KWXY Presents ● The Story of Wolfman Jack

The American radio personality known as Wolfman Jack was among the most popular personalities in the medium’s history and whose syndicated program “The Wolfman Jack Radio Show” continues to be in syndication decades after his passing.  He was known for his deep, raspy voice which he credited to his success.    

Born Robert Weston Smith in Brooklyn, New York on January 21, 1938 to Episcopal Sunday school teacher Anson Weston Smith and wife Rosamond Small, Smith became an avid fan of radio soon after his parents’ divorce.  To “keep him out of trouble,” his father bought him a Zenith Trans-Oceanic radio capable of receiving both standard and shortwave broadcasts.  The radio was also capable of receiving DX, or distant AM broadcast stations, making Smith a fan of R&B music and personalities “Jocko” Henderson from Philadelphia, Cleveland’s “Moon Dog” and perhaps most notably, legendary New York personality, Alan Freed.

Wolfman Jack on The Air circa 1970s

A high school dropout, Smith sold brushes and encyclopedias door-to-door, eventually graduating at the top of his class in 1960 from the National Academy of Broadcasting in Washington, DC.  His first job was at WYOU in Newport News, Virginia, moving to country station KCIJ in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1961.  It was there he developed the “Wolfman Jack” persona based on his love of horror films and playing as a wolfman with his nephews.

By 1963, Smith had the idea to sell “The Wolfman Jack Show” to XERF in Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila, Mexico across the border from Del Rio, Texas.  Unhampered by American federal limits on broadcast power, XERF-AM was a 250,000-watt “border blaster” largely broadcasting Pentecostal preachers with a signal covering most of the US at five times the legal US limit.  So powerful was the station that birds flying too close to the broadcast towers would drop dead. 

Pitching a variety of products for which the station received 50% of the advertising revenue, Smith used his now-trademark howls and growls to great success.  Eventually moving to KDAY-AM in Los Angeles after the Mexican government forbade radio stations to broadcast Pentecostals, the edict had reduced the station’s income by 80 percent as well as Smith’s income to a fraction of what it had been.  Smith hit upon the idea of editing his old XERF tapes and marketing them to other stations, becoming one of the first syndicated rock programs and rebuilding his popularity.  In 1972, NBC hired Smith to host their late-night music show, “The Midnight Special.” 

The following year, producer George Lucas cast him in “American Graffiti.”  The film, a huge hit, spurred Lucas to give a small percentage of the film’s profits as a gift, a sum which allowed Smith and his wife to live comfortably. 

Wolfman Jack & George Lucas 1973

Universal Pictures - Publicity Photo

He passed away of a heart attack on July 1, 1995 at his home in Belvidere, North Carolina at age 57, leaving a wife and two children.  According to his official website, “[t]he Wolfman Jack Radio Show is still on the air, every night, somewhere in the world!”    

KWXY Presents ● “The Story of Wolfman Jack” today at 5pm hosted by Louie Comella, on KWXY Music Radio 92.3FM ● 1340AM ● streaming at kwxy.com and ivoxradio.com