Cousin Bruce Morrow, an acclaimed and beloved broadcaster for over fifty years, was born in Brooklyn and grew up a true son of New York City. While attending New York University, he founded the first NYU radio station with a $28 grant and a couple of wires clipped together. After early jobs in Bermuda and various other markets, he joined 77WABC in 1961, just as rock ‘n’ roll music was becoming popular and a few years ahead of the British Invasion that brought The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and more. Cousin Brucie and Ed Sullivan introduced The Beatles at their famous Shea Stadium concert on August 15, 1965. For two decades, he also hosted live concerts broadcast from Palisades Amusement Park, featuring some of the biggest musical acts of the era, many of whom attribute their success to Cousin Brucie playing their songs on the radio.
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, Cousin Brucie was heard on WCBS-FM, New York’s oldies station at the time, where he hosted the Saturday Night Dance Party, The Top 15 Yesterday and Today Countdown, and the nationally syndicated radio show Cruisin’ America. From 2005-19, Morrow’s weekly Sirius/XM Satellite Radio programs Cruisin’ with Cousin Brucie and Cousin Brucie’s Rock & Roll Party were heard by hundreds of thousands of listeners.
Today, The Cuz has returned to his beloved Radio Station WABC and can be heard every Saturday 6:00-10:00PM ET, broadcasting and streaming around the world.
Morrow has appeared in films such as Dirty Dancing and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, had featured roles on Broadway in Grease and Memphis, and made countless television appearances in shows including PBS’s My Music series.
Morrow’s philanthropic work includes Variety, the Children’s Charity (President for ten years) and his longtime support of Why Hunger, thanks to his close friendship with the organization’s founder, the late singer-songwriter Harry Chapin. He is the author of several critically-acclaimed bestsellers including Cousin Brucie: My Life in Rock & Roll Radio, and Doo Wop: The Music, the Time, the Era.
Cousin Brucie was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1988 and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2001. He received TALKERS Magazine 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award, and he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Montclair State University, for excellence in broadcasting.
February 5 @ 7:00 pm – 9 pm
It Was 60 Years Ago Today: A Beatles Conversation with Cousin Brucie and Jamie Bernstein