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Kansas City Radio Legend Mike Murphy Dies of Stroke
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(3/27/2011 3:10:14 PM) Flag as inappropriate content
Mikey,
May the saints adore ye and the divil ignore ye.
I love you Mike!
So many memories,back in the late 80's I was a route driver for three years,I always looked forward to hearing Mr. Murphy every day. In the early 90's worked where I could listen to my radio all day, Never missed The Mike Murphy talk show and the cattle drive " WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN'BADGES " I have three Mike Murphy Cattle Drive shirts in my closet, I will wear one for him monday and look up to bid a farewell to a Great radio talk show host. Tell me if I'm wrong but I think an unknowen Garth Brooks was on the show one day. Bless you Mr. Murphy for all the good days of radio listening, Thank You...
There are only a few people along your trek in life who capture your attention and become part of your every waking day routine. For me in KC, it was listening to Mike Murphy, Dr. Marshall Saper, and eventually the new kid on the block...Rush Limbaugh. The 1980's were magic! The wide variety of guests that Mike interviewed, oddball to quite serious, could command your drive-time ear so much that you didn't want to leave the car when you reached a destination. You'd just sit in the car until a commercial broke your trance. I doubt that anyone anywhere in America had a better 1-2 combo back in the 1980's than Murphy/Saper. From UFO experts to entertainer Marilyn Maye, Mike's guests just seemed to pour into the studio or call in from all ends of the earth on a regular basis.
Mike had friends, oh boy, did he ever have friends! I'll never forget his home "Squirrel Manor" where the little rascals kept eating away at his roofline and he'd let it loose on air about 'em. Or the Halloween ghost stories featuring Kansas City's eeriest haunts. His best shows were the unplanned ones. Loved those. Something went wrong in the studio or at home, maybe even at city hall with Mayor Cleaver, Clay Chastain and Union Station, or wry local comedian trying out his jokes on 'ol Mikey unannounced. Mike was the master of "wing'in it". Throw the script out the window. If Mike wanted to know what watering hole you're going to after the show, he'd ask you. Didn't matter if you were a big star or a local bumpkin. I doubt they'll ever be another vaudeville show on radio like "The Mike Murphy Show". They just don't make 'em like they use to. When Mike retired in 2004, you could tell he had run out of gas. Long-time fans of the show could tell. You had to have some history with him to know the time had come.
If you're in your late 40's or so, you kinda notice all your long-time favorites passing away. Gets more frequent every year it seems. People you don't hear or see any more expire suddenly. And you just thought they'd live forever. You're left with memories of better times. Times when a good laugh from a radio guy just made everything else in the day seem tolerable. R.I.P. 'ol Mikey Boy...rest in peace.
Mike use to say, "It's going to be a whiskey day." Meaning that he would end that day with a drink.
I spend thousands of hours listening to him.
God Bless.
My condolences to the family. Mike was a great person, and an absolute icon in the Kansas City community. God Bless.
Saw your item on Mike Murphy of KCMO passing away.
I was Mike’s first producer from 1980-1982 when KCMO lured him back to radio after a “retirement” following ten years as K.C.’s top disc jockey on KMBZ Radio (Bonneville in those days.)
Murphy’s first guests on his premiere Labor Day 1980 were Missouri U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton and Clayton Moore, TV’s “Lone Ranger.” Yikes. That pretty well sums up Mike’s on-air act: funny, unpredictable, and compelling.
His was arriving late (as the theme music swelled) every Monday afternoon, telling people he was tardy because “Monday is trash day in Mission Hills,” a wealthy K.C. suburb. Claimed he was picking up discarded fur stoles, Krugerrands, and other valuables that the rich folks threw away. (Eventually, Mission Hills elected officials complained to KCMO management because Murphy listeners were actually coming out on Mondays and starting to pick through trashcans…)
Mike was a loving, generous talent whose only departure from Kansas City was a 1-year stint around 1986 or 1987 when KNOX hired him to replace the late Jack Carney in morning drive. “Bob Highland liked me, but the audience hated me,” Murph once told me. “So I moved back across the state, and luckily my house hadn’t sold yet so I moved right back in!”
Really, really a superb and unique talent.
TOM TRADUP
V.P./News & Talk Programming
SALEM Radio Network
Dallas, TX
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(3/27/2011 3:10:14 PM) Flag as inappropriate content
Mikey,
May the saints adore ye and the divil ignore ye.
- Jerry Waltrip
(3/13/2011 7:01:50 PM) Flag as inappropriate contentI love you Mike!
