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He Risked
Everything He Had
“This has to be the dumbest stunt that you have
pulled to date!” Those were pretty much his wife’s words when
he told her. And what he had just told her was not what she
wanted to hear. After all, she had put up with quite a bit in
this marriage thus far. As a radio station disc-jockey at KACY,
Robert wasn’t exactly on the top of the salary scale.
Oh, don’t misunderstand, he was making ends meet, but getting
rich? Nope, not spinning platters. That’s what we called it
before the days of CD’s and digital music. Some of you may
remember the old 45's, 33’s and even 78's. I consider my days
spent in the radio station to be golden. I love radio, always
have, but you don’t get rich. Robert knew that too and he
decided to do something about it.
He had heard of a new recording group that would be touring and
they had an open play date in his area. If he could get them,
he figured he could clean up and make a tidy profit. The
problem was the rock group was getting more popular all the time
and their management company wanted some big bucks to guarantee
the date. Not only would Robert have to put up a large sum of
money, but in order to hold the expected crowd, it would have to
be held outside.
That made it susceptible to the weather, too! A good rain and
it would all be over and Robert would be ruined. The group’s
schedule did not allow for a return engagement for rain. It was
an all or nothing proposition. Not that all that was so bad,
but as I said, he needed money to send as a deposit to guarantee
the band’s appearance.
That’s what his wife was so cranky about. In order to get the
money, he mortgaged his house. Her house! As if being the wife
of a disc-jockey wasn’t tenuous enough already, with the
frequent changes in programming and stations being sold, this
bozo had to go and take a second on her house to get the money
for a rock group.
The next two months were pure agony for her. She couldn’t
believe that her whole life was wrapped up in some silly, almost
unknown musical group. But it was! To make a good story short,
let me tell you that in the end, all went well. The group came
and performed to an over-sold house. It didn’t rain and Robert
made a very handsome profit, with which he paid off the mortgage
and promised never to do it again.
He became the manager for such greats as Stevie Wonder, Ike and
Tina Turner, The Beach Boys, Elton John, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly
Parton, Bob Dylan, just to name a few. He created and produced
television hit shows such as the Tony Tennile Show, The Guinness
Game, Infatuation, and even the major motion picture Payback.
And I’ll bet you didn’t know any of that, but you do know
Robert. You knew the man that mortgaged his home and nearly
lost a wife for a chance at the big time, but you know him as
host for one of the most popular game shows of all time.
It’s a Little Known Fact
that Robert, Bob Eubanks, was the host of the The Newlywed Game,
and nearly lost everything he had to promote an unknown but
growing rock group. But as I said, that worked out alright for
both Bob Eubanks and The Beatles!
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