48 Friday, September 6, 1985 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
SPECS
Specs Howard uses
experience gained from
a successful radio career
to establish a respected
broadcast school
BY HEIDI PRESS
Local News Editor
He once earned the appellation
"kosher d.j." because he refused to do a
Saturday radio show. At the height of
the payola scandals involving rock 'n
roll disc jockeys in the 1950's, he was
"Mr. Clean." Today, he is the suc-
cessful president/owner of an
industry-acclaimed broadcasting
school which bears his radio name.
He is Specs Howard, a former pre-
law student who turned a. speech re-
quirement for college into a radio
career spanning more than 30 years.
Born Julian Liebman in Pennsyl-
vania, Specs, as he is known to all,
pursued studies toward a law degree,
taking classes in history and political
science. His father wanted him to be a'
lawyer and so did he. "I wanted to be a
courtroom lawyer because, as you can
gather, I like to talk." When most of
his requirements were finished he
took courses in speech, drama and
radio, and even had singing lessons.
An opportunity arose to work for
his roommate's family's radio station
in Pennsylvania, and he jumped at the
chance. "It looked easier than law. It
looked like more fun."
The two eventually bought the
station—for $15,000 —but the cost in
money and time was too much to
handle and the station was sold.
"Then I did what I should've done
— start at the bottom and work up,"
Howard reminisced.
He worked for WKIN and WPIC
in Kitanning and Sharon, Pa., and in
1954 came to KYW radio and TV, a
Westinghouse Broadcasting property
in Cleveland. There, Specs served as a
booth announcer on TV and spent 13
years as a successful announcer and
disc jockey. He had a top-rated Sunday
morning show, "Breakfast in Bed with
Specs Howard," and later pulled down
the 10 a.m.-2 p.m. slot. "It was the best
shift in radio," he recalled.
In 1962, he was teamed with San
Diego disc jockey Harry Martin, creat-
ing the successful "Martin and How-
ard Show" which appeared on Cleve-
land radio from 1962 to 1967, when the
team was moved to Detroit's WXYZ-
AM. In Cleveland, the two hosted a
Top 40 radio show and had a writer to
help prepare skits to showcase the
30-odd character voices the duo per-
formed.
TV talk show host Mike Douglas,
working out of the same building,
often sent his celebrity guests to the
"Martin and Howard Show" to appear
in radio skits with them.