Detroit radio fans likely know the name Dick Purtan, the Detroit radio legend and community philanthropist known for his whimsical mix of radio satire, one-liners and deadpan jokes, but do you know how the Detroit radio legend made his way to the Motor City? Before gaining fame at Detroit’s WKNR “Keener 13” station, Purtan found his start at stations in Buffalo, NY, Jacksonville, FL and Cincinnati.
A new episode of Detroit Public Television’s “Detroit Remember When” documentary series looks at Purtan’s road to Detroit. One Detroit premiere’s an excerpt from “Detroit Remember When: A Tribute to Dick Purtan” with narrator, friend and on-air co-host “Big Al” Muskovitz sharing how Purtan found his way to Detroit and created his trademark radio style.
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Purtan talks about his early fascination with radio at a young age, and his desire to pave his own path in Detroit’s radio industry. Plus, a host of Detroit media personalities — broadcast journalist Ted Koppel, Detroit Ad man Michael Seltzer, radio archivist Art Vuolo and Purtan’s former WKNR partner Tom Ryan — share insights into Purtan’s life and career.
Full Transcript:
Dick Purtan, Detroit Radio Legend: My dad bought a floor model radio with a record player in it and a microphone. So when I saw that come in the house, I started to pick up the newspaper and read in the microphone. My parents would listen to me and they thought I was really good. So I believed them.
Dick Purtan: And from that point on, I just was fascinated by radio. And I still am, tell you the truth. When I was about eight or nine years old, I would take the bus from Kenmore five miles to downtown Buffalo. I thought it was more like 50 miles to you the truth at that age.
Dick Purtan: I get off the bus, go to the Statler Hotel, go up to the 18th floor where Clint Buehlman was broadcasting at WBEN in Buffalo which my parents listened to. That’s why I knew the station.
Clint Buehlman, Host, The Clint Buehlman Show: Hello, everyone. Good morning to you and welcome to The Clint Buehlman Show.
Dick Purtan: If the engineer answered the door. I would explain who I was. And that I was just wanting to see Clint broadcast his show, but he wouldn’t let me in. Then when Clint would answer the door he’d always let me in.
Dick Purtan: So I did that about three, four, five times. And then I’d take the bus back to Kenmore. And I never told my parents I did that because I was afraid they were going to say, You’re not allowed to do that.
Bill Kubota, Senior Producer, One Detroit: Dick headed to Syracuse University, but most weekends you’d find him hitchhiking back to his high school sweetheart, Gail. He excelled in what else? Radio. Where he was a couple of years ahead of Ted Koppel.
Ted Koppel, Network Television Journalist: You know, those of us who were underclassmen in those days, we really, really, really did look up to Dick Purtan. He was an idol. I think he had a show on a commercial radio station in downtown Syracuse W.O.L.F., WOLF. And Dick had a morning show.
Bill Kubota: It turns out Dick was a funny radio morning man right from the get-go.
Ted Koppel: The kind of morning shows that would later be done by people like Bob and Greg. I think Dick Purtan was doing that before they ever even came on the scene.
Bill Kubota: Dick did some time in the Army, rising to captain. Later, a master’s degree then on to stops on the airwaves in Buffalo, Jacksonville and Cincinnati.
Dick Purtan: I moved from Jacksonville to Cincinnati because it was too hot. The summers in Florida I had never experienced before. Oh, is it hot.
Bill Kubota: It was 1964. Cincinnati. Dick the afternoon man at WSAI. An Indianapolis radio station tried to hire him. Dick didn’t go, but he did get the inside track on an upcoming Beatles Tour of America.
Dick Purtan: A radio station in Indianapolis were sponsoring the Beatles in Indianapolis. I said, Really? He said, You know, you could do that for Cincinnati, I suppose. I said, Yeah, I suppose I could.
Bill Kubota: Dick Purtan and WSAI, brought the Beatles to Cincinnati.
Dick Purtan: We sold out naturally. And we knew we would. We knew we’d get our money back. So we met The Beatles and in the green room and all that kind of stuff. And it was quite a thrill. It wasn’t as big a thrill for us guys, I think, as it was for about 15,000 young girls who populated the venue.
Dick Purtan: The top ticket price for the Beatles was $5.50. Then it was like $4.25, and then it was three something, then two something, and that was it. That’s what they paid the kids to see The Beatles. I wanted to come to the Motor City. And the reason was my dad and his line of work would come to Detroit a lot from Buffalo. On occasion, he would invite me to come along with him.
I just got to know the city of Detroit. It always stuck with me. Guy named Gary Stevens who happened to be from Buffalo. But he was doing the afternoon show at WKNR. They did a good job and they said they went from worst to first in the ratings in like 30 days. Anyway, I called up Gary in Detroit and I said, Hey, I’m looking to get out of Cincinnati. I understand you’re leaving. And who do I talk to?
Bill Kubota: WKNR wanted Dick Purtan. And they made him an offer.
Dick Purtan: And I turned it down. And they said, you flew up here, weren’t you interested in the job. And I said, Yeah, but I said, I’m not sure I’m right for three to six in the afternoon. That’s more teen time on the radio, at least on that station at Keener. Then they offered me seven to 10 at night, I turn that down. Then they offered me 10 to one at night. This was over a period of about a month. And ended up doing the late night, 10 p.m. to one a.m. show.
Michael Seltzer, Retired Ad Man: Well, like everybody in Detroit, I grew up listening to Dick on our beloved Keener 13, WKNR.
Steve Schram, Exec. Dir./General Manager, Michigan Radio – Univ. of Michigan Former General Manager – WOMC: I remember as a young fellow, 11, 12 years old, listening to this new show. And I thought, what a talent.
Dick Purtan: Scotty Regen preceded me at Keener 13. And they had a contest, a big contest about him and so forth on the station.
Art Vuolo, Radio Archivist/”Radio’s Best Friend”: Scott Regen comes in with a skateboard contest and Dick Purtan says, I got to follow this guy. I don’t have a contest. What am I going to do?
Art Vuolo: Cause I had an 8 by ten glossy from WSAI in Cincinnati from where he came. I was crushed because I knew I had the best picture, but he probably knew that I had cheated.
Dick Purtan: I was kind of doing the same thing when I got to Jacksonville. When I got to Cincinnati and when I got to Detroit. It was I decided that the radio that I was hearing, that I was even doing a lot of myself, I didn’t think was very good. So when I got to Detroit, I researched the city as best I could. From the mayor and the city council. Just anybody and anybody who had a name that I might have some fun with. It felt like I knew the city. And so it felt like home, it just did.
Tom Ryan, Dick’s Partner – WKNR, WXYZ, CKLW: The switchboard was right across from the main studio, and Dick liked to keep the door open. He, you know, it was just easier, and he and I could see each other.
Dick Purtan: And I was doing the 10 p.m. to one a.m. show for the first two months that I was here. And so I got to know Tom and I got to realize that Tom did voices, he did characters.
Tom Ryan: He loved to put people on the air because that’s the way he was. He loved to talk to people and they requests records. So we would get occasionally somebody who sounded pretty weird or everything, and I would give Dick… Call line two, take line two. And then occasionally on a slow night, nothing was happening. I’d get on the phone from the switchboard and I’d say, Dick, line three, there’s a guy there. And he’d say, okay. He would tape the call and I would say, Hey, Mr. Purtan, that’s it from Taylor. And I went and he would lead me on. Then he realized it was me.
Dick Purtan: I would then start the bit, and then Tom would join in with the voice. And that’s all it was.
Tom Ryan: Swingin’ Sweeney was our morning man. He gets fired. So WKNR says to Dick, you’re going to be the new morning man. And Dick said, “I want that switchboard guy to be my voice man and producer.” And that’s how we started.
Dick Purtan: Hello, this is Dick Purtan on the air every morning on Keener from five until nine, goodbye.
Tom Ryan: I remember one time at Keener, we had a program director who told him not to do this certain thing. He said, “That’s me. That’s what I do.” And he said, “If you don’t like it, I’ll tell you what. I’ll quit. I’ll leave. I’m out the door. I’ll leave tomorrow. I’ll go back to Cincinnati, where I was from,” and the guy panicked and said, “Oh, no, no, no, you go ahead and do it.”
Dick Purtan: You have to fight your own battle. I did it my way.
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