Meeting an Important Celebrity: Step 58

Being a teenager in the era before the internet and ipods meant spending most of your spare time listening to the radio. During the time we spent at Samuel Morse Junior High FM radio was in its infancy and the few stations that existed usually played classical music. In Milwaukee there were two AM stations that played popular, or what became known as Top 40 music. They were WOKY 920 and WRIT 1340. My Uncle Frank had his dentist office in the WOKY building at the corner of Sherman Boulevard and Fond du Lac Avenue. Once I saw Bob White one of the daytime disc jockeys emerge from the station on the main floor as I was leaving. In present day terms this would be about as significant as riding the elevator with the program director for Ryan Seacrest’s radio show. As I mentioned before Gary M had the most popular disc jockey in Milwaukee at the time, Bob Barry, spinning records at his bar mitzvah at the Blatz Pavilion in Lincoln Park. That was before Barry assured himself a place in the Wisconsin Broadcasters Hall of Fame by introducing the Beatles at their only appearance in Milwaukee. It was also the year that Barry was joined by Barney “The Peanut Butter” Pip. Arriving from Youngstown, Ohio with his trademark bugle, Barney Pip would introduce a record by playing an awful note on his instrument, screaming “Peanut butter forever,” and telling kids to wear paperclips to show their solidarity. Bringing to radio the same absurd and obnoxious artistry Steve Allen and Soupy Sales used to capture television audiences, Barney Pip would only stay a year in Milwaukee before catapulting to super stardom and one of the first six figure salaries at WCFL in Chicago. When Ron and I heard that WRIT was bringing a new disc jockey to go head to head with Pip we knew he had to be good, or no one would listen to them anymore. While we usually liked checking out the 92 top songs on the WOKY chart that was available at either the record store or drugstore, the shorter WRIT list of only the top 40 songs often featured some inside information on either the artist at number one or some up and coming group. Adding a publicity photo of one of their disc jockeys was something the station premiered with the arrival of this new guy who was promoting himself as The Duke of Dilemma. In an effort to build excitement for their new personality WRIT announced he would make his initial appearance at Gimbels at Capital Court. Rather than join the crowd in the record department, Ron and I decided to watch for the car we had seen before with the station call letters on the side. Fortunately, we guessed right and Eddie Doucette, The Duke of Dilemma came to the west parking area and was greeted by two boys ten years his junior but just about the same height. Wearing a black sport shirt and black levis he looked the part. He autographed the Top 40 chart writing his name across his promotional photo and asked us where we went to school before handing one to each of us. As we walked with him toward the store we told him the name of our school and he said he’d be sure to mention it on the air. Whether he actually did I can’t recall, but we had connected with the latest personality to penetrate the adolescent audio market. Eddie Doucette lasted a few years in Top 40 and then he became the voice of the new NBA franchise, the Milwaukee Bucks.