Marion Elbridge Herrington (July 18, 1935 – November 16, 1997) (also known as Mikel Hunter Herrington), best known as Captain Mikey (and also known by the
air names ''Mikel Hunter'', ''Motorcycle Mikel'', ''Lefty'', ''Hot Rocks Hunter'', and ''Oil Can Harry''), was an American
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...
;
voice-over
Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...
actor, who was the national voice for
Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
; and innovative radio
program director, who "pioneered
album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock.
Album-orien ...
formats at San Jose's
KOME
KOME was a commercial FM radio station in San Jose, California, broadcasting at 98.5 MHz. KOME was on the air from 1971 through 1998. Currently, the 98.5 FM frequency is home to KUFX "K-Fox," a classic rock station.
An unrelated FM statio ...
and Los Angeles'
KMET", and was described as "one of the very best programmers in
Top 40 radio
Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...
as well as what we called
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...
on FM."
In October 2007 he was inducted into the San Jose Rocks Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the
Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame on October 1, 2008.
Herrington inspired the fictional characters of program director Jeff Dugan in the 1978 movie ''
FM'', and program director
Andy Travis on the 1980s television
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
''
WKRP in Cincinnati
''WKRP in Cincinnati'' is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working ...
''.
["Deaths", ''Billboard'' (6 December 1997):64.]
Herrington also managed and promoted a San Jose rock band
People!
People! was a one-hit wonder rock band that was formed in San Jose, California in 1965. Their greatest chart success came with their summer hit single "I Love You". The song, written by The Zombies bass guitarist Chris White, rose to number ...
, and produced a hit record for them, People!'s cover of
the Zombies
The Zombies are an English Rock music, rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American chart-topper, hit in 1964 with "She's Not ...
' "
I Love You," which reached #14 on the
Billboard charts
The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...
in June 1968.
Despite popular misconceptions, he has no known connection to the "Captain Mikey" of
WPNR 90.7FM at
Utica College
Utica University is a private university in Utica, New York. The university dates back to the 1930s when Syracuse University began offering extension courses in the Utica area.
In 2016, the university enrolled 3,084 undergraduate students and ...
who hosted shows regularly from 1995 to 1999, and returned to those airwaves again regularly in 2012.
Personal life
Captain Mikey was born on July 18, 1935, as Marion Elbridge Herrington in
Florence, South Carolina, the son of Carl Elbridge Herrington (born July 27, 1900, in
Carteret County, North Carolina
Carteret County is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,686. Its county seat is Beaufort. The county was created in 1722 as Carteret Precinct and gained county status in 1739. It was named f ...
; died November 3, 1950, in
New Bern, North Carolina), a
brakeman
A brakeman is a rail transport worker whose original job was to assist the braking of a train by applying brakes on individual wagons. The earliest known use of the term to describe this occupation occurred in 1833. The advent of through brakes, ...
for the
Atlantic & East Carolina Railroad, who was killed after being run over by a freight car in an accident at the New Bern rail yards in November 1950, and Margaret Lucile Edmondson (born April 24, 1903; died December 2, 1988, in
New Bern, North Carolina), and the younger brother of Robert Carl Herrington (born January 25, 1928, in South Carolina; died June 4, 2005, in
St. Augustine, Florida).
In 1953 Herrington married Barbara Ann Allen in Florence, South Carolina. They had three children: Jeffrey Allen Herrington (born December 27, 1954, in New Bern, North Carolina), Michael Craig Herrington (born June 27, 1958, in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
), and Tracey Diane Herrington (born April 14, 1962, in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
). His next marriage was to a Miss Haro, and they had two children: Jeremy Joseph Herrington (born October 9, 1963, in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...
) and Brooke M. Herrington Killian (born May 6, 1966, in
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...
). On June 24, 1984, Herrington married Janet Eileen Rew (born December 2, 1954, in
Whittier, California
Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 census figure. Whittier was incorporated in ...
) in
Dublin, California, with whom he had two children: Trent Elbridge Herrington, (born October 6, 1989, in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
) and Kelsey Rose Herrington (born January 25, 1993, in
Vallejo, California
Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California and the second largest city in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the city had a population of 126,090 at the 2020 census. Vallejo is home to th ...
