Burl Barer True Crime Uncensored Merch

Burl Barer, whose True Crime Uncensored runs every Saturday at 2pm Pacific  Time on Outlaw Radio and is also available on podcast has  t-shirts available on Amazon.   I have ordered one myself.  You can find the shirts by clicking here. 

Burl Barer From The Mid 1980s

In this picture from 1986, my cousin, Burl Barer is pictured with family friend, Bill Grant and then Washington Governor Booth Gardiner.  Burl is leaning against the wall, third from the left.

At the time, Grant was campaigning for the Washington State Legislature.  He would be successful and serve until his death in 2009.

This was taken in front of Walla Walla's old Liberty Theatre, which had closed years before and was used as a campaign headquarters. 

This was on the Bygone Walla Walla blog. 

Burl Interviews Brother Stan

Burl Barer interviewed his brother, Stan on the subject of US trade with China on this edition of True Crime Uncensored.  Click Here.

Howard Lapides--True Crime Sidekick Passes

Howard Lapides  was an agent representing A-list stars, but he had a passion for true crime investigation. Lapides was heard with Burl Barer on the Internet radio program True Crime Uncensored.  Howard was heard asking very pointed questions to various guests who were writers, investigators, victims and in rare instances, criminals themselves.   

Lapides died Thursday after battling cancer. 

I met Lapides a little over two years ago, when Deb and I visited the Outlaw Radio studios in the Los Angeles area to sit in on Burl's show.

Ironically, only weeks ago, Howard filled in as main host while Burl was undergoing heart surgery.

Burl said on his facebook page that True Crime Uncensored would continue today (Saturday) at it's scheduled time (2 pm Pacific), 

Early Burl Barer

Off the Pugetsound.media blog, this snip taken from Burl Barer, at the time working in Seattle rock radio, doing a guest DJ appearance at Nathan Hale High's radio station KNHC.  Click Here

Former Walla Walla DJ Survived Health Scare

Lyn Daniels worked at KUJ and Kiss-FM after graduating from Spokane Falls Community College.  It was the early 1980s.   Daniels also did some voice over commercials for my Cousin Burl, who had the rights to local commercials on the Walla Walla cable system.
It was known around town that Daniels had survived an incident as an infant where she pulled a coffee pot on top of her, nearly burning her to death.
Daniel's left Walla Walla to resume her radio career in her native Spokane.  About 13 years ago, she had to be rushed to the hospital with an aneurysm.   She once again survived and was in recovery when this great article was written, sent to me by a friend. You can click here.

Old Walla Walla Radio Remembered Part 30 KISS 101 Appears

Rock music was readily available in Walla Walla when KISS 101 launched in 1986.  Tom Hodgins, a local man known for his radio work, set up the new station with a studio at the top of the Whitman Tower, the city's tallest building and most famous landmark.
Unlike when KUJ switched to pop music, about a decade earlier, stations like KIOK, KSXT, and K-Lite already played music geared toward teens and young adults.
The station was personality oriented.  The picture above features morning crew members Big Jim Schwartz, along with his co-host Shannon, who helped me with info on the station.
 Lyn Daniels, a Spokane native who started at KUJ, would eventually join the staff.  Daniels would go on to become well known in Spokane country music.  Former Tri Cities DJ Chris Bartels also worked there.
In the late 1980s, about the time I was leaving Walla Walla, Burl Barer would take the morning shift, at first working with Shannon and then with another co-host.  Burl gave the station a little bit of a Seattle twist and did some great adlib commercials for B. Barer And Sons, the family business.
A big thank you to Tom Hodgins and Shannon for contributing to this article.

Puget Sound Media Plugs The Blog

Hats off to Pugetsound.media who linked to this blog in not one, but 2 different stories.  The first one was from a facebook post from Burl (above) using an app on his phone to turn himself into an art piece.
Then, they linked to my story on the Mitch Levy's first podcast.  Mitch's second podcast will roll out tomorrow, you can hear it at the Mitch unfiltered website.

Vintage Burl

My cousin, Burl is tallest in this late 60s or early 70s picture with friends.  This picture really catches the essence of the counter culture.

Rock And Roll From The Late 1960s

From the Seattle Vintage Facebook group, Burl Barer (center) with Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant (left) from a 1969 Led Zeppelin Seattle concert.   Burl was a DJ at KOL at the time.

The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Hails Burl's Return

 

Right before I graduated from college, Burl Barer moved back to Walla Walla with his wife and daughter.  He had been a DJ in Seattle for many years and operated a production company in Bellevue. 
Burl worked at B. Barer And Sons, and did consulting work at KUJ, a top 40 station at the time.  He would later set up a cable advertising business in Walla Walla and the Tri Cities.  Eventually, he would do consulting work at KEXI, at the time, an FM station in nearby Milton-Freewater. 
Just after he moved, the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin did a feature story in it's Friday TV supplement.
Burl currently resides in the Los Angeles area.  He also has a son. 

