina, in 1989, to be closer to his extended family.
(an MC) for rock bands at local Los Angeles
, California
clubs. At each appearance he looked a little different because Smith hadn't decided on what the Wolfman should look like. Early pictures show him with a goatee
; however, sometimes he combed his straight hair forward and added dark makeup to look somewhat "ethnic". Other times he had a big afro
wig and large sunglasses. The ambiguity of his race contributed to the controversy of his program. It wasn't until he appeared in the 1969 film A Session with the Committee (a montage of skits by the seminal comedy troupe The Committee
) that mainstream America got a good look at Wolfman Jack.
Wolfman Jack released two albums on the Wooden Nickel
label: Wolfman Jack (1972) and Through the Ages (1973). His 1972 single "I Ain't Never Seen a White Man" hit #106 on the Billboard Singles Charts
.
In 1973 he appeared in director George Lucas
' second feature film, American Graffiti
, as himself. His broadcasts tie the film together, and Richard Dreyfuss
's character catches a glimpse of the mysterious Wolfman in a pivotal scene. In gratitude for Wolfman Jack's participation, Lucas gave him a fraction of a "point"—the division of the profits from a film—and the extreme financial success of American Graffiti provided him with a regular income for life. He also appeared in the film's 1979 sequel More American Graffiti
, though only through voice overs.
Subsequently, Smith appeared in several television
shows as Wolfman Jack. They included The Odd Couple
; What's Happening!!
; Vega$
; Wonder Woman
; Hollywood Squares
; Married… with Children; Emergency
; and—most notoriously -- Galactica 1980
. He was the regular announcer and occasional host for The Midnight Special
on NBC
from 1973 to 1981. He was also the host of his self-titled variety series, The Wolfman Jack Show
, which was produced in Canada
by CBC Television
in 1976, and syndicated to stations in the US.
He promoted Clearasil
and Olympia beer
in radio and TV commercials in the '70s. In the '80s he promoted the "Rebel" Honda motorcycle in television commercials.
Listening to Wolfman Jack's broadcasting influenced Jim Morrison
's lyrics for The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)
song. He is also mentioned in the Grateful Dead
song, "Ramble On Rose": "Just like Crazy Otto/Just like Wolfman Jack/Sittin' plush with a royal flush/Aces back to back."
He also furnished his voice in The Guess Who
's 1974 tribute, the top 40 hit single, "Clap for the Wolfman". A few years earlier, Todd Rundgren
recorded a similar tribute, "Wolfman Jack", on the album Something/Anything?
. (The single version of the track includes a shouted talk-over intro by the Wolfman but on the album version Rundgren performs that part himself.) Canadian
band The Stampeders
also released a cover of "Hit the Road Jack
" in 1975 featuring Wolfman Jack; the storyline of the song involved a man named "Cornelius" calling Jack on the phone, telling him the story of how his girlfriend had thrown him out of the house, and trying to persuade Jack to let him come and stay with him (at this point, Jack ended the call). His voice is also featured in the songs "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" by Sugarloaf
(Billboard HOT 100 peak #9 in Mar 1975) and "Did You Boogie (With Your Baby)" by Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids
(Billboard HOT 100 peak #29 in Oct 1976). Also in September 1975, Wolfman Jack appeared on stage with the Stampeders (singing Hit The Road Jack) as a warm-up act for the Beach Boys at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, Canada.
A clip of a 1970s radio advertisement featuring Wolfman Jack urging registration with the United States Selective Service
(aka "the draft") is incorporated into the Depeche Mode
cover of the song "Route 66
". Those radio advertisements were extracted from half hour radio programs that were distributed to radio stations across the country. His syndicated music radio series was sponsored by the United States Air Force
, designed as a weekly program-length public service
infomercial
to promote the benefits of joining the Air Force. The series ran from 1971 until 1977.
In July 1974 Wolfman Jack was the MC for the Ozark Music Festival at the Missouri State Fair
grounds, a huge three-day rock festival
with an estimated attendance of 350,000 people, making it one of the largest music events in history.
In 1984 Wolfman Jack voiced a cartoon version of himself for the short lived DIC Entertainment
cartoon Wolf Rock TV (aka Wolf Rock Power Hour) airing Saturday mornings on ABC.
In 1985, Wolfman Jack's voice is heard several times in the ABC made for TV Halloween movie The Midnight Hour
. Jack recorded several bits for the movie and is seen at the beginning of the movie as an extra. The song "Clap for the Wolfman" is heard during the movie as well.
In 1986, Wolfman Jack appeared as the "High Rama Lama" in the CBS
animated special Garfield in Paradise
In 1989, he provided the narration for the US version of the arcade game
DJ Boy
. His voice was not used in the home version of the game, due to memory limitations.
Wolfman Jack played himself in a episode of Married... with Children
(Ship Happens, part 1) that first aired in February 1995.
network of Radio Caroline North and Radio Caroline South sank in 1980, a search began to find a replacement. Due to the laws passed in the UK
in 1967, it became necessary for the sales operation to be situated in the US. For a time Don Kelley, Wolfman Jack's business partner and personal manager, acted as the West Coast agent for the planned new Radio Caroline
, but the deal eventually fell apart.
