Lee Alan, 1960s radio DJ known to teenagers as ‘The Horn’, dies aged 90

Susan Whitall
| Special to The Detroit News

Lee Alan, who as “The Horn” was a teen favorite on Detroit radio in the early 1960s, died Tuesday in Florida at the age of 90. Longtime friend and radio veteran Jim Hampton announced the death.

The Detroit native, known as “The Horn” for the “fine-tuned Pakistani horn” he sometimes honked, made his mark in the late ’50s as an engaging on-air personality at AM stations WJBK and WKMH (which became WKNR).

But Alan’s popularity exploded when he landed a 7 o’clock slot on WXYZ-AM in the spring of 1962, when it was one of the top pop radio stations in town. His sonorous, intelligent voice that teenagers first heard representing early Motown and Detroit pop/rock.

“Before 12 o’clock is the best!” Alan shouted as his theme song ‘Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart” by Les Elgarth and his orchestra played. After an upbeat start, Alan would take a more somber, romantic vibe throughout the night, calling himself “gloomy” and playing Frank Sinatra (usually “I Can’t Start”) around midnight. Sinatra on Top 40 radio? Then everything was freer, and… Alan dared to complain to his bosses.

Alan also co-hosted the 1270 Club with fellow WXYZ disc jockey Joel Sebastian and promoted shows at the Walled Lake Casino by artists such as Stevie Wonder, the Four Seasons and, most notably, Chuck Berry, who had just been released from prison.

“He was the best disc jockey in Detroit at the time,” Detroit native Pat St. John said on Sirius XM’s ’60s Gold show Wednesday. “He was a Detroit radio legend and had a huge impact on my career.”

St. John also “hijacked” Alan’s song and starts and ends his daily satellite radio broadcasts with “Zing! The strings of my heart went.”

Dan Carlisle, one of Detroit’s legendary “air aces” at underground WABX-FM in the late ’60s, volunteered at WXYZ as a teenager just to watch Lee up close.

“I volunteered to work a few hours a night in the radio and television newsroom, reporting the weather to on-air DJs and cleaning teletypewriters. I did it so I could watch Lee on his show. I learned an important and valuable technique by watching him on the microphone. Lee spoke to his audience, no in his audience. It’s a powerful technique that I use every time I open the mic.”

Born Allan L. Reichheld in Detroit, Lee lived on St. Marys Street and attended Central High School. He started out at WJLB and then spent nights at WJBK-AM (“Nightbeat with Lee Alan”) before engaging younger listeners at WKMH. He left WKMH, allegedly after admitting that he and a friend participated in a “fixed” TV quiz show in New York years ago.

At WXYZ, he interviewed the Beatles and recorded the song “Set Me Free” for charity, featuring Martha and Vandella on vocals and Stevie Wonder on drums.

When Chuck Berry went to prison in 1962 (for “transporting a minor across state lines for immoral purposes”), Alan continued to play his music and gave the rock legend his first concert after being released from prison in 1963 year Alan gathered members of the Funk Brothers, Motown’s studio band, to support Berry at the Walled Lake Casino and arranged for him to record.

Alan also opened a school of broadcasting which later became the Specs Howard School of Broadcasting after he left.

After his radio career, Alan went into advertising, where his voice could be heard in advertisements for the Suburban Collection, among others.

He retired to Florida and continued to narrate audiobooks, including one about Detroit Radio, due out before Christmas. He’s also written a memoir, and the title says it all—Turn On Your Radio: Motown, Music, Magic, and the Career of a Lifetime.

“He took a chance on a 19-year-old DJ and gave me an on-air spot at WXYZ Radio,” Jim Hampton wrote in his tribute. “I will never forget this gesture. Lee Alan’s legacy is one of passion, innovation and dedication to his craft and his community. His voice, energy and contribution to the cultural fabric of Detroit will be remembered and cherished by many who remember him as Lee Alan “On the Corner”.

Lee Alan is survived by his wife, Nancy.

You can contact Susan Whitall at susanwhitell.com