HOUSTON RADIO CZAR UNAWARE HE IS OLD JOCKS INCARNATED! {Be sure to click on photos to see FULL images!} Yep, boys and girls ... KTRH AM740 Bubba guru, Michael Berry, is totally clueless that he stole the personalities of two former Houston Super Jocks ... in my opinion! .... Berry is the definite rip-off of Arch Yancey and Hal McClain, Houstons top jocks of the 1960s to early 1980s. All the mannerisms and quirks that Arch and Hal possessed are continually exhibited by Michael Berry. The irony of it is that Berry wasnt even alive when Yancey or McClain began in radio. Much of the style Berry exhibits is exactly that of Arch Yancey. And the phrasing and punctuating of words and speech pattern are those of the late Hal McClain. In fact, Michael Berrys voice sounds just like Hal is reaching out from the grave to speak once more! Hes been long dead since 1981 when he crashed his stunt plane at an air show. Arch, on the other hand, is still very much with us. You just cant keep that big, loveable Irishman down! All the bits and hip, flippant radio programming Berry believes he is originating have already been done long, long ago by Arch and Hal. Is Michael doing his thing in tribute to Yancey and McClain? Probably not. His lack of knowledge about the old days of Houston radio comes across quite often during his show. He is somewhat unaware of his debt to Houstons broadcasting heritage or history. Could be because he grew up in Beaumont. Still, thats no excuse. One day, when Houston legend Buffalo Bill Bailey (another classic Houston DJ) was on Berrys show as a constable being interviewed, Berry actually made the statement, Now, you used to be in radio, right? ... (Duh, Michael ... thats like asking the Pope if he is Catholic!) ... Bailey only created Top-40 Country Music Radio and rode KIKK to the top as the Number One Country Station in America back in the 1960s/70s. I know, for I was part of that original early team. I even was the one who signed on the first KIKK-FM station in September, 1966 and had a 14-share on my show. (Yes, I know thats hard to believe. But, I DID! Art Posner, sales manager, called me up one evening while I was on the air and broke the news to me. Of course, the competition was not as thick then as it is today. Still ... who even gets close to that now? A station with a 5, 6, or 7 rating is considered up there. But, KIKK used to have the clout and listeners, folk.) [See photo of Arch below with old KIKK logo, KENR logo, Hals grave {no photo available of him}, and photo of Bailey as he is today.] No, sir ... aint nothing new to be heard from Michael Berry that we old folk havent already listened to many years ago when Arch Yancey and Hal McClain ruled the Houston radio ether ways. I remember once when Houstonian and actor Dennis Quaid was on Saturday Night Live back in the late 1970s or early 1980s and did a spoof on radio DJs. He had been friends with Hal McClain so he used his name in the skit as Cal McClain as an inside joke. Ill bet hardly anyone ever knew that. The pity of it all is that Michael Berry has no clue that he is treading in waters already well-bathed in. Oh, well ... they say that imitation is the truest form of flattery. However, someone really should bring Michael Berry up to speed and explain that he hasnt originated what he does and he doesnt do much of anything not already done. Maybe if I hadnt been there, and worked with BOTH of these Houston Radio Legends and experienced the magic of KIKK and KENR back in those Grand Old Days of Broadcasting ... well ... perhaps I would not feel so strongly about this. But ... I was ... and ... I do. Thank God for Arch Yancey whom everybody admires. Hal McClain had his detractors and was a wild card for much of his career, but you have to admit he had the ratings and did the gig with flair. Well let it go at that. The bottom-line is that Michael Berry needs to honor his elders and be educated to what he owes to those who came before. Anyone agree ... or ... disagree with my assessment, please fire it here and now. Im old enough to take it.. Im old and ... take plenty of medicine these days!
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 20:56:02 +0000
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