[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Dec 9 2003, 08:40 PM\'] Charlie the TUna began in 1961, as Tom Kennedy heard in a question asking him to "NAme that Tuna" on his Game Show Week II appearance on Squares last month. CHarlie Tuna was a DJ in the 60s, but probably wasn't nationally known until later. His first national TV announcing gigs were America's Top 10 starting c. 1980 and The New Battlestars in 1983. [/quote]
The coincidence sounds unbelieveable, but I just ran into Charlie Tuna on Sunday night! Thankfully another poster here (SplitSecond) was with me to bear witness. It was just the fastest of "hellos" this time.
Charlie is one of the Los Angeles radio greats, and he is still doing mornings in the market, presently on Clear Channel's KBIG. He has always been one of the most disciplined radio personalities in terms of show preparation and community involvement... a real pro.
To clear the confusion, Charlie Tuna did NOT take that radio name as a reference to the spokesfish for Starkist Tuna. Charlie the DJ (whose birth name also isn't a bad radio name) was given the moniker by legendary broadcaster Mack Richmond when Charlie went to work at Mack's WMEX in Boston in the 1960s.
Mack MAY have been inspired by the then new commercial spokesfish, but he claimed many years ago that the choice of the name had more to do with Boston's predominant Roman Catholic population and the discussion at the time of lifting the "fish on friday" dietary restriction. But as the master showman that he was, Mack was known for revising history to suit his mood.
As WMEX's owner and programmer, Richmond had many "house names" for his jocks, Melvin X. Melvin and Dan Donovan being the ones portrayed by more WMEX DJs than perhaps any other. It helped to make the STATION the star, instead of the individual personalities who would come and go, and it also saved on recording new jock jingles. WMEX was a tough place to work by virtue of Richmond's legendary micro-management and low pay.
Hmmm, perhaps Mack's idea of rotating anonymous announcers was decades ahead of its time ;-p
Randy
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