My
friend
Eddie Cochran,
an early inductee into the Rock n' Roll
Hall of Fame, was an extraordinarily talented guitarist, singer
and songwriter who influenced later artists such as The Beatles,
The Rolling Stones, The Who and many others.
Read Graham Pugh's
"The Truth About Eddie Cochran"
"For More Than A
Decade" it was top rated in Tucson. One of my most
successful station's in a favorite city
.
A stage
for many of the nations most celebrated radio star�s, it became
"Super CFL" in the early 70�s in one of radio�s great battles
when Super Jock Larry Lujack, Big Ron O�Brien, Paul Kirby,
Kris Erik Stevens and a few
others joined me
at Super CFL
My wise friend Bill
said,
"Sharing life's experiences with the
generations that follow is probably the most important thing we
can do."
I think of him often
when writing on these pages.
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Web Radio
Click on to enjoy
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Radio'sRich "Brother" Robbincreates oldies radio like it should be. Streaming on the web
here
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Rewind
with
Jimmy Jayas he interviews and features recent photos of the
Superstars of early rock
here
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If you have an RV you've gotta hear
RV Dream Radio
Southern California beach conditions
Click For The Correct Time
"One of the great programmers, honest, passionate and
powerful. John has never pulled any punches."
-
Chuck Blore
"John Rook was absolutely
instrumental in my career. I think of him as
my radio "Dad". He was more than a great
programmer, he was a great teacher, and remains
a great friend" - Tim
Kelly
Founder
The Premiere Radio Networks
It pleases me the rest of the
country thinks as highly of you as I do� �
Bill Drake
One of "Most
Influential Programmers of the Past 20 Years" -
Radio &
Records
Honored as one of
"Radio's Legends"
Radio & Record Convention - (1998)
Radio Programmer of the Year
Gavin Convention - (1969)
Radio's Man of the Year
Variety Magazine - (1969)
Radio Consultant of the Year
Poe Convention (1977)
�John
Rook�s talent caused me to get him hired out of the market. A
classy guywith
an abundance of ability, he�s a jewel�.Ken Palmer - KIMN,
Denver(1965)
Broadcasters
have named John Rook Program Director of the Year, he�s
considered the architect of WLS�s slick image. � Variety (1969)
�If
we could find a dozen more John Rook�s, we would hire them�
Hal
Neal Jr., President ABC radio.
�What
a true professional John Rook is�
Walter A. Schwartz, VP WABC
�Yes,
that�s John Rook you are hearing on WABC.Besides being a greatdirector,
he�s also a pretty darn good air talent.�
Bill Gavin (1967)
�And
then there�s John Rook at WCFL.After a five year stint at ABC�s KQV-Pittsburgh,
Mr. Rook was brought to WLS in early 1967 as Program Director.By mid 1968 WLS�s audience had risen to 4.2 million listeners
each week and was #1 across the board. Mr. Rook was approached by
Lew Witz of WCFL with an offer to counsel WCFL, and hopefully to
bring the station in contention with WLS. Six weeks later Super
� CFL knocked WLS out of the top position in the ratings war�. Broadcasting
(1972)
John
Rook pulled off a
miracle in
Chicago
with WCFL and he did it in just 22 days.
Meaning,
he was only in Chicago
personally for 22 days.This
is actually better than
WCFL
has ever done in it�s many years of trying to beat WLS. - Billboard
(1972)
�Very few programmers
have your natural ability of knowing what the audience wants
before they do.�
Jack
Thayer, WNBC �
New York
�Please
accept this token of ABC�s appreciation for a job well done.�
Leonard Goldenson,
President ABC, Inc.
The magic of
John Rook & Associates is being heard on more and more
stations. John has added Paul Kirby from WRKO to help him with his latest
additions, KRBE-Houston, WIFI-Philadelphia, WZGC-Cleveland, KDON-Salinas/Montery,
KTLK-Denver, KAFY-Bakersfield,
Z-93-Atlanta, KTKT-Tucson, KENO-Las Vegas, KRUX-Phoenix, KROY-Sacramento
and WGNG in Providence. - Gavin Report -
1974
Superjock
Larry LuJack described John Rook as �the greatest program
director of our time or any other time.�ABC executive Bob Henabery is quoted as
saying that �Rook understood the importance of doing everything
right. He was a masterful Top 40 programmer.�
Source:
ReelRadio.com
Rook's
Radiography
Click on any below to visit them
Where Are
They ?
