Good to be King
By King Harris

It was May of 1990. At the time, I was the news director and anchor at KEYT-TV in Santa Barbara and I was looking for a co-anchor to replace Paula Lopez, who had left for Hollywood, when the phone rang.
“Hello, this is King,” I said.
“Mr. Harris, this is Deborah Davidson calling from Tuscon. I understand you have an opening for an anchor?”
“We sure do,” I replied. “Send me a tape and resumé and I’ll get back to you.”
“Will do. Thanks, bye.”
It took me less than a minute before I realized who it was that called me. Holy smokes! I had just talked with Debby Davidson, whom I had seen over the years as an anchor at KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles.
Could I acquire a major market TV news personality for small-market KEYT? Continue reading Debby Davidson – A Real Pro and A Class Act →

Good to be King
By King Harris

For 20 years of my life, I was a local television news anchor, and for more than half that time, a news director as well, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that I’ve been following with great interest the salacious saga of former NBC news anchor Brian Williams, who was suspended earlier this year then demoted last week for embellishing several news accounts that he was involved in.
I blame NBC for letting the situation get out of hand as it did, but as far as I’m concerned William’s first big mistake is that he let it get away from him.
It’s easy to do when you are suddenly thrust into the spotlight and become the celebrity that everyone else thinks you are.
It’s an ego trip just waiting to happen when your real purpose for being there was to present in the most effective way you could, news reports and features that would have some value to your viewers. Credibility here was the key, and that’s not something you build in just one day. Continue reading That’s The Way it Was →

Good to be King
By King Harris

I was very sorry to hear about the passing the other day of satirist, Stan Freberg, even though he and other celebrities and music makers in the 1950s, like Steve Allen, Mitch Miller and Frank Sinatra, vehemently disliked rock ‘n’ roll (Sinatra calling it music written by ‘cretinous goons’) which was my favorite fad back in the day.
But Freberg, who was a voice actor, a puppeteer, a comedian, a satirist, author, radio personality, and genius ad man, was clever enough to parody rock ‘n’ roll in a style like no one else. No one escaped his wit, not the “Nabob of Sob,” Johnny Ray “Try,” or the Chords’ “Sh-Boom,” The Platters’ “The Great Pretender,” Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” Lonnie Donegan’s “The Rock Island Line,” Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat Song,” Lawrence Welk, Jack Web in “Dragnet,” or the TV comedy, “The Honeymooners,” plus practically anything else. Continue reading Stan Freberg — The Prince of Parody →

Good to be King
By King Harris

Thank God for folksinger and songwriter, Woody Guthrie. Not only did he leave us with the folk movement, he gave us his son Arlo.
Arlo is the kind of performer that can chase your blues away, no matter what he sings. He is coming to Arroyo Grande April 7, and during his set he will perform, which he only does during a major anniversary, his anthem “Alice’s Restaurant,” the trademark protest song that he first delivered in the late 1960s.
“You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant. You can get anything you want at Alice’s restaurant.
“Walk right in, it’s around the back, just a half a mile from the railroad track.
“You can get anything you want at Alice’s Res-ta-rant.” Continue reading You Can Get Anything You Want, At Alice’s Restaurant… →