). Captain Mikey died on November 16, 1997, of leukemia at age 62 in
Fremont, California.
Herrington was described as "a handsome guy with a very ballsy voice that women loved. Michael was about five foot ten, with brown hair, and he wore round, wireless glasses like
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
. ... He was strikingly handsome, with big, warm blue eyes, and when he spoke, a rich, friendly person, took command."
[Claude "Hoot" Hooten, ''Drunk & Disorderly, Again: My Name Is Hoot, I'm an Alcoholic'' (Wordclay, 2009):114.]
Career
Disc Jockey and Program Director
Under various names, Herrington worked as a disc jockey and later as a program director at radio stations in
New Bern, North Carolina;
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...
;
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
;
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
;
Tucson
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
;
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
;
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
;
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
;
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
and even an ill-fated journey to
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. Other stations included
KLIF,
Dallas Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...
;
KELP
Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant - it is a heterokont, a completely unrelated group of organisms.
Kelp grows in "underwa ...
,
El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...
; and
KSRO
KSRO (1350 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a News-Talk radio format. KSRO is licensed to Santa Rosa, California, and serves the Sonoma County area. The station is owned by Lawrence Amaturo, through licensee Amaturo Sonoma Media G ...
,
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...
.
Herrington was described as one of those "people who made the station click" in Tucson, and "a walking almanac of rock and roll".
San Diego
Herrington was working in San Diego in 1963.
San Jose (1966–1969)
Herrington was both program director and a disc jockey (as Captain Mikey) at radio station
KLIV
KLIV (1590 AM) is a broadcast radio station in the United States. Licensed to San Jose, California, KLIV serves San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley with a Vietnamese format simulcasting KVVN. It is one of the last independently owned stations in ...
in
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...
from 1966 to 1969, making Top 40 KLIV (1590) the first San Jose station to beat its San Francisco competitors".
[Brad Kava, "Mikel Hunter Herrington", http://www.sanjoserocks.org/i_mikel_hunter.htm] Herrington positioned the station as a "
surfer station", featuring the music of such musicians as
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...
,
Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music style ...
, and
The Surfaris
The Surfaris are an American surf rock band formed in Glendora, California, United States, in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the charts in the Los Angeles area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" and " Wipe Out", which ...
. Working as the nighttime DJ at
KLIV
KLIV (1590 AM) is a broadcast radio station in the United States. Licensed to San Jose, California, KLIV serves San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley with a Vietnamese format simulcasting KVVN. It is one of the last independently owned stations in ...
, Herrington's wild antics, promotions, pranks and in-studio guests brought the small San Jose station into leadership in the competitive San Francisco Bay Area radio market during the heyday of the late 1960s—the
Summer of Love era when San Francisco was a cultural center. Among his promotional activities was "providing listeners with hot dogs, buns, and soft drinks for weekend caravans over
Highway 17 to the beach at
Santa Cruz, and the creation of the station's
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
Norman, "a snooty surfer boy".
While working at KLIV, Herrington also managed and promoted the band
People!
People! was a one-hit wonder rock band that was formed in San Jose, California in 1965. Their greatest chart success came with their summer hit single "I Love You". The song, written by The Zombies bass guitarist Chris White, rose to number ...
, producing their 1968 hit ''
I Love You'' and the
Syndicate of Sound
The Syndicate of Sound are an American garage rock band formed in San Jose, California that was first active between 1964 and 1970. Through their national hit "Little Girl", the band developed a raw sound, and became forerunners in the psychedelic ...
with their hit ''
Little Girl''. Both bands and Herrington himself are members of the San Jose Rocks! Hall of Fame.
Los Angeles (1969–1976)
Herrington was a disc jockey on the following Los Angeles radio stations:
KFI
KFI (640 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It began operations in 1922 and became one of the first high-powered, clear-channel station, clear-channel List of ...
, 1969;
KLAC
KLAC (570 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, serving Greater Los Angeles and much of surrounding Southern California. Owned by a joint venture between iHeartMedia, Inc. and the Los Angeles Dodgers b ...
