XERFWolfmanJack

In 1983 the 250,000 watt RCA transmitter was restored at XERF-1570, one of the infamous "border blaster" stations in Mexico. Wolfman Jack made a guest appearance on the station to celebrate the return to full power operation. The story was originally shot for "PM Magazine" by WFAA-TV Dallas. The narrator is Leeza Gibbons. The original video was shot on 3/4" tape and transferred to 1" tape in post production. You're viewing a transfer from the original 1" tape, which like most 30 year old tape has suffered age related damage. Enjoy the trip down memory lane with one of Rock and Roll's most dynamic personalities broadcasting from one mother of a powerhouse radio station. The audio is not quite right, that will be fixed in the next week or so.

[@ImreDemech]

I met him personally at a oldies rock & roll concert 1990 in Lima, Ohio. We both were staying at a new Holiday Inn Hotel. Met him in the lobby near the bar as he was coming down from the 2nd floor with two of his agents. He was scheduled to perform in two hours at a out door arena near the Hotel. I asked for his autograph as we chatted about how the Marines at Camp Pendleton listened to his station in 1969 before going to Vietnam. Told me he was proud of the Marines & had lost a couple Marine friends from the war. I triggered his memory as he told me he had a lot of Marine Corps friends during that time & era of Vietnam War. He asked me if I was going to the concert I said yes & he said I'll see you there.The front of the stage was open to standing & dancing as I was right in front of the stage. He saw me, pointed his finger at me & threw me a T-Shirt with the title of his concert printed on it. After the concert was over the bar was open at the Hotel, Wolfman & Tokens were there talking to people & having a few drinks. Wolfman was looking at the selections on the Jukebox & saw me again asking me if I would get him a Rolling Rock beer. Paid me for it & said he had to talk to this lady at his booth about business matters. Me & my wife went over to the Tokens & ask them questions & autograph on their CD they were selling at the bar. Later in the night we went to our room & Wolfman was only two doors away from our room as I met him again getting ice from the machine. Ask me how I liked the Concert, & we went our ways. Never saw him again but heard of his death only months later. I had his autographed picture, CD & T-Shirt as memories of the concert with Wolfman & his band, the Tokens & Davy Jones of the Monkees. Wolfman was one of a kind! I triggered his memories of his Marine Friends & he triggered mine of the Marine Corps & Vietnam. When I watch American Graffiti I think of that concert now instead of the war.

[@MrMenefrego1]

Thank you!

[@sugarkitti3051]

Loved your story. I never had the pleasure of running into Wolfman Jack but living in Las Vegas I have bumped into many celebrities over time from Dr. Demento to Sylvester Stallone. All wonderful people.

[@RockandRollMusic00]

Wolfman Jack was one of a kind and a reminder of when the world, even despite it's problems at that time, was a better place. Thank you for sharing your story.

[@jahn4141]

I can't believe I am watching this. We've lost some of radio's greats in the last several years. Amazing to see my dad again, with all of his enthusiasm. RIP Mike Venditti

[@norelle3066]

Tears-in-my-eyes-WONDERFUL! :)

[@randydietterich417]

I remember Mike as well. So good to see him at least on video. Had many conversations about these days.

[@dalehall2067]

I work in radio back in the 60s for five years. Nothing with that per frustration I think the biggest I had was 5000 watch and they would be in the trance mirror to go to Nebraska Alanna Texas. Lotta good memories. No money put a Lotta good memories. But then I was very young man oh my 20s

[@lornahopkins460]

Used to listen to Wolfman Jack in the middle of the night in the early '60's, I was 11 years old. Loved every minute.

[@dougrogillio2223]

"Who is dis on da Wolfman telephone?" Loved it every time I heard it.

[@aceanonymous3647]

joe from little rock haha

[@johnschick5827]

I was 14 yrs old in 1962, but I KNEW the Wolfman. Hell, every kid in SoCal knew him. You're right J Ahn we have lost so many great DJ personalities over the years like B. Mitchel Reed, the real Don Steel, Shotgun Tom Kelley, Rick Dees, Loyd Thaxton, and the list goes on. The days of celeb DJ are over. I remember Loman & Barkley, too. They were hilarious. Today's kids don't know what they missed. American Graffiti brought back so many memories. We had it good!

