Al Lohman
Encyclopedia
Al Lohman was a personality and comedian with a long career in American radio from the 1950s through the 1980s and into the 1990s. Among his early career stops was a stint as morning man at New York City top-40 station WABC (AM)
when it first adopted a pop music format in 1960. But he's best remembered as a Los Angeles, California
radio
personality who, along with Roger Barkley
, had the top-rated morning drive The Lohman and Barkley Show on KFI
Los Angeles through most of the 1970s and early 1980s. Their fame extended beyond the Los Angeles area as the duo were frequent guests on the "Ed Sullivan Show" and were hosts of two short-lived television shows. The first was a 1969 game show, "Lohman & Barkley's Name Droppers" while the second was a comedy/variety show from 1979 called "Bedtime Stories."
routine. Among Lohman’s characters were the obsequious con-man and alleged farm expert “Maynard Farmer,” whose toadying “That there’s the finest (whatever) that I’ve ever seen there, sir” won him numerous undeserved rewards; “Otis Elevator”, a good-natured handyman; "Judge Roy Bean," a hanging judge, former big band leader and supposed ex-member of the Bee Gees
; and human interest reporter “Ted J. Baloney” and his wife “W. Eva Schneider-Baloney”, the poetry lady who seemed never to have any poetry, who supposedly drove to the Wilshire Boulevard studio each morning on Ted’s tractor (and later, a fire engine with W. clinging precariously to the back) from their home in a tree house in Brawley
, a real town in Imperial County, nearly two hundred miles (320 km) away. These characters and others were also regular occurrences in a segment called "Light Of My Life," a spoof of daytime soap opera
s.
One character had a more lasting impact than the others. "Dominic Longo" was the real name of one of the show's sponsors, the owner of a fledgling Toyota dealership in nearby El Monte
. The commercials for the dealership were live, mostly ad-libbed and might run as long as two minutes. Roger Barkley "interviewed" Lohman's Mafioso-sounding Longo in the commercials. Dominic Longo didn't simply "wheel and deal." Instead, he "whelt and dealt like no one ever whelt and dealt before." Longo also didn't habla español. He "hobbled spaniels," and so on. The commercials were an incredible success and played a huge part in helping make Longo Toyota the nation's largest Toyota dealer.
Among the more outrageous spoofs given its subject matter was a series of recurring commercials for the fictitious "Doc in the Box" medical group with their promise of "drive-thru vasectomies
." The name in turn was a spoof of the American fast food
chain, Jack in the Box.
) till 1989 and in the fall of 1990 teamed with Ken Minyard on talk radio KABC
to replace the just retired Bob Arthur as co-host of the morning drive show "The Ken and Bob Company," a play on the station's call letters, rechristened as "The Ken and Barkley Company" with his arrival. Lohman and Barkley never spoke again after that. Lohman stayed at KFI and teamed for a while with Gary Owens
, a Los Angeles personality best known as the wisecracking announcer on the Laugh-In television show.
Although Lohman and Barkley's morning KFI show was mostly talk and skits, an occasional tune was played, probably to give the guys a restroom break. In a later Los Angeles Times article regarding his sudden exit from KFI, Barkley was quoted as saying that he warned their program director that their constant playing of the same Eagles songs over and over was very aggravating to him. He said if he heard Hotel California one more time that he might just get up and walk out one day. He also alluded to Lohman's increasing undisciplined ways including a growing tendency to not be at the station in time for the start of the show. Obviously Barkley was simply tiring of the situation. Years later on the Los Angeles Ken and Barkley KABC radio show, when Ken Minyard
mentioned Al Lohman, Barkley remarked "he says that I destroyed his career." Ironically, Barkley went through a bit of the same. The Ken and Barkley show was dropping in ratings in the very competitive LA morning market, and Barkley was dropped too. Minyard continued on with a new format. He said that Barkley was very upset, but that the station demanded a change.
In the early 1990s, Lohman semi-retired to Palm Springs
where he hosted a morning show on easy listening KPLM-FM. Upon the station's move to a contemporary country music
format, Lohman moved his morning show to KCMJ-AM, Palm Springs' oldest radio station.
Lohman also appeared in film and was credited as simply "Lohman" for his parts as a film critic in the 1987 comedy Amazon Women on the Moon
(Roger Barkley played alongside him and was credited as "Barkley") and the narrator of the 1988 comedy, Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs.
