KISN, KJR, WWDJ Talent
First "morning" man when KFRC became Drake Station
Program Director, KGW, KFRC, KYUU, K-101
VP/Programming, NBC Radio
P.D. & Architect, K-EARTH
Research Trailblazer (incl. Research Group)
Many many other professional accomplishments ....

But most important: Our FRIEND
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Seattle Comments

Tom Murphy
I wanted to share a few stories about my friend Mike Phillips.

Mike and I met at KISN in 1960 when he was hired to do weekends.
Mike already displayed radio “smarts” by going to the KISN Transmitter and getting some old jingle “disks” and using them in his demo tape so he would sound like he was actually on the station. I’m sure Mike’s tape would have impressed PD Hal Raymond without the “jingles” but it showed Mike already had a sense of programming. Mike did weekends and some vacation fill-in and then started full time Noon to Three.

Mike and I were pretty close in those days. When Mike bought a new 1961 black Impala with “four on the floor” I had to have a black Impala with four on the floor, which led to some rather unfortunate encounters with Portland’s Finest in the Traffic Division and ultimately the Oregon DMV.

One Saturday afternoon Mike and I were having lunch at The Jolly Joan (Remember that place?) and he commented that his goal was to do a “Perfect Show.” Mike always wanted what came out of the speaker to be “perfect” whether as a DJ or later as a programmer.

Besides Mike’s obvious ability he also had a wonderful sense of humor.

Mike had returned to KISN, after his first stint in Seattle, in the fall of 1962.
Mike was on the air, not for long since one of the towers blew over at the transmitter, when the Columbus Day storm hit. Steve Brown was in town and so Steve, Mike and I decided to see “first hand” what was going on. We got into Steve’s Cadillac and started driving around, probably not the brightest move but then none of us were all that “bright” in those days.
We drove by a restaurant supply company that had blown out windows and some big kettles were rolling around in the street. Mike thought we should grab a couple of them, claiming a person could always use a 20 + gallon kettle. Upon further thought we decided maybe that might not be the case. One of Mike’s “few” judgement lapses.

In Seattle one night he and a friend went to a Pizza Place and flashed some phony badges and claimed to be “Pizza Inspectors.” They were in the kitchen “checking and inspecting” when the owner finally realized what these two “buffoons” were doing and chased them out brandishing a huge knife or meat cleaver. Mike was always imprecise as to which utensil it was.

In San Francisco Mike became a huge fan of Otis Redding and on occasion he would call me in Seattle in the middle of the night and just say, “Otis is my life” and hang up. My wife Connie would say, “Was that Mike and is Otis still his life?”

Mike and I were having lunch when he first arrived in LA to program KRTH.
During the course of the conversation I mentioned I had quit smoking.
Mike said he had, too. I remembered he never smoked. He said he had waited to start smoking only after the Surgeon General had proved how bad it was for you.

There are more stories but perhaps I should wind this up.
Mike was talented, delightful company, a loyal friend, and most importantly, a good person.
I was privileged to know him and I shall miss him.

Pat O'Day
I'm just getting sort of used to Bobby Simon, Emperor Smith, Bwana Johnny, "The Ledge" and Lan being gone and now, Mike. I loved each of these gentlemen as they were individually so special in thier individual ways. Mike Phillips, that golden voice, that matchless sense of humor that could bring us Little Sally Tease. I was so glad that his career rewarded him with lofty positions as he was so talented and so deserving, so dedicated, so honest, so astute, so wonderful.

Damn it Mike, you left before we had that long converstaion we talked about having. What would be have talked about? What we always talked about. Radio, and how much we loved it and how fortunate we were to have been able to enjoy radios deserts in our careers.

How can it be that friends like Mike depart before us. It seems so unfair and it's a shame we can't just all go at the same time in one big happy whoosh! But, life being as it is, we encounter the happy, and eventually the sad, and you just can't have one without the other.

So this is the sad! But my sadness is also filled with the warmth that even in death, Mike gives me. I regret not spending more time with him while he was on this earth, but such is our busy, sometimes self centered lives. Mike was small in stature, and a giant when you measure intellect, sincerity, and dedication. Mike also had an almost little boy honesty that was consistent throughout his life. Couple this with his humility and loyalty, his love of radio, his love of his friends and you have a package that's near impossible to duplicate. Damn, I wish he were here to read this! It's all so true and I forgot to tell him.

