About Buddy

by Bob Mathers

BUDDY DEANE
 
In the Golden era of Rock 'n' Roll, Dick Clark was pretty much the undisputed king of afternoon dance TV in the USA. However in Baltimore, Maryland, no one ever watched Dick Clark, because a big, burly Arkansan named Buddy Deane dominated the local scene.

Deane featured every performer of the era on his show, except Elvis and Rick Nelson. From 1957 to 1964 he was on 6 days a week. His ratings were huge, and in 1962, "The Buddy Deane Show" won the "Best Daytime Show in America" award. When asked why he made such an impact in Baltimore, Deane replied, 'When I first got to Baltimore, I made friends with the record store owners. Regardless of what the charts said, they knew what was selling and what wasn't. One guy who had a record shop up on Pennsylvania Avenue told me, 'Never waste a groove'. It made sense to me. If it's not a hit, don't play it.'

Buddy first came to Baltimore in 1951 as the morning man for WITH radio. He was the first to do record hops in Baltimore, and by the mid-50's was promoting his own concerts in Baltimore. One day an aspiring singer came to the WITH studios at 7 East Lexington Street to ask Buddy if he could appear for free at his next such event. Deane agreed. The day of the concert saw the singer and his band playing 'Western Swing'. Buddy recalls, 'The kids came up to me and said I want my money back. I went to the fellow and said, 'You gotta do something. These kids are not happy.' The man replied, 'Watch this!' The band then broke into a rockin' tune called 'Crazy Man Crazy'. That group who Buddy let play for free was none other than Bill Haley & the Comets! In fact, Buddy played 'Rock Around the Clock' on his radio show a year before the song hit nationally.

In September, 1957, one-time WITH DJ Joel Chaseman (at that time, head of Programming at WJZ-TV) brought Deane and his rock and roll revue over to TV. The show was an instant success! By 1964 Buddy was back in the Morning slot at WITH in addition to his TV duties. In September, 1964...after introducing the Beatles on stage at the Baltimore Civic Center...Buddy said goodbye to Baltimore. He returned to his hometown of Pine Bluff, Arkansas to manage the station he had purchased several years earlier, KOTN. Under Deane, KOTN had phenomenal shares of the local radio market and became one of the country's best-sounding Rock 'n' Roll stations.

In 1984, Buddy sold KOTN and for a time operated a travel agency. In 1988, Baltimore producer John Waters filmed the movie 'Hairspray!', based on Buddy's show and centered in early 1960's Baltimore. By 1996, Buddy reappeared on WITH as a featured guest on the station's 55th anniversary reunion weekend. That event led to a Buddy Deane record hop in May, 1996 which sold out in 11 days. In that same year, Buddy hosted a weekend show on WITH which lasted until the Spring of 1997. He at the same time reacquired KOTN and eventually owned as many as 6 radio stations in Pine Bluff before selling the last of them on May 1, 2003.

For the remainder of Buddy's days, he divided his time between managing the stations in Pine Bluff (including KOTN) and traveling to Baltimore several times a year to host dances throughout the area. With the re-emergence of 'Hairspray!' as a stage play in 2003, Buddy became in demand once again. When July 2003 rolled around, Buddy was booked for September record hops in no less than 3 venues. In addition, John Waters had invited Buddy and his wife Helen to join him in Baltimore on September 9th for that city's stage premiere of Hairspray!. However, Buddy was felled by a stroke on July 7th, 2003. After emerging from a coma and staging a miraculous recovery, a case of fluid buildup one week later resulted in congestive heart failure which resulted in his passing on July 16, 2003. He was 78.

With 50 plus years in broadcasting, Buddy was the "Deane" of Rock 'n' Roll radio and TV personalities in Baltimore. Buddy Deane was truly a legend in his time. Ever the realist, He was often quoted as saying, 'I didn't discover Rock and Roll, it discovered me'.

Bob Mathers

http://www.ultimateoldiesradio.com http://www.bobmathers.voice123.com