As a part of this process Wolfman Jack was set to deliver the morning shows on the new station. To that end, Wolfman Jack recorded a number of programs that never aired, due to the failure of the station to come on air according to schedule. (It eventually returned from a new ship in 1983 which remained at sea until 1990.) Today those tapes are traded among collectors of his work.
in downtown Washington, D.C.
Wolfman Jack said that night, "I can't wait to get home and give Lou a hug, I haven't missed her this much in years." Wolfman had been on the road, promoting his new autobiography Have Mercy!: Confessions of the Original Rock 'N' Roll Animal, about his early career and parties with celebrities. "He walked up the driveway, went in to hug his wife and then just fell over," said Lonnie Napier, vice president of Wolfman Jack Entertainment. Wolfman Jack died of a heart attack
in Belvidere, North Carolina
, on July 1, 1995.
recorded an instrumental
named after Wolfman Jack titled 'Wolfman.' A later recording featured a man, possibly Bobby, mimicking Wolfman's voice and howling in the background.
In the skit "Wolfman" on the Adam Sandler
album Shhh...Don't Tell
, a man pretends to be Wolfman Jack because he is in denial about his sexuality.
A character by the name of "Wolfbane Jack" appeared on the children's television show "The Electric Company". On the Canadian children's show
The Hilarious House of Frightenstein
, the show's creator Billy Van
played the "Wolfman", a lycanthropic
disc jockey (a literal "wolf-man") for radio station EECH, with a voice and mannerism clearly modeled after Wolfman Jack.
A Wolfman Jack functionary ("Wolfguy Jack") appears as the owner of a 1950s'-themed diner
in the Simpsons
episode "Take My Wife, Sleaze
". Wolfguy Jack has a lover named Honey who physically resembles Candy Clark
's character in American Graffiti. After howling like a wolf, Wolfguy complains that doing the voice hurts his throat. The business closes a week after Homer and Marge win a motorcycle in a dance contest. As Wolfguy locks the door for the last time, he remarks to Honey that "We still have each other", then turns around to see he is alone, and howls again.
Jerry Thunder, the radio station DJ from That '70s Show
, is based on Wolfman Jack.
Sesame Street
released a video compilation of rock songs (most were parodies of actual rock hits modified, of course, for preschoolers) hosted by "Jackman Wolf", an anthropomorphic purple wolf who always wore sunglasses.
During Episode 2.3 of Saved By The Bell
, Zack Morris
DJ'd his high school radio station under the name "Wolfman Zack".
, Texas
, wanted to establish a museum to commemorate Wolfman Jack's stint in the border town where he first began his career at radio AM station XERF. Those involved with the project were not successful in raising the required funds necessary to build the museum, and disagreements with the DJ's estate over securing the rights to use copyrighted materials including Wolfman Jack's name on the project, eventually led to the project's failure.
In March 2003 a memorial was dedicated to the Wolfman in Del Rio. Artist Michael Maiden created a two foot tall model sculpture depicting Wolfman Jack dancing a jig on one leg with a rainbow of musical notes and records raining down behind him. The model was for a proposed life-sized installation.
Wolfman Jack was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1996, and into the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)
Broadcasting Hall of Fame
in 1999.
In addition, Wolfman Jack's widow, Lou Lamb Smith, leased a one- to two-hour syndicated program built from what were thought to be "lost" archives and airchecks of his shows. The airchecks used in the shows date from the 1960s all the way up to his death in the 1990s. About a dozen oldies-oriented stations in the United States and Canada have picked up the show, and air times for the show vary by station.
Beginning on October 31, 2005, a 1960s-themed channel, "The 60s on 6
" on XM Satellite Radio
, began airing a regular program utilizing aircheck
s from Wolfman Jack's older syndicated shows. The first show was broadcast in October and was Halloween
themed. The promotion
for it was the announcement of a Halloween show so special that they were bringing someone back from the dead. It ended with a squeakly coffin opening and then the voice of the Wolfman saying, (paraphrased) "Hi everyone, it's the Wolfman and I am back. Be sure to join me for a very special ghoulish show this Halloween night". After that Halloween show, Wolfman's show was a nightly regular on XM's '60s channel. The XM show currently airs one hour per week at 11 PM Eastern Time and five hours on Sunday night at 7 PM Eastern Time.
As of December 2007, there are also several terrestrial radio affiliates carrying restored versions of Wolfman Jack's programs, with original air dates ranging from the 1970s up until his death in 1995 (one replayed episode, for instance, featured Wolfman Jack discussing the O. J. Simpson murder case
). These programs were restored by Douglas Allen Wedge and syndicated between October 2004 and January 2006 by the San Diego, California
-based Astor Broadcast Group
. These programs are now syndicated by Lou Lamb Smith through Wolfman Jack Licensing based in Hollywood, California
and London, UK-based Blue Revolution (see link below).