440: Satisfaction
gives a complete rundown on those who made contributions to
radio over the years.
Judicial Watch
advocates high standards of ethics and morality in our
nation�s public life and seeks to ensure that political and
judicial officials do not abuse the powers entrusted to them
by the American people.
Jerry Del Colliano, founder of "Inside
Radio" continues to speak out at "Inside Music Media"
here
Read Lee Abrams
here
with
George Noory
Jerry Doyle
Rollye
James
Michael Savage
Bill Press
Museum of Broadcast
Communications
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Some friends....
Now in the
Radio Hall of Fame,
my good friend
Larry Lujack
gave fuel to my own radio career.
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Radio for
Chuck Blore began at KTKT in Tucson, a decade or so before I
became the stations consultant. Gordon McLendon hired Blore to
program KTSA in San Antonio and then KELP in El Paso. His
arrival at KFWB-Los Angeles created the highest rated major
market radio station ever. Forming The Chuck Blore Company
brought over 500 major awards for commercial excellence. Chuck
is one of a kind � the most creative source in the history of
radio. No one motivates better than Chuck Blore. Visit
him
here
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Bobby Cochran,following in the footsteps of his uncle, Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame star
Eddie Cochran,
writes of those early days when my friend Eddie and I roamed
southern California as teenagers. "Three Steps to Heaven" is available at
Amazon.com
Visit Bobby Cochran
and
taste his music
here.
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Wink
Martindale is a master entertainer of radio and TV game shows.
"Winking
at Life"
is Wink's life story
available at Amazon.com or at his website
here.
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It's where
Rock n' Roll began,
a
combination of white and black gospel, old
and new country, doo-wop, blues, western cowboy and pop music
at Shelby Singleton's
Sun Records.
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Bill Young
made his mark as one of
America's top programmers in radio who now creates great video commercials.
Visit him
here
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A trademark voice of radio and
commercials, Kris Erik
Stevens delivers. Always
energetic, always positive and always a friend. Visit him
here
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The Pew Research Center
Share The Truth
Truth or Fiction
Urban Legends
Hoax Busters
Contact
Links
e-mail FCC Commissioners
e-mail U.S. House Members
e-mail
U.S. Senate Members
File FCC Indecency Complaint
here
In the summer of
1965, a business trip to Dallas to produce new
jingles for KQV called for me to also travel on to
Denverwhere my friend Ken
Palmer, owner of KIMN, asked me to provide consultation.Departing Love Field, I was seated
in an isle seat on the plane, next to a gentleman in the window seat.His wife and small son were seated
behind us and as the flight progressed, our conversation turned to the
fact we both had lived in Ohio and he had attended college at the
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where a year earlier I had attended a
football game between the wolverines and arch rival Michigan State.
As our flight
approached the southern foothills of the Rocky
Mountains, I noticed both of his hands tightly grasping the
arms of his seat as the ever present winds created a turbulence that began
to vibrate our plane. Seeking to comfort him, I said, �Nothing to worry
about, it always happens as we pick up those
winds off the Rockies�.
He smiled,
seeming somewhat assured as he turned and winked to his son in the seat
behind me.The flight
continued with very little communication between us as we landed in
Denverat Stapleton Field.When the plane came to a
complete stop at the gate, the pilot announced that we had a special guest
on board and asked us to remain seated as I noticed Colorado Governor
Steve McNichols enter the plane accompanied by a
cameraman from the Denver Post.
The stewardess
was walking straight toward me smiling as she asked, �Colonel�?�Not me� I replied as the
gentleman next to me stood up and began to move in front of me to the
isle. At the same time his family joined him toward the awaiting
Governor�s handshake of welcome.
Once off the
plane, I hurried to the baggage claim.Catching a cab to my hotel where
Irushed to my room and turned on the TV in time to see
Astronaut Edward
White and his family welcomed to a Colorado vacation
by the Governor. He had just completed man's first walk
in space.
EDWARD H. WHITE II
NASA astronauts Edward H. White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee died on January 27, 2023
in the Apollo spacecraft flash fire while on the launch pad at Kennedy
Space Center in Florida.
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Web site � 2008 John H. Rook All Rights Reserved