Gary Burbank
Encyclopedia
Gary Burbank is an American
radio personality
. He was heard daily on WLW
in Cincinnati, Ohio
, from June 15, 1981 until December 21, 2007, when he signed off for the last time.
, where he became an instant hit on WAKY-AM
. It was at WAKY that Billy Purser officially became Gary Burbank, a name taken from radio and television legend Gary Owens
, who as a regular on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In would announce that he was broadcasting from "beautiful downtown
Burbank
." (Burbank's natural voice is remarkably similar to Owens' on-air voice.)
Burbank left WAKY in 1973; his final program there was an elaborate prank in which he pretended to be fatally shot by a disgruntled listener. At that point, he moved to New Orleans
for a brief stint as program director
of WNOE. From New Orleans, Burbank went on to CKLW
in Detroit
/Windsor
, and then back to Louisville for a successful, lengthy afternoon gig on WHAS-AM.
Burbank left Louisville again for a brief spell in Tampa, Florida
at WDAE, but moved to the Ohio Valley in 1981 when he signed with WLW, originally doing morning drive time
but later moving to afternoons. It is there that he has enjoyed his greatest success, developing his best-known characters:
Burbank regularly satirized former Cincinnati mayor
Jerry Springer
, along with other local politicians, newscasters, and celebrities, such as former Cincinnati Reds
owner "Saint CEO" Marge Schott
. Satirical radio serials
were also used to lampoon the (often struggling) Reds baseball team during the postseason playoffs
("The Hunt for the Reds' October") and the Cincinnati Bengals
("All My Bengals"). Burbank also hit the Top 100 in 1980 with the song "Who Shot J.R.?
", a novelty record about the cliffhanger on that year's season finale of Dallas
.
Before moving to afternoons, he started in the morning drive time slot.
Burbank often did his show from a home in north central Florida
, while the rest of his show's cast and crew was in the WLW studios in Cincinnati.
Burbank's show in the late 90s was syndicated out of WLW to other regional stations (including WTVN
in Columbus, WAKR
in Akron and WERE
in Cleveland). By 1999, the show would revert to being only on WLW, although a weekly "best-of" show dubbed the Weekly Rear-View - which featured mostly character bits and little-to-no Cincinnati-centric material - would run until his retirement. The network (and eventually, the program itself) was called "The BBC: The Broad-bank Burb-casting Corporation," a send-up of Gary Owens' classic line.
Today, Earl Pitts' daily "commentaries" are still syndicated throughout the country on about 200 stations. Burbank's show was also eventually heard, along with the rest of WLW's programming, on XM Satellite Radio
Channel 173.
Burbank has won several major awards, including back-to-back Marconi Awards as Large Market Personality of the Year in 1990 and 1991.
In 2010 Burbank was nominated for the National Radio Hall of Fame
. In December 2009, the restaurant closed.
The Sharonville restaurant was the first to open and last to close. There were others, including one at I-75 and US 42 in Florence, KY, one on Colonel Glenn Highway in Fairborn, OH near Wright State University and WPAFB and for a brief period, one in Columbus, OH at the corner of Bethel and Sawmill Roads.
On September 23, 2009, Burbank returned to the airwaves at his old time slot of 3p-6p with then hosts Eddie Fingers and Tracy Jones
promoting his new book "Voices In My Head"
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
radio personality
Radio personality
A radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk radio show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather,...
. He was heard daily on WLW
WLW
WLW is a clear channel talk radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio, run by Clear Channel Communications. The station broadcasts locally on 700 kHz AM...
in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, from June 15, 1981 until December 21, 2007, when he signed off for the last time.
Career in Radio
Burbank began his radio career in his hometown at WMPS in the mid 1960s, where he was known on the air as Johnny Apollo. In 1968 he moved to Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, where he became an instant hit on WAKY-AM
WKRD (AM)
WKRD is a sports talk formatted radio station in the Louisville, Kentucky metropolitan area. It is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications, and is known as My Sports 790...
. It was at WAKY that Billy Purser officially became Gary Burbank, a name taken from radio and television legend Gary Owens
Gary Owens
Gary Owens is an American disc jockey and voice actor. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offers deadpan recitations of total nonsense, which he frequently demonstrated as the announcer on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Owens is equally proficient in straight or silly assignments and is...
, who as a regular on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In would announce that he was broadcasting from "beautiful downtown
Downtown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....
Burbank
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
." (Burbank's natural voice is remarkably similar to Owens' on-air voice.)