- Chris Stoner
(3/12/2011 7:16:15 PM) Flag as inappropriate contentSo many memories,back in the late 80's I was a route driver for three years,I always looked forward to hearing Mr. Murphy every day. In the early 90's worked where I could listen to my radio all day, Never missed The Mike Murphy talk show and the cattle drive " WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN'BADGES " I have three Mike Murphy Cattle Drive shirts in my closet, I will wear one for him monday and look up to bid a farewell to a Great radio talk show host. Tell me if I'm wrong but I think an unknowen Garth Brooks was on the show one day. Bless you Mr. Murphy for all the good days of radio listening, Thank You...
- Brady Winkler
(3/10/2011 10:58:03 PM) Flag as inappropriate contentThere are only a few people along your trek in life who capture your attention and become part of your every waking day routine. For me in KC, it was listening to Mike Murphy, Dr. Marshall Saper, and eventually the new kid on the block...Rush Limbaugh. The 1980's were magic! The wide variety of guests that Mike interviewed, oddball to quite serious, could command your drive-time ear so much that you didn't want to leave the car when you reached a destination. You'd just sit in the car until a commercial broke your trance. I doubt that anyone anywhere in America had a better 1-2 combo back in the 1980's than Murphy/Saper. From UFO experts to entertainer Marilyn Maye, Mike's guests just seemed to pour into the studio or call in from all ends of the earth on a regular basis.
Mike had friends, oh boy, did he ever have friends! I'll never forget his home "Squirrel Manor" where the little rascals kept eating away at his roofline and he'd let it loose on air about 'em. Or the Halloween ghost stories featuring Kansas City's eeriest haunts. His best shows were the unplanned ones. Loved those. Something went wrong in the studio or at home, maybe even at city hall with Mayor Cleaver, Clay Chastain and Union Station, or wry local comedian trying out his jokes on 'ol Mikey unannounced. Mike was the master of "wing'in it". Throw the script out the window. If Mike wanted to know what watering hole you're going to after the show, he'd ask you. Didn't matter if you were a big star or a local bumpkin. I doubt they'll ever be another vaudeville show on radio like "The Mike Murphy Show". They just don't make 'em like they use to. When Mike retired in 2004, you could tell he had run out of gas. Long-time fans of the show could tell. You had to have some history with him to know the time had come.
If you're in your late 40's or so, you kinda notice all your long-time favorites passing away. Gets more frequent every year it seems. People you don't hear or see any more expire suddenly. And you just thought they'd live forever. You're left with memories of better times. Times when a good laugh from a radio guy just made everything else in the day seem tolerable. R.I.P. 'ol Mikey Boy...rest in peace.
- Aaron Anderson
(3/10/2011 8:29:04 PM) Flag as inappropriate contentMike use to say, "It's going to be a whiskey day." Meaning that he would end that day with a drink.
I spend thousands of hours listening to him.
God Bless.
- Terry Payne
(3/10/2011 8:11:30 PM) Flag as inappropriate contentMy condolences to the family. Mike was a great person, and an absolute icon in the Kansas City community. God Bless.
- Mike
(3/10/2011 2:49:01 PM) Flag as inappropriate contentSaw your item on Mike Murphy of KCMO passing away.
I was Mike’s first producer from 1980-1982 when KCMO lured him back to radio after a “retirement” following ten years as K.C.’s top disc jockey on KMBZ Radio (Bonneville in those days.)
Murphy’s first guests on his premiere Labor Day 1980 were Missouri U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton and Clayton Moore, TV’s “Lone Ranger.” Yikes. That pretty well sums up Mike’s on-air act: funny, unpredictable, and compelling.
His was arriving late (as the theme music swelled) every Monday afternoon, telling people he was tardy because “Monday is trash day in Mission Hills,” a wealthy K.C. suburb. Claimed he was picking up discarded fur stoles, Krugerrands, and other valuables that the rich folks threw away. (Eventually, Mission Hills elected officials complained to KCMO management because Murphy listeners were actually coming out on Mondays and starting to pick through trashcans…)
Mike was a loving, generous talent whose only departure from Kansas City was a 1-year stint around 1986 or 1987 when KNOX hired him to replace the late Jack Carney in morning drive. “Bob Highland liked me, but the audience hated me,” Murph once told me. “So I moved back across the state, and luckily my house hadn’t sold yet so I moved right back in!”
Really, really a superb and unique talent.
TOM TRADUP
V.P./News & Talk Programming
SALEM Radio Network
Dallas, TX
- TOM TRADUP
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