B. Mitchel Reed

B. Mitchel Reed, born Burton Mitchel Goldberg (June 10, 1926 - March 16, 1983), was a successful American Disc Jockey for both Top 40 and AOR radio. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Reed entered the world of radio while at the University of Illinois. At the time he was teaching political-science.

Reed hosted the all-night "Birdland Jazz Show" at WOR (AM) New York in 1956. A year later he landed a job at KFWB in Los Angeles, California. On January 2, 1958, KFWB became a Top 40 station known as "Color Channel 98." The DJ's were known as "The Seven Swinging Gentlemen." The lineup included Bruce Hayes, Al Jarvis, Joe Yocam, Elliot Field, Reed, Bill Ballance and Ted Quillan. Reed held the 6-9 P.M time slot. Under Program Director Chuck Blore, KFWB became the number one radio station in LA.

He was known as "The fastest tongue in the west," for the speed in which he spoke to his audience. WMCA persuaded him to come back to New York. He accepted the offer and said goodbye to KFWB on February 7, 1963. At WMCA he joined a team of disc jockeys known as "The Good Guys." These included Jack Spector, whom he had known from Boys High School in Brooklyn, graduating two years after him.

Reed went to London, England in pursuit of a band making headlines in hopes of breaking them in New York. The band was none other than The Beatles. His persistence paid off as it led to advance record pressings and exclusive interviews. This helped usher in "Beatle Mania" in early 1964.

By 1965, Reed decided to return to Los Angeles. His last show at WMCA was on March 20. Thousands of his fans cheered him at the airport upon his departure. Many fans who were thrilled of his return greeted him when he arrived in LA. This ushered in his second stint at KFWB and "The Wide Wide Weird World of BMR."

After attending the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, Reed realized he wanted to go in another direction music wise. He met with San Francisco based DJ Tom Donahue over the frustrations of radio music restrictions. Donahue was a Program Director for underground station KMPX (FM). With no such music station in LA, Reed left KFWB and founded KPPC-FM in Pasadena. Both stations achieved more success than anticipated with the popularity of AOR programming. Both stations ran into a conflict with their respective owners thus resulting in a strike. After the strike ended in June 1968, Donahue, got Metromedia to take on the AOR format at KMET (FM). Reed programmed what would become one of the first 24 hour automated music stations. It would go live in the summer of 1969. He left KMET for one year in 1971 to work at KRLA. He returned to KMET in 1972 where he stayed the next six years.

A typical radio program featuring Reed on KMET during the late 1960s to early 1970s can be heard on the album Golden Age Of Underground Radio Vol #2.

In 1978, Reed underwent coronary bypass surgery. He would leave KMET for KLOS (FM) in 1979. His lingering heart condition caught up with him on March 16, 1983. He died in his West Los Angeles home at the age of 56.

Nicknames

"Beamer"

"BMR"

"The fastest tongue in the west"

External links

* [http://www.laradio.com/wherer.htm LARadio.com] .
* [http://members.aol.com/tedalvy/bmr.htm B. Mitchel Reed bio] .
* [http://www.musicradio77.com/wmca/guys.html WMCA: Fabulous 57] .
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/B.+Mitchell+Reed B. Mitchell Reed] discography at Discogs.