BORSCHT BELT MUSEUM

I finally met Cousin Brucie! No, not my cousin, “Cousin Brucie” of New York radio fame. The radio legend Bruce Morrow, born Bruce Meyerowitz, and coined as Cousin Brucie, appeared at the Borscht Belt Fest in Ellenville, New York on July 28, 2024.

My husband Arnee Shep Cohen and I pre-purchased tickets to attend his workshop. Brucie spoke openly about Dirty Dancing, the blockbuster movie, set in the Catskills of Borscht Belt fame. For the film, Brucie is the music consultant and plays a part as a magician.

The night before Brucie’s enlightening and captivating discussion at the fest, we joined others on an entertaining weekend, as we watched the iconic film. The cultural and classic coming-of-age love story retained the same appeal it had in 1987 when it debuted.

Chuckling, Brucie said, he still receives weekly royalty checks to this day from the movie. He called it “an iconic movie of a beautiful era, a time of love, reasonable peace, and bountiful food.” He opined “The movie showed love and family, which the Borscht Belt managed to give us. The film also broke a lot of taboos and even included a botched abortion scene.” He concluded that while, in real life, the main characters disliked one another, “everything worked.”

Brucie repeated somewhat amazed that he still gets residuals every week as three generations watch the sexy dancing that happened at the Catskills. For the triumphant ending, when Patrick Swayze, as the heartthrob Johnny, held “Baby” up, played by Jennifer Grey, she wouldn’t rehearse. After telling it like it was, Brucie ended with a plea, noting that the Catskills are an important part of our lives, and emphasizing that the museum will keep it alive.

While I’m all about meeting long-lost cousins, I was in high school when the legend himself, a young Brucie, now 88, came to Elizabeth, New Jersey to MC a Battle of the Bands. That was in 1968 and the crowd gathered at Goerke’s Department Store parking lot. 

As the crowd converged, I scoffed at the opportunity to meet Cousin Brucie. Those groupies not only included my friend Marie, whom I commuted to and from school with daily and continue to be dear friends. Joining the gathering there was also my now husband, Arnee, aka Shep, a loyal Brucie listener since 1961, when everyone’s favorite “cousin” spun popular Rock N Roll. It’s a wonder how many besides Arnee remember the local group The Wabbits, who won the battle of the bands contest there singing Hang On Sloopy.

Fast forward to 2024, Arnee didn’t just see Cousin Brucie, he addressed him in front of the crowd. At dinner the night before Brucie’s performance at the fest, Arnee gave me a rundown of the Cousin Brucie years.

Beginning as I said, in 1961, when Brucie was on WABC-AM in New York, along with the late great Dan Ingram, Scott Muni and Herb Oscar Anderson, Cousin Brucie later moved to WNBC-AM in 1974, then to Satellite Radio before making the full coming home to WABC-AM for a Saturday night show where he can be heard broadcasting from New York’s WABC-AM from 6:00 - 10:00 PM.

During Q & A at the fest, Arnee thanked Brucie for giving him thousands of hours of listening pleasure. The audience’s approval was audible as Brucie sincerely appreciated the compliment.

After the discussion, Brucie gracefully spoke with attendees who approached him, graciously agreeing to take pictures with all. He accepted an invitation from Arnee to appear on his radio show, The World of Work, at wdvrfm.org, pointing out to me that he placed my husband’s card with his contact information next to a $20.00 bill in his wallet.

Several years ago, following an introduction by someone who knew Dan Ingram and also knew Shep, Ingram, another DJ legend repeatedly called Shep’s law office about appearing on The World of Work, but each time he mistakenly called when Shep was on air, Fridays from 4-5 PM. Unfortunately, since Ingram never left a return call number, Shep missed the opportunity to interview one of his all-time favorite DJs, who he considered to be the most quick-witted radio personality.

Then, there’s the story of another radio great, Norm N. Nite, who Shep had the pleasure of interviewing on The World of Work. It all happened when we visited The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Nite was sitting in a sound booth broadcasting at the museum. We held up a sign we wrote saying, “We listened to you on WCBS-FM” He invited our entire family of five into the broadcasting studio.

Sitting and listening to the music he was spinning brings back fond memories. Arnee spoke on air, saying this is Shep Cohen, here with my family. We listen to Norm N. Nite. At the break, Shep declared being a long-time listener of WCBS-FM and invited Nite to come on the World of Work. He made that lively and fun appearance more than ten years ago.

Now, Shep joins the legendary DJs, as aside from his weekly talk show, the World of Work, broadcasted on the radio for 27 years, he acts as a stand-in DJ on weekends at wdvrfm.org, 89.7 FM. Whenever invited to fill in, he spins favorites for the baby boomers and beyond.

Be sure to tune in at WABC-AM to hear Cousin Brucie on Saturday nights at 6:00 PM. Listen to Arnee, as “Shep”Cohen, at his new day and time, weekly on Tuesdays at 5:00 PM Eastern, for interesting and provocative discussions about work.

Catch Shep on the weekends as he spins those golden oldies and discusses little-known, interesting facts about the artists. You may even hear him singing along to his favorite hits. Enjoy perusing the WDVRFM archives at www.wdvrfm.org to sample previously broadcast World of Work shows.

Be sure to tune in next Tuesday, September 3, 2024, at 5:00 PM Eastern to hear Shep’s interview with one of his and everyone’s all-time favorite DJs, Cousin Brucie. See you on the radio!

Sharon with “Cousin Brucie” (Bruce Morrow) and Arnee “Shep” Ellenville, New York, July 2024 Borscht Belt Fest

Sharon at the Borscht Belt Museum Ellenville, New York July 2024

Sharon at the Borscht Belt Museum in its infancy 2023

Cover of 1962 WABC Radio Silver Dollar Sound Survey from Arnee’s collection

Radio 77 Week ending October 13, 1962 WABC Silver Dollar Sound Survey from Arnee’s collection

Advertisement on back of WABC Radio 77 Survey

Someone just happened to post this on a Northern New Jersey Facebook Group - that was where Arnee first saw Cousin Brucie

Adding to this post on December 4, 2024, after receiving memorabilia from my husband’s high school friend Ralph. He wrote: “I shared Arnie's Cousin Brucie interview with Tony. Among many topics, Arnie and Brucie talked about the Battle of the Bands in Elizabeth. And now the rest of the story.

“Tony played guitar for The Wabbits! He sent me these images of clippings from his archives. In the bottom pic, that's Tony in the upper left.”

Tony (left) and Ralph randomly reconnected in 2024 on a trip to Egypt!

Tony-guitarist from The Wabbits high school band and Ralph who graduated high school with Tony and my husband

If you missed the interview with Cousin Brucie, you can still hear it (without the added music) by logging onto www.wdvrfm.org. Go to the World of Work archives and scroll to September 3, 2024. You’ll be glad you did!