COUSIN BRUCIE!

by Bruno & Laura Baudo Morrow ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 13, 1987

Radio Days"" autobiography of the lightning-tongued disc jockey who brought rock 'n' roll to New York teen-agers. Cousin Brucie's phenomenal delivery, whose speed stunned listeners and held them spellbound, was matched by his warmth, which made him a kind of lovable family freak rather than merchandiser of a stunt. The super-popular deejay ruled a nighttime kingdom that stretched out to teen-age lovers all over New York, Connecticut and New Jersey (his signal reached 40 states and sometimes drifted as far as Okinawa). At the height of his role, he held sway over 25% of the New York area radio audience, while the rest was divided up among 26 stations. Cousin Brucie grew up in Brooklyn and was a radio addict from the start. From childhood on he was dedicated to a life in radio, listened to Martin Block's saccharine Make Believe Ballroom on Saturday afternoons, took radio courses in his midteens, was broadcasting from a homemade radio station at New York University at 16--it was a 12-hour day of programs that went by cable to one radio in the student lounge. His story includes that of the tragic deejay Alan Freed, dead at 43 as a result of the payola scandals, and that as well of his rival Murray the K. Cousin Brucie struck it big with the Beatles, introduced them and Ed Sullivan at their first New York concert at Shea Stadium, garnered a fan club of 250,000 (his dog Muffin had a fan club of 70,000). But the inroads of FM into his AM kingdom eventually spelled doom for AM rock radio. Today Cousin Brucie does a single Saturday night stint weekly, and owns and manages his own set of stations outside New York. Compelling, with not a few sad moments.

Pub Date: Oct. 13, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Beech Tree/Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1987

Categories: NONFICTION