LAR'-ON-THE-AIR

By Larry McCabe

"LAR'-ON-THE-AIR." Is a condensed summary of not only my life, but the 49 year (plus) career of broadcasting on radio and Tv. I consider myself as the "Forest Gump of broadcasting." I've been at the right place, at the right time, meeting, and having relationships with famous people (mostly entertainers).

 M

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yalla Books
• Release date: Jun 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9781958507025

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

1

SIGN-ON

You are about to discover why I feel like the Forrest Gump of radio ...

First, Ishould clear up the fact that I was born a Trbovich, not a McCabe, in Detroit, Michigan. 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). Myparents 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.

I had my name changed legally to my stepdad’s - McCabe, when I was ten or eleven years old. Ironically, Bob McCabe 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 nameto McKaye because the jingle singers couldn’t enunciate McCabe easily. I had already for some years used McCabe as my legal last name though.

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.

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.

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 xxx) 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 bymy 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 knowa 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 on-air personality and frequently program director. Unfortunately, not doing sports (like I would have preferred) but mostly as a music jock on radio stations in Indiana, Arizona, Florida and California. I had mostly put aside my dreams of being a big time sports announcer, but I always loved music, having grown up in Muncie, Indiana, living in an apartment above a nightclub, with live bands performingas well as jukeboxes all over the place.

I was very lucky to land my first commercial radio job in my hometown of Muncie, where I helped hire a young grad student from Ball State University. His name was David Letterman. After six years as a Big Fish in a relatively small pond, I realized I’d always hate myself for not at least testing the waters of bigger markets. I answered an ad in Broadcasting magazine that saidthe Doubleday Publishing Company was buying up broadcasting properties and immediately needed to quicklystaff their radio station in Phoenix, Arizona - KRIZ. I sent them an air-check and voila, got the gig. In the two-and-a-half wonderful years I worked at KRIZ, I worked alongside the late, great newsman Lee Marshall (who later became the voice of Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger - They’re GRRR-EAT!!!)and Shotgun Tom Kelly, who I later worked with at Los Angeles’ K-EARTH 101. Yours truly, Shotgun, Lee, and ten others were inducted into the KRIZ Hall of Fame in Feb. 2013.

I also had pleasant stints at Y-100 (Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida) Boss Radio KHJ, Los Angeles, KIIS, KFWB, KFI, KRLA and Gene Autry’s KMPC in L. A.

Dr. Jerry Buss even hired me to be the SHOWTIME Los Angeles Laker’s new P. A. announcer at the Forum in Inglewood. During the three years I was with the Lakers they won two