Remembering Wink Martindale, a radio legend and class act

Wink Martindale may be best known for the television game shows that he hosted, but his start was in radio, and his experience there is one of the reasons he believed he was so successful in television. That and his infectious smile and genuine positivity, I might add.

Alas, Martindale passed away last week at the age of 91.

I originally met Martindale at a book signing for “The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows” (written by David Schwartz, Steve Ryan, and Fred Wostbrock); he wrote the foreword for the second edition of the book. Always a class act, he was one of those people who makes you feel good … that on-air persona was exactly how he was in real life.

I once brought my mother to a luncheon of the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters (now known as the Hollywood Media Professionals). Wink — who was a longtime member —  spent a long time talking with her, and at later events, until her passing, would always ask how she was. He truly was a wonderful person, with a great memory.

His radio career began at the age of 17 when he landed a job at WPLI/Jackson, Tennessee. While still a college student, he landed mornings at WHBQ/Memphis … and it was at WHBQ where he met Elvis Presley — Wink was part of the team that helped get a live interview of the young singer for the station — and forged a friendship that lasted until Presley died.

The Elvis connection doesn’t lie solely with Wink. His second wife, Sandy — every bit as friendly as Wink in my interactions with them both, by the way  — once dated Elvis! Long before the Martindales married, of course.

In 1959, Martindale made his way west and became the morning man for KHJ (930 AM), moving just a year later to KRLA (now KWVE, 1110 AM) and finally KFWB (980 AM). Perhaps his best-remembered radio stint was at The Station of the Stars, KMPC (now KSPN, 710 AM), where he worked with other legends such as Gary Owens, Geoff Edwards, Chuck Southcott, and Robert W Morgan. Martindale was at KMPC twice: 1971 to 1979 and 1983 to 1987.

Most recently, he narrated a revised version of the legendary program “The History of Rock and Roll” that was syndicated on radio stations throughout the United States.

Martindale once told me of an interesting coincidence. He was born in 1933; Rick Dees in 1950, almost 20 years later. Wink started at WHBQ in 1956; Dees started there in 1976, exactly 20 years later. Martindale moved to KHJ for mornings in 1959; Dees moved to KHJ for mornings in 1979, exactly 20 years later. Both were huge Elvis fans, though I don’t remember if Dees knew Elvis personally (or if wife Julie ever dated him!). And both did television work, though obviously Martindale did far more.

Tribute to Jed

You probably read in this very paper that longtime KROQ (106.7 FM) personality Edwin Gould, aka “Jed the Fish,” passed away last week due to lung cancer.

On April 18, Poorman’s daily “15 Minutes of Fame Segment” included six former KROQ personalities reminiscing about Jed the Fish. Swedish Egil, Freddy Snakeskin, April Whitney, John Logic, and the Insane Darryl Wayne were on hand, along with The Poorman, of course, airing on KOCI (101.5 FM) live. You can hear a recording of it online at Poorman.Net.

More Fools

“Your mention of on-air April Fools pranks: I can’t remember what year it took place, but Redlands alt rock KCAL-FM (96.7) one year announced it was changing its format to country and calling itself K-MOO. You should’ve heard all wailing and gnashing of teeth by listeners buying that hook, line, and sinker!” — Dennis Bell

“In your columns on April Fool’s stunts, you forgot the one Mike Wagner put together to recreate KFWB, KHJ, and KRLA as they were in the top 40 days of the 60s. I forgot what year it was, but Mike worked to pull off a big surprise for Los Angeles radio fans who grew up here.” — David Schwartz

“In 1988, KRLA became KFWB for several hours, and later KHJ. Funny thing was they added reverb while KFWB, even though they never had any. Other years KRLA played old airchecks. I really wish I had heard KRTH in 1990 when they were ‘Disco 101. There were maybe three consecutive years KROQ (106.7 FM) played around. Once they were all ’70s with some reverb; another time, they pretended to be Spanish.

“By far, 1991 was the top year for pranks. I think I counted ten stations that did something, including a KKBT (now KRRL, 92.3 FM) DJ saying he was leaving; KGFJ (now KYPA, 1230 AM) saying they were going oldies; KOST (103.5 FM) swapping morning teams with KROQ; KRLA playing old airchecks; and KPWR’s (105.9 FM) Disco106. In the late ‘90s, Power 106 played ‘80s on its hip-hop morning show … quite a funny contrast. And around 1998, Groove Radio went back to Mars-FM.” — Chime Hart

Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com