, 1970;
KRLA
KRLA (870 kHz) "AM 870 The Answer" is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. Licensed to Glendale, California, it serves Greater Los Angeles and Southern California. The station is owned by Salem Media Group, which al ...
, 1971–72;
KMET, 1972–74; and
KGBS, 1975–76.
[Don Barrett, "Where Are They Now? Los Angeles Radio People: H", http://www.laradio.com/whereh.htm]
=KFI (1969)
=
By January 1969 Herrington was recruited to radio
KFI
KFI (640 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It began operations in 1922 and became one of the first high-powered, clear-channel station, clear-channel List of ...
in Los Angeles by Dave Moorhead, where he was on air from 6-9pm. However, Moorhead accepted a position at rival
KLAC
KLAC (570 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, serving Greater Los Angeles and much of surrounding Southern California. Owned by a joint venture between iHeartMedia, Inc. and the Los Angeles Dodgers b ...
by March 1969.
=KLAC (1970)
=
Herrington was at KLAC in 1970 during the ultraconservative "chicken rock" format, which was the antithesis of "
hard rock" and a forerunner of the Mellow and Soft Rock stations of the 1970s.
=KRLA (1971–1972)
=
After being recruited by program director
Shadoe Stevens
Shadoe Stevens (; ) is an American radio host, voiceover actor, and television personality. He was the host of '' American Top 40'' from 1988 to 1995. He currently hosts the internationally syndicated radio show ''Top of the World,'' and co-host ...
, Herrington moved to
KRLA
KRLA (870 kHz) "AM 870 The Answer" is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. Licensed to Glendale, California, it serves Greater Los Angeles and Southern California. The station is owned by Salem Media Group, which al ...
by January 1971,
[Claude Hall, "Vox Jox",'' Billboard'' (23 January 1971):29.] for the
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...
"
underground
Underground most commonly refers to:
* Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth
Underground may also refer to:
Places
* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground ...
" format,
where he called himself "Hot Rocks Hunter", (and later "Motorcycle Mikel"),
and worked the 9.00pm to midnight shift.
=KMET (1972–1974)
=
In late 1972 Herrington (as Mikel Hunter) became the director of operations and programming at
KMET-FM in Los Angeles, and as a disc jockey (as "Motorcycle Mikel") from 7am to 11am, positions he held until at least September 1974.
["KMET-FM's Turner: She's 'Spontaneous'", ''Billboard'' (28 September 1974):24.] Herrington carried, what one might conside
"the lunatics in charge of the asylum," attitude to Los Angeles radio station
KMET. During his stint as program director of KMET, "the Mighty Met," the environment was as irreverent as the music.
The KMET
jocks had a wall full of "nude" pictures of listeners, and the ceiling of the studio was a mural with the moon and stars on it. The 1978 film ''
FM'', written by Ezra Sacks who had worked at KMET. about Jeff Dugan, who led the resistance to corporate takeover at a fictitious radio station, was based on Herrington and his times at KMET, as was the character of program director
Andy Travis on the popular 1978
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
''
WKRP in Cincinnati
''WKRP in Cincinnati'' is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working ...
''.
Among the on air talent Herrington recruited while program director at KMET was
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...
, who moved from Pasadena station
KPPC at the end of 1971, and from 1972 to 1983 he performed a four-hour live radio show, which was syndicated nationally from 1974; and
freeform format pioneering disc jockey
Jim Ladd
Jim Ladd (born January 17, 1948), an American disc jockey, radio producer and writer, is one of the few notable remaining freeform rock DJs in United States commercial radio.
Ladd first gained national prominence as host of the hour long, natio ...
, whom Herrington recruited in 1974 from rival
KLOS Klos or KLOS may refer to:
* Klos (surname)
* Klos, Dibër, a town in eastern Albania
** Harketari Klos KF, a defunct football club based in Klos, Dibër
* Klos, Elbasan, a village in central Albania
* Klos, Mallakastër, a village in south-central ...
