Tuesday, April 18, 2023

NEWS OF A PASSING

 Yesterday I was moaning writing about birthdays and reaching advanced ages and what that means (great-grand-kids).

But not all of us are getting older.

One, for instance, is the legendary Buster Bodine.

I know.

Crazy name, right?

Well that's because it wasn't his real name.

His real name was Michael Hanks.

Buster Bodine was his radio name, the name he used as a rock and roll disc jockey.

Oh, for some of you younger readers, rock and roll was a music genre that . . .oh, never mind.

Just know that Buster Bodine turned radio on its head when he landed at WNAP - FM 93.1 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

He had followed his brother, Charles Hanks, better known on WIBC-AM in Indy as Chuck Riley.

Chuck was known for his deep, resonant voice.

Then Buster arrived for a visit and, as the story goes and I've been telling it for decades, he said "hello" and his voice was an octave lower than Chucks'.

He was hired on the spot.

Buster spent some years in Indy and other locations before once again following his big brother to Los Angeles and voice-over work.

Well, now it's all over.

He died this week following complications from heart surgery.

He was 70.

Chuck died a number of years ago, also of a heart ailment, at the age of 66.

I worked with Chuck but never directly with Buster, though he was just starting at WNAP as I was getting ready to leave WIBC.

The back room and the front room, as they were known back around 1969-1971.

So . . . so long, Buster.

Like Chuck, you'll be long remembered.


12 comments:

  1. Another name and number in my phone I can't call.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Seems it's happening more and more, doesn't it Bruce. I looked at my HS yearbook page recently, and out of 435 grads, 51 are left.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm not familiar, but that's not a surprise.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 70 is so young and 66 is supposed to be the prime of life. Too many losses lately.

    ReplyDelete
  5. They were young! Too young. 😟

    ReplyDelete
  6. That was from Cheerful Monk. I keep forgetting.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I never heard of them here in Australia. Too many die too young.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It is sad when younger people die. Some people keep to their contemporaries, but we make a point of having friends of all ages. Keeps you young!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. That is so young. You will have to raise a toast to him.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sorry, Bruce. Did just come from your other post though. Love that a new member of the family arrived. Very cool.

    ReplyDelete