Mac Kelly portrays the fictional Wolfman Mac, host of the late-night TV program, Wolfman Mac's Chiller Drive-In, on RTV
. Kelly appears in elaborate make-up as a wolfman. The name Wolfman Mac is used by permission of Lou Lamb Smith.
The Tom Waits
song "Get Lost" (from the album Bad as Me
) exhorts "Turn up the Wolfman Jack".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.
Early career
Smith was born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
on 21 January 1938, the younger of two children of Anson Weston Smith, an Episcopal Sunday school teacher, writer, editor, and executive vice president of the Financial World
Financial World
Financial World was the United States' oldest business magazine before going out of business in 1998. In the magazine's later years of publication, its signature issue was the "Sports Franchise Valuation Issue".- History :...
; and Rosamond Small. His parents divorced while he was young. To help keep him out of trouble, his father bought him a large transoceanic
Trans-Oceanic
The Trans-Oceanic was the name given to a series of portable radios produced from 1942 to 1981 by Zenith Radio. They were characterised by their heavy-duty, high-quality construction and their performance as shortwave receivers....
radio, and Smith became an avid fan of R&B music and the disc jockeys who played it, such as "Jocko" Henderson of Philadelphia, New York's "Dr. Jive" (Tommy Smalls
Tommy Smalls
Tommy Smalls , known as Dr. Jive, was an influential African-American radio disc jockey in New York during the early days of rock and roll.-Life and career:...
), the "Moon Dog" Alan Freed
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
, and Nashville's "John R.
John R.
John R. was an American radio disc jockey who attained fame in the 1950s and 1960s for playing rhythm and blues music on Nashville radio station WLAC...
" Richbourg, who later became his mentor. After selling encyclopedias and Fuller brushes door-to-door, Smith attended the National Academy of Broadcasting in Washington, DC. Upon graduation (1960), he began working as "Daddy Jules" at WYOU-AM
WTJZ
WTJZ is a Black Gospel formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Newport News, Virginia, serving Hampton Roads. WTJZ is owned and operated by Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation.-History:...
in Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
. When the station format changed to "beautiful music," Smith became known as "Roger Gordon and Music in Good Taste." In 1962, he moved to country music station KCIJ/1050 in Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
to be the station manager as well as the morning disc jockey, "Big Smith with the Records." He married Lucy "Lou" Lamb in 1961, and they had two children.
Disc jockey Alan Freed
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
had played a role in the transformation of black rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
into rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
music, and originally called himself the "Moon Dog" after New York City
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...
street musician
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
Moondog
Moondog
Moondog, born Louis Thomas Hardin , was a blind American composer, musician, poet and inventor of several musical instruments. Moving to New York as a young man, Moondog made a deliberate decision to make his home on the streets there, where he spent approximately twenty of the thirty years he...
. Freed both adopted this name and used a recorded howl to give his early broadcasts a unique character. Smith's adaptation of the Moondog theme was to call himself Wolfman Jack and add his own sound effects. The character was based in part on the manner and style of blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
man Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
. It was at KCIJ that he first began to develop his famous alter ego Wolfman Jack. According to author Philip A. Lieberman, Smith's "Wolfman" persona "derived from Smith's love of horror flicks and his shenanigans as a 'wolfman' with his two young nephews. The 'Jack' was added as a part of the 'hipster' lingo of the 1950s, as in 'take a page from my book, Jack,' or the more popular, 'hit the road, Jack.'"
In 1963, Smith took his act to the border when the Inter-American Radio Advertising's Ramon Bosquez hired him and sent him to the studio and transmitter site of XERF-AM at Ciudad Acuña
Ciudad Acuña
Ciudad Acuña, also known simply as Acuña, is a city located in the Mexican state of Coahuila, at and a mean height above sea level of 271 meters...
in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, a station whose high-powered border blaster
Border blaster
A border blaster is a licensed commercial radio station that transmits at very high power from one nation to another. Border blasters should not be confused with international broadcast stations...
signal could be picked up across much of the United States. In an interview with writer Tom Miller
Tom Miller (travel writer)
Tom Miller is an American author primarily known for travel literature. His ten books include The Panama Hat Trail, On the Border, Trading With the Enemy, and Jack Ruby's Kitchen Sink...
, Smith described the reach of the XERF signal: "We had the most powerful signal in North America. Birds dropped dead when they flew too close to the tower. A car driving from New York to L.A. would never lose the station." Most of the border stations broadcast at 250,000 watts, five times the U.S. limit, meaning that their signals were picked up all over North America, and at night as far away as Europe and the Soviet Union. It was at XERF that Smith developed his signature style (with phrases like "Who's this on the Wolfman telephone?") and widespread fame. The border stations made money by renting time to Pentecostal preachers and psychics, and by taking 50 percent of the profit from anything sold by mail order. The Wolfman did pitches for dog food, weight-loss pills, weight-gain pills, rose bushes, and baby chicks. There was even a pill called Florex, which was supposed to enhance one's sex drive. "Some zing for your ling nuts," the Wolfman would say.
