Wolfman Jack

Robert Weston Smith, known as Wolfman Jack (January 21, 1938 – July 1, 1995) was a gravelly voiced American disc jockey, famous in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1960, he began working as "Daddy Jules" at WYOU 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 as the station manager and morning disc jockey, "Big Smith with the Records".

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. 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.

That sales pitch was typical of Wolfman Jack's growling, exuberant on-air style. In the spirit of his character name, he would punctuate his banter with howls, while urging his listeners to "get naked" or "lay your hands on the radio and squeeze my knobs". Part of the persona was his nocturnal anonymity; listeners from coast to coast had no idea how to recognize the face behind the voice that said things like "Wolfman plays the best records in the business, and then he eats 'em!"

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 to 1986. At his peak, Wolfman Jack was heard on more than 2,000 radio stations in fifty-three countries. (read more on wikipedia)

Links To Peel
After Wolfman Jack died of a heart attack in July 1995, Peel paid tribute to the man, who was a part of Peel's life, whilst living in the United States. On his 07 July 1995 show, Peel mentioned how Wolfman Jack's show was a joy for him, while driving in America with friends and his girlfriend. Peel didn't mind Wolfman Jack talking through the records and mentioned that he got a tape of him from XERB, which he then played on the show.


 * "I used to listen to him a lot when I was driving around with my mates and my girlfriend Nancy Bowling and Wolfman Jack was a constant in our lives at the time, he would play astonishing... it was such a great programme, he would howl and talk all the way through the records and somehow it didn't matter."