So Good Bye Michael. We loved ya!

Dick Curtis
Mike, Lan, Murphy, Eric and I spent some time at my house not many months ago. We later went out to dinner. I'm glad that happened. It's hard to believe that two out of that group are now gone. I'm sure the two and Jerry Kay are looking down on us all and telling rock 'n roll radio stories....some of it true. Mike was Jerry's best friend. I thought of calling Mike last week but put it off. Sometimes we never learn our lessons. Mike was one of the truly classiest guys I ever met in the business. He was a huge success during his career but never talked about it. Mike wasn't a braggart. For Mike it always was, "action speaks louder than words." I always respected Mike Phillips for his talent and his no bullshit, straight forward approach to the business. I will miss him!

Steve West
Mike was a little like Vince Lombardi. I have fond memories of his push and expectations for a locally produced history of rock n roll on KJR when I was the all-nighter. He set the bar high for the vision he heard in his head....and found the way to impart the vision and set the standards to bring the results he wanted. It was from Mike that I learned to respect the strategic side of radio...and the realization that tactics by themselves could never withstand a long battle...you had to have a plan.

His success in our business was remarkable But he did it in a very silent way. As I reflect back tonight, I realize Mike has been winning all his life, he just never told anyone. It's terribly sad to see him go!

Les Parsons
I met him shortly after walking though the door at 10th & Burnside in Portland – the “KISN Korner.” That was in late 1961. He was just a kid. Literally. And he was amazing!!

This “kid”, who was a student at Benson High School, had obtained a number of acetate discs of KISN programming elements; jingles, promos, news intro, etc. Those were in the days before cart machines! At the school student radio station he cut an audition tape using various Burdenish one-liners, talked up to song vocals, and cleverly inserted appropriate cuts from those semi-scratchy discs – they were discards which he somehow, resourcefully, acquired. Mike had the admirable chutzpah to take his tape to Hal Raymond, the PD at the time, and shortly thereafter young Mike became the “Luncheon-Munchin’ Swingin’ Gentleman!”

Hal told me that tape sounded as though it was an actual KISN air-check – it was that good. Like I wrote above, he was “amazing.” It’s my belief that only “World” among the Old Farts would be aware of that particular and pretty astonishing Mike Phillips story. Chutzpah anyone?

He did indeed have an incredible career, as has been noted.
Mike’s suffering has ended, but for all of us his memory will be long-lasting.

I very much appreciated Pat’s writing on this sad subject – eloquent and thoughtful as always.

Aloha to all

Burl Barer
The first KJR jock I ever met was Tom Murphy -- we arrived in Seattle the same day. He showed up to do afternoons on the Mighty 95; I drove up from Walla Wall to attend the U of W. One year later (plus a month or two) I was on the air at 'JR..and listening in rapt attention as the men I most admired spun storeis about the men they most admired. Tom often spoke of Mike Phillips, as did Jerry, Pat, Curtis, and others in our close knit coiterie of temporary local pop-culture amplitude modulated icons.

When Mike and I finally met,there was no awkward silence or a lack of topics for discussion - after all, we shared a love of real live radio forged in the common cruicible of "playing the hits."

It is impossible for me to pay adequate tribute to a man I hardly knew, but I know how impressed I was with his unassuming nature, and his honestly offered acceptance of me as a fellow professional and friend of his friends. I trust that in the next dimension, the hereafter, or whatever you want to call it, there is an equivelent of Andy's where eventually we will all again regale each other with tall tales of ARBs after our last Pulse.

www.burlbarer.net

Frank Thompson
I missed Mike by a few months at KJR 1968/69 so I didn’t meet him until he and Shotgun Tom Kelly (K-EARTH) and my sweetheart Virginia Claymore and I had breakfast in Beverly Hills one sunny February morning in 2003.

We had a fine time. His openness and warmth was much in evidence. He had recently retired from radio and was looking forward to “doing other stuff.”

We met and chatted again at Andy’s Diner on the occasion of Lan’s memorial.

By then he did not look well. And so the starwheel, reluctantly, turned.

Buzz Barr
Mike came up to me at the last meeting I attended at Andy's and we had a long talk about KJR and things we did and things we should of done...it was my best visit with Mike ever including when I worked for him. He was a kind human being and as I thought a real pro in the business. I am sad to hear the news, and will continue to respect him as one of those broadcasters we don't see anymore...God Bless you Mike, and hope you are in a better dial position now with the Big Guy Upstairs.