XERB was the original call sign for the border blaster station in Rosarito Beach Mexico, which was branded as The Mighty 1090 in Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The station boasted "50,000 watts of Boss Soul Power." That station continues to broadcast today with the call sign XERB. XERB also had an office in the rear of a small strip mall
Strip mall
A strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...
on Third Avenue in Chula Vista, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It was not unlike the small broadcast studio depicted in the film, American Graffiti
American Graffiti
American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
(which was filmed at KRE in Berkley). It was located only 10 minutes from the Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
-San Diego border crossing. It was rumored that the Wolfman actually broadcast from this location during the early to mid-sixties. Smith left Mexico after eight months and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
to run station KUXL. Missing the excitement, however, he returned to border radio to run XERB, and opened an office on Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
area in January 1966. The Wolfman would record his shows in Los Angeles and ship his tapes across the border into Mexico, where they would then be beamed across the U.S. It was during his time broadcasting on XERB that Smith met Don Kelley who would become his personal manager and business partner over a period of over twenty years. It was Kelley who saw the potential for Wolfman Jack to become more than a radio personality. Kelley started to work on a strategy to transform Smith from a cult figure to a mainstream entertainer in film, recordings, and television. He promoted Smith to the major media and formed enduring relationships with key journalists.
In 1971, the Mexican government decided that its overwhelmingly Roman Catholic citizens should not be subjected to proselytizing and banned the Pentecostal preachers from the radio, taking away 80 percent of XERB's revenue. He then moved to station KDAY
KBLA
KBLA is a radio station licensed to Santa Monica, California, with an Spanish religious radio format. It broadcasts at 1580 kHz with 50,000 watts day and night. Most of this station's signal is dumped over the Pacific Ocean, however, in order not to interfere with radio station KMIK KBLA (1580 AM)...
/1580 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, which could only pay him a fraction of his former XERB income. However, Smith capitalized on his fame by editing his old XERB tapes and selling them to radio stations everywhere, inventing rock and roll radio syndication. He also appeared on Armed Forces Radio from 1970-1986. At his peak, Wolfman Jack was heard on more than 2,000 radio stations in fifty-three countries. In a deal promoted by Don Kelley, The Wolfman was paid handsomely to join 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...
in New York in August 1973, the same month that American Graffiti premiered, and the station did a huge advertising campaign in local newspapers that the Wolfman would propel their ratings over that of their main competitor, 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...
, which had "Cousin Brucie" (Bruce Morrow). The ads would proclaim, "Cousin Brucie's Days Are Numbered," and they issued thousands of small tombstone-shaped paperweights which said, "Cousin Brucie is going to be buried by Wolfman Jack." After less than a year, WNBC hired Cousin Brucie, and Wolfman Jack went back to California to concentrate on his syndicated radio show. He moved to Belvidere, North Carolina, in 1989, to be closer to his extended family.
Film, television, and music career
In the early days, Wolfman Jack made sporadic public appearances, usually as a Master of CeremoniesMaster of Ceremonies
A Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....
(an MC) for rock bands at local Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
clubs. At each appearance he looked a little different because Smith hadn't decided on what the Wolfman should look like. Early pictures show him with a goatee
Goatee
Goatee refers to a style of facial hair incorporating hair on a man’s chin. The exact nature of the style has varied according to time and culture.Traditionally, goatee refers solely to a beard formed by a tuft of hair on the chin...
; however, sometimes he combed his straight hair forward and added dark makeup to look somewhat "ethnic". Other times he had a big afro
Afro
Afro, sometimes shortened to fro and also known as a "natural", is a hairstyle worn naturally by people with lengthy kinky hair texture or specifically styled in such a fashion by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair...
wig and large sunglasses. The ambiguity of his race contributed to the controversy of his program. It wasn't until he appeared in the 1969 film A Session with the Committee (a montage of skits by the seminal comedy troupe The Committee
The Committee (improv group)
The Committee is a San Francisco based improvisational comedy group founded by Alan Myerson and Jessica Myerson . The Myersons were both alums of The Second City in Chicago. The Committee opened April 10, 1963 at 622 Broadway in a 300 seat Cabaret theater that used to be an indoor bocce ball court...
) that mainstream America got a good look at Wolfman Jack.
Wolfman Jack released two albums on the Wooden Nickel
Wooden Nickel Records
Wooden Nickel Records was an American independent record label started in 1971 by Bill Traut, Jim Golden and Jerry Weintraub as a successor to Dunwich Records. Most of Wooden Nickel's releases were by acts based in the Chicago area, including the Siegel-Schwall Band, Megan McDonough and Styx. The...
label: Wolfman Jack (1972) and Through the Ages (1973). His 1972 single "I Ain't Never Seen a White Man" hit #106 on the Billboard Singles Charts
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...
.
