Daily News WCBS-Fm switch to Jack

[greatscott1960]

Past will replay, DJ vows

BY EDWARD B. COLBY
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Famed radio deejay Bruce Morrow said it's a drag being booted off the air, but vowed yesterday that rock 'n' oldies listeners haven't heard the last of their Cousin Brucie.

Morrow and his on-air compatriots at oldies station WCBS-FM lost their jobs Friday when station honchos replaced them with an iPod-like format called Jack that doesn't need deejays.

"It's like waking up in the morning and all of a sudden Yankee Stadium became a fruit stand and George Washington Bridge is a raft. You can't do that," said the 67-year-old Morrow, who introduced the Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965.

The Brooklyn-born Radio Hall of Famer said a "couple slide rules and the pocketbook" were all that were considered when his bosses pulled the switcheroo with little notice to him or the legion of listeners who dig oldies music.

"When they did this, they created havoc," Morrow said of Infinity Broadcasting's format flip-flop.

But Cousin Brucie promised to be back on the airwaves - somewhere - with his playlist loaded with the Beatles, Elvis, Bobby Darin, the Everly Brothers and Chuck Berry.

"I'm running away just for a couple of days, just to clear my head. I'll have an announcement very soon," he said. "Cousin Brucie cannot sit down. I'm always dancing, I'm always moving. I am the music."

Morrow has been spinning tunes at WCBS-FM (101.1) since 1982, but he's been a New York radio icon since the early 1960s when he was at WABC.

His colorful career and weekly programs, "Cousin Brucie's Yearbook" and "Cousin Brucie's Saturday Night Oldies Party," made him so famous that in 1994 Mayor Rudy Giuliani proclaimed W. 52nd St. "Cousin Brucie Way."

"I owe my audience everything," he said. "That's why I'm fighting so hard to make sure that there is a place for this music, and there will be."

Although Morrow said WCBS-FM "has been very good to me," he blasted the station's new format as "not New York."

"It has no feeling," he said. "It's not fun, it's not shtick."

But WCBS-FM general manager Chad Brown said research had shown that the Jack format, which mixes hits from the past four decades, would serve "a hole in the market."

Originally published on June 6, 2005

 

[undersiege]

> Greatscott, thank you for including this article about Bruce Morrow.
Although the Cousin Brucie "act" is dated he's still one of the all
time greatest in the radio biz. Although Bruce might come off as an
old fart to some, he never depended solely on just the "on the air" aspect
of radio. He's wheeled and dealed his way thru many radio station
ownerships and partnerships which have made him a rich man. He's also
headed up hundreds of charitable events and been personally involved in
most of them. When Cousin Brucie says below that "Jack" isn't fun and it's
not New York, we all know he's right. Things never
stay the same and Infinity has certainly reminded us of that, but
lets hope Bruce and the oldies find there way to another signal in the big apple. New York City won't be the same without him or the music.



Past will replay, DJ vows
>
> BY EDWARD B. COLBY
> DAILY NEWS WRITER
>
> Famed radio deejay Bruce Morrow said it's a drag being
> booted off the air, but vowed yesterday that rock 'n' oldies
> listeners haven't heard the last of their Cousin Brucie.
>
> Morrow and his on-air compatriots at oldies station WCBS-FM
> lost their jobs Friday when station honchos replaced them
> with an iPod-like format called Jack that doesn't need
> deejays.
>
> "It's like waking up in the morning and all of a sudden
> Yankee Stadium became a fruit stand and George Washington
> Bridge is a raft. You can't do that," said the 67-year-old
> Morrow, who introduced the Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965.
>
> The Brooklyn-born Radio Hall of Famer said a "couple slide
> rules and the pocketbook" were all that were considered when
> his bosses pulled the switcheroo with little notice to him
> or the legion of listeners who dig oldies music.
>
> "When they did this, they created havoc," Morrow said of
> Infinity Broadcasting's format flip-flop.
>
> But Cousin Brucie promised to be back on the airwaves -
> somewhere - with his playlist loaded with the Beatles,
> Elvis, Bobby Darin, the Everly Brothers and Chuck Berry.
>
> "I'm running away just for a couple of days, just to clear
> my head. I'll have an announcement very soon," he said.
> "Cousin Brucie cannot sit down. I'm always dancing, I'm
> always moving. I am the music."
>
> Morrow has been spinning tunes at WCBS-FM (101.1) since
> 1982, but he's been a New York radio icon since the early
> 1960s when he was at WABC.
>
> His colorful career and weekly programs, "Cousin Brucie's
> Yearbook" and "Cousin Brucie's Saturday Night Oldies Party,"
> made him so famous that in 1994 Mayor Rudy Giuliani
> proclaimed W. 52nd St. "Cousin Brucie Way."
>
> "I owe my audience everything," he said. "That's why I'm
> fighting so hard to make sure that there is a place for this
> music, and there will be."
>
> Although Morrow said WCBS-FM "has been very good to me," he
> blasted the station's new format as "not New York."
>
> "It has no feeling," he said. "It's not fun, it's not
> shtick."
>
> But WCBS-FM general manager Chad Brown said research had
> shown that the Jack format, which mixes hits from the past
> four decades, would serve "a hole in the market."
>
> Originally published on June 6, 2005
>