[@CompetitiveAudio]

There will never be another "Border Blaster" like XERF. Sometime in the future, late on a winter's night as you tune through what's left of the AM dial, maybe you'll hear drifting up and out of the static, the rich baritone voice of Paul Kallinger "Your Good Neighbor Along The Way" and maybe if you are really lucky, the ghostly howling of Wolfman Jack playing great oldies as only he could...RIP XERF. And to Paul Kallinger, and Wolfman Jack...Thank you for the memories...

[@CompetitiveAudio]

+preservationhall01 My listening experience with XERF starts around 1963 as a kid. I even got a QSL card from them. According to my research XER was the station rated at 500kw-750kw into a multi-wire fan dipole with three vertical radiators until the Mexican government took the station off the air moving the original 1933 transmitter to Mexico City XEX where it remained operational into the mid 1960's. It's predecessor XERF returned to the air on a different frequency at a different transmitter site in the late 40's with the RCA 250kw running into a 1/4 wave vertical as it does today. Since it's a ND vertical the gain is unity however 250k is nothing to hang your head over HAHA. When the license was relinquished to the government for the last time a Harris DX-50 was installed an runs around 10kw at night. Too bad KZbin stripped the music out of this video, thankfully I grabbed it before the change.

[@CompetitiveAudio]

+preservationhall01 Outstanding!!! I will checkout your info as well. I have many pictures of XER and some of XERF including the RCA xmtr. I assume you too have the 'Border Blasters' book as well. Interesting reading and mostly correct. I've also got several interviews with Gonzalez as well. Quite the lawyer...

[@CompetitiveAudio]

+CompetitiveAudio We won't have these stations much longer as Mexico is rapidly transitioning the old border stations as well as other AM stations off the AM band to FM. Sad to see that happen as I've listened to many of them over the years. I almost ended up working at XEROK during the top 40 years under John Long. I use to listen to soul music post Wolf on 1050 XEG as well.. Fun times...

[@HPCAT88]

Goosebumps. Dude.

[@kirkmoore4515]

CompetitiveAudio We will always have border radio here in San Diego. XEPRS (XERB) AKA The Migjty 1090 sports radio, XETRA-FM FM rock, XHRM 92.5 old school, XHIZ 90.3 rap hip hop, XEPE 1710 sports. But we'll always remember Wolfman Jack on XERB!

[@jc-qc3yu]

Wolfman Jack was the best … miss him on the radio . I met him in Manhattan years ago. What a gentleman he was… rest in peace buddy thank you for the great memories on the radio .

[@davemitchell116]

0:36 Wow! The voice of Paul of Paul Kallinger! The Del Rio furniture store manager turned announcer. It brought back more memories than hearing the Wolfman. Maybe I should explain. I was a radio jock for over 50 years and worked for a couple of stations in West Texas not far from Del Rio. Kallinger was a legend, hawking as many offbeat items on XERF as the Wolfman did.

[@ConwayTruckload]

I remember this station. It had lots power. I lived in Houston and I remember hearing this station come through my Mom's sewing machine. lol

[@briteness]

He was iconic. I am too young to remember him from XERF, but I loved his Midnight Special TV shows in the 70s and early 80s.

[@paulcochran1721]

Good recording for 1983. " Clap for the Wolfman - He gonna rate your record high !"

[@rickskelton2880]

I was in high school...living in a small West Texas town....listening to the Wolfman....every chance I got..!! How fun..!!

[@bobjlv]

The first time I heard XERF was on my small transistor radio living in Tampa, Florida. It came booming in...of course Wolfman was what kept me listening.

[@juans6639]

I was born and raised in Del Rio, Texas. Attended Del Rio High School and graduated in1965. Wolfman Jack used to broadcast from the 6th floor of the Old Roswell Hotel in downtown Del Rio. We listened to his program.

[@scottbeater-man3714]

Wolfman Jack will always be alive in my heart

[@bobjlv]

I remember as a young boy with my first transistor radio living in Tampa, FL and XERF BOOMED in like a local. I was immediately addicted!!

