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Rege Cordic, the man with the 85 share

An appreciation by Arthur Greenwald

 

    If you owned a radio in Pittsburgh in the '50s or '60s, then mornings began on KDKA, with a shaky trombone rendition of "Up A Lazy River."

    "Hello there, you lovers of good music you" The rich baritone voice dripped with self-parody "And welcome to yet another chapter of the day-by-day, week-by-week, true-to-life adventures of Cordic & Company."

    The host was Rege Cordic. The Company was Bob Trow, Karl Hardman, Bob McCully, Charlie Sords, Sterling Yates and engineer Bill Stefan. During most of their 22-year run, they commanded a staggering 85 share in morning drive.

    Rege Cordic's marvelous voice was silenced by cancer on April 16. But not entirely Pittsburghers still mimic their favorite Cordic characters: atrocious punster Carman Monoxide; Louie Adamchevitz, the philosophical Slav garbageman; tipsy golf pro Max Korfendigas; and Omicron, the bottle-shaped Venutian bureaucrat, so indignant when Earthlings returned him for the deposit.

    Rege presided with a self-mocking tone that David Letterman would envy. His historic timing was just as good. He migrated from WWSW to KDKA in 1954. Pittsburghers had just cleaned up their sooty air, so they resented outdated "Smoky City" gags. With Cordic & Company, we were in on the jokes. You could almost believe Pittsburgh was the hip place to live.

    Cordic's pranks and promotions were legendary He established Brick Throwing as a sport, replete with fan rallies, a "Miss Brick" contest, and an official magazine, Thud.

    There was Olde Frothingslosh, "the Pale Stale Ale - so light the foam is on the bottom." The gag proved so popular that Iron City Beer was repackaged annually in collectible Frothingslosh cans.

    But Cordic's masterpiece was inspired by near-tragedy. One December night in 1964, a wayward Pitt student zoomed off the end of the incomplete Fort Duquesne bridge, miraculously landing unhurt on the Allegheny riverbank. Within weeks, hundreds of thousands of cars bumpers were labeled "Official Entry, Cordic & Company Bridge Leap Contest:' Taking no chances, the cops sealed off the bridge with giant concrete barriers.

    Always eager to stretch his performing skills, Cordic couldn't resist KNX's 1966 invitation to succeed Bob Crane. The comedy transplant didn't take, but Cordic remained in Los Angeles, building a solid career as a supporting player in films and TVand as a top voice talent for KABC, HBO, and in dozens of cartoons. Still, Cordic never lost touch with Pittsburgh, For years he pretaped movie intros for WTAE-TV on whose AM station he reprised Cordic & Company in 1970, where as a high school student, I saw him work. Cordic's widow, Cathy, recalls with pride that he maintained his sense of humor through the worst of his illness. "You've got to have laughs," he told her, "or what's the point?" So it's fitting that the tears at Forest Lawn were those of laughter.

    Those of us lucky enough to be from Pittsburgh invite you to join us as we raise a mug of Olde Frothingslosh to toast one of the greats.

   

- BROADCASTING & CABLE - MAY 10, 1999 - Greenwald is a TV writer and producer who, like Cordic, migrated from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles.