B. Mitchel Reed(1926-1983)
- Actor
B. Mitchel Reed was born Burton Mitchel Goldberg in Brooklyn on June
10, 1926. After graduating from Boy's High School in 1944, he became a
navigator on a B-17 in Europe during the last year of World War II. He
entered radio following a decision at the University of Illinois to
forgo a career teaching political-science "for the boogie and the
glamour of broadcasting". In 1956, he landed the all-night "Birdland
Jazz Show" at WOR New York. In 1957, Mitch moved his "Boy On A Couch"
show to KFWB Los Angeles and, there, became one of the original "Seven
Swingin' Gentlemen" at the launch of Top 40 "Color Radio" in 1958. "The
fastest tongue in the West" hosted a #1-rated 6PM-9PM high energy show
using horns, bells and buzzers until February 20, 1963, when he was
wooed back to his hometown as one of "The Good Guys" at WMCA New York:
"I'm not talking too fast, you're listening too slow". Again rated #1,
"Your Leader" spent time in London developing contacts with
Brian Epstein,
Derek Taylor and
The Beatles, which led to exclusive
interviews and advance record pressings that helped break
The Beatles in New York. After his final
WMCA show on March 25, 1965 he was cheered by thousands at the airport,
a scene that was repeated when he landed in L.A. for his return to
KFWB, with "The Wide Wide Weird World of BMR", where he became a voice
for the counterculture. He recognized a music explosion was beginning,
and he turned the evening hours into album-oriented rock programming
after he met with Tom Donahue at
the June 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and discovered their common
frustration with radio music restrictions. Donahue was PD of pioneer
underground rocker KMPX-FM San Francisco and was looking for an L.A.
outlet. He found KPPC-FM in the basement of the Pasadena Presbyterian
Church. After the KMPX/KPPC Strike ended in June 1968, Reed and Donahue
each supplied KMET-FM with four hours of taped album rock while BMR
programmed the rest of KMET, one of the first 24 hour automated music
stations. "The Beamer" gained validity for "Underground Radio" from the
ad agencies with his afternoon drive show that finally went live in
Summer 1969. He was responsible for introducing to the public many of
the most influential rock musicians ever, including
Joni Mitchell. He underwent successful
coronary bypass surgery in 1978 and left KMET for KLOS-FM. B. Mitchel
Reed "kept his mind open and his spirit free" until his death from a
lingering heart condition at the age of 56 on March 16, 1983.