Red Robinson by Robin Brunet

Author:Robin Brunet
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: memoir, Red Robinson, deejays
ISBN: 9781550177701
Publisher: Harbour Publishing Co. Ltd.
Published: 2016-10-22T00:00:00+00:00

“I was host of Portland Bandstand for a short time. This was kgw tv’s answer to Dick Clark’s American Bandstand on abc. My show ended when the station switched from abc to nbc, but it was fun while it lasted.” kgw staff

None of his friends or family in Vancouver could observe his handiwork, as KGW didn’t transmit that far north. But before long, it didn’t matter. “Unfortunately, Portland Bandstand died a miserable death when KGW changed networks from ABC, which carried American Bandstand, to NBC,” says Robinson. “It was like the rug had been pulled out from under me. But I still had the radio show, and the ratings were good, so I decided to remain in Portland and see where it led.”

The payola scandals were still a hot topic of water-cooler conversation. Vancouver Sun reporter Bruce Young phoned Robinson long-distance for a quote on the topic, and Robinson replied that Vancouver wasn’t important enough to warrant suspicions that local jocks had taken money. The next day, the Sun ran a front-page story with Robinson’s photo and the headline, “Red Robinson turns back bribes.” “It was true,” he says. “No one in Vancouver had ever approached me. In Portland a few people did, and I turned them down—not because of any high morals, but because I don’t believe anything in life is free.”

Alan Freed became the most famous scapegoat of the scandal. The New York District Attorney’s office announced grand-jury hearings on misdemeanour commercial bribery charges against jocks in that state, and broadcasting companies in turn asked their on-air personalities to sign an affidavit denying any involvement in payola. Freed, who by now was employed by WABC, refused to sign, claiming he had received various gifts and didn’t want to commit perjury. He was fired, and subsequently district attorney Joseph Stone’s grand jury handed down indictments for misdemeanour commercial bribery charges. Freed and seven other jocks were arrested and charged with receiving a total of $116,850 in payola.

Robinson says, “Dozens of other disc jockeys across North America quit under pressure, and many more were fired. After that, talk about payola died. The point had been made. However, I suspected that the American congressmen who had investigated the television quiz show scandals of the 1950s had been desperate to extend their high profile, and radio payola had been a perfect way to accomplish this.”

Freed pleaded guilty to two of ninety-nine counts, and in the spring of 1963 he paid a three-hundred-dollar fine. However, he was soon deluged with massive legal bills and federal charges of income tax evasion. Two years later, Freed entered a Palm Springs hospital for gastrointestinal bleeding resulting from cirrhosis of the liver; he died on New Year’s Day, 1965, at the age of forty-three.

Robinson tried to shrug off the disappointment of Portland Bandstand, figuring that now at least he was in the US and more TV opportunities would follow. Spinning discs at KGW was decidedly more low-key than his glory years in Vancouver, but it

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