![]() 'Swami of sacred songs' May 15
Ron Leir SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH STATE May 14, 2010
He's known on the DJ radio circuit as "Danny Stiles on your dials," and he's bringing his unique style to the Bayonne Jewish Community Center, 1050 Kennedy Blvd., on May 15. The festivities get under way at 8 p.m. During more than six decades on the air, Stiles has played records (mostly the old vinyl ones), interviewed celebrity guests, and sent out greetings to loyal fans while sending his voice on the airwaves for 27 different stations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Today, Stiles presides at his "Music Museum" Saturday nights, from 8 to 10 p.m., broadcast on WNYC 820 AM. JCC guests can expect to hear the typical assortment of 1930- and 1940-era musical artists like Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Louis Armstrong -- and Shirley Temple -- from the turntable of the "vicar of vintage vinyl." Also on the bill will be the a capella crooning of the "Turnstyles," a quartet of Bayonne High School alums who used to sing with the school's Bee Sharps group. Its members are Mike Miceli, Brian O'Rourke, Mark Conde, and Jack Fenton. For a $20 admission, guests can sample hors d'oeuvres, along with wine, beer, or soda, sit and listen to the music in a cocktail lounge setting, or dance, if they choose. "I'll be talking about my life, how I came into radio, some of the highlights of my radio experience, the records that have affected me the most, along with some of the history of music and records and the importance they've played in the business of radio," Stiles said. "I also expect to take questions," he said. "A lot of people are fascinated by the history of radio -- not the technical end of it, but the effect it's had on people's lives and how it's changed over the years." Stiles, 86, said he'll be bringing "a few LPs and some CDs -- I transpose a lot of the records I like onto tape -- for dancing." A Newark native and the son of immigrant Russian Jews, Stiles grew up during radio's infancy. "And I saw it progress and, in my opinion, regress," he added. "Radio came to me by accident," Stiles said. "I had a flair for acting but I didn't want to leave my friends and family in Newark." He became friendly with Hal Tunis, then the No. 2 DJ on WAAT 970, which broadcast out of Newark. "Tunis paid me for driving him to theaters, studios and other venues and, in so doing, I became fascinated with radio," Stiles said. But getting on the air wasn't so easy. "You had to speak well, have command of the language, and, in those days, most radio DJs had a background in classical music," he said. "I didn't have the proper diction for radio." But, on the strength of Tunis' recommendation, Stiles got a job on a Newark radio station in 1947 at $40 a week and he was off and running, developing the homespun approach that has won the hearts of many viewers. In the industry's heyday, Stiles said, no DJ could approach Arthur Godfrey in popularity. "His power and influence were phenomenal -- Godfrey was the last great personality on network radio," Stiles said. Particularly as a products pitchman. "I worked for a CBS affiliate in Allentown, Pa., on the 6 to 10 a.m. shift," Stiles recalled. "Then Godfrey would come on the network at 10 and he'd read commercials for Lipton Tea, Chesterfield cigarettes, GM. And another of his sponsors was Lazy Boy chairs. Well, after his show concluded, the local furniture shop in Allentown typically sold 40 to 50 Lazy Boys." Stiles credits his longevity as an on-air personality to "being creative and having fun." "As a radio DJ, I found that I had a special affinity for women," Stiles said. And during his show -- which is taped for broadcast -- Stiles will send out greetings to many of his female -- and male -- fans. Even after so many years, Stiles said, "I still have a cult following," and his nostalgia for singers like Sinatra, Perry Como, and Tony Bennett, for instance, resonate with communities like Bayonne. "They love what I do," he said. Among his Bayonne fans Stiles hopes to see "my good friend," former heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, and "the vivacious Josie Rudo -- I call her the Bayonne Bunny" -- at his Bayonne JCC gig. "She loves Sinatra, Judy Garland, certain Bette Davis records ('I Wish You Love' and 'Wrong') and Hurricane Smith's 'Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?'" Stiles, who makes no secret of his dislike of modern-era "loud" radio music, makes no apology for his stance. "I like records," he said. So while he "can't stomach" the "demeanor" of singer Barbara Streisand, "she made two or three records for which I have great respect." Her 1964 album, "People," is one such example, he said. Stiles said he got to know a then-young Regis Philbin hanging out in a Manhattan club known as Bird in a Hand at 52nd Street and Broadway. "We used to sit and drink coffee with other people from the entertainment industry," he said. Stiles got to meet Old Blue Eyes only once, when he was invited to a party at a New York City club attended by Sinatra and his wife Barbara. "In those days, Sinatra was harder to get to than the Pope... nobody was close to Sinatra," Stiles said. But that night, Stiles said, Sinatra -- who was sitting with his wife in a private booth -- "sent one of his bodyguards over to get me and he couldn't have been nicer." "Apparently, he was charmed by the idea that every second record I was then playing was an old Sinatra recording with Harry James or Tommy Dorsey," Stiles said. "And, when he left with Barbara on his arm, he didn't say a word to anybody -- even the celebrities who were there -- he came over to my wife, whose name was also Barbara, and shook my hand, gave me a hug, and said, 'Thanks, Danny, for all the spins.'" "Needless to say," Stiles said, "I was on cloud nine." In July 1998, Stiles was invited to participate in the dedication of Frank Sinatra Park in Hoboken. At one time, the "swami of sacred songs" said he "had close to 250,000 records," but because they were "hard to store and difficult to file," he has ended up jettisoning a lot. JCC visitors on May 15 can expect an unscripted, extemporaneous program, Stiles said. "We'll talk about nostalgia, old-time movie stars like Joan Crawford and Freddie Bartholomew, and play records," he said. "I have nothing prepared, I keep no notes." Tickets are $25. For table reservations or more information, call (201) 436-6900.
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