Radio Host Danny Winchell Passes

WAMB radio show host Danny Winchell has died at age 84. He was also a pop singer, magazine publisher, record producer and music promoter.

Winchell died on February 16 in Nashville. His weekly program, “The Danny Winchell Show,” aired on Fridays at 2:05 p.m. on WAMB, at 1200 on the AM radio dial. He sometimes sang on it with his pop trio Moonlight & Memories, which included vocalists Carole Shaw and Lisa Webb.

He was a New York native who began his show-business career in the early 1950s. In 1952, he scored a pop hit singing the standard “Carolina in the Morning” on MGM Records. Other pop singles included “Two Who Love as One” (1951), “There Goes My Heart” (1952), “Joshua” (1953), “Por Favor” (1956), “Dungaree Doll” (1956), “Don’t Say You’re Sorry” (1959) and “We’re Gonna Have a Rockin’ Party” (1959).

He also took credit for co-producing “Blue Moon” by The Marcels, a No. 1 hit in 1961.

In later years, he wrote the syndicated column “The Winch Line” and published the entertainment periodicals Panorama and In & Around.

Danny Winchell is survived by Judy, his wife of 56 years, daughter Jerri Findley, son Kenny and brother Sam. Memorials may be made to the Community Foundation/ Danny Winchell Music to help fund musical education for disadvantaged youth. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Eastland Funeral Home. According to http://dannywinchell.com, a celebration of Winchell’s life will be held in Nashville next month.