Can you help Bill find a Kenny Mayer aircheck?

13 Replies
(Photo source: http://www.qsl.net/wb1gfh/mayer.html)

(Photo source: http://www.qsl.net/wb1gfh/mayer.html)

SWLing Post reader, Bill Albert, writes:

“I am trying to find an “air check” of Kenny Mayer, a well-known Boston late-night radio show host (now deceased) during the 1960’s and 1970’s. His show aired from 12-2AM Mondays, so it was one of the few interesting things one could listen to at that hour. He would play bits from classic old comedy albums (e.g., Bill Cosby and Bob Newhart in their stand-up days), and he’d ad-lib the sponsors’ advertisement spots himself. He was really a character, and his voice had a very unique cadence and intonation. I did manage to find one clip from a 1966 show featuring a routine entitled “The Great Society Affair”—a parody of the wedding of President Johnson’s daughter. God, how long ago that was!! Different world. There was also a bit by Godfrey Cambridge, and a number of Kenny’s home-made commercials. However, I’ve since lost that clip, and in any case I played and replayed it to exhaustion. If anyone has another “air check” of Kenny’s show, I would love to get a copy.”

If anyone has a lead for Bill, please comment!

If you’d like to read more about Ken Mayer, Bill suggests this article.

[Update: When I posted this request a few hours ago, I mistakenly posted the photo and information for Kenny Meyer instead of Kenny Mayer. Both of these gentlemen were prominent figures in the Boston broadcasting scene around the same time period (hence my confusion!).]

Spread the radio love

13 thoughts on “Can you help Bill find a Kenny Mayer aircheck?”

  2. Mike Dobrowolski

    Sit back, relax, unwind, unbutton and unzip. If it’s tight we take it off! I’m drinking ice coffee, but you might enjoy something stronger as we go through the early morning.

    I miss the Kenny Mayer show, which I got into in high school around 1973-1974. I still listen to that comedy, but it is not the same unless you knew what was going on at Scullers or the Aku Aku. I loved the improvised commercials which sometimes went on for 4 or 5 minutes while I was waiting for Bob Newhart, Jackie Vernon, Jonathan Winters, Jose Jimenez, Bill Cosby, Shelly Berman, Henny Youngman, Phyllis Diller, Mort Sahl, Myron Cohen, Groucho Marx, Stiller and Meara, Mike Nichols and Elaine May, George Carlin, Buddy Hackett, Moms Mably, Joan Rivers, Robert Klein and many others.

    I’d love to hear an entire show.

    Mike

    Reply ↓
  3. Gary Nelson

    I have no air checks that go back that far but I do remember listening to WILD. Alan Dary, BIll Marlowe and Joe Smith. What a lineup!

    Reply ↓
    1. Patrick Mancini

      Wow! I loved that show and sometime I could hear the clothers dryer…I was no older than 15 at the time, may be even younger. Bob, are there any surviving recordings? Nobody seems to have any information about this…

      Reply ↓
      1. Robert Mayer

        Patrick I am seeing this now. I’m going to ask my brother if he knows of any air checks of my father’s radio show. Thanks – Bob Mayer

        Reply ↓
    2. jim

      His gruff manner and comedy records show made my week. I didn’t mind the one way phone conversations and thought that because of that, people kept it short or at least it was easier for him to keep it short, to get back to Totie Fields, et al. I miss that show.

      Reply ↓
    1. Bill Albert

      Thanks, Bob! There are so few existing fragments left of that great show, it’s wonderful to hear a new one. If you should ever come across any more, I’d be delighted to hear them. Thanks again.

      Bill

      Reply ↓
  6. Bill Albert

    Hi Mark,

    Thanks so much for the aircheck, but alas, that is the 1966 clip which I had already heard many times and to which I referred in the original post. Still, it is great to hear old Kenny’s voice again. If you come across any other recordings of his show, please let me know.

    Bill

    Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.