New York City, August 25, 2020 — Legendary radio personality Bruce “Cousin Brucie” Morrow, known for introducing America to The Beatles, Motown, 60s soul, surf music and more, comes home to WABC radio with Cousin Brucie’s Saturday Night Rock & Roll Party, airing Saturday nights (beginning Sept. 5) from 6pm to 9 pm ET on www.wabcradio.com and 77WABC in New York City, the radio station that Morrow helped build back in 1961. Besides hearing the show live around the country on the WABC website and WLIR-FM (Hamptons Bay, NY), listeners can stream the show on the WABC App.
“Cousins, this is literally one of the most exciting projects of my life,” said Morrow. “It completes a circle—a career circle. It all started at WABC, and here we are all these years later, and the magic is still here. And what magic we’re going to make!”
Both radio stations and their digital platforms are owned by John Catsimatidis’ Red Apple Media. “Brucie is a national treasure and talent. Listeners everywhere can now hear this radio icon and their favorite music from the early days of rock and roll on our radio stations and streaming on our digital platforms,” said Catsimatidis. “Red Apple Media is about bringing the best in information and entertainment to New York and all of America however they want to listen, on their phone, radio, smart speaker or computer.”
Most recently, Cousin Brucie was heard by paid subscribers on SiriusXM satellite radio, where he hosted his Wednesday and Saturday night programs since 2005. With his return to 77WABC, Cousin Brucie’s shows are freely accessible to his loyal listeners across the country.
An acclaimed and beloved broadcaster for more than fifty years, Bruce Morrow (“Cousin Brucie”) was born in Brooklyn and grew up a true son of New York City. While attending New York University, he founded the first NYU radio station “with a $28 grant and a couple of wires clipped together.” After early jobs in Bermuda and various other markets, he joined 77WABC in 1961, just as rock and roll music was becoming popular and a few years ahead of the British Invasion that brought The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and more. Cousin Brucie and Ed Sullivan introduced The Beatles at their famous Shea Stadium concert on August 15, 1965. For two decades, he also hosted live concerts broadcast from Palisades Amusement Park, featuring some of the biggest musical acts of the era, many of whom attribute their success to Cousin Brucie playing their songs on the radio.
In the 1980s and ’90s, Cousin Brucie was heard on WCBS-FM, New York’s oldies station at the time, where he hosted the Saturday Night Dance Party, The Top 15 Yesterday and Today Countdown and The Yearbook. At the time, Cousin Brucie also hosted the nationally syndicated radio show, Cruisin’ America. Since 2005, Morrow’s weekly Sirius/XM Satellite Radio programs, Cruisin’ with Cousin Brucie and Cousin Brucie’s Rock & Roll Party have been heard by hundreds of thousands of listeners in the U.S. and around the globe.
Morrow has appeared in films such as Dirty Dancing and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, had featured roles on Broadway in Grease and Memphis, and has made countless television appearances in shows including PBS’ My Music series, featured guest spots on morning television, and more. Morrow’s philanthropic work includes the Variety Children’s Charity (for which he served as president for 10 years) to help fund children in need; and his longtime support of WhyHunger, thanks to his close friendship with the organization’s founder, the late singer-songwriter Harry Chapin. He is the author of several critically-acclaimed bestsellers, including Cousin Brucie: My Life in Rock & Roll Radio and Doo Wop: The Music, the Time, the Era.
Cousin Brucie was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1988 and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2001. He is the recipient of the Bravery in Radio Award from William Paterson University for his “inspirational radio programming and lifelong commitment to radio,” the Talkers Magazine 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award, and he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Montclair State University, for excellence in broadcasting.
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