. In 1991 Ladd released a semi-autobiographical book ''Radio Waves: Life and Revolution on the FM Dial'', which featured his colleagues at KMET (disguised as KAOS), including Herrington. By September 1974 Herrington had been replaced by Cathy Kenyon.
Oakland, California
By September 1974 Herrington (as Mikel Hunter) was the operations director at
KNEW, a radio station based in
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
which had switched to a
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
format in July 1974.
Los Angeles (1975–1976)
In 1975, Herrington moved to
KGBS, then a country music radio station in Los Angeles. After the station changed its name to KTNQ in September 1976, and subsequently format, about Christmas 1976 Herrington left KGBS to accept a lucrative position in Iran.
[Claude "Hoot" Hooten, ''Drunk & Disorderly, Again: My Name Is Hoot, I'm an Alcoholic'' (Wordclay, 2009):113.]
Iran (1977)
Herrington, along with two other American radio personalities, Ted Anthony and Claude "Hoot" Hooten (known on air as Brad Edwards), was recommended by ''
Billboard'' radio and television editor Claude Hall to work for
NIRT, the "American radio station" in
Tehran, Iran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most pop ...
, during the reign of the last shah,
Mohammad-Rezā Shāh Pahlavi.
Recruited by Kamron Mashayekhi, the head of NIRT, who was also Washington bureau chief for
Savak, Herrington served as both program director, and also as disc jockey who played heavy rock and roll from 5-10pm each day for a month from March 1977. Despite the promise of six-figure salaries and generous housing and travel allowances,
"all they were promised didn't happen (their phones were bugged, etc., etc.) and they ended up having to literally escape the country". Upon his return to the US, Herrington was forced to hide out in a motel in the
San Fernando Valley until Hall threatened to expose the situation in Iran in ''Billboard''.
San Jose (1977–1982)
After his return from Iran Herrington was unemployed and advertised for work. In August 1977 Herrington returned to the San Jose area "bringing his programming sensibilities" into the emerging FM market at
KOME
KOME was a commercial FM radio station in San Jose, California, broadcasting at 98.5 MHz. KOME was on the air from 1971 through 1998. Currently, the 98.5 FM frequency is home to KUFX "K-Fox," a classic rock station.
An unrelated FM statio ...
. As program director at
KOME
KOME was a commercial FM radio station in San Jose, California, broadcasting at 98.5 MHz. KOME was on the air from 1971 through 1998. Currently, the 98.5 FM frequency is home to KUFX "K-Fox," a classic rock station.
An unrelated FM statio ...
, Herrngton, described at that time as "a decidedly non-
corporate
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...
type who is, in fact, something of a throwback to the early days of FM gurus,
[Jack McDonough, "KOME's Ratings Increase, But P.D. Hunter's Attitude Cavalier", ''Billboard'' (19 September 1981):28.] returned the station to its
free-form roots. Herrington "discarded the card catalog playlist in favor of an eclectic library including
art rock, jazz, punk, new wave, and soul within a rock format framework". Herrington was responsible for making that station number one in the
Bay Area market and one of the most important stations in the country. According to Don West, former KOME announcer and assistant engineer, "Mikel was the one who put this station on the map. ... Mikel was into energy. ... There were no ballsy, deep voices. Mikel would toss aside someone with a great voice for someone with a great personality."
[Don West in Michael Learmonth, "Kingdom KOME: Less than two weeks remain until the letters fade away", ''Metro'' (June 4–10, 1998), http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/06.04.98/cover/radio2-9822.html] Herrington is credited with coining KOME's notorious slogan: "The KOME (
cum) spot on your dial". Soon after his appointment, Herrington was responsible for recruiting
Dennis Erectus out of college and to KOME.
[Michael Learmonth, "Kingdom KOME: Less than two weeks remain until the letters fade away", ''Metro'' (June 4–10, 1998), http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/06.04.98/cover/radio2-9822.html] By September 1981 Herrington had increased KOME's ratings from 5 to 7.6 in the previous year with a hard-rocking
AOR format.
Herrington described the approach as "a sound based on '
hooks and
boogie
Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie mus ...