In 1973 he appeared in director George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
' second feature film, American Graffiti
American Graffiti
American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
, as himself. His broadcasts tie the film together, and Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
's character catches a glimpse of the mysterious Wolfman in a pivotal scene. In gratitude for Wolfman Jack's participation, Lucas gave him a fraction of a "point"—the division of the profits from a film—and the extreme financial success of American Graffiti provided him with a regular income for life. He also appeared in the film's 1979 sequel More American Graffiti
More American Graffiti
More American Graffiti is the 1979 sequel film to George Lucas's hit film American Graffiti. Whereas the first film followed a group of friends during the summer evening before they set off for college, this film shows us where the characters from the first film end up a few years later.Most of the...
, though only through voice overs.
Subsequently, Smith appeared in several television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
shows as Wolfman Jack. They included The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple (TV series)
The Odd Couple is a television situation comedy broadcast from September 24, 1970 to July 4, 1975 on ABC. It starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison. It was based upon the play of the same name, which was written by Neil Simon.Felix and Oscar are two divorced men....
; What's Happening!!
What's Happening!!
What's Happening!! is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from August 5, 1976 to April 28, 1979. The show premiered as a summer series. With good ratings and reviews, and after the failure of several other shows on the network, What's Happening!! returned in November 1976 as a weekly...
; Vega$
Vega$
Vega$ is an American detective television drama series that aired on ABC between 1978 and 1981. It was produced by Aaron Spelling. The series, was filmed in its entirety in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is believed to be the first television series produced entirely in Las Vegas...
; Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman (TV series)
Wonder Woman is an American television series based on the DC Comics comic book superhero of the same name. Starring Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and Lyle Waggoner as Steve Trevor, the show originally aired from 1975 to 1979....
; Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares is an American panel game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The "board" for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants...
; Married… with Children; Emergency
Emergency
An emergency is a situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or environment. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening of the situation, although in some situations, mitigation may not be possible and agencies may only be able to offer palliative...
; and—most notoriously -- Galactica 1980
Galactica 1980
Galactica 1980 is a science fiction television series, and a spin-off from the 1978–1979 series Battlestar Galactica. It was first broadcast on the ABC network in the United States from January 27 to May 4, 1980.-Development:...
. He was the regular announcer and occasional host for The Midnight Special
The Midnight Special (TV series)
The Midnight Special is an American musical variety series that aired on NBC during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Burt Sugarman. It premiered as a special on August 19, 1972, then began its run as a regular series on February 2, 1973; its last episode was on May 1, 1981...
on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from 1973 to 1981. He was also the host of his self-titled variety series, The Wolfman Jack Show
The Wolfman Jack Show
The Wolfman Jack Show was a Canadian variety television series which aired on CBC Television from 1976 to 1977, and syndicated to stations in the US.-Premise:...
, which was produced in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
by CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
in 1976, and syndicated to stations in the US.
He promoted Clearasil
Clearasil
Clearasil is the top-selling brand of skin care and acne medication, whose products contain chiefly benzoyl peroxide, sulfur & resorcinol, triclosan, or salicylic acid as active ingredients...
and Olympia beer
Pabst Brewing Company
Pabst Brewing Company is an American company that dates its origins to a brewing company founded in 1844 by Jacob Best and by 1889 named after Frederick Pabst. It is currently the holding company contracting for the brewing of over two dozen brands of beer and malt liquor from defunct companies...
in radio and TV commercials in the '70s. In the '80s he promoted the "Rebel" Honda motorcycle in television commercials.
Listening to Wolfman Jack's broadcasting influenced Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
's lyrics for The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)
The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)
"The WASP " is a 1971 song by The Doors, which appears on their final album with frontman Jim Morrison, L.A. Woman. The music was written by Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore. The spoken word lyrics, written by Morrison, come from a poem he wrote in 1968, three years before the music...
song. He is also mentioned in the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
song, "Ramble On Rose": "Just like Crazy Otto/Just like Wolfman Jack/Sittin' plush with a royal flush/Aces back to back."
He also furnished his voice in The Guess Who
The Guess Who
The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Initially gaining recognition in Canada, they also found international success from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s with numerous hit singles, including "American Woman", "These Eyes" and "Share the Land"...
's 1974 tribute, the top 40 hit single, "Clap for the Wolfman". A few years earlier, Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
recorded a similar tribute, "Wolfman Jack", on the album Something/Anything?
Something/Anything?
Something/Anything?, released in 1972, is Todd Rundgren's third solo album. It peaked at #29 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold three years after its release, and remains the singer-songwriter's best-selling album...
. (The single version of the track includes a shouted talk-over intro by the Wolfman but on the album version Rundgren performs that part himself.) Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
band The Stampeders
The Stampeders
The Stampeders are a Canadian rock trio, consisting of Rich Dodson, Ronnie King, and Kim Berly.-Career:The band formed in Calgary, Alberta in 1964 as The Rebounds....
also released a cover of "Hit the Road Jack
Hit the Road Jack
"Hit the Road Jack" is a song written by rhythm and bluesman Percy Mayfield and first recorded in 1960 as an a capella demo sent to Art Rupe, available on the Memory Pain CD vol. 2, Specialty Records SPCD-7027-2. It became famous after it was recorded by singer-pianist Ray Charles. It hit number...
