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South Florida Radio History: Invisible Tears: Miami Radio, Through The Eyes And Ears Of DJ Bob Gordon Contact us if you're interested in advertising on a relevant page! Entire site copyright 1996-2006 by David Citron All rights reserved. This file first posted on Univox March 2004.

Invisible Tears This page includes stories about WFTL - WFUN - WINZ - and WQAM from his new book!

(Miami, FL -- March 2004)... Bob Gordon, a familiar voice and face in Miami-area TV and radio since the 1950s, has written a book of his experiences. Invisible Tears: How Do You Keep the Music Playing? is Bob Gordon's autobiographical and not quite PG-rated tale of his exciting broadcasting career spanning WQAM, WFUN (now WAXY), WFTL (now WFLL), WLQY, WINZ (now WRFX), WIOD, WWOK, and channels 4 and 10, plus a few stations in the frigid north. Bob's autobiography, a paperback, was just published in January. Please vote for which station (WQAM or WFUN) you'd like to read more about in the poll further down the page, in the right column. Meanwhile, with Bob's permission, I am posting a few anecdotes that I enjoyed, for your enjoyment. If you enjoy these stories and want more, please buy a copy of Invisible Tears: How Do You Keep the Music Playing? Your purchases through the links on this site help to support the South Florida Radio Pages and South Florida Radio History. WFUN's Lucky License Promotion From Invisible Tears. Copyright 2003 by Bob Gordon. Used with permission We put on a lucky license promotion handing out rear window stickers displaying the station call letters and lucky numbers. Every hour we’d call out several numbers giving the listener 79 seconds, our spot on the dial, to call-in to claim the numbered sticker and drive to the station to collect the prize money, show tickets, etc. The GM [general manager] cornered me in his office one day to let me know he’d personally surveyed the cars in the parking lot and noticed my car was the only employee car without a sticker on the rear window. “Art, I just bought that convertible and if I put a sticker on the rear window I’ll never be able to get it off,” I complained. “Bob, I want a sticker on that car by tomorrow morning or you are out of here.” Sooo. After my show the next day he called me into his office and asked about the sticker. “Art, we are not going to put a sticker on the car. We feel my allegiance to the station ends with my personal property. I give you my all, but I am not going to give you my everything. If you want to can me now go to it. I am not trying to be a smart ass. I have a pregnant wife, and bills to pay, but there are some things that a man has to be firm about and this happens to be one of them. So start firing and don’t feel too good about it because you are not knocking off a virgin. I’ve been had before,” I told him. He looked at me with half a smile. “Get out of my office and get back to work,” he said. A few days later he invites me to have a drink with him after hours. We met at some nearby bistro and after belting down a few he starts. “You son-of-a-bitch. You have more balls than anybody I know. I have to admire you for standing up to me the other day. I’m sorry that I put you in that position. You were right to take the stance that you did.” Bob Interviews Wayne Newton at WFUN From Invisible Tears. Copyright 2003 by Bob Gordon. Used with permission One afternoon, a call came advising me that a new artist, with what could be a hot record, was coming to the station with one of the reps and they wanted me to interview him on my show. In walked a short, stocky kid with sandy hair and a big smile. Since when are jockeys making records? “Hi, I’m Wayne Newton.” As soon as you have your Bar Mitzvah I am sure your voice will change. This kid is talking in a falsetto. “Hi Wayne. Come over here and sit on my lap and let’s talk about your record.” I checked the back of his neck to see if there was a string attached. We chatted for a while and then played his new record Danke Schoen. What a smash! And what a career was in store for this now Las Vegas sensation. Bob Gets A Bonus From WINZ Owner Rex Rand From Invisible Tears. Copyright 2003 by Bob Gordon. Used with permission WINZ was a 50,000-watt station. (Whenever you asked for a raise they would say watt? watt? fifty thousand times.) It was one of the last non-corporate stations solely owned by Rex Rand, a very flamboyant Englishman of obvious wealth and dubious character. It is said that he had something to do with the production of the Miami movie sensation Deep Throat. No! I did not have an opportunity to audition for a part, or parts, in that flick. One morning, Sexy Rexy, as he was affectionately dubbed, came into the control room dressed in his usual garb; jacket, shirt, ascot, slacks and sandals; quite a good-looking chap. “Bob,” he says, “Today is payday.” “Yes, I know, Rex.” “But what you don’t know, chum, is that all of the checks I have signed shall bounce like little rubber balls,” he blithely tells me. “You have a lot of balls telling me that, Rex.” He laughed and in a jocular tone. “But not yours. You are my stahhhr, so here.” He hands me a fist full of fresh green and goes on. “You will find a little something extra in there.” I thought to myself, don’t touch me! It must be my cologne. Out the door he goes and with his voice trailing off I hear: “We can be friends. Tally Hooo.” That was the first and last time I was ever paid cash on payday at any radio station. South Florida Radio Pages Exclusive: Read all of Chapter 5, about Bob's arrival at WQAM in 1958. At WFTL, Bob Gordon Wins Sun-Sentinel's Radio Superstar Election From Invisible Tears. Copyright 2003 by Bob Gordon. Used with permission The Sun-Sentinel Newspaper kicked off a Radio Superstar Election, searching for South Florida’s most popular morning radio personality. Naturally, we tossed our hat in the ring and started campaigning on the air with the rest of the stations. Our signal was not as strong as the many other entries, and we were considered a dark horse in this race. Our location on the dial and our format, which as you know was very selective, made it even more doubtful that we could be in the running. Weeks passed, and as the newspaper put it, we found him. The smoke has cleared, the votes, well over 100,000, are counted, and the winner is Bob Gordon of WFTL-AM. This was a feather in the station’s cap and a kick in the head for me. I felt great. The newspaper printed two full-page ads with my picture big as life. They presented me with a framed and mounted copy of the winner’s announcement ad and also a director’s chair with a star and my name printed on it. A representative from the paper appeared on my morning show to make the presentations. I was gassed. Cambridge would have been proud of their ex-student. All of those accolades along with un-replaceable pictures and memorabilia were lost in 1992 by that 33-billion-dollar blowjob called Hurricane Andrew.   For lots more stories, order your own copy of Invisible Tears today! Bob Gordon's South Florida Public Appearances Meet a radio legend! Bob Gordon will soon be making personal appearances and speaking at several south Florida bookstores. Bob Gordon will appear on channel 6's The Rick Sanchez Show at 10 AM Thursday April 22, 2004, discussing old times on Miami TV and radio and his book. Please bookmark this page and come back soon for the updated schedule. (Invisible Tears is available at many bookstores, including Amazon.com.)