On October 28, 1999, Lohman appeared as part of an all-star panel of Los Angeles radio legends at the Museum of Television and Radio in Beverly Hills, CA. At the beginning of the event, recorded bits from each personality's past was played to introduce them. When Lohman was introduced, a segment of the Lohman and Barkley show called "Seven Second Delay" was played. After Lohman was brought on stage, he stated: "When you were playing the clips, that hit me, what a talented group of talented people I'm associated with. And including, in all fairness, I re-realized what an outstanding straight man Roger Barkley was" (Barkley had died two years prior). The house erupted into applause.
Al Lohman died October 14, 2002 at age 69 of complications from bladder cancer. Bandleader Ray Conniff
died at about the same time, and while Conniff's obituary in the Los Angeles Times rated an entire column, Lohman's took up nearly three pages.
His partnership with Roger Barkley earned Lohman a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
, the only Palm Springs radio personality so honored.
WABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
when it first adopted a pop music format in 1960. But he's best remembered as a Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
personality who, along with Roger Barkley
Roger Barkley
Roger Barkley was an American radio personality, based in Los Angeles, California, best remembered for his work with Al Lohman as part of The Lohman and Barkley Show on KFI....
, had the top-rated morning drive The Lohman and Barkley Show on KFI
KFI
KFI is an AM radio station in Los Angeles, California. It received its license to operate on March 31, 1922 and began operating on April 16, 1922 as one of the United States' first high-powered, "clear-channel" stations...
Los Angeles through most of the 1970s and early 1980s. Their fame extended beyond the Los Angeles area as the duo were frequent guests on the "Ed Sullivan Show" and were hosts of two short-lived television shows. The first was a 1969 game show, "Lohman & Barkley's Name Droppers" while the second was a comedy/variety show from 1979 called "Bedtime Stories."
The "cast of characters"
Audiences tuned in by the thousands to hear Lohman's quick wit and vast array of character voices play against Barkley's straight manDouble act
A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...
routine. Among Lohman’s characters were the obsequious con-man and alleged farm expert “Maynard Farmer,” whose toadying “That there’s the finest (whatever) that I’ve ever seen there, sir” won him numerous undeserved rewards; “Otis Elevator”, a good-natured handyman; "Judge Roy Bean," a hanging judge, former big band leader and supposed ex-member of the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
; and human interest reporter “Ted J. Baloney” and his wife “W. Eva Schneider-Baloney”, the poetry lady who seemed never to have any poetry, who supposedly drove to the Wilshire Boulevard studio each morning on Ted’s tractor (and later, a fire engine with W. clinging precariously to the back) from their home in a tree house in Brawley
Brawley, California
Brawley is a city in Imperial County, California, United States. Brawley is located north of El Centro. The population was 24,953 at the 2010 census, up from 22,052 at the 2000 census. The town has a significant cattle and feed industry, and hosts the annual Cattle Call Rodeo. Year-round...
, a real town in Imperial County, nearly two hundred miles (320 km) away. These characters and others were also regular occurrences in a segment called "Light Of My Life," a spoof of daytime soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s.
One character had a more lasting impact than the others. "Dominic Longo" was the real name of one of the show's sponsors, the owner of a fledgling Toyota dealership in nearby El Monte
El Monte, California
El Monte is a residential, industrial, and commercial city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city's slogan is "Welcome to Friendly El Monte," and historically is known as "The End of the Santa Fe Trail." As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 113,475,...
. The commercials for the dealership were live, mostly ad-libbed and might run as long as two minutes. Roger Barkley "interviewed" Lohman's Mafioso-sounding Longo in the commercials. Dominic Longo didn't simply "wheel and deal." Instead, he "whelt and dealt like no one ever whelt and dealt before." Longo also didn't habla español. He "hobbled spaniels," and so on. The commercials were an incredible success and played a huge part in helping make Longo Toyota the nation's largest Toyota dealer.
Among the more outrageous spoofs given its subject matter was a series of recurring commercials for the fictitious "Doc in the Box" medical group with their promise of "drive-thru vasectomies
Vasectomy
Vasectomy is a surgical procedure for male sterilization and/or permanent birth control. During the procedure, the vasa deferentia of a man are severed, and then tied/sealed in a manner such to prevent sperm from entering into the seminal stream...
." The name in turn was a spoof of the American fast food
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
chain, Jack in the Box.
