Keener13.com - The Glory Years

The Glory Years

From the beginning, response to the new WKNR was overwhelming. And it lead to a quick change in the critical morning drive slot.

One of Mort Crowley's morning show shticks was a call in bit he did with factory workers. The segment regularly jammed the local phone exchanges, prompting the Bell System to threaten to disconnect WKNR's telephone service. Frank Maruca remembers that, "Mort went on the air accusing the telephone company of being a monopoly, threw in the gas and electric companies for good measure and.. ultimately resigned on the air."

Crowley was replaced by Frank "Swingin" Sweeney . Sweeney held the morning drive spot for a year before his chronic insomnia got the better of him. Sweeney was on track to leave the morning shift for a promotion to assistant program director. On Saturday, August 7, 1965, he arrived late to relieve Jerry Goodwin who was finishing a long overnight shift as substitute for Jim Jeffires. A control room argument escalated into a fracas and Swingin Sweeney found himself between opportunities.

Dick Purtan became the third Keener morning man. on August 9, 1965.

Purtan came to Detroit from Cincinnati's WSAI in May of 1965, replacing Bill Phillips on the 10PM-1AM shift . After a month and a half Tom Ryan joined Dick as a creative collaborator, developing the Mary Poppins fan-club and characters like Bill Sports and Captain Happy. The two had a fruitful partnership that later included stops at WXYZ and CKLW.

Dick and Scott Regen, who launched his Keener career a week prior to Purtan, were enthusiastic competitors. Regen came to Detroit with a bigger fanfare, owning the nighttime ratings despite Keener's deficient signal . The Scott Regen Burger Club had thousands of card-carrying members and his Motown Monday program showcased Barry Gordy's top R&B talent.

When Dick Purtan moved to mornings, J. Michael Wilson came aboard to fill the 10 PM - 1 AM shift . Wilson's most memorable shtick was Rodney the Rodent. Rodney was created by increasing the size of the capstan on the control room tape machine, giving J. Mike's voice a slightly higher timbre ala David Seville's Chipmunks. Wilson and Rodney lead the late night ratings race for three years until 1968 when the duo moved to the morning shift.

One of Keener's biggest fans was Henry Ford. One morning Frank Maruca and news director Phillip Nye were leaving the building and a chauffer driven Lincoln drove buy. The window rolled down and the head of the world's second largest auto company yelled out "Yea Keener!"

CKLW 20/20 news anchor Keith Radford grew up listening to Keener and remembers the station as "perhaps the only station that gave the Big 8 a run for it's money."

Next: Clouds on the horizon