'Dean Griffith' was a house name of the station.  The first one was Dean Anthony.  He was the Program Director of WHLI, Long Island from 1981 until his passing in October of 2003.  The name of the second one from late in 1964 is unknown. The third was Larry James and the fourth was Hank Burdick. See the 'House DJ Names'  page for more information. If anyone knows of the whereabouts of Hank Burdick today, please e-mail the Webmaster.

Dean Griffith #1 ( Dean Anthony) was the station's first Rock & Roll Program Director arriving from WGH in Norfolk and was afternoon personality from 1960 until he left the station in 1964 for WMCA, New York. He took his air name from the Washington Senator's then home, Griffith Stadium at the insistence of station owner Max Richmond. He was the Program Director & midday personality at WHLI, Long Island from 1981 until his passing in October 2003 of cancer at age 68. He also operated 'Dean Anthony Tours'. Read more.

A very young Dean-o!	Flat top publicity shot from 1962	With Bob Raleigh (Rolle Ferrar) & The Ronettes	With Pat McCoy, Eliot Paul & Jerry Kearns
Winning an award	Interviewing Phyllis Diller	With Tonto, Jay Silverheel	Interviewing Miss DC
Interviewing MD Governor	With 'Mom of the Year' contest winner	Broadcasting underwater!	Remote at an appliance store

 

Dean Anthony at WHLI, Long Island.

Memories of Big 'Ol, Fat 'Ol Dean-o:

At 14 (in 1962), I hung out at a furniture store remote in Alexandria's Del Ray section -- directly across the street from my Grammar School. Dino was class act. He never ONCE acted like I was bothering him -- never said "go away, kid." Didn't seem to mind my presence at all. That day at the remote, Dino was a showman. I realized adults listened to the station, too, when people would drift in and out, meet Dino, eyeball him and remark: But YOU'RE not FAT!! (Re: The 'Big 'Ol Fat 'Ol Dean-o' schtick). He'd answer: "Well, don't you think I HOLD IT ALL IN well?!" (BTW, Jerry G. was back in the 'PGC studio manning the board, and there was some memorable interplay between the two budding radio greats).

Dean was the 'Beatles Authority' in DC. Dean Anthony, along with Dan Ingram and Joey Reynolds, was one of the reasons I got into radio! Occasionally, I'd reach him on the air, and he was always helpful and pleasant. I caught his last week at 'PGC, not knowing that he was New York bound. He was apparently being really hassled by Bob Howard, because his "pizzazz" was totally gone. He sounded REALLY down that week in November '64. Some of my "non radio-geek" classmates noticed something was amiss, too.

Re:"Dean Griffith -- the 'first' one." Most kids in school knew the "real" Dean-o was gone! Bobbo Howard and Max Richmond basically didn't fool anyone. But they DID 'own' the name (along with Bob Raleigh, Jim Madison, et al). As a DX-er, I got to catch him on 1-6am one Monday morning on 570 WMCA (a regular 'catch') not very long after he'd left 'PGC! Although he was using the now familiar Dean Anthony handle, I instantly recognized his voice. I knew he was a native New Yorker, so I was happy for him that he was in his hometown. Also, the 'big-time' was where Dean-o certainly belonged.

WHLI is listenable at the Virginia Beach oceanfront. I made it a point for YEARS to catch Dean-o on his 10-3 shift whenever I'm on Atlantic Avenue, a practice I'm sincerely going to miss. Reminds me "it's later than you think," because I'd intended to call him at WHLI and ask his advice about something I knew he'd certainly be able to help with. At least he's no longer suffering. I didn't even know he was ill. I saw his picture on the 'HLI website last week, and remembered thinking that, along with his now grey hair, that Dean-o wasn't looking too well.

In my humble opinion, Dean-o and WPGC will always be synonomous (with apologies to WPGC legendary greats Harv Moore and Scott Shannon). Whether you call him "Big 'Ol Fat 'Ol Dean-o," Dean Anthony, or Dean Griffith...Dean-o IS WPGC and always will be.

