Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 5/10/2021
LONGMEADOW – Michael Harrison recalled how he played the music of Gunhill Road when he was a disc jockey 50 years ago.
Now the veteran broadcaster and publisher has helped to bring a new Gunhill Road song to life.
“I go all the way back to 1971 with this great NYC-based ensemble when I played them every day on my morning show on WNEW-FM,” the Longmeadow resident said.
Harrison is now considered by the band as a full-fledged member for his work on the new song “I Know You’re Real.” He called his new status a “mega-hoot.”
“It was an incredibly rewarding experience,” Harrison told Reminder Publishing. He called the song “a spiritually uplifting tribute to animal welfare,” a subject near to his heart. To listen to the song, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIbOsKBz6og. The video was directed by Harrison’s son, Matthew.
Harrison noted the group had come back together to record an album last year. The song is part of “What Year Is This!” and appears in two versions, one in which Harrison recites the lyrics he wrote and another with them sung.
He added, “In 2014, interest in Gunhill Road among its cult-like following began to swell on the internet and they responded by releasing a mammoth 19-track album of original songs titled ‘Every 40 Years’ that got some nice airplay across the country and positive reviews – I wrote the liner notes for that collection. It even spawned a documentary feature film about the band that made a splash on the independent film festival circuit. They also sold out a special performance at the Bitter End [rock club in New York City] that became the basis of a live concert video, which I emceed.”
So, add being a member of a rock band to Harrison’s lengthy resume.
Harrison is a very busy guy.
Harrison is the publisher of Talkers Magazine, the bible of the talk radio industry. As such he is a frequent news source and interview subject about talk radio. Most recently, he fielded many questions earlier this year with the death of Rush Limbaugh.
He is also the host of “The Michael Harrison Wrap,” a weekly program heard on 75 stations across the country. Harrison explained that I Heart Radio came to him with the idea of him doing a weekly program for its “experimental” station in Washington D.C.
Now, the program is syndicated through Talk Media Network and is even heard on two stations in the United Kingdom. The program presents a panel of talk show hosts from across the country discussing the hot issues of the preceding week. It can be heard online at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1248-the-michael-harrison-wrap-31175354/.
If running Talkers, producing and hosting a weekly show wasn’t enough, Harrison does another weekly program, “The Michael Harrison Interview” available through PodcastOne. In that show Harrison speaks with members of the media, among others.
Some of his recent guests include: radio host and technology expert Kim Komando; Andrew McLuhan, the grandson of Marshal McLuhan and the president of the McLuhan Institute; and talk show host Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels.
Through its six years of production, Harrison said it has built “a tremendous following.” He said the program is for “media junkies,” but that podcasts “are meant to be targeted.”
An additional effort is Pioneer Valley Radio, (http://pioneervalleyradio.com) which features on-demand spoken word news content aimed specifically at listeners in Western Massachusetts. It has been presenting local content for about five years, he said, and added he is “so proud of it as an invention.”
He said, “For me it’s an experiment – it’s a work of art in terms of its structure.”
On top of all this, Harrison is a fill-in host at several stations including WTIC in Hartford, CT. and WRKO in Boston, among others.
The fact Harrison has built audiences for his podcasts is significant in light of how he sees this new type of spoken word broadcasting. “It’s so crowded out there, It’s hard to get people to notice anything. The new age of the democratization of media has opened up everyone to be in the game. We’ve created a society of performers,” he said.
Covering talk radio is still at the core of his professional activities and Harrison sees the absence of Limbaugh to be “another milestone for talk radio.”
He noted, “I think the talk radio industry is entrenched enough to survive the loss of Limbaugh.”
He noted, though, in an industry dominated by syndicated shows, a “very, very, very good local host can do better than a syndicated show.”
He added, “It’s not true in all situations as there is great value to have a mega-star. It sends a message that there’s a big station in town.”
He said the ideal situation is a mix of both local and national programming.
While Harrison admitted, “It’s hard work to stay in touch about what’s going on,” he added, “Having purpose keeps you young and active.”