Roger Christian (July 3, 1934 – July 11, 1991) was an American

radio personality A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

and songwriter from Buffalo, New York. After moving to California in 1959, he became a lyricist for

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

. From the early to mid-1960s, they wrote many songs together, mostly about cars, including the singles "

Little Deuce Coupe ''Little Deuce Coupe'' is the fourth album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released October 7, 1963 on Capitol Records. It reached number 4 in the US during a chart stay of 46 weeks, and was eventually certified platinum by the RIA ...

" (1963), " Shut Down" (1963), and " Don’t Worry Baby" (1964).

Biography

Christian was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, United States. Roger Christian began his radio career in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

at WSAY and later worked in Buffalo under the name Mike Melody. While working as a lifeguard, Christian got his break in radio after saving a radio executive's wife from drowning in a New York lake in the mid-1950s. In 1959, he moved to California, where he initially worked for a radio station in San Bernardino, KFXM-590AM. Christian worked as a radio personality in Los Angeles in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He was one of the original "Boss Jocks" when 93/KHJ debuted in 1965. He worked for other radio stations in Los Angeles, including

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 ...

(AM),

KFWB (AM) KFWB (980 AM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It airs a classic Regional Mexican music format. KFWB is owned by Lotus Communications. The station has a colorful history, being the radio voice of Warner Bros. Studios in ...

KBLA KBLA (1580 AM) is a broadcast radio station in the United States. Licensed to Santa Monica, California, KBLA serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Multicultural Broadcasting, through licensee Multicultural Radio Broadcas ...

, KGBS ( AM- FM),

KDAY KDAY (93.5 FM, "93.5 KDAY") is a radio station that is licensed to Redondo Beach, California and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Meruelo Media and airs a classic hip hop format. The station's studios are located in ...

KRTH-FM KRTH (101.1 FM, "K-Earth 101") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Los Angeles, California, United States and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and broadcasts a classic hits format. KRTH's st ...

, and

KIQQ-FM KIQQ-FM (103.7 FM) is a radio station that is licensed to Newberry Springs, California and serves the Barstow area. The station is owned by Lazer Broadcasting and broadcasts a regional Mexican music format. KIQQ-FM simulcasts on KBTW (104.5 FM ...

. Having raced cars until 1955, Christian had a keen interest in hot rods and became known as the "Poet of the Strip".Murphy, James B. ''Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961–1963'', McFarland, May 29, 2015, p. 261.

Murry Wilson Murry Gage Wilson (July 2, 1917 – June 4, 1973) was an American songwriter, talent manager, record producer, and music publisher, best known as the father of the Beach Boys' Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson. After the band's formation in 1 ...

, father of three of the

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

as well as their manager, heard Christian one night on KFWB explaining the group's hit song '' 409'' to a listener on the air. Realising Christian knew a lot about cars, Murry met Christian and later sent his son

to meet him. Looking at some of Christian's poems about cars, the pair collaborated on " Shut Down", "

" and later "

Don't Worry Baby "Don't Worry Baby" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their March 1964 album ''Shut Down Volume 2''. Written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian, Wilson's lead vocal on the track is considered one of his defining performance ...

". He also co-wrote many songs recorded by

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 ...

, including "

Dead Man's Curve Dead Man's Curve is an American nickname for a curve in a road that has claimed lives because of numerous crashes. Examples * A curve on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles memorialized in the hit song "Dead Man's Curve" by Jan and Dean. The son ...

", "

The Little Old Lady from Pasadena "The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)" is a song written by Don Altfeld, Jan Berry and Roger Christian, and recorded by 1960s American pop singers, Jan and Dean. Singer/songwriter P.F. Sloan sings the falsetto part usually sung by Dean Torrence, ...

", " Drag City", " Honolulu Lulu", "

The New Girl In School "The New Girl in School" is a song written by Jan Berry, Roger Christian, Brian Wilson, and Bob Norberg for the American rock duet Jan and Dean. It was the B-side of their hit single " Dead Man's Curve". Both songs were released on their album ...