- Pat Banks, WAFX-WNOR-WJOI in Virginia Beach

 

 

BD Howard writes:

I particularly remember Big Ol' Fat Ol' Dean-o as a really good guy. I thought it strange that they took the name Dean Griffith from the stadium where the Washington Senators played, which itself was named for Calvin Griffith, the original owner of the team.

I guess I should not be surprised by the intelligence and honest candor of his comments about my father, Bob Howard. He was absolutely correct about his problems resulting from the fast weight loss, the result of amphetamines prescribed by some quack for that purpose, and his ensuing hospitalization. His bizarre behavior in that Mr. X episode was no doubt fueled by those terrible medications. His emotional demons would haunt him from then on, and no doubt he was as difficult to work for as he was to live with.

 

Harv Moore writes:

Dean Griffith was very highly regarded by record company representatives. He was first to play new releases, and he broke a lot of records out of D.C. He had an amazing ear. Consequently he received a lot of "special attention" from the record companies, and was able to procure a lot of "unavailable" material. I'm sure the Program Directors and Music Directors from the other D.C. stations were scratching their heads when they saw the Evening Star Top Ten, wondering "how in the heck did he get those (Beatles songs ahead of everyone else)?"

 

 

#2 - Unknown

Someone else used the Dean Griffith name briefly between the time that Dean Anthony left for WMCA in New York in late 1964 and Larry Jarvis arrived from KEWI in Topeka, Kansas in April of 1965.

 

 

#3 - Larry James

Larry James today.

Larry James tomorrow.

 

Larry James joined the station in April 1965 from KEWI in Topeka, Kansas. He was heard on WPGC from 6-11PM on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday nights as well as 2-6PM on Saturdays & 10a-2p on Sundays.

Today, Larry is President of CelebrateLove.com. He has been a full-time professional speaker, author and relationship coach since 1987 and spent 8 years with the staff of Dr. John Gray, Ph.D. author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.

 

From Dec. 1965

From 1966

 

Larry Writes:

The lost has been found! Although my legal name is Larry Jarvis, I have been going by the name of Larry James since Bob Russell - the Program Director of KEWI, Topeka, KS - decided that James had a little more pizzaz! That was in 1960. I still use the name Larry James.

A friend of mine (and deejay) sent me an e-mail and told me about this site and that you were looking for me. It's been a real kick to hear several of my air checks from the mid-60s. Damn! I was good! ;-)

 

 

If anyone knows of his whereabouts today, please email the webmaster.

Small Print Dept.: This non-profit historical site is not affiliated in any way with WPGC Radio today or CBS Radio, Inc. Use of copyrighted material is consistent with the "fair use" provisions contained in §107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 due to the following characteristics: Use of copyrighted material is of a nonprofit, educational nature, intended for the sole purposes of research and comment and does not significantly negatively affect "the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work(s)." Use of registered trademark material is not subject to civil action or injunction as outlined in §1114 and §1125 of the Trademark Act of 1946 (the Lanham Act) due to the following characteristics of this work, and the registered marks published herein: Use of reproductions of registered marks is not for the purpose of commerce, nor is the use connected with the sale, offering for sale, or advertising of any goods or services. Use of reproductions is not likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception as to the affiliation, connection, or association of this work with owners of published registered marks, nor as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of this work by owners of published registered marks. Wherever possible, the copyright or registered mark owner's name has been noted near the copyrighted work or registered mark; however, all material used in this site, including, but not limited to, newspaper articles, syndicated themes, promos, commercials, photographs, playlists, press releases, ratings, airchecks, newscasts, traffic reports, sports reports, 'sound-offs', sweepers, bumperstickers and station logos, should be considered protected copyrighted material or registered mark with all rights reserved to the owner, named or unnamed. So there!