June 10, 1988

His voice could never be labeled as melodious, smooth, velvety,  or remotely pleasing.  Guttural, grating, raspy and hoarse are  more closer adjectives which describe the "pipes" of Wolfman  Jack…the legendary rock 'n roll disc jockey.  Indeed, the  Wolfman will howl his way to Modesto Saturday afternoon from  1 to 5 as emcee of the Graffiti Fest '88 at the Modesto Junior  College Stadium.

    In a phone interview from Nashville, Tenn., Wolfman Jack…who  is 50 + years-old and was born Bob Smith in Brooklyn, N.Y….  says: "I'm excited about Modesto.  I think it will bring back  memories of the graffiti times.  That was a wonderful time for me  and I'm sure it was for a lot of other people."  After the show, he'll  be a guest disc jockey on KHYV from 7 to 9PM and then it's  "cruise time" with everyone else. 

The late-night madman of the  airwaves said:  "We're gonna rock 'n roll like you ain't never  rock 'n rolled before, in Modesto, California."  And it's all part  of the Second Saturday in June Graffiti Night.

"Wolfman Jack" Comes To Modesto Saturday  

   For the Wolfman Jack, his career in broadcasting originally  started in 1957 after he had dropped out of high school.  He  moved to Mexico, land of the "super-wattage" radio stations.  At XERF-AM, across from Del Rio, Texas, he served as station  manager by day and irreverent broadcaster by night.  From 1962  until 1969, the Wolfman was considered the most popular disc  jockey in America.  He had moved to another south-of-the-border  radio station, XERB-AM in Rosarito Beach, which had a powerful  250,000-watt signal aimed directly north at the United States.

   However, it wasn't until 1974 that the mysterious Wolfman Jack  became a highly-visible entity.  That was the year when a young  film maker by the name of George Lucas---Downey High, Class  of '62---wrote and directed the famed American Graffiti.  The  film was centered about Modesto, and Lucas asked the Wolfman  to be in it.  Back then, according to Wolfman, Lucas was an  unknown in the film industry.

    Wolfman Jack said:  "I looked at the script and every page had something  about the Wolfman.  I was really excited, but told him, "You probably  think I have a lot of money and you want me to help pay for this movie.  I know I talk about how rich I am on the air, but really, it's all a hoax."  It turned out that George was a great fan of the five-talk'n deejay.  He  said, "You were part of the youth of the period.  We just want you to play  yourself."  So, Wolfman accepted the role for $1,000 and the rest is history,  except that he also got a surprise percentage of the royalties, which made him  a millionaire.  More importantly he says, "American Graffiti" gave him  legitimacy.  Wolfman Jack's identity suddenly became larger than radio and  his career started taking off in all directions.  His radio show was syndicated on  1,453 stations.  In addition, he made television appearances in more than 40  network shows, including "Wonder Woman" and "The Odd Couple."  The  Wolfman also hosted "The Midnight Special" on NBC for 8 years.  Now days,  he's heard live from 2 to 6PM on XTRA in San Diego and is syndicated on  over 200 stations.

   Wolfman Jack closed the telephone interview by saying,  "I still lead the duel-  personality type life.  And you know, I've been married for 29 years to the same  woman."  He also has two grown children.

   Come Saturday night at MJC stadium, you won't be able to miss him; besides  his now white-streaked goatee, the Wolfman will be dressed in all black and  definitely will be in a "howling" mood!     




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