Danny Bonaduce: Motown's favorite carrot-top?

women listeners that advertisers covet.
Surrounded by his stalwart wake-up
crew ( Linda Lanci, Stacey DuFord and
veteran newsman Dave Lockhart), Harp-
er's "Breakfast Club" is chatty, homespun
and occasionally hokey, but a winner by
any definition.

DANNY BONADUCE AND THE "Q

CREW," 6-10 a.m. Mondays-Fridays,

WKQI-FM (95.5 ):
Much to Detroit's delight, at
least one fallen TV child star from
the 1970s has landed on his feet.
In fact, Bonaduce, who has re-
bounded from the pitfalls of early
(lune on "The Partridge Family" to
become one of the I lardest Work-
ing Men in Radio ( he also hosts a
daily afternoon-drive program in
Chicago) has parlayed his name
recognition with an anything-goes
mentality and boyish likability to
become Motown's favorite carrot
top.
As WKQI's chosen replacement
for morning monarch Dick Purtan,
who has worked wonders in mov-
ing over to oldies WOMC-FM
(104.3), Danny could have been set
up for another career nosedive. But Lisa Orlando: The former "Lisa Lisa" has re-emerged.
his perpetually excited raspy de-
return of old Detroit R&B hotbed WDRQ.
livery and the considerable con-
She's also hosting a progressive dance
tributions of sidekicks Rebecca-Marshall
and John lieffron have helped keep the show called "Studio DRQ" from 8 p.m.-1
a.m. Saturdays that's big on beat, heavy
"Q" a formidable three in the ratings.
on hustle. A tightly-wound bundle of mu-
LISA ORLANDO, 3-7 p.m. Mondays-Fri- sical energy and streetwise sassiness, Or-
lando has landed within a radio format
days, WDRQ-FM (93.1):
You can take the princess out of the that sounds like it was tailor-made just
penthouse, but you can't take the party for her particular talents.
out of the princess. Forced into limbo af-
ter urban-rock WHYT-FM transformed DAVID NEWMAN, 8-11 p.m.
itself into "The Planet" (96.3) a few years Mondays-Fridays, WJR-AM (760):
Sometimes, fate really does close one
ago, former nighttime queen "Lisa Lisa"
has re-emerged in the daylight with the door in order to open a bigger and better

one. And of all the wholesale
changes that swept through De-
troit's traditional AM giant in
1996, the most welcome may have
been the resurrection of Newman
-- unquestionably our city's most
urbane, provocative and articu-
late talk-show professional — i
prime time after his unceremoni-
ous dumping by WXYT-AM.
Newman was often dismissed
as an overly intelligent highbrow
by his previous employers — as if
anything on radio these days could
be too intelligent — but in retro-
spect, it appears he may simply
have been too big for the room.

LIZ COPELAND, midnight-5

a.m. Mondays-Fridays, WDET-
FM (101.9):
And among the finalists in the
"Best Radio Job in Detroit" cate-
gory is this eclectic young lass of'latenight,
who has fallen into a gig any deejay would
die for: To play literally any music that
suits her fancy, from gut-bucket blues to
classic country and everything in between,
for five hours every weeknight on Detroit's
public radio outlet.
"My goal is to always have the show
sound interesting," Copeland says simply.
"If I ever feel like I know everything that's
going on in music, that's when I should
quit, because I don't. There's just so
much."

Today's Jewish Voices Cu Radio

JIM MCFARLIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

bands, a wide range of celebrity and po-
litical interviews, and studio sidekicks
Rachel Nevada and comedian Ken Brown.
"When we went on the air, the show
was two hours with my name attached,"
Albom reflects. 'Nobody knew what was
going on, or exactly what it was supposed
to be. Today, I think we have a show that
is very distinct, known for big-name in-
terviews, humor, news of the day and a
certain personality.

hile Detroit radio has been graced
with a glorious legacy of Jewish
on-air talents, from Mickey Shorr
and Rube Weiss to Dorian
Paster, Specs Howard and Seymour Ra-
binowitz — you may remember him bet-
ter as Robin Seymour — their numbers
have seldom been plentiful.
Still, a scan of metro Detroit's AM and
FM bands today reveals distinctive per-
formers who have helped the nation's sixth
largest radio city gain its
reputation as one of the ra:
most diverse and excit- r-,1
mg markets in America.
The "Great Voice of t,
the Great Lakes," WJR- P
AM (760), sought to be-
come greater — and
younger, and hipper —
through a radical over-
haul of its on-air pro-
gramming, led by the
addition of award-win-
ning sports columnist
Mitch Albom in its key
4-6 p.m. afternoon drive
slot.
Rather than center on
sports, Albom — who Mike Stone is "Stoney" on WDFN-AM (1130) from 4-7 p.m. weekdays.
marked his one-year an-
"Ken and Rachel are as well-known to
niversary with "Albom in the Afternoon" WJR listeners now as I am, which is good,
a
late-night
TV
on Jan. 2 — tried to create
and the audience seems to feel like one big
talk show on radio, complete with live

W

family, as if the show is where they're sup-
posed to go on their way home from work.
That's what we're after, so if it's working,
I'm grateful."

g

Nationally syndicated sports newspaper
columnist, radio and TV man Mitch Albom
marked his one-year anniversary with WJR's
"Albom in the Afternoon" show Jan. 2. The show
airs 4-6 p.m. weekdays on 760-AM.

WJR's mid-day lineup boasts no-non-
sense Jewish L.A. psychologist Dr. Laura
Schlessinger, and evenings feature the
articulate, penetrating Detroit talk host
David Newman (8-11 p.m., Monday-
Friday).

Other Detroit Jewish voices include
Mike Stone, co-host with Bob Wo-
jnowski of WDFN-AM's spirited drive-
home show, "Stoney & Wojo," from 4-7
p.m. weekdays; finan-
,-; cial expert Rick
`i Bloom, whose "Money
g Talk" airs from noon-9
2 p.m. Saturdays and
Sundays on WXYT-AM
0 (1270); and Monte
Korn, who mixes fi-
nancial insights with fa-
therly wisdom (and an
occasional poem) at
11:30 a.m. Mondays-
Fridays on WEXL-AM
(1340).
Classic rock 'n' roll
music from the 1960s
through the 1980s, in a
format created by De-
troit native Fred Jacobs (see JNE PRO-
FILE story), is embellished at 8 p.m.
Sundays by "The Motor City Blues Pro-
ject," a two-hour series hosted by local
music hound (and former WCSX pro-
grammer) Mark Pasman.
Finally, from 34 p.m. Fridays, WPON-
FM (1490) carries "The Jewish Hour," a
mix of music, interviews anti Chasidic
viewpoints hosted by Rabbi Herschel
Finman. ❑
See "REMEMBER WHEN . . ." page 86

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