Friday, August 29, 2008

HAPPY RETIREMENT, 3D DANNY

I meant to post this earlier this week. My friend Ray in Oklahoma City sent me this link about Danny Williams retiring from KOMA radio at the tender age of 81.

He probably was my first TV hero. In the '50s he hosted a classic kiddie show on WKY-TV that featured the wonderfully low-budget adventures of 3-D Danny -- that's Dan D. Dynamo -- a space traveler.

In the '60s he became Xavier T. Willard on The Foreman Scotty show. Scotty was a cowboy, while "Willie" was his crusty sidekick.

Later in the '60s Danny also had an afternoon talk/variety show on WKY, Danny's Day. Williams boasts that he once interviewed President Lyndon B. Johnson on his show.

But even more impressive was that he had my band, The Ramhorn City Go-Go Squad & Uptight Washtub Band in early 1968.

My first encounter with Williams though was in his role as 3-D Danny. I probably was four years old when Danny did a live shooting of his show at Wedgewood amusement park. The day before he warned his viewers on TV if they saw the evil robot (whose name I forget) sneaking up on 3D Danny and Foreman Scotty, WARN THEM!

That day at Wedgewood, sure enough, the evil robot was about to attack. Scared out of my wits, I ran out on the set screaming and crying, telling my heros to look out. Remember, this was in the days of live TV. I'm sure the crew hated me for screwing up the scene, but Danny and Scotty (Steve Powell) were really cool in comforting me.

One other Danny Williams connection. When you hear me say, "Watch out for flying chairs" at the end of Terrell's Sound World every week, I got that from Danny, who hosted Live Wrestling on Saturday nights on WKY. The phrase became his weekly signoff after getting beaned in a chair-throwing orgy in a match one night.

Enjoy your retirement, Danny. And thanks for taking a hit frm that chair so I wouldn't have to.

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