Was this the KMEN Harry Scarborough?
In the Sunday, 01/09/12, San Francisco Chronicle Radio Columnist Ben Fong Torres wrote:
R.I.P. Harry Scarborough, a talented Top 40 DJ who logged time on KSFX in the '70s. Not much is known about him, although one friend said he was in his mid-60s and had been in ill health for about eight years, living in a subsidized apartment in Marin County and, more recently, in a van parked near (San Francisco's )Ocean Beach.
In the Sunday, 01/09/12, San Francisco Chronicle Radio Columnist Ben Fong Torres wrote:
R.I.P. Harry Scarborough, a talented Top 40 DJ who logged time on KSFX in the '70s. Not much is known about him, although one friend said he was in his mid-60s and had been in ill health for about eight years, living in a subsidized apartment in Marin County and, more recently, in a van parked near (San Francisco's )Ocean Beach.
At 440.com the listing for Harry Scarborough's career includes both KSFX and KMEN so it looks like sad news.
Yeah, a verrrry sad situation about the former "Happiness Harry" Scarborough. True enough, he did (at last report) live in his van. Harry apparently never could drop back into society, preferring to live his life as freely as possible. That was the essence of his entire life it would seem.
He should be remembered for really bringing fun changes to K/MEN while he was there was program director.
Rest in peace forever, Harry, ride the stars joyously, old friend.
He should be remembered for really bringing fun changes to K/MEN while he was there was program director.
Rest in peace forever, Harry, ride the stars joyously, old friend.
Lord Darth Rageous! has left a new comment on your post "KFXM January 7, 1977":
HEARING ABOUT THE UNEXPECTED passing of the late Harry Scarborough, and finding barely two sentences said about the man concerning notice of his death, caused me to respond directly to the San Francisco Chronicle columnist. for those interested, my email comments to Mr. Ben Fong-Torres are disclosed here:
"dear Mr. Fong-Torres,
the two-sentence liner about the apparent passing of "Happiness Harry" Scarborough is met with sadness and incredulity about the lack of research on your part to define just who this man was!
there are many people out here in Cyberland AND in the "real world" who remember Harry with fondness, great memories and now mourning for this individual who has passed in the Great Beyond. therefore, FYI, following is information and commentary about this wonderful former disk jockey/air personality who brought a truly different dimension to the glory days of Top 40 radio and later:
Harry Scarborough (9-12pm) arrived from KYNO Fresno in June to replace Bob Foster when he went to KIMN in Denver. Harry would soon move to the 6-9AM shift after Jim Carson went to KFRC. Harry was well suited for this slot, encouraging his listeners to ‘rise and rejoice’ to open the new day. Harry went over to KCBQ in 1971, and now works for the gas company in Orange County.
Harry Scarborough
KSTN [Stockton CA] 1965 - Ted Bear
KKJO [St Joseph MO] 1965
KELP [El Paso TX] 1966
KMBY [Monterey CA] 1966
WDGY [Minneapolis MN] 1967
KQRS [Minneapolis] 1967
KRUX [Phoenix AZ] 1968
KMEN [San Bernardino CA] 1969
KYNO [Fresno CA] 1969
KGB [San Diego CA] 1970
KCBQ [San Diego CA] 1971
KIMN [Denver CO] 1971
KTLK [Denver] 1972
KSFX [San Francisco] 1973
KPRI [San Diego] 1978
KCBQ [San Diego] 1981
KWAV [Monterey] 1985
KNRY [Monterey] 1986
KIOI [San Francisco] 1992
Now: 'Living in the mountains of Southern California. In the travel wholesale industry.'
I got to know Harry when he was program director (and doing his own DJ gig) at the former K/MEN 129 radio station in San Bernardino circa 1968-1969. he was an enlightening individual who always brought lots of joy and humor to the fore in his shows, on the telephone and in-personal contact with most folks. {attached are images from The K/MENtertainer newspaper featuring Harry on the air staff line-up.}
he shall be missed by many an ex-colleague, friend, listener and fanfare such as i was. i just wanted you to at least have some means of providing more background information identifying this good gentleman -- a real Free Spirit if you will.
thank you for all due consideration on behalf of the late Harry Scarborough. may he ride the stars in happiness unto the ultimate states of dimension, forever!"
HEARING ABOUT THE UNEXPECTED passing of the late Harry Scarborough, and finding barely two sentences said about the man concerning notice of his death, caused me to respond directly to the San Francisco Chronicle columnist. for those interested, my email comments to Mr. Ben Fong-Torres are disclosed here:
"dear Mr. Fong-Torres,
the two-sentence liner about the apparent passing of "Happiness Harry" Scarborough is met with sadness and incredulity about the lack of research on your part to define just who this man was!
there are many people out here in Cyberland AND in the "real world" who remember Harry with fondness, great memories and now mourning for this individual who has passed in the Great Beyond. therefore, FYI, following is information and commentary about this wonderful former disk jockey/air personality who brought a truly different dimension to the glory days of Top 40 radio and later:
Harry Scarborough (9-12pm) arrived from KYNO Fresno in June to replace Bob Foster when he went to KIMN in Denver. Harry would soon move to the 6-9AM shift after Jim Carson went to KFRC. Harry was well suited for this slot, encouraging his listeners to ‘rise and rejoice’ to open the new day. Harry went over to KCBQ in 1971, and now works for the gas company in Orange County.