" in 1975 featuring Wolfman Jack; the storyline of the song involved a man named "Cornelius" calling Jack on the phone, telling him the story of how his girlfriend had thrown him out of the house, and trying to persuade Jack to let him come and stay with him (at this point, Jack ended the call). His voice is also featured in the songs "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" by Sugarloaf
Sugarloaf (band)
Sugarloaf was an American, Denver, Colorado based, rock and roll band in the 1970s, featuring Jerry Corbetta.Jerry Corbetta founded the band with guitarist Bob Webber of the Moonrakers; the other initial bandmembers were drummer Bob MacVittie on drums and rhythm guitarist Veeder Van Dorn III, also...
(Billboard HOT 100 peak #9 in Mar 1975) and "Did You Boogie (With Your Baby)" by Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids
Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids
Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids, now known as Flash Cadillac, are an American retro rock 'n' roll band. They are best known for their portrayal of the group Herbie and the Heartbeats in the film American Graffiti, to which they contributed three songs: cover versions of "At the Hop" and...
(Billboard HOT 100 peak #29 in Oct 1976). Also in September 1975, Wolfman Jack appeared on stage with the Stampeders (singing Hit The Road Jack) as a warm-up act for the Beach Boys at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, Canada.
A clip of a 1970s radio advertisement featuring Wolfman Jack urging registration with the United States Selective Service
Conscription in the United States
Conscription in the United States has been employed several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War...
(aka "the draft") is incorporated into the Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
cover of the song "Route 66
Route 66 (song)
" Route 66", often rendered simply as "Route 66", is a popular song and rhythm and blues standard, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. It was first recorded in the same year by Nat King Cole, and was subsequently covered by many artists including Chuck Berry in 1961, The Rolling...
". Those radio advertisements were extracted from half hour radio programs that were distributed to radio stations across the country. His syndicated music radio series was sponsored by the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
, designed as a weekly program-length public service
Public service announcement
A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...
infomercial
Infomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...
to promote the benefits of joining the Air Force. The series ran from 1971 until 1977.
In July 1974 Wolfman Jack was the MC for the Ozark Music Festival at the Missouri State Fair
Missouri State Fair
The Missouri State Fair is the state fair for Missouri which has operated since 1901 in Sedalia, Missouri. It lasts 11 days. It includes daily concerts, exhibits and competitions of animals, homemade crafts, shows, and many food/lemonade stands. Its most famous event, which has run since its...
grounds, a huge three-day rock festival
Rock festival
A rock festival, or a rock fest, is a large-scale rock music concert, featuring multiple acts.The first rock festivals were put on in the late 1960s and were important socio-cultural milestones. In the 1980s a minor resurgence of festivals occurred with charity as the goal.Today, they are often...
with an estimated attendance of 350,000 people, making it one of the largest music events in history.
In 1984 Wolfman Jack voiced a cartoon version of himself for the short lived DIC Entertainment
DiC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment was an international film and television production company. In addition to animated television shows such as Ulysses 31 , Inspector Gadget , The Littles , The Real Ghostbusters , Captain Planet and the Planeteers , and the first two seasons of the English adaptation of...
cartoon Wolf Rock TV (aka Wolf Rock Power Hour) airing Saturday mornings on ABC.
In 1985, Wolfman Jack's voice is heard several times in the ABC made for TV Halloween movie The Midnight Hour
The Midnight Hour
The Midnight Hour is a 1985 comedy/horror television movie which aired on ABC on October 27, 1985, and stars Shari Belafonte-Harper, LeVar Burton, Peter DeLuise, and Dedee Pfeiffer.- Plot :...
. Jack recorded several bits for the movie and is seen at the beginning of the movie as an extra. The song "Clap for the Wolfman" is heard during the movie as well.
In 1986, Wolfman Jack appeared as the "High Rama Lama" in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
animated special Garfield in Paradise
Garfield in Paradise
Garfield in Paradise is a half-hour animated television special based on the Garfield comic strip. It once again featured Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield . Wolfman Jack guest starred as the voice of the tribal chief and Frank Nelson guest starred as the voice of the motel manager and rental...
In 1989, he provided the narration for the US version of the arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
DJ Boy
DJ Boy
DJ Boy is a 1989 beat 'em up arcade game developed by Kaneko. It was published in Japan by Kaneko and in North America by Sammy.DJ Boy was designed as a standard side-scrolling beat'em up game partially based on the hip-hop culture of the U.S. cities...
. His voice was not used in the home version of the game, due to memory limitations.
Wolfman Jack played himself in a episode of Married... with Children
Married... with Children
Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...
(Ship Happens, part 1) that first aired in February 1995.
Radio Caroline
When the one surviving ship in what had originally been a pirate radioPirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
network of Radio Caroline North and Radio Caroline South sank in 1980, a search began to find a replacement. Due to the laws passed in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1967, it became necessary for the sales operation to be situated in the US. For a time Don Kelley, Wolfman Jack's business partner and personal manager, acted as the West Coast agent for the planned new Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...
, but the deal eventually fell apart.