[@CompetitiveAudio]

The "Antenna Line Current" was reading "60 amps", which means, when the video was taken, Mike Venditti (RIP) had that old war horse RCA pumping out 180,000 watts..Incredible performance for a transmitter built around 1947 and considered dead for 20 years or more..Mike was an incredible engineer for sure.

[@nakayle]

How many watts that 60 amps is depends on the line impedance. Not all transmitters use 50-ohms. Older ones often use 70 ohm lines which would make the wattage 252,000. Also that looks like an "Ampliphase" transmitter. Ampliphase was RCA's trademark for "outphasing" modulation and RCA didn't start making those until 1955 and probably not at that power level until some years later.

[@CompetitiveAudio]

As a chief engineer for over 40 years in high power AM/FM broadcasting I'm aware of the direct method of RF power calculation. Also having known Mike I'm aware of the impedance of the transmission tower at Vila Acuna. If you'll note the Dynamo label listings you'll also see the line current versus power posted. At 30 amps squared times impedance 50 ohms power equals 45kw. Granted 50kw RCA Ampliphase transmitters were made in mass beginning in the early 50's this 'beta' version transmitter was one of of a kind and the manufacture date was indeed the late 40's.

[@HDExposed]

After and during WW2 the conventional rigid line was 70 (67 typically) copper tubing.

[@nakayle]

I didn't notice the labels in the video, but yes, going by those numbers it must be 50 ohms but I thought this was suppose to be a 250-KW xmtr? In which case it should have been 70.7 amps. For years I maintained a BTA-50H Ampliphase installed in 1965. It ran 31.2 amps at 52-ohms. If you say that xmtr was installed in 1947, ok, but it is very different than the RCAs I have seen from the 1940s. The story I heard was the first "ampliphase" was custom built at KFBK from a French design. RCA then brought the design and began building them in 1955. From what I can see the xmtr in this video is very similar to the 50H. The exciter looks a little different and the 50H used silicon, not mercury rectifiers.

[@christiansoldier1968]

www.durenberger.com/documents/XERFRCA.pdf I don't know a volt from an amp or a watt, but the history of this radio station fascinates me. Glad you knew Mr. Vindetti. From the brief video, he seemed like an awesome individual. Just contributing to the conversation, this article, if correct, states that the RCA-BTH 250A wasn't installed until 1959.

[@demonrouge3338]

The Wolfman said birds would fall out of the sky when they flew over the station. I love that guy. He was a genuine nice guy the Wolfman here’s to you Wolfman all night long.

[@choclochonclo]

Had to watch this again. So many great memories. The Wolfman lives on.

[@jeffhomama18]

I first remember the wolfman from Garfield in Paradise. He was a little before my time but I still remember some of his work.

[@dburch7894]

In 1962 I was 12, living in LA. Started listening to Wolfman Jack around 1965. There were rumors that Wolfman was black. Nobody cared all we knew was that he was the man.

[@philipmonolagi269]

God bless you Wolfman 😎😎👏🏿👏🏿❤❤📻📻

[@sonofeloah]

I remember. I remember how I was not allowed to listen to rock n roll and so was listening in secret with my crystal diode radio that only picked up one station and one station only, xerb so I could listen to the wolfman do the boogaloo all night long. Also remember those hours long catholic prayers on that station. Sure do miss those times with the ol wolfman.

[@robbburns4707]

Gone but never forgotten. Radio ICON AND LEGEND.

[@Tiffany.1970]

ah such wonderful memories of the wolfman jack Bob Smith oh boy his voice rock on baby gimme some more ya got the one wolfman Jack spinning the records n howling all night on xerf

[@franciscogil6798]

I dad gave me a old 49 Chevy in 1975 it was funny cranky but the radio could get the American radio station like locals 700 miles south of the Rio and the wolfman jack was blasting music all night long

[@renewii]

For the record XERF-AM is still operating from Ciudad Acuña with 100 000 watts of power day and night. Today government owned and in the nights we can listen to them in Mexico and some parts of southern USA

[@davidortega357]

