Pat O'Day Concert Intro, Seattle 1967
American radio legend Pat O'Day, a huge influence and dear friend, passed away a year ago today and I'm constantly reminded of his brilliance. Enjoy this snippet from Pat's onstage introduction of Herman's Hermits at the Seattle Center Coliseum in July 1967. O'Day's KJR dominated Seattle radio and Pat's concert business was a huge success. Here, Pat takes time to acknowledge and thank the people who made it possible. Author Robin Brunet wrote this tribute to my late friend in his book Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, from Friesen Press. Pat would want me to mention it's out on Amazon Kindle at amzn.to/3dMGkK5 "Like Robinson, O’Day distinguished himself from other top-rated deejays in Seattle by possessing that 'magic something' of being able to talk to his listeners as if they were old friends. Since first going on the air in Astoria, Oregon in 1957, he understood that any radio station should strive to help listeners create a theatre of the mind, and in the book 'The Hits Just Keep Coming' by Ben Fong Torres, his communication prowess is revealed in a brief broadcast excerpt; "Number One in Seattle, this is KJR, and is this great 'Soul and Inspiration,' the Righteous Brothers, 75 degrees from All-American, All-Request Radio. My soul and inspiration is Jerry Kaye, who, on a warm day like today, he’s in the newsroom, and he’s taken all his clothes off. He’s sitting on the teletype, and the machine is printing the farm news on his behind. Let’s see if I can read it. It says: There’s a difference between fryers, and that’s why Washington Fryers are easily the freshest of all chickens." Torres notes that in 30 seconds, O’Day delivered an intro and identified the record, plugged his station, gave a basic weather report, mentioned a fellow deejay, and conjured a visual image via a joke that tied seamlessly into live commercial copy. Extend that 30 seconds to an entire broadcast, and repeat this degree of off-the-cuff creativity everyday for years, and that’s why O’Day, Robinson, and many other deejays of their generation are respected as masters of the medium." Ladies and gentlemen... Pat O'Day!