The Slim One
Slim's career started in Seattle; but very much like Mike, she went on to kick all our asses in the more attractive markets! In this post, originally made on pdxradio (but shared here with her permission), she recounts meeting Mike for her stint at KFRC under his leadership in the mid 1980's.


Mike and I met when he hired me at KFRC, waaay back in '84. Long story short, it was the best gig of MY LIFE!!! But - the rest of the story: I was up in Washington state (out of work, staying with my folks, after traveling from Chicago, after a proposed KGW gig had fallen thru!) when Mike & I finally connected.

He said he was flying up to Seattle, and could I meet him at the airport. Of course I said yes...not knowing that he was coming up SPECIFICALLY to interview me. We met, and went across the street to a restaurant, had lunch, talked, and then he asked me to take him back
to the airport...at that point I KNEW he'd come up to see ME. BUT - he wasn't talking!!! I said - wait a minute!!! you mean you're LEAVING, and you're not going to tell me if I've got the gig??!! I was crazed!!!! It was pretty funny. He just smiled that little smile, and said, "I'll be in touch".....He called about a week or so later, offering me the 5p - 9p slot on the World's Greatest Radio Station.

Our air check meetings: I think we had one, maybe two. I'd go in, sit down, he'd smile and say, 'How's it goin'?" I said couldn't be better, it's the greatest, I'm loving every minute, etc etc etc. Then he said something like, 'well you sound good, keep it up', there'd be a little small talk, and that was it. That's called the perfect pd.

At that time, he'd also brought in Chuck Browning to do afternoons, and seemed to shepherd him along, in the twilight of Chuck's radio career. I remember Mike being very happy when the winner of the 50K we gave away was on Chuck's show.

It ended in '85, and we lost touch, but we had lunch years later when he worked at the research group in Seattle. Then we ran into each other again at K-Earth, in 2000 or 2001, right before he retired.

We had re-connected a little over the summer, and he'd asked me for my phone number (which I gave) but I didn't hear from him. I think he had probably gotten too sick by then.

Anyway, he played a huge part in my 'radio years'... that short time on KFRC was the best time of my radio life, and that was not only because it was a 'dream' station for any serious Top 40 jock, but because Mike just let me be...me. I listen to those old airchecks
today, and just shake my head...I doubt ANY station today would let me get away with what I got away with with Mike...but he WANTED us to have fun, that was the deal. And, really, I wasn't 'getting away' with anything - he encouraged you to stretch, simply by letting you
'be'...what an amazing thing. Micro-managing was something he NEVER did. The dream pd, for sure.

I still have his note, welcoming me to San Francisco, "where you have climbed halfway to the stars".....

It is such a blessing to read all the positive comments here, about him. I know he'd LOVE it, too! Thanks for the opportunity to share mine.

The Slim One
sagecoach@bnswest.net


Danny Holiday
I knew Mike wasn't in good health and we discussed our health issues one year ago. I first heard about Mike in 1962 when Chris Lane came to KPUG to tune us up a little bit. During this time, Chris talked about a 20 year old find that was going to set radio on fire. Chris had just hired Mike Phillips and was very proud to have him. From that point on, Mike became my goal. I wanted to be just like him.
We will miss you Mike.

www.DannyHoliday.com

Eric Dawes
It's hard to swallow this loss. In a business filled to the brim with arrogant a%%***es, Mike's presence stood out because he was quiet, accomplished, respectful of his friends and peers, and let his track record do his talking for him. I learned from that ... now recognizing it's not unusual for the quietest person in the room to be the one who SHOULD have the loudest bragging rights.

Nice to remember that after his retirement he never looked back at the business and wished he were still in our rat race. Last time he stayed at my place we kind of settled into an informal "game". I wanted to keep asking him about people he worked with over the years ... he wanted to know more about what made Bill Gates "tick". So he'd answer a question, I'd answer a question, and back and forth it went -- and think we both had a good time learning tidbits from the other.

Clearly among the top of my fondest radio memories is attending Mike's retirement party several years ago down in Santa Monica. The room jammed with luminaries from the industry, an after party private dinner even more so. Recognizing these people adored Mike was, for me, the most obvious yet unspoken tribute of the whole evening.

If you have contributions, please send them to Eric