Barry "Reazar" Richards
| Barry Richards | |
|---|---|
 Barry "Reazar" Richards and Debra "Reazett" Richards | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Reazar |
| Born | Washington, D.C., United States |
| Occupation(s) | Music consultant |
| Years active | 1965-present |
Barry Richards is an American radio TV personality, concert promoter and music producer from Washington, D.C.. Known as "The Hairy Barry", "The Boss with the Hot Sauce", "The Heavy Head Leader", "The Hunk of Funk", “The Greaser that Saw the Light”, "The Reazar", "The Real BR", and "The Sire of The Wire", "The Lip That’s Hip" made an impact during the Late 60s early 70s by introducing progressive rock to the radio airwaves on the East coast. Transforming free-from radio to free-form TV in the early 70s.
Personal life
Barry Richards was born in Washington, D.C. on November 23. Currently living in Beverly Hills with his wife Debra Richards and has 3 sons Stevie "Rocker" Richards (Deceased), Gary Richards (music executive) (married to Anne Richards they have 2 kids Riley and Stevie), and Paul Richards (married to Sivan Vardi).
Recent activities
Today he continues to consult for major record labels as: Def Jam, Interscope, Universal Group, Sony/RCA/Jive, EMI/Capitol, and Warner/Atlantic Record Labels.
Career
On air
It all started in the 1960s as a teenager on WDON Washington D.C under the tutelage of Don Dillard and mentoring of TV dance show host Milt Grant (the Milt Grant Show) that Barry discovered his passion. Because of Richards some performers of The Milt Grant Show were brought to WDON for further interviews and were granted one person with their own show call "Spotlights on Teens" airing for a while when he was just 16. He stayed working at the station as the janitor and once in a while he would get on air. He would carry Dillard's records for record hops, and got the radio bug and knew what he wanted to be on the radio. He continued to stay at WDON while he was at school, until the station went Country and Western.
By 1965 he found opportunities in radio stations such as:
- WDON (AM) Washington, DC
- WMID(AM) station in Atlantic City
- WYRE(AM) in Annapolis
- WITH/Tiger radio(AM) in Baltimore
- WUST(AM) in Washington D.C.
- WINX(AM) in Washington, D.C.
- WHMC(AM) Washington D.C. - Program director and afternoon drive making WHMC the first progressive Rock station on the east coast. It wasn't until radio station owner Nick Chaconas gave Barry the creative freedom to program album cuts and become the first underground radio station, which later morphed into Free-form radio. He became known as your heavy Head Leader. He would play Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane.
- WKTK(FM) in Baltimore, Maryland - Program director and afternoon drive
- WEEL(AM) Washington D.C. - Nighttime air personality
- WKYS(FM) in Washington D.C. - Station known as Disco 92 Nighttime air, making it the first all disco station in the country
- WMOD(FM) in Washington D.C. - Known now as WMZQ he was again nighttime air personality
- WEAM(AM) in Washington D.C. - Program director and afternoon drive - In 1976-1978, a time where African-American and white music didn’t mix, radio stations such as WEAM broke the mold by playing songs with no ethnic political or stylistic boundaries. Known as Urban Contemporary.
- WAIL 105.3 FM located in New Orleans Louisiana, it's a "Cinderella story" according to owner Ed Muniz, The station faced stylistic changes and needed to be successful in 1980 when he team up with experienced Barry Richards the station jump to number one.
- KGFJ(AM)/KUTE (FM) in Los Angeles - Program director and afternoon drive
- KBOS-FM/B95 in Fresno - Program director and afternoon drive
- National program director for Bresson-Hafler Media Group with stations in Philadelphia, Youngstown, Ohio, Columbia and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
- WJLQ(FM)/WCOA(AM) Pensacola, Florida - Co-owner, program director and afternoon drive
- KQQB/KAZZ Spokane, Washington - Co-owner
- KVPW (FM)Fresno with Jerry Clifton
- On air Sirius XM Radio Strobe Channel- Last on air job
Promoting
Richards became a music consultant to many Record Labels and has been a part of the team to help Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, Emerson Lake & Palmer, J Geils, Jethro Tull, Edgar Winter, and Johnny Winter.
