Morning funnyman Johnny Walker started at WFBR in 1974. Johnny’s zany antics always had him in trouble although it seems like fairly innocent stuff by today’s standards, Walker was cutting edge in the ‘70s and ‘80s.
His show featured prerecorded laugh tracks, applause, and sound effects. His news reports featured “Rex King the Singing Weatherman”, “Harry Horni’s gossip bits”, and the daily “Little News” stories included odd and fantastic tales read over the background clatter of a teletype machine.
Self-proclaimed as “The world’s greatest trumpet player,” Johnny would blast off into an out of tune solo along with the current hit that was playing. The Legendary Stardust Cowboy had nothing on Johnny! In a 1975 stunt he flew to Nairobi to find a witch doctor who would put a hex on the Boston Red Sox and help the Orioles win the pennant.
In the mid-’70s Walker bought the former Club Sierra on Dorsey and Telegraph Roads and renamed it Johnny Walkers, turning it into a showcase for local bands along with his X-rated comedy shows. His shows were a spectacle that encouraged audience participation in various sexually suggestive contests. These shows were also seen at Club Venus, The Barge, and were sellouts at large halls such as the Ellicott City Armory.
On the air nothing was sacred. Wise cracks about politicians, other broadcasters… He was once sued by local TV announcer Dennis Holley who didn’t appreciate a joke that was cracked at his expense. Johnny once described himself as the “only guy whose mouth was given a moving violation by the police department.”
circa 1980
In 1982 Walker organized a hidden key contest in which he gave daily clues via messages in songs to help locate the key. After months of frustration by viewers and accusations that it was a hoax, Johnny walked outside the office within full view of the studio window to verify the key was still where he had hidden it. A contestant picked up on the location and claimed the prize thus prompting additional criticism that the contest was rigged.
Walker worked at WFBR up to around 1987. Through the ‘00s his voice continued to be heard locally on commercials for a local jeweler. He died of lung cancer on March 2, 2004.