", "

Ride The Wild Surf ''Ride the Wild Surf'' is a 1964 American romantic drama film. It was filmed in 1963 and distributed in 1964. Unlike the beach party movies of the era, this was a departure from the typical Hollywood approach to surfing as it was a drama, not a ...

", and "

You Really Know How to Hurt a Guy "You Really Know How to Hurt a Guy" is a song whose music was composed by Jan Berry, Jill Gibson, and Roger Christian, which was recorded by 1960s American pop singers, Jan and Dean. The song was recorded and released as a single and then appear ...

" with Christian writing new lyrics for "

Catch a Wave "Catch a Wave" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for American rock band, The Beach Boys, released on their 1963 album '' Surfer Girl''. In 1990, Wilson wrote of the song: " twas more rhythmic. The guitars were more clean and driv ...

" that became " Sidewalk Surfin'" involving

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a ...

. Christian, along with

Gary Usher Gary Lee Usher (December 14, 1938 – May 25, 1990) was an American rock musician, songwriter, and record producer, who worked with numerous California acts in the 1960s, including the Byrds, the Beach Boys, and Dick Dale. Usher also produced fict ...

, collaborated on several songs that were either featured in or specifically written for the films ''

Beach Party ''Beach Party'' is a 1963 American film and the first of seven beach party films from American International Pictures (AIP) aimed at a teen audience.Smith, Gary A. Smith (2009) ''The American International Pictures Video Guide'', McFarland p.2 ...

'', ''

Muscle Beach Party ''Muscle Beach Party'' is the second of seven beach party films produced by American International Pictures. It stars Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello and was directed by William Asher, who also directed four other films in this series. ...

'', ''

Bikini Beach ''Bikini Beach'' is a 1964 American teen film directed by William Asher and starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. The film belongs to the beach party genre of movies, popular in the 1960s. This is the third in the series of seven film ...

'', ''

Ride the Wild Surf ''Ride the Wild Surf'' is a 1964 American romantic drama film. It was filmed in 1963 and distributed in 1964. Unlike the beach party movies of the era, this was a departure from the typical Hollywood approach to surfing as it was a drama, not a ...

'', '' Beach Blanket Bingo'', ''

Ski Party ''Ski Party'' is a 1965 American musical-comedy film directed by Alan Rafkin and starring Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman. It was released by American International Pictures (AIP). ''Ski Party'' is considered as a beach party film spin-off, wi ...

'', ''

Beach Ball ''Beach Ball'' is a 1965 American beach party movie starring Edd Byrnes and partly financed by Roger Corman.Ed. J. Philip di Franco, ''The Movie World of Roger Corman'', Chelsea House Publishers, 1979, p. 145 It features appearances by The Supre ...

'', and ''

Catalina Caper ''Catalina Caper'', also known as ''Never Steal Anything Wet'', is a 1967 comedy musical mystery film starring Tommy Kirk. It blends the beach party format with a standard crime-caper comedy. It was shot on and around Santa Catalina Island, Cal ...

'' - including three songs for

Dick Dale Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting with reverb eff ...

. Christian also made several appearances in some of these films. He was one of the writer/narrators on the 1964

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

documentary LP, ''

The Beatles' Story ''The Beatles' Story'' is the sixth album by the English rock band the Beatles in the United States, issued on 23 November 1964 by Capitol Records. It is a documentary double album featuring interviews, press conferences, and snippets of origina ...

''.

Death

Christian suffered from periodic depression. He was the only original KHJ "Boss Jock" not to appear at the 25th reunion on May 9, 1990. He died July 11, 1991, of complications of kidney and liver failure, eight days after his 57th birthday, in

Tarzana, California Tarzana is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Tarzana is on the site of a former ranch owned by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is named after Burroughs' fictional jungle hero, Tarzan. Histo ...

, said his ex-wife, Joanne Christian of Canoga Park.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Roger 1934 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians American lyricists American male songwriters American radio DJs Musicians from Buffalo, New York