I. Got my first pocket radio for my birthday I enjoyed listening to wolf jack growing up in Los Angeles CA Wilmington CA he played good rock & roll oldies soul, I'm a Christian now I listen to gospel obey Acts 2 38 be bless you rockers I was 13 years old in 1962 I'm now 73 years old I'm ol school as a teenager I had my 57 Chevy lowrider cruise Whittier Blvd elos and Avalon Blvd back in 1968 got drafted in U S During VN war

[@christopherboone9802]

The most powerful AM in North America was WLW Cincinnati...the 250kw border blasters were 3db down ;) Still to see that transmitter brought back to life without a schematic, incredible!! Shame they didn't run stereo on it...Cquam or even, gads KAAAAAAAHN! LoL

[@earlfleer2723]

There was much more to XERF than the brief stint or period of time that Wolfman Jack was there. Paul Kallinger also played a major role in the success of the station. Mervyn Hagger, who posted a comment on this thread, was right about the PM Magazine show using very little footage of the "real" XERF. Dr. Brinkley had nothing to do with XERF. He died at least five years before XERF went on the air in 1947. Someone has to publish the factual history of XERF. Mike Venditti was the engineer who restored the old RCA Ampliphase transmitter to its full power in 1982 without the benefit of a schematic. In the broadcasting trade, Mike was considered an electronic wizard. Unfortunately, he passed away at a very young of cancer in New Jersey where he and his wife owned and operated radio station WNJC.

[@choclochonclo]

This was so good to hear and see. I do remember him well. There will never be another Wolf 🐺 Man. But who knows what the Future might bring???

[@rplace8737]

The RCA Ampliphase transmitter was amazing...and big!..it took up several rooms and a person could actually fit inside some of the cabinets. The last Ampliphase I saw was at WALE in Providence, RI...with six towers! only 50,000 watts, though...over the ocean! I used to listen to the Wolfman on WNBC New York in the early 70s...RIP!

[@hugeblue]

4/7/23- Wolfman, The Greatest EVER!!!

[@sweetgolden2010]

I used to love hearing him in the 80s as a kid specially around Halloween, how I miss those days

[@michaelcorleone993]

This is amazing. Great upload

[@spjfrat]

He always gave a good vibe. Miss him.

[@oldsalt7534]

I was born and raised in Del Rio. I graduated high school with Paul Kallinger's son and used to hang out at their house when we were kids. Of course we listened XERF and The Wolf Man all the time. By the way, Paul Kallinger is in the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame.

[@budsgalore4514]

Remember back in the day Super Tweaker was a good thing! Wolf man Jack is the goat of golden day radio! I used to dress & try to in imitate him on Halloween when I DJ at the bar. Nobody knew who I was.😕

[@surferpam1]

In Rosarito, Baja California it was XER*B* with about 100-thousand watts which would *still* reach up to the Canadian border.

[@larrystuder6378]

Northhern California, about '68, I listened to XERB, r ebroadcast thru AM 1580, KDON, Salinas, CA.

[@timc3639]

@@larrystuder6378 in LA, it was 1580 KDAY.. aaaahhhoooooo

[@ericswedberg4180]

It also reached every toaster and dental filling in San Diego.

[@manuhonkanen2111]

Wolfman Jack for president!

[@garytheroux9526]

This story is not completely accurate. In the early '80s -- prior to 1983 -- I (Gary Theroux) used to alternate nights on the air at XERF with Wolfman Jack -- who appeared via recycled aircheck recordings of his early '60s XERF broadcasts. The reference to chickens in this video is correct. What XERF did not tell listeners was that for a few bucks the buyers would be shipped boxes of live MALE chicks -- which would otherwise be destroyed by the chicken ranches where they were hatched. Since roosters do not lay eggs and are considered inedible, they re routinely killed -- usually in highly gruesome ways Selling such chicks over the radio made them profitable -- but not very -- .to the ranchers and XERF. The losers were the unsuspecting listeners who bought them and soon found themselves with coops full of battling roosters. I did get to become friends with Wolfman and we had plans to cut some records at the time of his passing, which came right after he published his autobiography. .Bob "Wolfman Jack" Smith was later buried in his own back yard.

