Lar'-on-the-Air

By Larry McCabe

This is the catchphrase used often when announcing who I was on the radio. For example, “Hi, this is Lar’-on-the-Air, Larry McKay, sittin’ in my chair, with all this hair. And how are you out there?” It’s an oft’ times humorous journal of my many adventures over my career, encountering a surprising num

• Language: English
• Publisher: GoldTouch Press, LLC
• Release date: Jan 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781951461973

Larry McCabe

My philosophy in life is very basic: "Do unto others, as they would do unto you." I believe it's straight from the Bible. I also firmly believe: "The meek shall inherit the Earth. "HUMILITY should be one of the Ten Commandments. I respect every person I meet for what's INSIDE them. Not the color of their skin...And, no matter how famous, intelligent or rich you are, there's ALWAYS someone richer, smarter and more famous than you.

Book preview

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Lar'-on-the-Air

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Larry McCabe

Copyright © 2020 by Larry McCabe.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2019920537

HARDBACK:     978-1-951461-96-6

Paperback:    978-1-951461-95-9

eBook:              978-1-951461-97-3

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Ordering Information:

For orders and inquiries, please contact:

1-888-404-1388

www.goldtouchpress.com

[e-mail]

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Chapter 1:    Sign-On

Chapter 2:    A Good Sport

Chapter 3:    Stay Tuned

Chapter 4:    Train to Nowhere

Chapter 5:    Fatal Crash

Chapter 6:    Wedding Bells & Polio

Chapter 7:    Hoosiers

Chapter 8:    Rookie D.j

Chapter 9:    Ella, Fella

Chapter 10:  Fired

Chapter 11:  Genius of Soul

Chapter 12:  I Went to Werk

Chapter 13:  %#¥#In’ Dick Clark

Chapter 14:  R.j.

Chapter 15:  The WERK/KREW

Chapter 16:  Cassidy (And, More Werk)

Chapter 17:  Egos, Aside.

Chapter 18:  Godfather of Soul

Chapter 19:  Jimi

Chapter 20:  Two Tragic Losses

Chapter 21:  Jerry Lee

Chapter 22:  White-Haired Soul

Chapter 23:  Police Chase

Chapter 24:  1St Boy!

Chapter 25:  Go West, Young Man

Chapter 26:  Grrrrreat!

Chapter 27:  Bye-Bye Desert

Chapter 28:  Hooray for Hollywood!

Chapter 29:  Hang Down Your Head, Etc.

Chapter 30:  Bullitt

Chapter 31:  Deja Vu, Fired (Again)

Chapter 32:  1150am

Chapter 33:  Reggie Dwight

Chapter 34:  I Dreamed Of Jeannie

Chapter 35:  Purple & Gold

Chapter 36:  Dodger Blue

Chapter 37:  Fired-Again?

Chapter 38:  Back in the Saddle

Chapter 39:  Voice-Over Luck

Chapter 40:  Margarita

Chapter 41:  Put out to Pasture

Dedicated to:

My Angel wife Margarita and five sons, Mick, Matthew,

Sean, Lucas and Christopher - My legacy. You are about

to discover why I feel like the Forrest Gump of radio…

1

Sign-On

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First, I should clear up the fact that I was born a Trbovich, not a McCabe, in Gary, Indiana. Only my closest relatives know this, but my biological father was Michael Trbovich, a Serb. My mom Margaret Hronec, was a Slovak, and was 17-years-old when I was born (out of wedlock). My parents finally made it legal almost a year later by getting married. My real dad and mom split up after a brief marriage and he moved to San Francisco to take up carpentry as a profession. I talked with him briefly on long distance telephone from Indiana as a youngster, but never really connected. Later, I had heard he’d died in a car accident. No emotion – I’d hardly known him.

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I had my name changed legally to my stepdad’s - McCabe, when I was ten or eleven years old. Ironically, Bob McCabe (pic’ below) used the stage name McKay when he had a band and was a vocalist. When I went to work for KRIZ Radio in Phoenix (many years later) they arbitrarily changed my name to McKaye because the jingle singers couldn’t enunciate McCabe easily. I had already for some years used McCabe as my legal last name though.

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Bob’s dad, a very nice, decent man, named Archie, was with the Muncie Fire Dept. for 39 years, 21 as Fire Chief, passing away at age 64 of cancer. Here he is (below) in the mid-40s with comedians Abbott & Costello at a police & firemen’s convention.

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As a young lad growing up in the basketball state of Indiana, I dreamed of being a star roundball player. Polio, at the age of thirteen made me severely alter my dreams. My tonsils and adenoids were removed in the fall before I contracted infantile paralysis the next summer. Many people believe (although unproven) that having one’s tonsils removed invites the polio virus into your system.

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Almost 6 months of hospitalization had left me without the use of my legs from the hips down, necessitating full-length braces and Canadian-style aluminum crutches to be able to walk. Here’s a pic’ on me (far left marked by at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis as Ruth Lyons & Santa give out X-mas gifts. Ruth was that era’s Oprah in the Cincinnati/Midwest area.

It’s difficult for people who have not had Polio to understand how it feels.

2

A Good Sport

I had to alter my thinking after I fully realized how a severe case of polio would limit my life’s expectations, and career destination. For one thing, my great love affair with sports would limit me to being a spectator. Or perhaps, becoming a sports commentator. I don’t believe that I was frightened by my physical condition, but I was certainly concerned. It hurt my feelings, especially when young children would look at me as if I were a freak, struggling to walk with my braces and crutches. But, after a lot of grueling hard work and determination, I felt (if not normal) at least adequate. In fact, seeing my reflection in a store window, or a mirror, would actually repulse me. Who is that gimp looking back at me? Later, when I got more confident (and even cocky) I’d notice someone looking at me derisively, and I’d condition myself to think, They may be better physically, but I have a mind… They can’t out-intelligence me. I actually felt sorry for them, in this respect. I eventually taught myself to know a little bit about a LOT of things. This training helped me immensely in my eventual chosen profession. Talking on the radio.

I was extremely fortunate to be born with a God-given set of pipes. Not the BEST, but certainly more than adequate. If I sound smug and too full of myself, I had to have a certain amount of ego to be able to perform at top efficiency. Believe me, I was aware there were many more intelligent and talented people than me in the world. I just knew I had to get the most out of my God-given ability. I often had to remind myself to remain humble through it all.

I would now study and work hard at becoming a big-time sports play-by-play announcer. Little did I know my career direction would change a bit. Well, I DID (finally) earn my B.S. Degree in Radio & TV from Indiana University and ended up spending over 49 years in broadcasting as an