Rock N' Roll Memory Time
This site is a tribute to George Lorenz and what better way to pay tribute to him than to let his listeners and his biggest fans share their stories of how The Hound influenced, entertained or brought them a measure of pleasure.
Here are the memories we've received posted in order of the most recent received...
Submitted by:
Ken Munson
From:
Old Lyme, Ct
Memory:
Spending the entire summers at Hammonnassett State Park in the mid 50's introduced me to Alan Freed on WINS in NYC. He was every night except Sundays. There was also an afternoon show on WMGM in NYC with some other DJ whose name I don't remember. In the fall, winter and spring I needed my old "short wave" radio (which I bought for $1 from a neighborhood kid in New Britain, CT) to pick up an after school show out of Springfield, MA. But the thrill of hearing "the Hound" on WKBW in Buffalo was beyond description. That must've been about 1956-7. We moved from New Britain, CT to Kensington, CT, in the winter of 1955 and late-night radio was still preferred to TV. I stumbled onto the show and listened when it "came in" clearly enough to enjoy "the sounds". He was on later than Alan Freed and after Alan died he was the only one that we could listed to (other than local yokels who didn't know RNR from their rear-ends).
Imagine my ecstasy when he came to WPOP (1410 AM) in Hartford in 1958 (I'm pretty sure of the year). He was only there for a year or so, though. I think I may still have a reel-to-reel tape of an entire show (2 hours). "Bony Maroney" by Larry Williams is one of the tunes on it so that puts a time frame to it. One of his memorable sponsers was Gold Seal Catawba ("The anytime wine, baby").
Submitted by:
hifitommy (tom roy)
From:
Sylmar, california
Memory:
I once won tickets to see elvis by entering the number of times marty robbins sang the phrase 'a white sport coat and a pink carnation' in the song of the same name. My mother, damn her, made me give the tickets back (and I actually met the hound) so I didnt get to go.
I used to love the way he would play the big heavy and talk over it-"the hounds around........mr movin is groovin." Its funny, here in LA, on the beginning of the blues program on kkjz, they just played that song. What a memory.
Also, Wolfman Jack once credited the hound with beiong his inspiration for his character.
Submitted by:
Dr. Rick Ferris
From:
Rochester, New York
Memory:
My early musical influences were big band,C&W, and early RnR ( mostly the Sun recording artists,i.e.,Elvis,Jerry Lee, Carl & Roy,etc. ), while growing up in Rochester in the early 50s. Like most kids,I was hearing about artists primarily from AM radio. All of us were "flipping the dial",trying to catch the DJs from NYC,Chicago,Phili., to find out what artists were breaking. Then one glorious day,I came upon the "hound " broadcasting live from the club Zanzibar. This was really exotic, broadcasting from a club rather then a sterile studio. I was hooked from day one ! The next thing that stood out was his " big Heavy" theme. I never heard big band rhythm and blues before.I couldn't wait to get my hands on that 78rpm recording.In fact,as I recall, most of his programming consisted of R&B.
I was desperate to buy and enjoy this music that George was playing. I joined the Hound Dogs to qualify for the discount "hound sounds". The local record store would block off a section just for that music and we could purchase it at discount prices. George was a major influence in my discovery and life long love of R&B music. God bless you George.
Submitted by:
Lou
From:
Wichita, Kansas
Memory:
Late 50's a buddy and I stayed up all night and snuck out of the house early in the am and went to the studio on Cayuga Rd in Wmsville. We walked right in and George was there alone with his engineer. He let us stay and we watched his entire show. He talked to us while the records were playing. I wish I had a tape recording of those conversations, they were funny. He as quite a guy. He sure liked the youth of America.
Submitted by:
Mike Carter
From:
Port St Lucie, Florida
Memory:
I became a fan of the "Hound Dog" as a young boy growing up in Buffalo. My father thought that Rock and Roll would destroy the world so I had to turn WKBW off quickly when he came home from work. I loved Goerge's theme song "Big Heavy". I finally got a copy of it from my wife for my 60th birthday. I play it all the time and it never fails to bring back fond memories of the Hound Dog and the great music he played. Thanks for your wonderful tribute to an American Icon.
Memories 66 through 70 of 121