Bruce “Cousin Brucie” Morrow

Radio personality Bruce “Cousin Brucie” Morrow began his radio career just in time for the rock and roll craze on the radio scene. Cousin Brucie became a massively popular DJ among teenagers. To quote Cousin Brucie:

“…and those hits keep coming…” 

Events and music of the 50’s, 60’s, & 70’s are enjoying amazing reception thanks to WABC radio. Cousin Brucie’s Saturday Night Rock & Roll party airs live on 77WABC every Saturday night from 6-10pm.  Not only are we reaching old friends, but making thousands of new listeners who are eagerly searching for “our music”.

Jay Black

David Blatt (November 2, 1938 – October 22, 2021)

Jay Black was an American singer whose height of fame came in the 1960s when he was the lead singer of the band Jay and the Americans.

Jay Black was the second, and more widely known, Jay to lead the band Jay and the Americans, the first being Jay Traynor.

Black had previously come from the doo-wop group The Empires, where he had sung lead on their 1962 lone Epic Records single “Time and a Place” b/w “Punch Your Nose” (Epic 5-9527). He had previously used David Black as his professional name, but changed his first name to suit the band’s existing name. He would later bill himself as “Jay Black and the Americans” after the original band had broken up. The band had numerous hits, including “Come a Little Bit Closer”, “Cara Mia”, and “This Magic Moment.”

Tommy James

Tommy James & “The Shondells”

Tommy James’ road to superstardom began when a nightclub DJ in Pittsburgh discovered a two-year-old record by “The Shondells” and played it at his weekend dances. The crowd response was so overwhelmingly positive that radio deejays started spinning it and an enterprising record distributor bootlegged it, selling 80,000 copies in ten days. By May of 1966 “Hanky Panky” was the number one record in Pittsburgh and Tommy James was a sensation.

Tommy James promptly followed “Hanky Panky” with two more million selling singles – “Say I Am (What I Am)” and “It’s Only Love” – and the Hanky Panky album, which went gold just four weeks after its release.

With three hits under his belt, Tommy brought in producers Bo Gentry and Ritchie Cordell, and the three produced seven back-to-back smash singles: “I Think We’re Alone Now,” “Mirage,” “I Like The Way,” “Gettin’ Together,” “Out Of The Blue,” “Get Out Now,” and the party rock rave-up “Mony Mony.” The Gentry/Cordell/James team also produced three platinum albums.

Frankie Avalon

If you can’t remember a time when Frankie Avalon wasn’t a part of your life, you aren’t alone. This talented performer can look back on a career that spans three generations of music, television and motion pictures which he feels is due primarily to the loyalty and trust of his audience.

Frankie’s years as a “Teenage Idol” have been succeeded by maturity and professionalism. He is currently one of the busiest nightclub performers in the country, playing the nations finest supper clubs and headlining top Las Vegas Hotel Main rooms. His motion picture career has already spanned some thirty films.