The unexpected split and post-radio contributions
In 1986, Roger Barkley suddenly and unexpectedly quit the duo after twenty-two years, much to Lohman's shock and surprise. Barkley left KFI for a solo stint at beautiful music format KJOI-FM 99 (now 98-7KYSR
KYSR is a commercial modern rock radio station in Los Angeles, California, covering the Los Angeles, Orange County, and Inland Empire areas on 98.7 FM. KYSR is also simulcasted on KSRY 103.1 FM in Tehachapi, California...
) till 1989 and in the fall of 1990 teamed with Ken Minyard on talk radio KABC
KABC (AM)
KABC is a Los Angeles radio station, and a West Coast flagship station for the Cumulus Media company. A pioneer of the talk radio format, the station went "all-talk" in 1960 and was one of the first stations to do so...
to replace the just retired Bob Arthur as co-host of the morning drive show "The Ken and Bob Company," a play on the station's call letters, rechristened as "The Ken and Barkley Company" with his arrival. Lohman and Barkley never spoke again after that. Lohman stayed at KFI and teamed for a while with Gary Owens
Gary Owens
Gary Owens is an American disc jockey and voice actor. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offers deadpan recitations of total nonsense, which he frequently demonstrated as the announcer on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Owens is equally proficient in straight or silly assignments and is...
, a Los Angeles personality best known as the wisecracking announcer on the Laugh-In television show.
Although Lohman and Barkley's morning KFI show was mostly talk and skits, an occasional tune was played, probably to give the guys a restroom break. In a later Los Angeles Times article regarding his sudden exit from KFI, Barkley was quoted as saying that he warned their program director that their constant playing of the same Eagles songs over and over was very aggravating to him. He said if he heard Hotel California one more time that he might just get up and walk out one day. He also alluded to Lohman's increasing undisciplined ways including a growing tendency to not be at the station in time for the start of the show. Obviously Barkley was simply tiring of the situation. Years later on the Los Angeles Ken and Barkley KABC radio show, when Ken Minyard
Ken Minyard
Ken Minyard is a radio personality. He was featured on KABC radio's morning Newstalk show in the early 1970s, but he is best remembered as a partner on the radio with Bob Arthur...
mentioned Al Lohman, Barkley remarked "he says that I destroyed his career." Ironically, Barkley went through a bit of the same. The Ken and Barkley show was dropping in ratings in the very competitive LA morning market, and Barkley was dropped too. Minyard continued on with a new format. He said that Barkley was very upset, but that the station demanded a change.
In the early 1990s, Lohman semi-retired to Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
where he hosted a morning show on easy listening KPLM-FM. Upon the station's move to a contemporary country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
format, Lohman moved his morning show to KCMJ-AM, Palm Springs' oldest radio station.
Lohman also appeared in film and was credited as simply "Lohman" for his parts as a film critic in the 1987 comedy Amazon Women on the Moon
Amazon Women on the Moon
Amazon Women on the Moon is a 1987 American satirical comedy film that parodies the experience of watching low-budget movies on late-night television...
(Roger Barkley played alongside him and was credited as "Barkley") and the narrator of the 1988 comedy, Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs.
On October 28, 1999, Lohman appeared as part of an all-star panel of Los Angeles radio legends at the Museum of Television and Radio in Beverly Hills, CA. At the beginning of the event, recorded bits from each personality's past was played to introduce them. When Lohman was introduced, a segment of the Lohman and Barkley show called "Seven Second Delay" was played. After Lohman was brought on stage, he stated: "When you were playing the clips, that hit me, what a talented group of talented people I'm associated with. And including, in all fairness, I re-realized what an outstanding straight man Roger Barkley was" (Barkley had died two years prior). The house erupted into applause.
Al Lohman died October 14, 2002 at age 69 of complications from bladder cancer. Bandleader Ray Conniff
Ray Conniff
Joseph Raymond Conniff was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.-Biography:...
died at about the same time, and while Conniff's obituary in the Los Angeles Times rated an entire column, Lohman's took up nearly three pages.
His partnership with Roger Barkley earned Lohman a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
, the only Palm Springs radio personality so honored.
Discography
- Light Of My Life Volume One - The Breath of Dr. Duncan & Doc In The Box (LP and Cassette)
- Light Of My Life Volume Two - The Arrest Of Dr. Duncan & Mouse In The Hole (LP and Cassette)
- Lohman & Barkley's Greatest Hits, Vol. 7 (LP, MGM Records #M3F-4956)