The mystique of listening to a disc jockey named Wolfman Jack on the radio at night was part of being a teenager in America in the 1960s. The Wolfman, as he was known, was a DJ who captured the attention of teenagers across America with his gravely voice and his ability to play to the sexual curiosity of teenagers - often talking to young girls on the air about being teenagers. By today’s standards, The Wolfman might have been seen as a perv, but he artfully talked to young girls without talking directly about sex.
Wolfman Jack’s voice convinced many people he was Black, but he was white. As a racially ambiguous DJ, he also emphasized R&B music at a time when a lot of radio stations in America were not playing those songs and that added to his mystery.
Wolfman Jack was a genius who understood the idea that radio presents a perfect environment for using theater of the mind. Wolfman’s shows and his personality were shrouded in mystery. The Wolfman broadcast from radio stations XERF and XERB just across the border in Mexico, therefore, he was out of reach of the arm of the FCC in the United States. These radio stations were known as “border busters” because of their extremely powerful signals that covered much of the United States. While Wolfman Jack pushed boundaries, he stopped short of blatantly violating FCC regulations. But that didn’t stop the FCC from trying to shut down The Wolfman. However, there is no evidence that Wolfman Jack was actually fined by the FCC.
Wolfman Jack’s desire to be a mystery was brilliant in those days when radio was a medium for teenagers to listen to their music spun by their favorite disc jockeys. The idea that The Wolfman was broadcasting from Mexico created the impression that he could say whatever he wanted to say without fear of being fined or shut down by the U.S. government. That only added to his mystery. I remember later there were rumors that The Wolfman was broadcasting from a ship 3 miles off the coast of California in international waters which was beyond the jurisdiction of the FCC.
But The Wolfman wasn’t always using sexual innuendos - often he projected the image of promoting the best in people. Here are a couple of quotes from Wolfman Jack shows:
“I never prayed for no money, and I never prayed for no fame. I said, ‘I’ll take care of that myself. You just keep me healthy and I’ll do all I can to try to turn people around, to try to steer ‘em in the right direction.’ That’s the whole trip in life, ya know.”
“Half the time I feel like I’m appealing to the downer freaks out there. We start to play one downer record after another until I begin to get down myself. Give me something from 1960 or something; let me get up again. The music of today is for downer freaks, and I’m an upper.”
In the movie, “American Graffiti," Wolfman Jack’s character was depicted as his actual character on the radio - someone whose identity was a secret, but there was one moment when Richard Dreyfuss’ character did get a brief glimpse of The Wolfman talking in his unique voice on the air.
In the earliest years of my career before there was Howard Stern, my instincts directed me to push the limits of radio, which I did with sexual innuendos and suggestive comments that did not violate FCC regulations. One of my earliest callers came from a Playboy Playmate who was from New Orleans. Her name was Laura Misch and she was listening to my show and called in. Laura was married to an NOPD officer and she became a regular on my show. And then the calls and the ratings increased and I was on my way to establishing “Scoot In The Morning.”
For those who have been listening for that long you know that I didn’t just do sexy stuff - I did a broad range of humor and topics. I do believe that in my subconscious there were memories of listening to Wolfman Jack as a teenager and understanding what he was doing. I never tried to imitate him, but I’m sure I learned from The Wolfman.
And then I got to meet The Wolfman. My favorite story is the story about how Wolfman Jack stole my vial of cocaine. Wolfman Jack was emcee of The Rolling Stones concert in the dome in the mid-80s. I was backstage and ran into him and introduced myself. I knew he was into coke so in an effort to build a bond with The Wolfman, I held up my vial, which I had just purchased for $100 and said, “Hey Wolfman, want some coke?” The Wolfman said, “Thanks!” and walked away with my coke! I never saw him again. I was thinking, “Hey, you're the emcee of The Stones concert and you’re backstage and you need MY coke?”
Wolfman Jack went onto host The Midnight Special on ABC from 1972 to 1981 and at that point he was mass appeal and a household name. The Wolfman passed away in 1995 from a heart attack - he was only 56. I don’t know what his life was like after I met him, but obviously he was seriously into coke and that’s an enemy of your heart and Wolfman was a bit overweight.
It was cool meeting someone who I believe shaped my career and I love having the story of him stealing my cocaine! But it didn’t take me long to know how bad that powder was and I quit doing it and I’m sure the Mick Jagger’s of the rock world who did a lot of coke back in the day quit, too, or they wouldn’t still be performing today.
Before the iconic Wolfman Jack became a household name in the 70s - he was a mysterious voice that came out of the speaker of our transistor radios and we were intrigued because we thought he was the total radio rebel broadcasting from beyond the reach of the government’s FCC. Wolfman Jack was a legend!