Harry Scarborough
KSTN [Stockton CA] 1965 - Ted Bear
KKJO [St Joseph MO] 1965
KELP [El Paso TX] 1966
KMBY [Monterey CA] 1966
WDGY [Minneapolis MN] 1967
KQRS [Minneapolis] 1967
KRUX [Phoenix AZ] 1968
KMEN [San Bernardino CA] 1969
KYNO [Fresno CA] 1969
KGB [San Diego CA] 1970
KCBQ [San Diego CA] 1971
KIMN [Denver CO] 1971
KTLK [Denver] 1972
KSFX [San Francisco] 1973
KPRI [San Diego] 1978
KCBQ [San Diego] 1981
KWAV [Monterey] 1985
KNRY [Monterey] 1986
KIOI [San Francisco] 1992
Now: 'Living in the mountains of Southern California. In the travel wholesale industry.'
I got to know Harry when he was program director (and doing his own DJ gig) at the former K/MEN 129 radio station in San Bernardino circa 1968-1969. he was an enlightening individual who always brought lots of joy and humor to the fore in his shows, on the telephone and in-personal contact with most folks. {attached are images from The K/MENtertainer newspaper featuring Harry on the air staff line-up.}
he shall be missed by many an ex-colleague, friend, listener and fanfare such as i was. i just wanted you to at least have some means of providing more background information identifying this good gentleman -- a real Free Spirit if you will.
thank you for all due consideration on behalf of the late Harry Scarborough. may he ride the stars in happiness unto the ultimate states of dimension, forever!"
Johnny Helm has left a new comment on your post "KFXM January 7, 1977":
I worked with Harry at K/men. He was VERY talented, but also very fragile. He was headed for BIG things in radio. After K/men he went to KGB-San Diego for morning drive. He got blown out after several months.....returned to K/men, where Dave McCormick put him on the all night show. After that blowout at KGB he sounded like a heartbroken little boy on the air. Guess he got his shit together again and worked in Denver. Last I knew, he was homeless.
Sorry to hear of his passing.
I worked with Harry at K/men. He was VERY talented, but also very fragile. He was headed for BIG things in radio. After K/men he went to KGB-San Diego for morning drive. He got blown out after several months.....returned to K/men, where Dave McCormick put him on the all night show. After that blowout at KGB he sounded like a heartbroken little boy on the air. Guess he got his shit together again and worked in Denver. Last I knew, he was homeless.
Sorry to hear of his passing.
11 comments:
Thank you so much, Doug, for posting this memorable tribute to the late Happiness Harry! He deserves at least NO LESS than what he has received elsewhere -- the sum of a man's life who truly knew the ups-and-downs of making radio broadcasting his career. (as so many of your blog readers know for themselves)
Lord Darth,
Harry also did Mornings at KERN, Bakersfield in 1973.
Cool! i wonder if Harry might have worked with or seen Doug DeRoo and/or Kenny Stevens in transit there at KERN Radio???
As i recall, Harry came in after Doug and Ken went to K/Men
Ahso! you're correct. the timing is right when those guys switched stations now that i remember, thank you.
What's with the censorship thing?
I left a tribute post for Harry and you delete it?
Some of the previous comments are erroneous from people who obviously didn't know him that well.
I did not delete your post. There is a post about Harry under the January 7, 2012 posting.
A little late, perhaps, but I just came across this mention of Harry's death. I knew him as the neighbor of a friend with whom I spent a lot of time in 1967, when Harry was working WDGY and then KQRS in Minneapolis. Harry was a fine character, and an inspiration. So sorry to hear of his untimely demise.
Thanks SO much for this posting! The pictures are awesome. I loved Harry like a father. He dated my mom in the mid 70s in Santa Rosa. When asked what I wanted for my 12th bday, I asked for Harry to take me out to do all my favorite (teenage) things: eat pizza, go to to Swensen's for ice cream and watch a horror movie (he took me to see Carry at the Guerneville theatre - still a favorite!). That was the BEST birthday I ever had thanks to "Happiness Harry". Later, in the mid 80s, when I got my first break into commercial radio at Sonoma county's KREO, after Bill Richards made it numero uno, Harry came to sit in during one of my early on-air shifts. It was like he was my dad, and he beamed, when ever I crack the mic. He seemed very proud of me. I really loved that guy!
Worked with Harry at K-ELP in El Paso, Tx in the mid 60's.
Great guy, always smiling. Also there at the time Charlie Russell, Dennis Forsythe, Steve Crosno and Sonny Melendrez.
Boss Kelp at the time. Great memories. Don Sloan
Harry Scarborough was working at KMBY in Monterey in 1966, and noticed this hard-working part-timer named Eric Norberg (E.G. Norberg on the air) who was working three shifts a week there and two more at KHFR-FM, but who was not getting offered his first fulltime radio job by either station. He needed seasoning but was very dependable. So when John Rasbach, news director of KXOA in Sacramento (#1 at the time with a Boss Radio format) called him to see if he would be interested in coming to Sacramento to do 20/20 news, Harry said no -- but suggested me. I drove to Sacramento and did a cold-read of a five minute newscast in the newsroom onto a tape recorder, and then drove back to Monterey to wait. Got the job -- at that time the DJs were paid very well, and the newspeople were not paid much at all, so they were hiring small-market DJs and developing them into newsmen. In my 11 months there I learned how to use my voice and how to do exciting local news, and I owe that -- and really, my subsequent career as PD at KMBY, APD at KMPC Los Angeles, PD at KEX/KPNW/KWIP in Oregon, and my current 19 years as editor/sales/one-man staff for a monthly neighborhood newspaper, THE BEE, in Southeast Portland, Oregon -- to that recommendation by the thoughtful and kind Harry Scarborough, may he rest in peace. I wanted to publicly acknowledge that. Thanks, Harry. (I have also been running an AC music research service for a third of a century, derived from my PD years, and I still am.)
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