[@dvenuzka]

Did you have some radio shows of Wolfman Jack? Can you send to me if you have?

[@UberLummox]

Thanks for your story!!!

[@renewii]

Great story!! Profit$ above all for thedr border blasters!

[@RegisWilkins]

Difference is Wolfman Jack was a star, never heard of you

[@garytheroux9526]

That's OK. I've never heard of you..

[@UberLummox]

Truly monument of Americana. A total and complete legend. THE *master* heavywieght DJ of all time. Was too young to hear it on The X, but in the '70s he was on some kind of syndicated broadcast every Sunday. "Clap For the Wolfman!!!"

[@jefflanham1080]

There are a handful of names that exemplify the magic that the music business once was…….if it was in your blood, YOU FOUND A WAY TO BE A PART OF IT!!! If you couldn’t play or sing , then you started a record company, or became a promoter or …………..YOU BECAME THE GREATEST DISC JOCKEY TO EVER LIVE!!! Forever RIP WOLFMAN!!!

[@chrisplenty8353]

We love the Wolfman,

[@adamgutierrez8680]

rip wolfman jack 57 years old we love you

[@HamRadioLiveShow]

Going to do a salute to the Wolfman on an upcoming show. Love to use this clip. This is pure gold. Thank you for posting it. I’ll put a link to your channel in the description section!

[@larrycarmody8325]

I just got out of the Army in 1960, lived it all in those days going up in the 50's & Elvis's top tunes. With all that power Wolf man Jake never reached the mid west.

[@vassa1972]

I'm a stroke and cardiac arrest survivor and have a defibulator in my chest now and now how it feels to get shocked

[@Chalmich5]

The dark brunette at 3:15 with the paperwhite top, is what dreams are made of. 😇

[@ricardomorales249]

god bles wolfman jack auuuuu

[@rohnkd4hct260]

Got to love the WOLFMAN!!!

[@rjeannetoussant5549]

I l❤ve the show wolfman jack🐺

[@paulbush6503]

Wolfman Jack and Ed Big Daddy Roth made me the man I am today.

[@peteshea8010]

This and other powerful radio transmitters over the Mexican boarder inspired The Doors' "Texas Radio and The Big Beat" along and the song "Mexican Radio" by Wall Of Voodoo some 17 years later.

[@tommytruth7595]

Those were the days, my friend.

[@robertgibbssr8040]

Great man for music

[@martinpedersen8129]

i first heard him - 1090-am-after mid-july 1967-i even got a bumber stciker from him-xers or xerb-he played blues stuff-after king went of the air in seattle there he was-rock on

[@kirkmoore4515]

Martin Pedersen KING 1090 had a highly direction antenna to protect XERB/XEPRS at night. Even with KING on the air at night the signal never got south of Tumwater at best at night. XERB would be listenable in Portland even with KING on at night. KING would get up towards Vancouver BC at night however with a highly directional signal at night.

[@mattginacarr9601]

Used to listen to woman on the radio in late 70s I miss this nostalgia when America was great.

[@deanmaker5435]

The first time I had heard wolf man Jake was at my family restaurant at kids Blair showboat back then on the radio.

[@TheBuzz222]

The amazing history of music, and the advent of radio, the movers and shakers of the airwaves, lets bring the biggest and the best back. I am talking about The Jack, you know as in Wolfman. Lets bring him back THE WOLF MAN JACK for the RAP 2020 TOUR.

[@TheBuzz222]

COVID KILLED THE 2020 TOUR

[@douglassolomon247]

I used to cak myself laughing at " hit parade on a stethoscope " ??? Rock on Wolfman

[@rickwilson8354]

Yeah I worked in the mail order for that radio station xerf in the 70s actually when the bird flew over the transmitter I would fall down

[@kdm71291]

Good stuff!

[@dvenuzka]

someone have this last radio show?

[@brendawright3810]

I miss the sound of the dial static to a station

[@metrometro9805]

Get ready for the next Legendary greatist radio broadcastor in the world!!!

