Dick Curtis was born in Tacoma, Washington with the name Richard J. Falk. He passed away on Saturday, December 26th in Olympia, WA at the age of 87.
He assumed the name ‘Dick Curtis’ in 1960 when he first joined KJR Radio Station and decided to adopt this name legally in the early seventies. Dick attended Lincoln High School in Tacoma and joined the U.S. Air Force a year after graduation. Following his four years in the Air Force as a radio operator in the Security Service, he enrolled at Bates Technical College in Tacoma, which at the time was called Tacoma Vocational School. After leaving Bates he became a radio broadcaster in Sunnyside, Washington. From there he learned his craft in the small markets, mainly at KBRO in Bremerton. Curtis spent the next seven years at KJR, Seattle. It was there that Dick joined Pat O’Day in forming the first Rock and Roll concert promotion company in the Northwest, “Pat O’Day and Dick Curtis Presents.” The two also promoted several teen dance locations. After leaving KJR, Dick joined KOL in Seattle as an announcer and left four years later as their general manager. While there Curtis launched the first commercial FM rock station in Seattle, KOL-FM which is now KMPS. In the early seventies Dick returned to the concert business joining Concerts West, which sprouted from the original O’Day-Curtis partnership. He was also employed by the Jerry Weintraub organization in their Los Angeles office. His main duty in the middle seventies was road manager for Frank Sinatra. Dick also managed several national tours for the musical groups Eagles, Jackson Browne, Eric Clapton, Leon Russell and other well-known performers. While working for Weintraub, Curtis served as management representative to Bob Dylan in the late seventies. Dick came back to the radio business in 1979 managing KORL in Honolulu, Hawaii. Returning to the Seattle area in the middle eighties, Curtis hosted a morning “Oldies” show on KVI for nearly a decade. Prior to retirement in 2001 he acted as a news anchor for KVI. In 2009 Curtis received a “Lifetime Achievement Award,” referred to as a “Crystal Soundie,” from the Puget Sound Radio Broadcasters Association.
Dick Curtis September 29, 1933 – December 26, 2020 (Seattle Times)
Lou Robbins — Admin/Editor | Airchecks
KTOY | KVAC (WA-1974) | KDFL (WA-1975) | KTTX (TX- 1976) | KWHI (TX-1976) | KONP (WA-1977) | KBAM (WA-1978) | KJUN (WA-1983) | KRPM (WA-1984) | KAMT (WA-1986) | KASY (WA-1988) | KBRD (WA-1989) | KTAC (WA-1990) | KMTT (WA-1991) | KOOL (AZ-1994)
KMPS is now KSWD.
His frenetic promo spots for the teen dances are what I remember most – “…This Saturday night at the Lake Hills roller rink – Springfield Rifle!”
Curtis is a prime example of how to forge one’s own path in the radio/entertainment business–and eventually make tons of money doing so!…I am struck by how often this line of work requires a nomadic lifestyle….not everyone would want to get caught up in that situation…As a kid, I enjoyed his rather laid-back style of being a DJ–at least compared to his buddy, Pat O’day……and talk about “networking”……how many entertainment big-shots did Dick Curtis have to deal with during his busy career? I cannot imagine how exciting/stressful it must have been, to be a tour manager for Sinatra! Curtis lived a very full life.