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Alex Bennett & James Bond
KILT, Houston,
July 9, 1966, James Bond
KILT,
Houston, February 13, 1967, Alex Bennett
KILT,
Houston, July 9, 1967, Alex Bennett
KILT, Houston,
1967, Alex Bennett
Alex
Bennett: "The man you love to hate"
Below are all of the Alex Bennett shows that
I recorded myself. Please note that many of the program nights
are in two parts, each about one hour long.
KILT,
Houston, February 17, 1967-1, Alex Bennett
KILT, Houston, February
17, 1967-2, Alex Bennett
KILT,
Houston, February 18, 1967- 1, Alex Bennett
KILT, Houston, February
18, 1967- 2, Alex Bennett
Alex Bennett's talk show career began in
Houston, and this was his first week doing all talk. His ascendancy
to the talk position followed a DJ stint as "James Bond,"
a morning man slot which he had held at KILT since 1965.
The above items are Alex Bennett's first Friday
and Saturday night talk shows. On the first segment, Bennett
seems to achieve a record for the hanging up on the maximum
number of people in the shortest possible time.
"YOU'RE TOO YOUNG !" (Click.)
I was just barely old enough to call in myself,
but you do hear me on two of my Alex Bennett airchecks.
Purportedly, the new morning drive DJ was
fired for refusing to run Bennett's flamboyant promos. However,
rumor had it that the dramatic on the air firing of "Jay
Edward Payne" was really a publicity stunt.
KILT,
Houston, March, 1967-1, Alex Bennett
KILT, Houston, March,
1967-2, Alex Bennett
Alex Bennett interviews the Peace
Pilgrim. Exact date not recorded. Please write if you
know it. Peace Pilgrim
web site.
KILT, Houston,
April 12, 1967, Alex Bennett
An ordinary night on the Alex Bennett show.
The first caller is yours truly, the author of this web page.
KILT,
Houston, April 21, 1967, Alex Bennett
A lively discussion of the motorcycle gang
lifestyle.
KILT,
Houston, April 26, 1967, Alex Bennett
Alex Bennett interviews Timothy
Leary at Rice University. The recording starts off with
about a quarter hour of DJ Jerry Thomas. Then, Alex Bennett
talk program begins. Bennett comments on the mounting drug
problem and introduces Leary recording made earlier the same
day.
KILT,
Houston, May 29, 1967-1, Alex Bennett
KILT,
Houston, May 29, 1967-2, Alex Bennett
Alex Bennett interviews the cast of MacBird,
a play that satirized President Lyndon Johnson.
A traveling psychic
comes to Houston
KILT,
Houston, May 30, 1967-1, Alex Bennett
KILT,
Houston, May 30, 1967-2, Alex Bennett
Alex Bennett interviews Dr. Gilbert Holloway.
The psychic reader predicts world events and performs readings
for listeners phoning the station. Having not heard this material
in 35 years, it gave me an eerie feeling go back and listen
to the predictions and readings.
Some of his predictions were far fetched and
never happened. California and Florida didn't fall into the
ocean. Castro wasn't overthrown by a second invasion.
Yet a couple of his prophecies were remarkably
accurate: Robert Kennedy did have less of a political future
than Ted Kennedy (RFK was assassinated a year later.) Also,
ten months later, Lyndon Johnson announced that he would not
seek another term in 1968 -- an unlikely prediction in 1967.
Holloway also gives listeners individual on
the air readings. Most callers to the show give Holloway credit
for a high degree of accuracy. An exception is the last caller
on part one of this recording. That last caller is none other
than, yours truly, the author of this web page. His reading
of me was only about 30 per cent true.
His observation that I was interested in media
could be determined from my voice alone. However, he overestimates
my age at the time by about 14 years. I was not a high powered
deal maker driving around Southwest Houston and hopping on
airplanes. I was barely driving a car at all at that point.
I had forgotten the fact that the tape ran
out in the middle of the conversation. It ends just as the
reading for me is getting really interesting.
I can flesh out the rest of the conversation
from memory: Alex Bennett asked me to give an accuracy rating.
I stated that it was only about 20 or 30 per cent. However,
not wanting to be the spoiler, I tried to let Holloway off
the hook.
I mentioned the fact that I had gotten a Holloway
reading on another station the previous year and the accuracy
had been much higher. Surprisingly, Holloway took this the
wrong way and went off on a tangent. He remarked that he did
thousands of readings each year and couldn't be expected to
remember them all. That was true enough, but completely beside
the point.
After I got off the phone with Holloway, I
turned the tape over and recorded the second hour.
KILT,
Houston, June, 1967, Alex Bennett substitute
This is actually a mystery host substituting
for Alex Bennett. Probably recorded in early June. Write to
me if you know the exact date for this show or the name of
the moderator. It was probably someone borrowed from KLIF
in Dallas. He manages to be the equal of Bennett in the attitude
department.
KILT,
Houston, September 11, 1967-1, Alex Bennett
KILT,
Houston, September 11, 1967-2, Alex Bennett
Alex Bennett conducts a live seance with a
real life medium. My feeling is that, if the woman had really
been psychic, she would have suddenly addressed the audience
and said: "Let me tell you what will happen on this same
day of the year in 2001 . . ."
"At an editorial
meeting, we remain repelled"
KILT,
Houston, November 30, 1967-1, Alex Bennett
KILT,
Houston, November 30, 1967-2, Alex Bennett
By this date, Bennett was back on mornings,
his nighttime talk show canceled.
Don't miss the Gordon McLendon editorial.
KILT,
Houston, December 2, 1967, Alex Bennett
Alex Bennett's last tango in Houston. He dons
the James Bond routine one more time.
Alex
Bennett's web site. The site has
some interesting radio history links of its own
Ronni Bennett's
web site. Ronni is Bennett's former wife and program producer.
Bennett's politics are well to the left, a
fact which was not always obvious while he was employed by
the conservative McLendon stations. One listener I knew stated
that Bennett was trying to look like "Mr. Solid Citizen."
His attitude toward Houston was also ambivalent.
On his last program, he expresses appreciation for the success
he had gained in Houston. One the other hand, he was fond
of calling Houston a "cultural sewer." That was
during a period when you could count two or more Houston stations
playing classical music.
Semi-technical
dissertation: I recorded all of my Alex Bennett items using
a Wollensak reel to reel recorder made by the 3M Company.
I recorded at 3.75 inches per second in quarter track mono.
The tape was Scotch 1.5 mil Dynarange, 1200 feet, also made
by 3M. It was a time when Americans actually made things.
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