Russel James Gibb (June 15, 1931 – April 30, 2019) was an American rock concert promoter, school teacher and

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

from

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Dearborn borders Detroit to the south and west, roughly west of downtown Detroit. In the 2020 United States ...

, best known for his role in the "

Paul is dead "Paul is dead" is an urban legend and conspiracy theory alleging that English musician Paul McCartney of the Beatles died in 1966 and was secretly replaced by a look-alike. The rumour began circulating in 1966, gaining broad popularity in Se ...

" phenomenon, a story he broke on radio station WKNR-FM in Dearborn, and as the owner of the

Grande Ballroom The Grande Ballroom ( ') is a historic live music venue located at 8952 Grand River Avenue in the Petosky-Otsego neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. The building was designed by Detroit engineer and architect Charles N. Agree in 1928 and original ...

, a major rock music venue in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Education

Gibb graduated from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, earning a degree in educational radio and television administration in 1953.

Career

Teaching

Gibb began teaching elementary school English in the Dearborn School District in 1961. In 1976, he began teaching TV and video production at Dearborn High School. He retired in 2004, having spent 42 years teaching in the Dearborn public schools. For 16 years, he produced the student run cable video show '' Back Porch Video''.

Disc jockey

Gibb started his broadcast career as a weekend TV floor manager at

WWJ-TV WWJ-TV (channel 62) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division, alongside WKBD-TV (channel 50), an affiliate of The CW. The two ...

in Detroit. He did some weekend disc jockey work for WBRB in

Mount Clemens, Michigan Mount Clemens is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 15,697 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat, seat of government of Macomb County, Michigan, Macomb County and part of the Metro Detroit, Det ...

. Then, he worked at WKMH. Gibb worked as a disk jockey at WKNR-FM, when the station was transitioning from a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

format to a hard rock format. His on air nickname was "Uncle Russ". On October 12, 1969, a caller to his show told Gibb about the "Paul is dead" rumor and its clues. The rumor had been circulating sporadically for two years, but had not yet attracted much attention. Gibb and other callers discussed the rumor on the air for the next hour. Two days after the WKNR broadcast, ''

The Michigan Daily ''The Michigan Daily'', also known as "''The Daily''", is the independent student newspaper of the University of Michigan published in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Established on September 29, 1890, the newspaper is financially and editorially independe ...

'' published a satirical review of ''

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 26 September 1969, by Apple Records. It is the last album the group recorded, although '' Let It Be'' (1970) was the last album completed before th ...

'' by

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

student Fred LaBour under the headline "McCartney Dead; New Evidence Brought to Light".LaBour, Fred.
McCartney Dead; New Evidence Brought to Light
''

'' 14 October 1969: 2 It identified various clues to McCartney's death on Beatles album covers, including new clues from the just-released ''Abbey Road'' LP. As LaBour had invented many of the clues, he was astonished when the story was picked up by newspapers across the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Gibb further fueled the rumor with a special two-hour program on the subject, "The Beatle Plot", which aired on October 19, 1969. This show has been called "infamous", a "fraud" and a "mockumentary". It brought enormous worldwide publicity to Gibb and WKNR.

Rock music promoter

In the early 1960s, Gibb supplemented his teaching income by producing weekend

sock hops A sock hop or sox hop, often also called a record hop or just a hop, was an informal (but officially organized) dance event for teenagers in mid-20th-century North America, featuring popular music. The term sock hop came about because dancers wer ...

at a rented union hall under the name the Pink Pussycat. In 1966, Gibb opened the

in Detroit, and was a major player in the late 1960s and early 1970s Detroit music scene. He hired psychedelic poster artists

Gary Grimshaw Gary Grimshaw (February 25, 1946 – January 13, 2014) was an American graphic artist active in Detroit and San Francisco who specialized in designing rock concert posters. He was also a radical political activist with the White Panther Party and ...

and Carl Lundgren to help promote his shows. Most major rock acts of that era performed at the Grande Ballroom, some many times. He closed the Grande Ballroom in 1972. He was instrumental in giving the

MC5 MC5 was an American rock music, rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The classic lineup consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis (bassist), Michael Davis, and drummer ...

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...

and

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

their start. The Grande Ballroom also was where

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

played their rock opera, ''Tommy'', for the first time in the United States. Gibb also owned and leased other live music venues around the Midwest including the

Eastown Theatre Eastown Theatre was a 2,500-seat theater located at 8041 Harper on the east side of Detroit, Michigan. Opening in 1931, it operated as a movie theater until being converted into a rock music venue in 1967. Performers included Alice Cooper, Emerso ...

, Michigan Theater (where the

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground, the MC5, and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved ...

played), and the Birmingham Palladium. He invested in the rock magazine ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American rock music magazine and entertainment company, founded in Detroit, whose initial print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor ...

'' in 1969. Gibb was one of the promoters of the Goose Lake International Music Festival in 1970, which attracted a crowd of 200,000 people.

Cable TV investor

In 1970, Gibb traveled to England and spent some time staying with

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

. He was impressed with Jagger's advanced home video system. This led to his interest in

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television broadcast programming, programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This ...

. Gibb bought the

; Wayne, Michigan; and

Grosse Pointe Grosse Pointe is a group of five adjacent suburbs in the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area on the shore of Lake St. Clair. From southwest to northeast, they are: *Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, Grosse Pointe Park *Grosse Pointe, Michiga ...

, Michigan cable licenses in the late 1970s. When he sold his interests in the 1980s, he became a millionaire.

The Bicentennial

During the administration of

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

, he worked on the

United States Bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States as an independent republic. It was a central event in the memo ...

Commission as the National Director of Youth and Education.

References

Bibliography

*Andru J. Reeve. ''Turn Me On, Dead Man'' (2004) *David A. Carson. ''Grit, Noise, and Revolution: The Birth of Detroit Rock 'n' Roll'' (2006) *Tom Wright. ''Roadwork: Rock and Roll Turned Inside Out'' (2007)

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibb, Russ People from Dearborn, Michigan Fordson High School alumni 1931 births 2019 deaths American music promoters Educators from Michigan