Marion Elbridge Herrington (July 18, 1935 – November 16, 1997) (also known as Mikel Hunter Herrington), best known as Captain Mikey (and also known by the air names Mikel Hunter, Motorcycle Mikel, Lefty, Hot Rocks Hunter, and Oil Can Harry), was an American disc jockey; voice-over actor, who was the national voice for Sears; and innovative radio program director, who "pioneered album-oriented rock formats at San Jose's KOME and Los Angeles' KMET",[1] and was described as "one of the very best programmers in Top 40 radio as well as what we called progressive rock on FM.
"[17] Under various names, Herrington worked as a disc jockey and later as a program director at radio stations in New Bern, North Carolina; Jackson, Mississippi; Dallas; Boston; Tucson; San Diego; Los Angeles; Phoenix; Philadelphia and even an ill-fated journey to Iran.
Among his promotional activities was "providing listeners with hot dogs, buns, and soft drinks for weekend caravans over Highway 17 to the beach at Santa Cruz, and the creation of the station's mascot Norman, "a snooty surfer boy".
[25] Herrington was a disc jockey on the following Los Angeles radio stations: KFI, 1969; KLAC, 1970; KRLA, 1971–72; KMET, 1972–74; and KGBS, 1975–76.
[26] The KMET jocks had a wall full of "nude" pictures of listeners, and the ceiling of the studio was a mural with the moon and stars on it.
about Jeff Dugan, who led the resistance to corporate takeover at a fictitious radio station, was based on Herrington and his times at KMET,[38] as was the character of program director Andy Travis on the popular 1978 sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.
[6] Among the on air talent Herrington recruited while program director at KMET was Dr. Demento, who moved from Pasadena station KPPC at the end of 1971, and from 1972 to 1983 he performed a four-hour live radio show, which was syndicated nationally from 1974;[39] and freeform format pioneering disc jockey Jim Ladd, whom Herrington recruited in 1974 from rival KLOS.
In 1991 Ladd released a semi-autobiographical book Radio Waves: Life and Revolution on the FM Dial, which featured his colleagues at KMET (disguised as KAOS), including Herrington.
[36] By September 1974 Herrington (as Mikel Hunter) was the operations director at KNEW,[41] a radio station based in Oakland, California[42] which had switched to a country music format in July 1974.
[43] After the station changed its name to KTNQ in September 1976, and subsequently format,[44] about Christmas 1976 Herrington left KGBS to accept a lucrative position in Iran.
[45] Recruited by Kamron Mashayekhi,[46] the head of NIRT, who was also Washington bureau chief for Savak,[47] Herrington served as both program director, and also as disc jockey who played heavy rock and roll from 5-10pm each day for a month from March 1977.
[49] Upon his return to the US, Herrington was forced to hide out in a motel in the San Fernando Valley until Hall threatened to expose the situation in Iran in Billboard.
[51] In August 1977 Herrington returned to the San Jose area "bringing his programming sensibilities" into the emerging FM market at KOME.
[52][53] As program director at KOME, Herrngton, described at that time as "a decidedly non-corporate type who is, in fact, something of a throwback to the early days of FM gurus,[54] returned the station to its free-form roots.
On April Fool's Day he told listeners to cover up their telephone receivers because the phone company was cleaning out the lines and would be blowing dust through them.
segment, where prominent musicians (including Van Halen, Grace Slick, Hall & Oates, Ian Hunter, the Greg Kihn Band, Kip Addotta, and Chevy Chase) would ask the question that prompted the announcement of the time.
By November 1984 Herrington became program director at Metromedia's WIP (610 AM) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which was then an Adult Contemporary station,[65] with declining ratings.