"I am the Mad, Mad Daddy"

Read about the Mad Daddy
Listen to the Mad Daddy on WHK
The Mad Daddy in NY 1964

Son of Mad Daddy. Although Cleveland's legendary rock and roll DJ Pete "Mad Daddy" Myers' heyday was in the 1950s, he's still on the air. Not the Mad Daddy Myers; he's long gone to an on-air studio in rock and roll heaven. But on weekdays at 4 pm, listeners tuning in to 830 AM, WKTX, can hear Waxin' Mad Daddy Jackson doing a show in Mad Daddy's character, playing rock and roll typical of Moon Dog Allen Freed's and Mad Daddy Myers' Cleveland years: early rock, R&B and "Wavy Gravy" hot rod, monster, novelty and instrumental songs.

Waxin' Mad Daddy Jackson is actually WKXT Program Director Jack Cory. Cory grew up listening to Moon Dog Freed and Mad Daddy Myers. His show is a labor of love that honors his teenage hero's genius and rekindles early rock radio's magic.

"Television does too much of the work," Cory said. "It leaves nothing to the imagination. Radio used to be 'theater for the mind.' Modern radio is so homogenized. I just wanted to recreate the spirit of those incredible [Mad Daddy] shows."

Cory has. He does Mad Daddy's voice well enough. He laces his show with crypt-like sound effects and echo. He spouts in rhyme, does playlets with recurring characters and has 1,000 records fitting the format, making replays (except requests) rare. "I don't play Frankie Avalon," Cory said, referring to his preference for real roots rockers like Dix McGee and Ike Carpenter. "And I only play slow songs for contrast, one or two per show. I like to keep rockin'."

Thanks to letters from roots rock fans, listeners old enough to remember Mad Daddy - and, oddly, a growing number of grade schoolers - the show will keep rockin'. In April, it may go from its 4 to 6 pm slot to 4 to 7 pm. WKTX, an ethnic and oldies station, has great "in-car" reception throughout the Cleveland area, though reception is a tad fuzzy in some West Side neighborhoods. The show has caught on among radio tape collectors in other parts as well, and there's hope that via satellite there may be a wider audience soon.

"I got a 20-page letter from one guy who thought he'd gone into a time warp. Some people are so shocked by the [authentic] sound they pull off the road and call in. Some think I'm Mad Daddy's kid. And the kids who call or write are into monster music. I love it. It takes a lot of preparation, but even after four hours on the job, doing the Mad Daddy show peps me up, totally refreshes me. I just try to make it as exciting and close to the real thing as I can."

In the words of both the original kooky rhymin' 1959 Mad Daddy and his 1999 incarnation, let's hope the show keeps "...bubblin' up wavy gravy in Oobladi [Cleveland] and rock reelin', hangin' from the ceiling!!!" - Dave DeLuca

The following is an email I got regarding this page on Sept. 1, 1999. It is posted with his permission and gang, please help him out if you can.

Hello There:

I found your Mad Daddy page tonight and am surprised that someone new is carrying the torch in Cleveland. Unfortunately, that station does not broadcast over the web, so I have no way of getting recordings of him yet.

I collect audio and videotapes of John Zacherle and Pete "Mad Daddy" Myers. I have a fair collection of both and am looking to add more to it. I will trade or buy material I don't have.

Zacherle material I have includes the following
A compilation of the best of Zacherle including songs from early recordings and rare off air clips 90 minutes (I haven't catalogued this completely)
Clips of John Zacherle hosting Shock Theatre around 1960
John Zacherle with Pat St. John on WNEW Oct. 31, 1991
John Zacherle with Howard Stern 8/11/1992
John Zacherle Show on WCBS October 31, 1984 3:00 hours
Songs from Dead Man's Ball
A commercial videotape of Zacherle introducing horror film trailers called "Horrible Horror"

Radio disc jockey Pete "Mad Daddy" Myers first appeared on radio on WHKK, Akron, Ohio in 1957, moved to WJW Cleveland in 1958, briefly hosted Shock Theatre on WJW-TV and moved to WHK, Cleveland from February through June 1959. He then went to WINS, New York from 1961-64 and finished up dropping his Mad Daddy persona on WNEW, New York from 1964 until his suicide in October 1968. He was featured in Cleveland magazine a couple of years ago which came out with a companion CD contained some clips of his shows. In addition to the magazine and CD, I have one tape from WJW and partial tapes of his last two WHK shows June 25 & 26, 1959. I am sure there is more material out there and would like to make contact with anyone who has tapes, movies, photos or other memorabilia of this unique character.
Here is what I have of Mad Daddy.
Mad Daddy WJW Cleveland 2/26/58 1:00:00, unscoped
Mad Daddy WHK Cleveland 6/25/59 57:30 complete show, scoped (i.e. songs edited out except for the beginning and ending)
Mad Daddy WHK Cleveland 6/25/59 1:00:00 first hour, unscoped
Mad Daddy WHK Cleveland 6/26/59 27:30 first hour of his last show, scoped
Mad Daddy WHK Cleveland 6/26/59 30:00 first half hour of his last show, unscoped
Pete Myers (as himself) WNEW New York 7/26/61 11:30, scoped
Mad Daddy WINS New York 10/63 56:00, unscoped
Mad Daddy WINS New York 8/22/64 30:00, scoped
Mad Daddy WINS New York 8/64 01:00:00, scoped
Mad Daddy WINS New York 10/64 16:00, scoped
Mad Daddy WINS New York 10/19/64 30:00, scoped
I also have an original copy of CLE Magazine 3X which includes the great biography of Mad Daddy and comes with a CD that includes several Mad Daddy clips including a "zoomerating" clip and a tape of the original recording Pete Myers made as The Joker titled "What Is A Fisteris/I Love A Good Practical Joke" (from the record, not off air).
Please let me know what you have that I might need and what I have that would interest you.
Pass this request on to anyone who might be able to help.
Thanks very much.
Jay Hunt
Thanks Jay! Hope this helps!!!