Take a look at this link to YouTube. The person doing the show, who is Bob Sirott, brought an antique radio to my former employer to be restored. Since I like Bob, I restored it on my own time and donated the parts from my dad's forty year old stock.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMqhq67xei0&NR=1
I never realized Jan Gabriel was the voice in the dragstrip commercials; I remembered him as a guy who hosted a show on TV called "Up Tempo." It was sort of an "American Bandstand" show which originated in Chicago. If Jan Gabriel only knew how many times I tried to mimic his dragstrip commercials, he would have had a good laugh. He became the announcer for Santa Fe Speedway. It was advertised as the only speedway with a track of clay. I was never there for the races, but the wooded and unpaved parking lot was the site where at least three major hamfests were held during the summer months. I'll bet I was there at least thirty or forty times on a Sunday, but there weren't any races while I was there.
I forgot to mention Bob Sirott was one of the WCFL deejays during the station's most popular years.
73,
Ron
(In the Ham radio world, "73" is short for "best regards", originating in Morse Code, when we abbreviated as much as possible. Both Ron and I are Ham radio operators...Bud)
Thanks for remembering Jan. He was a very special person who touched thousands of lives.
ReplyDeleteI think Jan touched more than thousands. Many of his fans never knew his name, but they knew his voice. He inspired many of us who wanted to sound like him, but even more important than that, he made every commercial stick in every listener's mind. I was testing transmitters yesterday, and each one had a slight digital delay. I found myself saying, "Sunday, Sunday." Thank you for your comments. Ron Henselman
ReplyDeleteBeing on the show Up Tempo and getting to know Jan. He was very down to earth,as I enjoyed his company during and after his show. He would always let me know where he was to D.J. and always invited me to his radio show in Indiana. Great Guy who I never forgotten.
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