Biff Collie (b. November 25, 1926 in Little Rock, Arkansas,
USA - d. February 19, 1992) was an American disc jockey, singer, trumpeter,
booker and promoter.
He graduated from Thomas Edison High School (San Antonio,
Texas) in 1944. Biff's professional career spanned forty years working such
major markets as Houston and San Antonio, Texas and Los Angeles and Long Beach
California.
Biff Collie began his radio career at KMAC radio in San
Antonio as a teenager. After brief stints at Browning and Alice, Texas, he
moved on to KNUZ radio in Houston and later to KPRC. Biff started with KNUZ
(1948) working as sports reporter, before moving into a disc jockey role.
During that time, Glad Music Company had a record store on 11th Street. KNUZ
had regular remote broadcasts from their store. Popular recording artists were
frequent visitors to the shop. Hank Williams was one of the many artists to
stop by. Biff was conducting a remote broadcast from Glad Music in 1948 when
Hank Williams visited the store.
Hank Thompson, Hank Williams and Biff Collie
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During this time, he
also recorded for Columbia Records and Starday Records. His only charted hit
was as Billy Bob Bowman in 1972 on United Artists.
In 1957, he became manager and emcee for the Philip Morris
Country Music Show, which were broadcast nationally on Mutual and CBS Radio.
The 1960s were spent in Los Angeles where he remained for the decade, gaining
huge popularity over KFOX Radio. He was consistently in the top ten radio
personalities in Billboard and Music Reporter magazines, and was also named
"Best Radio Personality" by the Academy of Country Music, an
organization which he served on the Board of Directors and produced the annual
awards show in 1967.
He moved to Nashville in 1969 and produced the first
syndicated radio show, "Inside Nashville" that ran on stations across
the country for many years. Before his death, Biff earned the Ernest Tubb
Humanitarian Award for his contributions. Biff is a member of the Country Music
DJ Hall of Fame (1978). Collie died from prostate cancer on February 19, 1992
in Brentwood, Tennessee. (Info various but mainly from bopping.org)
3 comments:
For 12 mp3’s of Biff’s go here:
http://www.bopping.org/houston-tx-the-hillbilly-novelties-of-biff-collie-1949-1972/
I spent 20 years in radio as a Country Music DJ and loved his "Inside Nashville" show. Nobody...and I mean nobody could do an interview like Biff Collie. He was the best. He was a legend in broadcasting but I've always been disappointed that Biff never got the full measure of recognition he deserved. Google, "Inside Nashville" and Biff's name never appears. You really have to dig to find out what an incredible person he was.
Thanks Roger, Thanks for the info.Sorry that the mp3 player doesn't work but I did post this 3 years ago. Nice to see someone still going back through the blog posts. Regards, Bob
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