Burbank left WAKY in 1973; his final program there was an elaborate prank in which he pretended to be fatally shot by a disgruntled listener. At that point, he moved to New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
for a brief stint as program director
Program director
In service industries, such as education, a program director or programme director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services...
of WNOE. From New Orleans, Burbank went on to CKLW
CKLW
CKLW is a 50,000 watt AM radio station broadcasting on 800 kHz and located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and serving Windsor and Detroit. Additionally, its signal can be heard as far west as Belding, Michigan; as far east as Batavia, New York; as far south as Edgewood, Kentucky; and as far...
in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
/Windsor
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
, and then back to Louisville for a successful, lengthy afternoon gig on WHAS-AM.
Burbank left Louisville again for a brief spell in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
at WDAE, but moved to the Ohio Valley in 1981 when he signed with WLW, originally doing morning drive time
Drive time
Drive time is the daypart analog to prime time for radio broadcasting. It consists of the morning hours when listeners wake up, get ready, and/or head to work or school, and the afternoon hours when they are heading home and before their evening meal. These are the periods where the number of...
but later moving to afternoons. It is there that he has enjoyed his greatest success, developing his best-known characters:
- Earl Pitts UhmerikunEarl Pitts (radio character)Earl Pitts is a fictional character performed by Gary Burbank, a radio personality from Cincinnati, Ohio.Pitts, who is almost always referred to as "Earl Pitts, Uhmerikun" is a stereotype of a redneck from the Southern United States...
, a full-blooded redneck who makes daily commentary on everything from politics to family to friends. - Gilbert GnarleyGilbert GnarleyGilbert Gnarley is a character developed and voiced by Gary Burbank of Cincinnati, Ohio, radio station 700 WLW. His comedy sketches involve prank phone calls to various businesses, organizations, and corporate headquarters, during which it becomes evident that Gilbert is very confused about...
, a senior citizen who made crank calls to various businesses and people. - Howlin' Blind Muddy Slim, Your 60-Minute Jelly-Belly Toejam Man (a/k/a Blues Break 201), a Friday afternoon music show which featured blues artists as guest stars.
- Eunice and Bernice, the "Siamese twins joined at the telephone" ("turr-a-bull, turr-a-bull, turr-a-bull")
- The Right Rev. Deuteronomy Skaggs, radio preacherPreacherPreacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
who encouraged listeners to "dig in them jeans and pull out them greens" (money). Skaggs and Eunice and Bernice carried over from Burbank's WHAS days. - Ranger Bob, children's show host.
- Riley Gert, of the U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Senseless Survey, who prank calls people asking obscure and sometimes awkward questions for the Survey. - The Synonymous Bengal, a moleMole (espionage)A mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
in the Cincinnati BengalsCincinnati BengalsThe Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
organization who calls in to provide anonymous rumors about the team using frequent malapropismMalapropismA malapropism is an act of misusing or the habitual misuse of similar sounding words, especially with humorous results. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than "electoral votes".-Etymology:...
s. - Lars Peavey, talk show host (tribute to the comedy team of Bob and RayBob and RayBob Elliott and Ray Goulding were an American comedy team whose career spanned five decades. Their format was typically to satirize the medium in which they were performing, such as conducting radio or television interviews, with off-the-wall dialogue presented in a generally deadpan style as...
) - Dan Buckles, newscaster (takeoff on Dan RatherDan RatherDaniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
and David BrinkleyDavid BrinkleyDavid McClure Brinkley was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997....
); his on-air partners, Kevin "Doc" Wolfe and Leah Burns, portrayed vocal spoofs of Sam DonaldsonSam DonaldsonSamuel Andrew "Sam" Donaldson, Jr. is a reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to the present, best known as the network's White House Correspondent and as a panelist and later co-anchor of the network's Sunday Program "This Week."-Early life and career:Donaldson was born in El...
and Diane SawyerDiane SawyerLila Diane Sawyer is the current anchor of ABC News' flagship program, ABC World News. Previously, Sawyer had been co-anchor of ABC Newss morning news program, Good Morning America ....
in the news segment. Buckles didn't hide the fact that he loved to dress in women's clothing and often made comments about his high heels or how tight his dress happened to be as he transitioned from one news item to the next. - Ludlow Bromley, the "richest dude in the world" (named after Northern Kentucky cities)
- Bass Ackwards, news commentator
- Thelma Hooch, helpful hints
- Maw Hirishi, advice columnist
- Bruiser LaRue, feyFeyFey may refer to:* A word meaning "wild or crazy acting", often ascribed to supernatural causes and evidenced by abnormal behavior...
football player - Big Fat, AKA, The Big Fat Balding Guy With a Stubby Cigar in His Mouth and His Pants Half-Zipped, pushy con man seller of a wide variety of worthless junk. Often joined by his mascot, Timmy the Termite who would endorse the product or pretend to be a famous celebrity endorsing the junk. Sign off line was always "And dis time I'm being honest wit' youse."
