'Pied Piper' Bill Randle dead at 81

On Jan 28th, 1956, Elvis made his first TV appearance on the CBS Dorsey's Stage Show. Bill Randle, one of the most influential disc jockeys of the time, was the man who actually presented Elvis Presley to the nation. His short introduction was quite perceptive.

He said, "We'd like at this time to introduce to you a young fellow, who like many performers, Johnnie Ray among them, come up out of nowhere to be overnight very big stars. This young fellow we met for the first time while making a movie short. We think tonight that he's going to make television history for you. We'd like you to meet him now - Elvis Presley. And here he is!"

The movie short that he referred to was "The Pied Piper Of Cleveland - A Day In The Life Of A Famous Disc Jockey" a short film made by Universal pictures about Bill Randle himself. Filmed on October 20th, 1955, at a concert in Brooklyn High School, Cleveland, it featured the stars Bill Haley & The Comets, The Four Lads, Pat Boone, plus the addition of a little-known Elvis Presley.

1955 was still early days and Elvis rarely performed in the Northern US, concentrating instead on the southern states. However Randle had seen Elvis perform the previous February, also in Cleveland, which was when Randle suggested to his ‘manager’ Bob Neal that Elvis should try out on 'Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.' Viewed by a crowd of 600, Elvis performed for 20 minutes singing, That's all Right, Blue Moon Of Kentucky, Good Rockin' Tonight, Mystery Train and I Forgot To Remember To Forget. Elvis was paid $350 for his performance.

The film, if it exists, is legendary and would possibly be worth millions. According to the trustworthy People magazine, Randle sold the rights to the movie short for a reported $1.9 million to a British production company who then on-sold it to Polygram. Sadly with both the cameraman, Jack Barnett, and Randle now dead we will probably never know the truth.

Although once voted by Time magazine as ‘Top DJ in America’, Randle would sometimes tire of the music business and, although a high school drop-out, he would finally earn 6 University degrees, even becoming a qualified Lawyer at the age of 64! However he would always return to his love of music and even in his 80's Randle was still broadcasting on WRMR radio.

Bill Randle died of cancer at the Hospice of the Western Reserve, Friday July 9th.