Many who are reading this blog may be too young to remember the fabulous fifties and sixties, but if you grew up in the Cleveland area at that time, you started your mornings listening to our one-and-only fearless leader, Specs Howard, before he moved to Detroit.
As part of the legendary "Martin & Howard Show," Specs helped invent the two-man comedy/music-type morning program that we now take for granted with the likes of Drew and Mike, and team shows like Purtan’s People or The Breakfast Club.
This past Sunday night was an exciting “return to the scene of the crime” for Specs in – believe it or not – Akron, Ohio, as he was inducted into the Radio/Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame of Ohio. Nine other new members were inducted into the Hall of Fame, which is opening a sparkling showcase inside the Akron Westfield Mall in February 2008.
At the festivities in Akron, Specs was reunited with his music director/producer John Wellman, and Ray Koeppen, who was the prolific writer of the Martin and Howard Show. The 350 attendees enjoyed audio and video highlights of radio and television careers that spanned the past 40 years or so. The honorees were newscasters, television anchors, and of course, funny DJs like Specs. Here’s the scoop for those who don’t know the background of the guy whose name is on our building.
Specs Howard was born Jerry Liebman in Kittanning, PA on April 8, 1926. He later graduated from Allegheny College and started his career at a small radio station in western Pennsylvania where he met and worked with Joe Finan, who soon moved on to NBC in Ohio.
Liebman received a call from Finan a couple years later, and Joe passed the word about a staff announcer opening at WTAM, NBC’s Cleveland affiliate. Specs interviewed with Lawson Demming (who later played Sir Graves Ghastly on television), and aced the radio audition, but then was taken into the TV studio and told to “stand and talk for five minutes.”
Accustomed to filling only 30 seconds or so on the radio, Liebman walked out after about a minute, saying “I can’t do this!” Demming, however, needed someone right away, and Liebman was hired on the strength of his radio audition on April 1, 1954.
Two years later (1956), Westinghouse came to town and changed the radio station’s call letters to KYW, and decided to go with the fledgling “Top 40” format. The staff of “announcers” was asked to turn in audition tapes for the new job of “disc jockey.”
Liebman was one of the few to embrace the opportunity, which some felt was beneath them. He was awarded the 10–2 shift, but the Westinghouse execs thought that a snazzier DJ name was needed. Liebman’s ever-present glasses suggested “Specs,” and the old finger-in-the-phone-book yielded “Howard.”
The newly-named Specs Howard was a solo jock on KYW from 1956–1962, spinning the hits and interviewing the likes of Bob Hope (pictured with Specs above left), Sonny & Cher, Chuck Berry, Barbara Streisand, The Everly Brothers and Mohammed Ali.
In 1962, Specs was cast as straight man on a new program with Harry Martin (pictured to the right in the studio with Specs and a couple of pigeons) and a talented writer named Ray Koeppen. The morning show, which was a relatively new concept at the time, featured a mix of music, funny bits, interviews, and the infamous “Congo Curt” comedy serial. After a slightly bumpy start, the “Martin & Howard Show” enjoyed good ratings and a happy run in Cleveland from 1962–1967.
Martin and Howard received an “offer they couldn’t refuse” from WXYZ-Detroit in 1967, and bid a fond farewell to Cleveland. Martin and Howard did two years on “Wixie,” and when the show was cancelled in 1969, Specs returned to a solo career in Cleveland on WKYC. A short time later, he was back in Detroit, working at several different stations, but with his eye on a new adventure, one that would make his name an institution – literally.
On January 14, 1970, the Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts opened its doors to aspiring radio broadcasters. I began working at the school in 1972.
In 1981 (right around the time this picture of the two of us was taken), the school expanded to include practical education for future professionals in television and video production.
With close to 60 years in the business, Specs was awarded the “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Detroit Producers Association in 1996, and was inducted into the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2005. In Akron on Sunday night, we were thrilled to see Specs receive the same honors from his peers in Ohio.
So most of you youngsters know that Specs still arrives at the school every morning with a smile, and keeps us all on our toes, teaching and learning what we need to know about “The Business.” As Paul Harvey likes to say -- now you know . . . . the rest of the story.
Congratulations Specs, on a well-deserved honor!
