C.C. COURTNEY FUN FACTS & TRIVIA:

THE SINGING BODIES - C.C. and Lou Kirby recorded Buddy Holly's "Maybe Baby" in 1965. It was played on WNOE and WTIX, plus all over the 'NOE listening area (WNOE was a 50,000 watt radio blowtorch) and in Houston and other places. C.C. and Lou appeared and performed it at the 1965 WNOE All-Star show at Municipal Auditorium. They performed in black tights with a sash around the waist, and no shirts...they were painted in shiny metallic gold (and not very healthy) paint from waist to the top of their heads. Cherie (Vitrano Smith) played the Singing Bodies on the radio into the late '90's.

HUBBA HUBBA - Reliable rumor has it that it was indeed C.C.'s DJ buddy Lou Kirby who swiped the "Hubba Hubba" sign off the Mississippi River Bridge. Like Mayor Schiro said, "Don't believe any false rumors unless you hear them from me."

SALVATION - After his move from New Orleans to New York, C.C. was the co-author (along with Peter Link) of the 1969 Broadway play "Salvation." He also co-wrote the music. One song "(If You Let Me Make Love To You) Why Can't I Touch You" sung by Ronnie Dyson hit the pop charts and went to #2.

EARL OF RUSTON - The second play C.C. wrote. It was about Earl D. Woods, the "town crazy" of Ruston, LA.

RUSTON, LA - C.C. was born in Ruston, but considers New Orleans his home. He spent very little of his youth in Ruston. Actually he lived more in New Orleans, as his parents divorced leaving C.C. and his brother to live here and there, a bit of which was in N.O.

MURPHY'S CANYON - C.C.'s familiar signoff on WNOE "Remember, nobody lives in Murphy's Canyon but my brother" was C.C.'s twist on a standard and nonsensical signoff on many stations at that time. The saying had been "Hardly anybody lives in Murphy's Canyon," and it was first used on WNOE by Long John Silver in 1962. C. C.'s brother, who was also a jock in another city, had also used it. When his brother got killed in 1964, C. C. changed it to "Nobody Lives In Murphy's Canyon but my brother." Then C.C. added "Mele Kalikimaka" to it. That's Hawaiian for "Merry Christmas," not his brother's name. So the official C.C. Courtney signoff was "Remember, nobody lives in Murphy's Canyon but my brother...Mele Kalikimaka."

C.C.'s REAL BROTHER - From C.C.:
"On August 24, 1964
William Kennth Courtney of Ruston, Louisiana
Was buried.

And so was I."

MURPHY'S CANYON ON THE STAGE - The first play C. C. wrote that was produced off-Broadway in New York was called Murphy's Canyon.

PRETTY BABY - Rent the movie "Pretty Baby" sometime. It was 12-year-old Brooke Shields' first movie. A tale about Storyville and filmed in the French Quarter in the late '70's, you'll catch C.C. decked out as a Naval officer in the parlor of one of the "houses." As Brooke Shields passes by, C.C. says "Well, what have we here?"

THE DOCTORS - C.C. was a "recurring character" and he got more scenes the longer he appeared on "The Doctors," a popular soap opera on NBC-TV in the early '70's.

JODY LEE BRONSON - C.C.'s character on "The Doctors." According to C.C.: "It was an extremely popular character, I think because it was humorous. Not much humor on soaps."

NYPD - C.C. was a special guest star on NYPD, and he also played incidental parts on all the shows shooting in NYC.

KAHLIL GIBRAN - C.C. would close his show on Saturday nights by reading a passage from "On Love" from the book "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran, to set the mood for those couples listening and parked somewhere under the moon. After reading it he would close by playing "Lovers Never Say Goodbye" by the Flamingos.

KISSING TONE - Earlier, C.C. would end his Saturday night show with more direct help for parked lovers listening. He played the recorded Kissing Tone setup: "It's time for the C.C. Courtney Kissing Tone. In the interest of germ warfare and the furtherance of the medical profession, WNOE now presents the kissing tone," followed by about 15 seconds of exaggerated kissing sound effects. Then C.C. would play "Lovers Never Say Goodbye."

HOW'S YOUR BODY? - C.C. and Lou's way of asking "How are you?"

MY MAIN MAN - How C.C. and Lou addressed each other on the air.

THE SEVEN SEAS - A favorite C.C. watering hole in the Quarter.

WHERE IS LOU KIRBY? - Lou now owns and operates a construction company in Cancun!

IN MEMORY OF STEVE CASEY - Passed away in August, 2002. Afternoon Drive DJ on WNOE and C.C.'s good friend during C.C.'s return to New Orleans and 'NOE with Buzz Bennett in the late '70's.

Back