This is my favorite one-liner from Invisible Tears: "WINZ was a 50,000-watt station. (Whenever you asked for a raise they would say watt? watt? fifty thousand times.) BACK ISSUES OF SOUTH FLORIDA RADIO NEWS Voices In Your Head - Ramblings of a Radio Madman by Randy Miller Rebels on the Air: An Alternative History of Radio in America by Jesse Walker WFUN Cap WFUN Yellow Shirt WFUN Large Mug WFUN Mousepad WFUN Tank Top WFUN fans... don't miss Guest Deejay on WFUN. Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella, But Don't Get a Mouthful of Rain : The Joey Reynolds Story by Joey Reynolds Border Radio: Quacks, Yodelers, Pitchmen, Psychics, and Other Amazing Broadcasters of the American Airwaves by Gene Fowler and Bill Crawford WQAM T-Shirt WQAM Black Cap WQAM Camisole WQAM Large Mug There are dozens of WQAM items. Please help support the South Florida Radio Pages by buying via the links on this page. Thank you! WQAM fans... don't miss Rick Shaw Remembers. Radio's Morning Show Personalities: Early Hour Broadcasters and Deejays from the 1920s to the 1990s by Philip A. Lieberman Don McNeill and His Breakfast Club by John Doolittle Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com The Hits Just Keep on Coming: The History of Top 40 Radio by Ben Fong-Torres Arthur Godfrey: The Adventures of an American Broadcaster by Arthur J. Singer Anything Goes! : What I've Learned from Pundits, Politicians, and Presidents by Larry King and Pat Piper

Page hatched on: March 2004

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