B. Mitchel Reed

B. Mitchel Reed (June 10, 1926 — March 16, 1983) was a successful American disc Jockey on both Top 40 and album-oriented rock radio stations, working in New York and Los Angeles during his 25-year career.

Career

Born Burton Mitchel Goldberg in Brooklyn, New York, Reed held a B.S. degree in journalism and an M.A. in political science at the University of Illinois. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, he entered the world of radio while teaching political science at his alma mater.

Reed hosted the all-night Birdland Jazz Show at WOV (AM) in New York in 1956.^[1] A year later, he landed a job at KFWB in Los Angeles, playing jazz and calling himself "The Boy on the Couch." On January 2, 1958, KFWB became a pioneering Top 40 station known as "Color Radio/Channel 98," and the DJ's were known as "The Seven Swinging Gentlemen." The lineup included Bruce Hayes, Al Jarvis, Joe Yocam, Elliot Field, Bill Ballance, Ted Quillin, and Gene Weed. Reed held the 6-9 P.M. time slot. Under Program Director Chuck Blore, KFWB became the number one radio station in LA.

He was known as "The Fastest Tongue in the West," for the speed in which he spoke to his audience. He left KFWB for WMCA in his home state of New York on February 7, 1963. He soon became part of a team of disc jockeys known as "The Good Guys," among them Jack Spector, a fellow alum from Boys High School in Brooklyn who had graduated two years ahead of him.

Reed went to London, England in pursuit of a band making headlines in hopes of breaking them in New York. The band was none other than The Beatles. His persistence paid off as it led to advance record pressings and exclusive interviews. This helped usher in "Beatlemania" in early 1964.

By 1965, Reed decided to return to Los Angeles. His last show at WMCA was on March 20. Thousands of his fans cheered him at the airport upon his departure. Many fans who were thrilled of his return greeted him when he arrived in LA. This ushered in his second stint at KFWB and The Wide Wide Weird World of BMR.

After attending the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, Reed realized he wanted to go in another direction music-wise. He met with San Francisco-based DJ Tom Donahue over the frustrations of radio's music restrictions. Donahue was Program Director for underground station KMPX (FM). With no such similar music station in L.A., Reed left KFWB and, with Donahue, founded the new "underground" format at KPPC-FM in Pasadena. Both KMPX and KPPC achieved more success than anticipated with the popularity of the new AOR programming. But both stations ran into a conflict with their respective owners, thus resulting in a strike. After the strike ended in June 1968, Donahue persuaded station owner Metromedia to take on the AOR format at KMET (FM)-Los Angeles. Reed programmed what would become one of the first 24-hour automated music stations. It would go live in the summer of 1969. He left KMET for one year in 1971 to work at KRLA. He returned to KMET in 1972 where he stayed the next six years. KMET (the "Mighty Met") had a nearly 20-year run as one of L.A.'s top album rock outlets before switching to KTWV ("The Wave") in the late 1980's.

Reed was inducted into the Rock Radio Hall of Fame in the "Legends of Rock Radio-Programming" category for his work at KPPC and KMET in 2014.

Death

In 1978, Reed underwent coronary bypass surgery. He would leave KMET for KLOS (FM) in 1979. His lingering heart condition caught up with him on March 16, 1983. He died in his West Los Angeles home at the age of 56.

The incorrect alternate spelling as B. Mitchell Reed is often used in The Los Angeles Times and elsewhere.

References

External links

• WMCA air check (10/12/63)
• LARadio.com.
• B. Mitchel Reed bio.
• WMCA: Fabulous 57.
• B. Mitchell Reed discography at Discogs.