'",
and promotions that appealed to listeners who "like rock'n'roll but also like craziness and a little bit of humor. So we offer them humor - a somewhat sarcastic and caustic view".
At KOME Herrington "had chicken flying contests, with birds pushed out of mailboxes with a toilet plunger. On
April Fool's Day
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which ma ...
he told listeners to cover up their telephone receivers because the phone company was cleaning out the lines and would be blowing dust through them. And he led his whole staff to the homes of listeners to crash their parties".
Herrington promised listeners "62 minutes of commercial-free music every hour".
Under Herrington, the format was free-form. According to West, "There were walls of albums in the station color-coded by genre, and each had a sheet of paper attached that indicated which cuts were permitted for airplay. On classic albums like
the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
's "
Who's Next
''Who's Next'' is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Who. It developed from the aborted '' Lifehouse'' project, a multi-media rock opera conceived by the group's guitarist Pete Townshend as a follow-up to the band's 1969 album '' ...
," every song was on the list. "Roughly there were 5,000 songs at your fingertips at any time," West says. "Now you have stations with 300."
While at KOME, Herrington was also known on air in the mornings as "Lefty", and was responsible for creating their "Hey Lefty! What time is it?" segment, where prominent musicians (including
Van Halen
Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...
,
Grace Slick
Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter, artist, and painter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, ...
,
Hall & Oates
Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...
,
Ian Hunter,
the Greg Kihn Band
The Greg Kihn Band is an American band that was started by frontman Greg Kihn and bassist Steve Wright. Their most successful singles include " The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)" ( ''Billboard'' Hot 100 #15) and " Jeopardy" (''Billboard'' ...
,
Kip Addotta, and
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
) would ask the question that prompted the announcement of the time.
By August 1981 Herrington was promoted to operations manager at KOME. In 1982 Herrington was still working as a disc jockey (as Mikel Hunter) at KLIV, and program director at KOME, however after station owners
Infinity Broadcasting Corporation
Infinity Broadcasting Corporation was a radio company that existed from 1972 until 2005. It was founded by Michael A. Wiener and Gerald Carrus. It became associated with popular radio personalities like Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, Don Imus an ...
tried to bring in broadcasting consultants in 1982, Herrington left KOME by November 1982 in protest. According to West, "KOME's heyday came to an end in 1982".
His
voiceover
Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...
career included being the national voice for
Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
.
Philadelphia (1984–1989)
By November 1984 Herrington became program director at Metromedia's
WIP (610 AM) in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, which was then an
Adult Contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
station, with declining ratings. During his tenure, WIP transitioned initially toward light talk and music in the evening to become primarily a sports talk station.
Las Vegas, Nevada
Herrington operated Mikel Hunter Broadcast Services, a radio programming consulting company from
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
.
Napa, California
A wine
connoisseur
A connoisseur (French traditional, pre-1835, spelling of , from Middle-French , then meaning 'to be acquainted with' or 'to know somebody/something') is a person who has a great deal of knowledge about the fine arts; who is a keen appreciator o ...
, Herrington moved to the wine country, and hosted talk shows at
KVON and KVYN in
Napa, California
Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California. Located in the North Bay region of the Bay Area, the city had a population of 77,480 as of the end of 2021. Napa is a major t ...
. At KVYN Herrington was program director until his resignation in September 1992.
Santa Rosa, California
Herrington's last position in radio was as host of a
talk show
A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...
at
KSRO
KSRO (1350 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a News-Talk radio format. KSRO is licensed to Santa Rosa, California, and serves the Sonoma County area. The station is owned by Lawrence Amaturo, through licensee Amaturo Sonoma Media G ...
in
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...
.
Postmortem developments
In 2008, he was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame.
SF Gate
/ref>
References
Further reading
* "Deaths". ''Billboard'' (6 December 1997):64.
External links
Captain Mikey composite broadcast December 1966 & January 1967
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikey, Captain
1935 births
1997 deaths
American radio producers
People from Florence, South Carolina
American radio DJs
Radio personalities from San Francisco
Radio personalities from Los Angeles
Deaths from leukemia
Deaths from cancer in California
Record producers from California
20th-century American musicians
20th-century American businesspeople