Burbank regularly satirized former Cincinnati mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Jerry Springer
Jerry Springer
Gerald Norman "Jerry" Springer is a British-born American television presenter, best known as host of the tabloid talk show The Jerry Springer Show since its debut in 1991...
, along with other local politicians, newscasters, and celebrities, such as former Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
owner "Saint CEO" Marge Schott
Marge Schott
Margaret Unnewehr Schott was the managing general partner, president and CEO of the National League's Cincinnati Reds franchise from 1984 to 1999...
. Satirical radio serials
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
were also used to lampoon the (often struggling) Reds baseball team during the postseason playoffs
Major League Baseball postseason
The Major League Baseball postseason is an elimination tournament held after the conclusion of Major League Baseball's regular season. It consists of one best-of-five series and two best-of-seven series...
("The Hunt for the Reds' October") and the Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
("All My Bengals"). Burbank also hit the Top 100 in 1980 with the song "Who Shot J.R.?
Who shot J.R.?
Who shot J. R.? is an advertising catchphrase that American network CBS created in 1980 to promote the television series Dallas.In the final scene of the 1979–1980 season, the character J. R. Ewing, played by Larry Hagman, was shot by a hidden assailant. The episode, titled "A House Divided", was...
", a novelty record about the cliffhanger on that year's season finale of Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
.
Before moving to afternoons, he started in the morning drive time slot.
Burbank often did his show from a home in north central Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, while the rest of his show's cast and crew was in the WLW studios in Cincinnati.
Burbank's show in the late 90s was syndicated out of WLW to other regional stations (including WTVN
WTVN
WTVN is a full-service AM radio station in Columbus, Ohio located at 610 kHz. It has news, talk, and sports programs, is the dominant AM station in the Columbus market and is consistently rated either #1 or #2 by Arbitron...
in Columbus, WAKR
WAKR
WAKR — branded 1590 WAKR — is a commercial radio station in Akron, Ohio. It is owned by Rubber City Radio Group, Inc. which also owns Akron's WONE-FM and WQMX...
in Akron and WERE
WERE
WERE — branded News/Talk 1490 WERE-AM — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland Heights, Ohio broadcasting a news/talk format. The station is owned by Radio One, and has studios at 2510 St. Clair Avenue, while the transmitter is along Euclid Avenue near East 118th Street, adjacent to...
in Cleveland). By 1999, the show would revert to being only on WLW, although a weekly "best-of" show dubbed the Weekly Rear-View - which featured mostly character bits and little-to-no Cincinnati-centric material - would run until his retirement. The network (and eventually, the program itself) was called "The BBC: The Broad-bank Burb-casting Corporation," a send-up of Gary Owens' classic line.
Today, Earl Pitts' daily "commentaries" are still syndicated throughout the country on about 200 stations. Burbank's show was also eventually heard, along with the rest of WLW's programming, on XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
Channel 173.
Burbank has won several major awards, including back-to-back Marconi Awards as Large Market Personality of the Year in 1990 and 1991.
In 2010 Burbank was nominated for the National Radio Hall of Fame
Barbecue
Burbank founded and co-owned Burbank's Real Bar-B-Q and Ribs restaurant in Sharonville, OhioSharonville, Ohio
Sharonville is a city in Butler and Hamilton counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 13,804 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Sharonville is located at .It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area....
. In December 2009, the restaurant closed.
The Sharonville restaurant was the first to open and last to close. There were others, including one at I-75 and US 42 in Florence, KY, one on Colonel Glenn Highway in Fairborn, OH near Wright State University and WPAFB and for a brief period, one in Columbus, OH at the corner of Bethel and Sawmill Roads.
Retirement
On March 7, 2007, Burbank announced that he would retire on December 31, at the expiration of his contract. The last show was broadcast on Friday, December 21, 2007. Despite Burbank's retirement, Earl Pitts' commentaries will continue to broadcast on its network of affiliates including WLW.On September 23, 2009, Burbank returned to the airwaves at his old time slot of 3p-6p with then hosts Eddie Fingers and Tracy Jones
Tracy Jones
Tracy Donald Jones , is a former professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues primarily as an outfielder from 1986-1991. Jones was drafted by the New York Mets in the 4th round of the 1982 amateur draft, but did not sign...
promoting his new book "Voices In My Head"