Playing ‘Puppy Love’ Till They Were Dog Tired
It wasn’t the day the music died; it simply got stuck.
Historian Jim Hawthorne noted on the laradio.com website that Monday marked the 32nd anniversary of one of broadcasting’s most unusual brushes with the law.
Police visited the Melrose Avenue studios of KHJ in Hollywood “after receiving several phone calls from listeners who thought something was wrong because morning man Robert W. Morgan played Donny Osmond’s ‘Puppy Love’ over and over for an hour and a half,” Hawthorne wrote.
“The fear was that the station had been taken over by crazed fans of the 14-year-old singer.”
Morgan was still in control, though. He explained he “had grown so weary of the ‘teeny boppers’ requesting the song, he decided to play it repeatedly until the listeners tired of hearing it.” Good Morgan!
Thirty-two years later: From protests over “Puppy Love” to protests over obscenity -- radio’s certainly come a long way.
“Duh!” award winner: Nat Read of Pasadena found it on Jet Blue’s colorful safety instructions (see photo).
Which reminds me: David Chan of L.A. bought some luggage that he promises to handle carefully, though he wonders a bit about the “quality” of the “high tech engineering design” (see accompanying).
Speaking of great products: In Oregon, Bill Houck observed a sign painter’s display that spoke for itself (see photo).
More great deals: Ione Tower saw an ad for an appliance that could double as a piece of apparel (see accompanying). Unless the seller meant to say “parts.”
Bad reception: In case you missed it, co-owner Jamie McCourt of the struggling Dodgers was interviewed by a Times reporter via cellphone but said her husband, Frank, was unavailable to answer questions. This despite the fact that he was sitting beside her, driving.
Now let’s not jump to the conclusion that he was trying to duck questions about the departures of several executives and the team’s failure to make any significant deals for players.
I like to think that McCourt was simply being a safe driver. I assume he never talks on the cellphone while driving.
Mondegreen of the Day: “When I was a little girl,” wrote Jenny Harrison of San Pedro, “I thought I heard someone on the radio say that on St. Patrick’s Day, you had to ‘wear a gold bra’ (‘Erin go Bragh’).
“Needless to say, for years afterward, I was reminded to wear one.”
miscelLAny: Referring to the item here about citrus trees that “bare fruit,” Corky Dowell wrote: “I wonder if these trees might be a part of the secret recipe for the Naked Juice brand.”
Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATimes, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.