The Johnny Holliday in CRUISIN' 1964 was the "original" Johnny Holliday - lots of disc jockeys were "assigned" that name in later years - and in this, the year the Beatles invaded the U.S., he was No. 1 in the ratings from 3 to 7 p.m. on WHK, Cleveland.
Holliday, if possible, went even faster than B. Mitchell Reed (CRUISIN' 1963), probably thanks to his experience announcing sports in Cleveland, and every word was perfectly enunciated, thanks, perhaps, to his two seasons of Cleveland summer stock. Plus: he savored the rhymed cliche unlike any other ("let's click the turnstiles in our wax files," "headed for the tipety-top of the ol' pop crop") and went absolutely bananas over alliteration ( he broadcast not from a studio, but from a "platter patrol"). In the vales of verbal virtuosity, Johnny Holliday was the Master Mouth, a Tour de Force de Tongue.
(Holliday, who had been with WHK since 1959, wasn't just known for his speed and sleight. Over the years he'd won dozens of public service awards and while with WHK organized station basketball and softball teams which raised over $100,000 for local charities.)
Most Californians only know about WHK (Cleveland, Ohio) by the 1973 "Cruisin' 1964" LP featuring JOHNNY HOLLIDAY, best known to Californians from KYA in the Bay Area.
The WHK facility USED to be state of the art. The transmitter site in Seven Hills, OH was art deco to the max, manned 24/7 featuring both studios, DJ booth, and offices...not to mention "sleeping quarters" for the engineer.
