Submit A Memory
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: Dave Denberg From: toronto ontario m5r 3r2, ontario Memory: I listened to The Hound alone, and his show filled my world with wonderful music, fascinating characters (imagine buying a used car from "Big Bob and Pal Al"!), excitement, wonder and possibility. Obviously I knew this was a radio show and there were many other listeners, but The Hound spoke in a way which made it a very personal experience. I felt included in this amazing world he brought to life, and I could belong without needing to prove in some impossible way that I was cool, hip and special. It seems to me now that The Hound made this seem true of anyone he spoke of on the show as well. |
Submitted by: Jack Horohoe From: Town of Tonawanda, New York Memory: I had the pleasure of getting my start in broadcasting working for the Hound.He had just gone on the air with WBLK. As a 21 year old kid, and fresh out of the Navy, I was hired by George to do all night news. More than 45 years have passed, so my recollections are somewhat dimmed, but I do recall working an air shift with a British guy named "Geoff" somebody. Geoff did jazz. |
Submitted by: Jim Farone From: Newman Lake , Wa Memory: I grew up in Lakewwod,N.Y.in the1950's. I never would have known about real R&R if not for The Hound! We would listen to him on WINE TIME out of Kenmore N.Y. My buddy's Bruce Alhgren & John Berg would get right home from school to sit by the radio and "Dig" him. He was the first D.J. to play "Bip Bop Bip"by Pretty Boy. I wish there was a way just to say thanks for not letting me grow up an American Bandstand square. Also for telling us about Ross The Boss's record shop in Buffalo. |
Submitted by: Earl P. Bell From: Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461 Memory: During 1955 and 1956, in my junior and senior years of high school, at 9 P.M. a group of us, every night, tuned in the Hound. We were living in a little eastern North Carolina town of Aulander, some 60 miles south west of Norfolk, Virginia. At the time, Aulander was a farming town of one thousand people located in the heart of tobacco country. We only had one T.V. channel broadcasting. It was Channel 3 located in Norfolk. We thought the Hound was the coolest. From his funky slow groove theme, the dog hollowing just before he came on to say "The Hound's Around!" He called just about everyone "A Real Cool Cat!" The man was our teacher and we were his avid, devoted students. Five of us, three boys and two girls, were serious, daily rock and roll dancers. All of us are alive and well. We will be attending a big high school reunion on Saturday, 18 April 2009. Our blog website is http://aulander.blogspot.com. We are in the process of writing up our passion for the rock and roll music that was sweeping the country. It should be posted in the next week. I can assure you that at the heart of our description, will be this "real cool cat" from Buffalo, New York who put down the goovey licks and answered to the handle of "The Hound!" |
Submitted by: Barry Chmura From: Utica, NY Memory: Laying in bed with a mono earphone plugged into my Channel Master transistor radio waiting for that great howling sound and then "The Hounds Around", what a great way to end a day... |
Submitted by: Joe Hamelin From: Riverside, CA Memory: I spent my high school years sitting by my Zenith Trans-Oceanic radio, midnight to 6, taping WKBW and WLS on my reel-to-reel. Both stations boomed into Utica, NY, where I grew up. The "Hound Dog" was the best thing out there. He and his brother DJs probably cost me two letter grades in nearly every subject across those four years, but I wouldn't trade an hour of it. I still remember the kick of hearing the first airing of "Peggy Sue." What a great time the late '50s/early '60s was to be a kid. |
Submitted by: Doug Stewart From: Norfolk, Virginia Memory: WKBW had a great signal skip and the Hound Dog was heard loud and clear every night in Norfolk, VA. My friends and I talked about The Sound of the Hound more than we talked about the local stations in Norfolk. One of my greatest teen thrills was when I wrote to the Hound Dog to dedicate a song to my steady girl (who was also a regular listener), and then hearing him do the dedication. The BIG blessing was that she heard it too! WKBW was a BIG part of my growing-up years in Norfolk, VA. |
Submitted by: Gary Scott From: Corona, Arizona Memory: As a kid growing up in Niagara Falls, the Hound was the absolute greatest on WKBW. His music was earthy, and easily separated from the commercialism of RnR to follow. I 'm sure my deep interest in the blues originates with the Hound. No one who ever followed him at WKBW came close to having an impact on people as the Hound did. The fact that he broadcast live from a bar added an exotic flavor to the whole scene being painted in the mind's eye of a teenager. |
Submitted by: Chuck Long From: Tonawanda, New York Memory: As a teenager in Buffalo, I couldn't wait till after 7 0'clock to hear the Hound broadcast from the Zanzi bar on William and Monroe. I lived on Monroe St. I would see the Hound get out of his 56 Ford convertible and head into the Zanzi bar to play cool music on WKBW. He was the best DJ I ever heard. |
Submitted by: James A. Hamilton Jr. From: Somerset (Franklin Township), New Jersey Memory: I was born and raised in Niagara Falls, NY in 1951 and listened to George (Hound Dog) Lorenz nearly every night to " . . catch the blues with the Hound" on WBLK-FM as a teen ager, and before that when I was younger, but can't recall the station. That interlude of the blues, sandwiched between then contemporary Rhytm & Blues and Soul music was Hound Dog's tribute to the originators of Rock and Roll and American Pop-ular music. Music on the radio used to "run down and sundown" in Western New York state for people of color until Lorenz became a champion of R&B. |
Click here to submit a memory or story you want to share about The Hound!