As a part of this process Wolfman Jack was set to deliver the morning shows on the new station. To that end, Wolfman Jack recorded a number of programs that never aired, due to the failure of the station to come on air according to schedule. (It eventually returned from a new ship in 1983 which remained at sea until 1990.) Today those tapes are traded among collectors of his work.
Death
Wolfman Jack had finished broadcasting his last live radio program, a weekly program nationally syndicated from Planet HollywoodPlanet Hollywood
Planet Hollywood, a restaurant inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood, was launched in New York on October 22, 1991, with the backing of Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.-History:...
in downtown Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Wolfman Jack said that night, "I can't wait to get home and give Lou a hug, I haven't missed her this much in years." Wolfman had been on the road, promoting his new autobiography Have Mercy!: Confessions of the Original Rock 'N' Roll Animal, about his early career and parties with celebrities. "He walked up the driveway, went in to hug his wife and then just fell over," said Lonnie Napier, vice president of Wolfman Jack Entertainment. Wolfman Jack died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in Belvidere, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, on July 1, 1995.
Parodies
Bobby FullerBobby Fuller
Robert Gaston "Bobby" Fuller was an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitar player best known for his singles "I Fought the Law" and "Love's Made a Fool of You," recorded with his mid-1960s group, the Bobby Fuller Four....
recorded an instrumental
Surf music
Surf music is a genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Orange County and other areas of Southern California. It was particularly popular between 1961 and 1965, has subsequently been revived and was highly influential on subsequent rock music...
named after Wolfman Jack titled 'Wolfman.' A later recording featured a man, possibly Bobby, mimicking Wolfman's voice and howling in the background.
In the skit "Wolfman" on the Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office...
album Shhh...Don't Tell
Shhh...Don't Tell
Shhh...Don't Tell is the fifth album by Adam Sandler, released on Warner Bros. Records in 2004. A collection of songs and skits that feature the voices of Sandler, his friends Allen Covert, Rob Schneider, Peter Dante, and Jonathan Loughran, plus David Spade, Blake Clark, Nick Swardson, Maya...
, a man pretends to be Wolfman Jack because he is in denial about his sexuality.
A character by the name of "Wolfbane Jack" appeared on the children's television show "The Electric Company". On the Canadian children's show
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...
The Hilarious House of Frightenstein
The Hilarious House of Frightenstein
The Hilarious House of Frightenstein was a Canadian children's television series produced by Hamilton, Ontario's independent station CHCH-TV in 1971. It was syndicated to television stations across Canada and the United States and occasionally still appears today in some television markets...
, the show's creator Billy Van
Billy Van
William Allan Van Evera, , known by the stage name Billy Van, was a Canadian comedian, actor and singer.-Biography:...
played the "Wolfman", a lycanthropic
Lycanthropy
Lycanthropy is the professed ability or power of a human being to undergo transformation into a werewolf, or to gain wolf-like characteristics. The term comes from Greek Lykànthropos : λύκος, lykos + άνθρωπος, ànthrōpos...
disc jockey (a literal "wolf-man") for radio station EECH, with a voice and mannerism clearly modeled after Wolfman Jack.
A Wolfman Jack functionary ("Wolfguy Jack") appears as the owner of a 1950s'-themed diner
Diner
A diner, also spelled dinor in western Pennsylvania is a prefabricated restaurant building characteristic of North America, especially in the Midwest, in New York City, in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey, and in other areas of the Northeastern United States, although examples can be found throughout...
in the Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode "Take My Wife, Sleaze
Take My Wife, Sleaze
"Take My Wife, Sleaze" is the eighth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 28, 1999. In the episode, Homer wins a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and starts his own biker gang, naming it...
". Wolfguy Jack has a lover named Honey who physically resembles Candy Clark
Candy Clark
Candace June "Candy" Clark is an American film and television actress, well known for her role as Debbie Dunham in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which garnered her an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress, a character she reprised in 1979 for the sequel More American Graffiti...
's character in American Graffiti. After howling like a wolf, Wolfguy complains that doing the voice hurts his throat. The business closes a week after Homer and Marge win a motorcycle in a dance contest. As Wolfguy locks the door for the last time, he remarks to Honey that "We still have each other", then turns around to see he is alone, and howls again.
Jerry Thunder, the radio station DJ from That '70s Show
That '70s Show
That '70s Show is an American television period sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979...
, is based on Wolfman Jack.
Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
released a video compilation of rock songs (most were parodies of actual rock hits modified, of course, for preschoolers) hosted by "Jackman Wolf", an anthropomorphic purple wolf who always wore sunglasses.
During Episode 2.3 of Saved By The Bell
Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell is an American television sitcom that aired between 1989 and 1993. The series is a retooled version of the 1988 series Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which was itself later folded into the history of Saved by the Bell...
, Zack Morris
Zack Morris
Zachary "Zack" Morris is a fictional character from the sitcoms Good Morning, Miss Bliss; Saved by the Bell; and Saved by the Bell: The College Years. He was portrayed by Mark-Paul Gosselaar...