He later started HARD Events with son Gary Richards (music executive) now known as Destructo.
Free form TV
Richards has promoted many artists through several popular television shows including Turn-On, Barry Richards Rock and Soul at WDCA-TV 20 Washington D.C.,[1] Video Disco, Studio 78, WJLA/Ch.7/Washington D.C.,WMAR/Ch2/Baltimore,[2] Video Trax on WWL/ch.4 and WDSU/Ch.6 New Orleans", Video Zoo on KDOC TV Los Angeles California, BTV(Fresno Ch. 57) and Fox Breakfast Club Movie WPMI-TV 15 mobile Alabama FOX NETWORK. Some times local comedians as Uncle Dirty a/k/a Robert Altman, Robert Klien, Richard Prior, Cheech and Chong will be on his shows. Richards also ran the Rhythm section of HitMakers Magazine called Reazar's Records.
Turn On
On UHF Channel 20 he kept the show a bit loose, a rambling chaotic blend of rock and camp mixing live acid-rock acts, Steppenwolf and Dr. John with Flash Gordon serials, campy movies from the forties and fifties, Allan Freed rock musical, interviews with Playboy bunnies, Buster Crabbe (The original Flash) and could-be movie stars shown up like: Charlton Heston, Robert Mitchum, Cornel Wilde.
Richards calls the format 'free - form television' because it can run all night from 11pm right up to 8am, hardly any restrictions for the musicians or the interviews.
Turn-on was all about progressive rock acts playing live on TV for the first time. The audience was very hip for this new show and they received response from group rock fans or from those who dig the camp feeling of it. The show started at 11 o'clock on Saturday night only, and whenever the material was done for the week they would play the national anthem and sign the show off. They would go all the way until 8AM when the first Church show came on Sunday Morning.
Rock'n Soul
Recording at WDCA-TV 20 River Road Washington D.C. took place Friday nights at 1:00 AM and Saturday mornings at 10:00 AM; later on, the show moved to an ideal 8 PM Saturday night. This live show including young people dancing to the hits of the day and in-person performances by such artists as The Commodores, Eddie Kendricks, Kool & the Gang, The O'Jays, War, Billy Preston, Earth Wind and Fire, Joe Simon, BT Express, and James Brown.
Video disco
"OOOOO-POP-A-DEEE-DA This is Your Soul Leader"(Rudy, Dec 1977) Tapped at the Classics 3 Night Club in Washington, DC who in 1977 plan a return to the public eye in a new TV show, featuring Disco Music, Disco fashion and Disco dancing. A budget $150,000 to start would allow him to syndicate a classy product as the Indian born entrepreneur Surinder Dhillon was backing him up.
Studio 78
July 27, 1978 "Washing Georgetown shops pulsate with the sound of Disco" Tuesday night at 7:30pm WJLA airs "Studio 78" featuring Disco Dancing and celebrity interviews, hosted by Barry Richards. Shows sponsor HECHT Co./ May Company, Channel 2 and Channel 7. With acts like Gloria Gainer, The Village People, Donna Summer, Andy Gib, Evelyn Champagne King and BT Express.
Video Trax
It originate in the 1980s when Barry Richards known as Reazar join efforts with Rod Carter a program director in channel 6 to create "Video Trax", it's a Music dance show where "Barry talks in phrases that reflect his mile a minute train of thought"(Alligator, March 1984). It runs there from September 1982 to May 1983 . Then thanks to the financial and promotion support of Pepsi Cola the show moved to WWL channel 4 in New Orleans, LA.