[@kittyocairreprezamarillooi7669]

best of cruise nites in santa cruz ca.... ,,,(Y)

[@maryrafuse3851]

A golden soldering gun more than a screwdriver. Love the wolfman and love all people, I don't care about the color of your skin. Peace & love among all people is the way to live your life and be happy.

[@bobbyjohnson4002]

IM A HUGE FAN RIP WOLFMAN JACK 😊😅😂😆 🔥🔥🔥

[@alfredogallardojr5645]

Heard it in 1966 in Okinawa

[@TCougar1]

So cool !!! 😀🌺

[@Vanasse1]

Those were good days... good days indeed. Look at the shitshow we have now...

[@MrPotatoesLatkie]

What is the name of the song that is playing while he bangs on the waste basket?

[@thomasleclair7418]

,,,,ya luv the wolfman,,,,,,we can be friends...................

[@michaellair5315]

Meet wolfman Jack in the 1970s in HAMTON Va

[@dvenuzka]

Someone have this last show?

[@all_the_bad_news5614]

Man this is one of the first times I've really felt sad for something that couldn't happen nowadays....like obviously he just loves what he does and the music but if someone did this and expressed it this way today it wouldn't fly because he is appropriating culture which maybe he is I'm not here to argue that but I think his passion shows thru that there was never any malice but oh well times gone by

[@percboy555]

Texas Radio and The Big Beat

[@crystalnelson4133]

We're still here😜⚡🙏🎸🎼🎼🎼⚡🦊⚡⚡🌪🎟

[@bradstevens9604]

At a time when most women were Real Ladies. What in the world happened to them today?

[@susiem44]

We were discouraged if we wanted to make our hair look nice, with a real hairstyle, and there were no more cute clothes. ☹️

[@ruialexandre6197]

I wonder if there is somewhere a recording of this radio show with the Wolfman Jack...

[@codered5431]

Is the transmitter still working today an is it still playing tunes

[@MichaelBrookham]

1962 was 12 years before I was born.

[@rickshanteau3211]

Just Curious............was the radio stations as commercialized back then as they are now?

[@kirstenvogel9620]

Not that much. The different stations wanted to gain the most audiences and gave out freebies like shirts and stickers for your car and they had contests where say, "Caller number 15" would win a pair of tickets to the sold out concert in town and we had rotary phones! I'd also say the content was better, and nothing like today's radio where I'm suddenly listening to some dj giving tmi over personal issues, those past djs were hip, stylish, and stars that were never rude. It was upbeat and fun.

[@thomassabia5750]

Most if not all had local control not Corp

[@deddricksmith7700]

I spoke to him he was friend of my grandfather

[@danieldentis]

My parents own a autographed photo of Wolfman Jack

[@rudolfabelin383]

❤

[@larrygaugler8661]

What is the song that has the line "All Night Long" in it? Thanks!

[@theunknownmusician8941]

I think it's "All Night Long" by Joe Houston...

[@ChapoChaos]

Does anyone know the song at 3:32?

[@RealMesaMike]

So, why couldn't the mono audio be mixed to center? Really annoying having something in only one ear or the other.

[@frederickwise5238]

Ahhh...... There was a time not all that many years before 1962 when XER (pre XERF) was burning up the airwaves with a FULL MILLION WATTS and WLW in Cincy Ohio had a HALF MILL. If you got too close you could pick up the music on your gold-n-silver fillings. LOL I could get em both on my homebuilt Cubscout crystal set. The FCC changed all that after WWII (not sure of exact year). 250,000 is chump change when it comes to oldtime watts. LOL

[@pigknife2194]

What is the song at 3:40?

[@stagehand9002]

borrowed the voice of Howlin Wolf

[@w9x7cv3vg6]

i know where i was in 62 !

[@jakallanthern421]

Amor Amor amor

[@kbuinowski]

i would like to know what is the name of the song and the artist they were shouting all night long time mark 6:42

[@adamrichards3174]

Joe Houston - All Night Long (1954)

[@renewii]

@@adamrichards3174 legend!

[@vassa1972]

Wasn't born until '72

[@rayunseitig6367]

xerf rocks

[@ernieleon5136]

👍

[@rexjolles]

Shame I live on the east coast, with no am oldies stations