DJ'd his high school radio station under the name "Wolfman Zack".
Legacy
A group of business leaders at Del RioDel Rio, Texas
Del Rio is a border city in and the county seat of Val Verde County, Texas, United States.. Del Rio is connected with Ciudad Acuña via the Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing and Del Río-Ciudad Acuña International Bridge...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, wanted to establish a museum to commemorate Wolfman Jack's stint in the border town where he first began his career at radio AM station XERF. Those involved with the project were not successful in raising the required funds necessary to build the museum, and disagreements with the DJ's estate over securing the rights to use copyrighted materials including Wolfman Jack's name on the project, eventually led to the project's failure.
In March 2003 a memorial was dedicated to the Wolfman in Del Rio. Artist Michael Maiden created a two foot tall model sculpture depicting Wolfman Jack dancing a jig on one leg with a rainbow of musical notes and records raining down behind him. The model was for a proposed life-sized installation.
Wolfman Jack was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1996, and into the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)
National Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association, workers union, and lobby group representing the interests of for-profit, over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States...
Broadcasting Hall of Fame
National 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 1999.
In addition, Wolfman Jack's widow, Lou Lamb Smith, leased a one- to two-hour syndicated program built from what were thought to be "lost" archives and airchecks of his shows. The airchecks used in the shows date from the 1960s all the way up to his death in the 1990s. About a dozen oldies-oriented stations in the United States and Canada have picked up the show, and air times for the show vary by station.
Beginning on October 31, 2005, a 1960s-themed channel, "The 60s on 6
The 60s on 6
The '60s on 6 is a commercial-free, satellite radio station on the Sirius XM Radio platform. It plays music from the 1960s and early '70s, mostly Top 10 hits from the second half of the decade. Airing on XM since 2001, the channel became available to Sirius subscribers on November 12, 2008,...
" on XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
, began airing a regular program utilizing aircheck
Aircheck
In the radio industry, an aircheck is generally a demonstration recording, often intended to show off the talent of an announcer or programmer to a prospective employer, but mainly intended for legal archiving purposes...
s from Wolfman Jack's older syndicated shows. The first show was broadcast in October and was Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
themed. The promotion
Promotion (marketing)
Promotion is one of the four elements of marketing mix . It is the communication link between sellers and buyers for the purpose of influencing, informing, or persuading a potential buyer's purchasing decision....
for it was the announcement of a Halloween show so special that they were bringing someone back from the dead. It ended with a squeakly coffin opening and then the voice of the Wolfman saying, (paraphrased) "Hi everyone, it's the Wolfman and I am back. Be sure to join me for a very special ghoulish show this Halloween night". After that Halloween show, Wolfman's show was a nightly regular on XM's '60s channel. The XM show currently airs one hour per week at 11 PM Eastern Time and five hours on Sunday night at 7 PM Eastern Time.
As of December 2007, there are also several terrestrial radio affiliates carrying restored versions of Wolfman Jack's programs, with original air dates ranging from the 1970s up until his death in 1995 (one replayed episode, for instance, featured Wolfman Jack discussing the O. J. Simpson murder case
O. J. Simpson murder case
The O. J. Simpson murder case was a criminal trial held in Los Angeles County, California Superior Court from January 29 to October 3, 1995. Former American football star and actor O. J...
). These programs were restored by Douglas Allen Wedge and syndicated between October 2004 and January 2006 by the San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
-based Astor Broadcast Group
Astor Broadcast Group
Astor Broadcast Group is an independent radio broadcaster in Southern California, with studios in Carlsbad, California, and headquarters in Anaheim, California.Astor Broadcast Group owns the following radio stations:...
. These programs are now syndicated by Lou Lamb Smith through Wolfman Jack Licensing based in Hollywood, California
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
and London, UK-based Blue Revolution (see link below).
Mac Kelly portrays the fictional Wolfman Mac, host of the late-night TV program, Wolfman Mac's Chiller Drive-In, on RTV
RTV
-Radio-television:* RTV Slovenija, a public broadcaster in Slovenia*Rediffusion Television, a television station in Hong Kong *RTV , a satellite television channel...
. Kelly appears in elaborate make-up as a wolfman. The name Wolfman Mac is used by permission of Lou Lamb Smith.
The Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
song "Get Lost" (from the album Bad as Me
Bad as Me
Bad as Me is the seventeenth studio album by American rock musician Tom Waits, released on October 21, 2011 by ANTI- Records. The album is known to have been recorded as early as February 2011 and was officially announced for release on August 23, 2011 on Waits' official web site and various social...
) exhorts "Turn up the Wolfman Jack".
External links
- The Wolfman Jack Online Museum
- The Wolfman Jack Page at Blue Revolution
- The Official MySpace Page for the syndicated Wolfman Jack Radio Program. This site streams audio clips of the Wolfman Jack Radio Program currently in syndication
- Wolfman Jack and the gun battle in the Mexican desert
- What made Wolfman Jack great?
- Border Blaster – In Search Of The Wolf (BBC Radio 4 programme)