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<\/a>The Red Eye Grille straddles the northwest corner of 7th<\/sup><\/span> avenue and 59th<\/sup><\/span> street in New York City. It\u2019s just blocks from the Ed Sullivan Theater where Letterman and Colbert performed and a short walk to the heart of Broadway.\u00a0 <\/span>In the summer of 2014 it was the home for a reunion of many of the original Keener Keymen. In attendance were Bob Green, Jerry Goodwin, Gary Stevens and Robin Seymour, personalities from the dawn of WKNR\u2019s notoriety. Scott Regen came soon after.\u00a0 <\/span>John Meagher and Jim Brooker represented Contact News with Pat St. John and Jim Kerr representing the long tail of the Keener legend. Frank Maruca joined via Skype. At the center of the action was the man who found the venue, the host and sometime master of ceremonies, Frank \u201cSwingin\u201d Sweeney.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s now almost two years later as I meet Frank and his long time companion, Stephanie for lunch at that same hallowed location. It\u2019s clear that he\u2019s royalty here, warmly welcomed by the staff, who exude genuine love for an amazing spirit who became Keener\u2019s second morning man in the wake of Mort Crowley\u2019s dramatic departure.<\/p>\n
Frank Sweeney likens the radio business of the 50s and 60s to professional baseball. \u201cYou started out in the minor leagues and if you were lucky, you eventually made it to a major market operation.\u201d<\/p>\n
His own circuitous route to the majors began in the northeast and wound its way through Pennsylvania and Ohio before the confluence of timing and talent brought him to Detroit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was working at WKBN in Youngstown when I learned that Mike Joseph was programming this new Top 40 station in the Motor City. Another colleague, Frank Maruca had been hired as the PD and I was tapped for the noon to 3 shift. By the time I arrived, Mort Crowley had quit and all of a sudden, I found myself on the morning show.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t the ideal assignment for a distinctively non-morning constitution, but \u201cSwingin\u201d Sweeney, a moniker he was given during his Pennsylvania swing, made the best of it. \u201cI probably followed the format more religiously than the rest of the guys did, because I had been a program director before and had to enforce the rules. But eventually, the \u2018intelligent flexibility\u2019 that Bobby Green aptly described as the vibe at Keener, allowed us to evolve in step with our audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sweeney\u2019s creative license was revealed in two interesting events. \u201cWe somehow ended up with a half dozen cats that we decided to give away as \u2018Keener Kittens\u2019. They were gone in an instant. The audience loved it. And then there was the time I became a Godfather. I was mentioning on the air that it was something I always wanted to do and this guy called up to say that his wife was having a baby in a couple of weeks, offering me the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of Frank\u2019s duties included creating the weekly WKNR Music Guides. \u201cIt was a mix of art and science. The record promoters played all kinds of games to try to convince you that everything they pedaled was a hit. You developed a good sense for what the top 13 songs should be. But take a look at the lower reaches of the charts and you\u2019ll see a lot of questionable tunes float in and out of the playlist.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was no question that Motown was a big part of the Keener sound and Motown talent often appeared at WKNR record hops. \u201cI remember one of the label\u2019s promoters contacting me to ask if he could bring a new group to one of my events. It was a girl act that didn\u2019t yet have a name. They turned out to be the Supremes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The acts would show up and lip sync to their records. The crowds ate it up.<\/p>\n
When Berry Gordy\u2019s sister, Loucye Gordy Wakefield, passed away in July of 1965, Frank was invited to the funeral. \u201cEvery Motown act except the Supremes was in the balcony singing in the choir,\u201d he remembers. \u201cDiana, Flo and Mary were in New York appearing on the Ed Sullivan show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sweeney had the singular distinction of introducing the Beatles during their first appearance in Detroit. \u201cFrank Maruca said, \u2018you\u2019re the oldest so you get to introduce them.\u2019 I remember them as being four young kids who were as fascinated by the fan reaction as the audience was with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burning the candle at both ends was particularly hard for a morning man and on more than one occasion, Sweeney\u2019s drowsy driving attracted police attention. \u201cOne night, about 2AM I was pulled over by two of Dearborn\u2019s Finest. Based on my weaving, they accused me of being drunk. As I was trying to convince them that I never touched the stuff (I still don\u2019t), I happened to mention that I was \u201cSwingin\u201d Sweeney from Keener. That changed the whole conversation and they ended up escorting me home.<\/p>\n
Frank\u2019s sleep deficit ultimately ended his Keener career. On August 14, 1965, he was poised to move from air talent to Assistant Program Director. \u201cNot for the first time, I overslept. Jerry Goodwin called Frank Maruca who was there when I turned up. I let my Irish temper get the better of me and when Frank ordered me to move to the 10PM to 1AM shift, I quit. That opened the door for Dick Puritan to move to mornings. The rest, as they say, is history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sweeney quickly found work at WOHO in Toledo and then moved to WKWK in Wheeling West Virginia. \u201cIt was an operation that was similar to WKNR and it was there that I first got involved with the Miss Universe Pageant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sweeney discovered he had a knack for the organization and operation of beauty pageants, ultimately rising to Senior Vice President of the Miss Universe organization before striking out on his own and a long career as a pageant licensee. Look for the Miss Universe television coverage from 1982 on YouTube and you\u2019ll hear Frank\u2019s dulcet tones as the voice over announcer, a side gig he had for nearly a decade.<\/p>\n
Today, at age 82, he\u2019s virtually retired. He and Stephanie live three blocks from the Red Eye Grille. He considers his Keener connection to be one of the most memorable experiences of his life. \u201cBobby Green, Jerry Goodwin and I became lifelong friends. That\u2019s the power of Facebook for you. I\u2019ve always felt that Bobby was the most brilliant talent that WKNR ever had. And Jerry found his niche as a performer, still involved in theater, television and film to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sweeney describes the Keener Magic as, \u201cCapturing lighting in a bottle. These were amazing guys who found themselves in the right place at the right time. They created a brand that still endures in the hearts of just about everyone who grew up during that era.\u201d<\/p>\n
We finished our lunch, toasting WKNR as the waitstaff brought over freshly baked cookies and cotton candy. Like many in their 80\u2019s Frank\u2019s perambulation benefits from an electric scooter. As he made his way to the exits, the regulars waved and shook his hand. \u201cKeep rolling,\u201d one called out, \u201cyou inspire the rest of us.\u201d As we parted and I turned to head back toward Time\u2019s Square, I thought that this comment probably best described the atmosphere at Keener in the 60s.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t realize you\u2019re making history when you\u2019re in the middle of living it,\u201d Frank Sweeney told me. \u201cFor those of us lucky enough to have worked at WKNR, it\u2019s been a pretty good run.\u201d<\/p>\n
As I look over the careers that many of the Key Men have had since, I\u2019m inclined to agree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Scott Westerman curator@keener13.org The Red Eye Grille straddles the northwest corner of 7th avenue and 59th street in New York City. It\u2019s just blocks from the Ed Sullivan Theater where Letterman and Colbert performed and a short walk to the heart of Broadway.\u00a0 In the summer of 2014 it was the home for a reunion of many of the original Keener Keymen. In attendance were Bob Green, Jerry Goodwin, Gary Stevens and Robin Seymour, personalities from the dawn of WKNR\u2019s notoriety. Scott Regen came soon after.\u00a0 John Meagher and Jim Brooker represented Contact News with Pat St. John and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-keener","wpcat-2-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keener13.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keener13.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keener13.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keener13.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keener13.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2677"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/keener13.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2725,"href":"https:\/\/keener13.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2677\/revisions\/2725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keener13.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keener13.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keener13.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}