thumbnail, 180px, Spider Harrison Spider Harrison is an American national radio DJ and entertainer who first rose to prominence after replacing John R. on WLAC/Randy's, a 50-thousand-watt Class A clear channel station in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. He is the syndicated creator and host of urban-rock radio features "Spider Harrison's Rock n Soul America" and ''What Ever Happened To ..?'' and owner of independent record label Spido Records Ltd.

Biography

Early life and education

Harrison was born in

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) on Long Island, in New York, United States. The town's combined population was 793,409 at the 2020 census. It occupies the s ...

. As a running back on the Hempstead High School football team, he became known as "Spider Harrison" because of his size and speed. He carried the handle into his radio, recording and acting careers. During his high school summers, he worked with a New York concert promoter, an arrangement that allowed him to meet with radio personalities from Top 40 powerhouse WABC and #1 Soul station

WWRL WWRL (1600 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to New York, New York, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station airs an all-news radio format as an network affiliate, affiliate of the Black Information Network (BIN). Founded in 1926, WW ...

as well as with many recording artists and record industry executives. Taking classes at C.W. Post College, Harrison worked several "fill in" air shifts on WCWP and created a show called ''An Introduction To Soul''. He soon interned at WWRL in Woodside Queens where he honed his radio production skills and filled in on Sundays, setting up gospel "remotes" for churches throughout Brooklyn and Harlem (New York). Spider Harrison attended C.W. Post College, Tennessee State University, and Los Angeles Valley College (AA Degree in Liberal Arts). He a Business Administration Degree from The University of La Verne (La Verne, CA). In April 2020, the Los Angeles Valley College monthly alumni newsletter acknowledged that Spider Harrison was a 1990 graduate. In 2020 Spider Harrison continued taking classes of interest at

Chaffey College Chaffey College is a public community college in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The college serves students in Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. It is the oldest community college in California. History ...

in Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

Career

Spider Harrison has appeared in national television commercials with

Colonel Sanders Harland David Sanders (September 9, 1890 December 16, 1980) was an American businessman and founder of fast food chicken restaurant chain KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken (now known as KFC). He later acted as the company's brand ambassador and sym ...

for

KFC KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...

, with

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

for STP Motor Oil, and with

Billy Carter William Alton Carter (March 29, 1937 – September 25, 1988) was an American farmer, businessman, brewer, and politician. The younger brother of U.S. President Jimmy Carter, he promoted Billy Beer and Peanut Lolita; and he was a candidate for ...

for ''

Billy Beer Billy Beer is a brand of beer first made in the United States in July 1977, by the Falls City Brewing Company. It was promoted by Billy Carter, whose older brother Jimmy Carter, Jimmy was then the president of the United States. In October 1978, ...

''. Amusingly, he was featured as a look-a-like of Los Angeles lawyer

Johnnie Cochran Johnnie Lee Cochran Jr.Adam Bernstei ''The Washington Post'', March 30, 2005; retrieved April 17, 2006. ( ; October 2, 1937 – March 29, 2005) was an American attorney from California who was involved in numerous civil rights and Police b ...

during the 90's. Harrison's independent music label SPIDO RECORDS released his remake of the

Jim Stafford James Wayne Stafford (born January 16, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and comedian. While prominent in the 1970s for his recordings " Spiders & Snakes", "Swamp Witch", "Under the Scotsman's Kilt", " My Girl Bill", and " Wildw ...

novelty song " Spiders and Snakes". During the seventies while on WLAC, Spider Harrison guested vocally on albums by R&B artists Millie Jackson, "Feelin Bitchy" and the late Joe Tex, with little success. While program director and music director at WTLC-FM he met many artists including the R&B-jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis and Maurice White, who later formed Earth, Wind and Fire. In 1976 while Harrison was at WLAC, Ramsey Lewis recorded a hit dance single about Spider Harrison titled, "What's The Name Of This Funk Spider-Man" (Spider-Man a nickname for Harrison). The song was played often on ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, it aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featu ...

''; Harrison and Soul Train creator Don Cornelius were friends. While Harrison was at WLAC-AM in Nashville, radio consultant Kent Burkhardt changed the Top 40 format promotional call letters to 15LAC. After

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...

bought 15LAC, Spider Harrison hosted the first Billboard Soul Countdown. At night the 50,000 watt 15LAC signal could be heard in some 20 states, parts of Canada and throughout the Caribbean. In 1981 Harrison headed for California. In 2015, Spider Harrison was inducted into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame and WLAC, Nashville radio was honored with The Legendary Station Award. As of 2020 he is a member of the former Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters, now "Hollywood Media Professionals." Harrison became a board member in August 2019 for a three year term. Spider Harrison is an active member of the SAG-AFTRA Union. Spider Harrison is pursuing professional acting, television projects and capable of voice-tracking radio shows world-wide.

Singles

* Beautiful Day (1971) * When "Spider" Counts Down, Your Ratings Go Up (1978) * The Rhythm Machine (2006)

References

External links

Spider-Harrison.com

What Ever Happened To..?

Spido Records - Record label site

Stones Throw Records

Urban Insite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Spider Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American radio personalities LIU Post alumni People from Hempstead (village), New York