Read And Party Every Day: The Inside Story of Casablanca Records for Free Online

visit WPLJ or WNEW in the small hours of the morning and bring the on-air DJ food and drinks, and often marijuana or blow. The drugs were never a gift, but rather something we did together to build the bond of friendship. Mike Klenfner of WNEW and I would go out for some massive, expensive dinners. We were both well over six feet tall, and although I was thin at that point, Michael was a big guy and could eat the kitchens bare.
    My favorite Mike Klenfner story involves a folk artist named Steve Goodman, who had been brought to us by Paul Anka. Goodman recorded a self-titled album for us that featured a song called “The City of New Orleans,” and I got him a considerable amount of airplay throughout the country. However, I could not get as much play as I wanted on WNEW. One day, when we were in the elevator, Steve told me he had leukemia and did not know how long he was going to live, but he wanted to leave his wife and baby daughter something when he passed. I just about broke down in tears, and the next day I went to see Mike at WNEW. I told him that he had to play the album more frequently because the guy was going to die. Klenfner was convinced I was bullshitting him, and for years (fortunately, Steve lived until 1984) he kept asking me when the guy was going to die. He really thought I made the whole thing up just to get airplay. I did resort to some ridiculous maneuvers to get a record played, but even I would not stoop that low.
    The list of contacts I had made was impressive. Or at least I thought it was. John Zacherle at WPLJ was a particular favorite item on my expense reports. I would visit him at 2:00 a.m. and give him a ride home when he went off the air. I loved Zach—still do. As host of a very popular local TV show, Chiller Theater, he was an influence on me when I was growing up, and he is one of the kindest people you will ever meet. Alex Bennett was the overnight man at WPLJ from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., and I was the only promotion man—or one of very few—to bring artists to visit him when his interview/music show was running. I brought Charlie Daniels when “Uneasy Rider” came out, and comedian Robert Klein joined us numerous times. Dick Neer, the overnight person at WNEW, and I were never very close, but Mike Klenfner often filled in for him.
    Alison “the Night Bird” Steele was on from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Alison was great; she played all our artists, and we didn’t even have to ask her to do it. She and her boyfriend, who was an assistant district attorney of New York, spent enough time with Neil and Buck on a regular basis that I never really needed to drop in and see her on my promotion rounds. When Alison was on the air, I spent time with John Zacherle, as his show was on at the same time as hers and he had no relationship with either Neil or Buck. I also devoted a great deal of time to all the WNEW talent during their Summer in the Park events—a series of live performances at area parks. It seemed like we had an artist doing an event almost every week—everyone from Jim Dawson and Buzzy Linhart to Sha Na Na. Buddah probably supplied more artists for Summer in the Park than any other label.
    • October 1, 1971: Walt Disney World opens outside of Orlando, Florida.
    • February 14, 1972: “Steppenwolf Day” is declared in Los Angeles, California.
    • August 22, 1972: Actress Jane Fonda broadcasts an anti–Vietnam War polemic from a hotel room in Hanoi.
    When my overnight visits were done, I went home, slept for a few hours, woke up, showered, and headed to WNEW to be with Pete Fornatale and later, in the day, Mike Harrison or Dave Herman.
    Middays I spent with Scott Muni (even in the early 1970s, he was a living legend in the radio and music industries), and I would watch him drink his lunch. I also became friends with Dennis Elsas, who succeeded Klenfner as music director when he left to become the first album promotion person at Columbia Records, which at that time was the