LA III--Trip To Lighten Up Lounge

I told my cousin Burl that I would be in town and was invited to the infamous Lighten Up Lounge to watch him do his internet radio show "True Crime Uncensored".   The show, on internet radio, allows Burl to combine his two passions, radio, he was a  former DJ for KJR and KOL in Seattle and writing "true crime" in which he has won awards for his many books.
These days, Burl lives in the LA area and teams up with another former Seattle area DJ, Magic Matt Alan, to do his own show as well as appearing on Matt's show, Outlaw Radio.
True Crime Uncensored has riveting true stories of notorious crime. I don't know if you could find anything like it anywhere, the show runs Saturdays at 2:00 pm Pacific Time.  You can also listen on podcast by clicking on mixcloud to Burl Barer.
The Lighten Up Lounge is an 1876 Virginia City Type bar in a backyard somewhere in the LA area.
Since I also love radio and had not seen Burl in well over 10 years, it made for a fun afternoon.

burl at the PASTTIME CAFE

Burl visits another childhood memory in Walla Walla

Burl With Sean Young

Burl Barer poses with Sean Young, I believe that Burl met Sean, when she was a guest on Outlaw Radio, the internet radio program that Burl does weekly in the LA area.

The Greats Of Seattle Radio

A photo of the 2015 version of the OFC (old farts club).  A select group of Seattle radio talent (mostly from KJR) meet annually.  Thank you to Jaynie Jones for this picture.  Burl Barer is in a red shirt in the back row center.  Pat O'Day is 4th from the right in the front row. 

Burl Barer Featured

The SeaTac Media blog posted a feature on my cousin Burl Barer.  It contained an old newspaper column and a snippet from one of his shows.  You can see and hear it by clicking here.

Cousin Interviewing Cousin

Best selling author Tod Goldberg and Rabbi Mark Borovitz (former crook) talk crime and transformatio by Burl Barer on Mixcloud

Burl Barer interviews fellow writer and fellow relative of mine, Tod Goldberg.

Burl Gets Lesson In Dog Behaviour

A while back, Cousin Burl Barer and Judy Faye, along with their dogs, were guests on the "Dog Whisperer" with Cesar Millan. 

Old Walla Walla Radio Remembered Part 2

When thought of as a radio market, the city of Walla Walla is not only mostly overlooked, it can be the subject of ridicule  However, a closer look at radio history for the town reveals an impressive roster of talent, some who grew up there and some who used their experience at the area's stations as a stepping stone to bigger things.
At the head of the list is Walter Brattain, whom is  co credited with the invention of the transistor. Transistor radios were definitely the rage in the 60s and 70s.  Brattain was a professor of physics at Whitman College in the town.  Bill Yeend, Burl Barer (my cousin), Dale Unruh, and Bob Larson were Walla Wallans who succeeded in the Seattle market.  Kent Phillips was a Whitman Student who spent his out of class hours spinning wax at KUJ, before becoming one of Seattle's longest running morning jocks at 101.5.  Dana Wagner had just graduated WSU when he took a $400 a month gig at XT-97 on his way to being a Las Vegas morning weatherman . Danny Murphy was on KTEL before becoming a children's show TV host on Spokane's KXLY. Bill Anderson would leave his name behind and become Adam West, Television's iconic Batman.   
Walla Walla native Edward P. Morgan was an ABC radio news anchor from 1955-1969, winning the George Foster Peabody award.  I remember listening to Morgan while at the family dinner  table and being shocked to find out he was from the town that I had lived in.
Last, but not least, national reporter Bob Garred grew up in Walla Walla.  He is pictured in the article above.  He grew up in the Palouse Street house that his parents sold to mine in the mid 1960s.  I can not find out much about him, but heard that he died at a very young age.  I had thought that he worked at Mutual Radio, however, all that I could find from the few articles on the Internet was that he worked for CBS. His father was the owner of Walla Walla Drug.   I want to thank Joe Drazan for the information on Mr. Garred.  He also found out the correct way to spell his name.   Joe also has this poster on his blog from the late 1970s version of KUJ

This became a pretty big hit on facebook.   I was also inspired by Sara Van Donge's article in the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

Working The Hydros At KYYX

In 1982, I had been at KYYX for almost a week, I was scheduled to work the Seafair Hydro broadcast.  Not on air, but I would assist in the studio.  Pat O'Day, the owner of the station was on the "shores of Lake Washington" announcing the race. Burl Barer, my cousin, was in the studio playing "The hits between the heats" and Pat's son, Garry and I were in the studio assisting Burl.  It was something of a "family affair".

At the time, the station sponsored  the Miss KYYX hydroplane, which was driven by Brenda Jones, the first woman to pilot a hydroplane.  It was a different era as Seafair encompassed the entire town.