THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS CONCERT-1960’S-ST.LOUIS

Although the exact date eludes me, it was probably the mid-1960’s in St. Louis. The venue was Kiel Auditorium. For some reason I recall it was fall, but I could be wrong there. My research turned up nothing to confirm the date.

In those days I would hang out at KXOK Radio on South Kingshighway. It was the number one Top 40 radio station at the time. I’d take the bus (yes, I took buses before I was able to drive) down to the station. This was not unusual practice for me, the local radio and TV stations fascinated me because they were the closest to show business I could get. Occasionally I would manage to talk my way backstage at the American Theatre once in a while.

At KXOK I had made friends with the morning DJ Mart Crowley. He was wild and irreverent and had an act not dissimilar to that of Jonathan Winters. Mart had an array of characters like Edna St. Louis Missouri, the poet laurite of St. Louis. He also had small sound effects door in the studio which he would use to into and outro his characters.

The Mamas and Papas were coming to Kiel on tour and I had bought a ticket. The night of the concert I went inside and was dismayed at the distant location of my seat and went out to the stage entrance hoping to run into Mart before he went in.

Sure enough I ran into Mart as he was arriving, greeting me, asking if I had a ticket for the concert. I showed it to him and told him my seat was high up in the nose bleed section. Mart said, “Follow me” and we entered through the artist’s entrance...