Concert promoter
As a concert promoter Richards brought such progressive rock acts as Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, Emerson Lake & Palmer, J Geils, Jethro Tull, Edgar Winter, Johnny Winter, Joe Cocker, and Steppenwolf to a roller rink in Alexandria, Virginia.[3] "He's the promoter who, if you believe the stories, got Led Zeppelin its first Washington area gig, at the Wheaton Youth Center. (Kelly, January 14, 2010)".[4]
Other concerts include: In the 1970s most of the rock and R&B shows done in Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD. Did several discos with superstar DJ Wolfman Jack from the Midnight Special NBC TV Show. July 4 weekends in 1977 The Brute Music Festival was the biggest R&B Soul Show ever put on was equal to Woodstock at the Take it Easy Ranch in Callaway Maryland. It was a three-day weekend that headlined Earth, Wind & Fire, Commodores, Kool and the gang, Emotions, The Sylvers, Bohannon, Tyrone Davis, Michael Henderson, Johnnie Taylor, Gil Scott-Heron, Jimmy Castor, Shotgun, Walter Jackson, Les McCann, Juju, Brute, Brothers Johnson, Slave, Barry Richards. Almost every R&B Soul artist performed, it was live acts from 12 noon to 3 am, after that was continuous Disco.
Hall & Oates
In 1980 Richards was hosting a yearlong tour as promotion director for Carefree Sugarless Gum owned by the Squib Company in New York, they were tied in with a radio station in every city with the local big DJ. Part of the promotion was to get an awareness of Carefree Sugarless gum, which had just come out, through a series of shows taking place in preselected high schools visiting 30 cities. One school in each city that collected the most gum wrappers won a free concert with Hall & Oates, a visit from the local DJ, prizes and $1000 cash.
In the 1990s, he became editor of the Rhythm section in Hitmaker's Magazine from January 1995 to January 2004 Hollywood, California. In 2000 he started his own promotion company, Reazar Record Promotions.[5]
Shows
He hosted California Championship Wrestling Live at the Olympic in Los Angeles as well as the San Bernardino Arena in San Bernardino. He also hosted a Latin Top 40 show, produced and hosted live music videos shows such as: a dance show called Wing Ding WDCA Washington, DC 1967, Grove In WTTG Washington, DC 1969 Barry Richards Turn On (1970–1972) WDCA TV Washington, DC, Barry Richards Rock Show WMAR TV Baltimore, MD (1972–1973), Barry Richards presents Rock Movies WTOP in Washington DC (1973–1974), Barry Richards Rock and Soul WDCA Washington, DC (1975–1977), Video Disc WDCA Washington, DC TV 1977, Studio 78 WJLA TV Washington, DC and WMAR TV Baltimore, MD 1978, Live at the Famous with Barry Richards WDSU New Orleans, LA 1980, Video Tracks WDSU New Orleans, LA (1981–1983), Video Tracks WWL TV New Orleans, LA (1983–1985), Video ZOO KDOC Los Angeles, CATV there is a clip Los Angeles times magazine (1986–1988).
Press
He has been featured in magazines as the Rolling Stone, Billboard, Radio & Records, and newspapers such as The Washington Post,[6] The Merriweather Post Magazine,[7] The Washington Star,[8] The Arlington News,[9] and Time Herald.[10]
References
- ↑ Washington City Paper ArtDesk The Barry Richards TV Collection, Vol. 1 at the AFI Posted by Steve Kiviat on Oct. 8, 2009 at 9:36 am
- ↑ Dee, Dorothy. "Wheelchair doesn't stop local STUDIO 78 backer" The Arlington News, Vol 31, Number 30, July 27, 1978
- ↑ The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973); Rock vs. Crashers By Tom Zito, March 18, 1971;
- ↑ D.C. DJ's old TV show tapes make for a groovy project, John Kelly's Washington, metro columnist Thursday, January 14, 2010
- ↑ Where Are They Now?, LARadio.com, Los Angeles Radio People, R, Compiled by Don Barrett
- ↑ Barry Richards is a 'natural survivor' By Lawrence Laurent; The Washington Post (1974-Current file); Jul 16, 1978; TV5;
- ↑ Hall & Oates The Merriweather Post Vol 1 Issue 3 1980
- ↑ The Ear at the Stones, The Washington star Friday, June 16, 1978
- ↑ "Wheelchair doesn't stop Local Studio 78 backer, by Dorothy Dee, The Arlington News, Vol. 31 Number 30 July 27, 1978
- ↑ Rock vs. Crashers By Tom Zito The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973); Mar 18, 1971; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Washington Post (1877 - 1996) pg. C1