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The Boy Next Door
That's personable Mort Lindsey,
who's finding fame and good fortune as
Martin Block's neighbor at WABC
He's smiling because he has access to Martin Block's 60,000-plus record collection. Below: Using his kitchen table as a desk, Mort does a lot of musical arranging.
Mort receives the opening theme for his show from Martin Block.
While some people strike oil or discover uranium, Mort Lindsey feels he has them all beat as "disk-jockey student" under the "Dean of Disc Jockeys" himself, Martin Block. . . . Mort, who admits he's the luckiest guy in the platter-spinning world to have his program produced by Block, hosts a combination deejay-piano-and-song show, The Boy Next Door, over Station WABC, New York, from 1:30 to 2:30 P.M.— a pleasant, tune-filled curtain-raiser to Block's famous Make-Believe Ballroom. . . . Seated at the piano, the genial Mr. Lindsey dabbles at the keys as he chats about matters musical. Then he spins a Sinatra ballad, an Ella Fitzgerald blues number, or something in the Mantovani style. Highlight of the show comes when Mort croons a tune himself — which is not unusual for a fellow who's made quite a few records of his own. For a finishing touch, Mort often shares his WABC mike with in-person stars such as Toni Arden, Johnny Desmond and Archie Bleyer. . . . Being a deejay is something new for Mort, though his background has always been "music, music, music." His mother, a school teacher, aroused his interest in the piano when he was eight and he continued his training until he entered Columbia University. There, Mort wrote the 1942 varsity show, "Saints Alive," and was voted the "most talented student" after winning the Fred Allen College Talent Hunt. . . . After a stint in the Air Force, Mort earned his Master's Degree in Music. In 1946, he formed a trio and starred at Morey Amsterdam's Playgoer's Club before joining Paul Whiteman's orchestra at New York's Capitol Theater. Next came radio and TV network jobs: directing music for The Andy and Delia Russell Show, arranging music for Arthur Godfrey and Archie Bleyer, and lending his keyboard talents to the shows of Morton Downey, Robert Q. Lewis, and Paul Winchell, among others. . . . His "turn for the best" came last May, when Martin Block recognized Mort's deejay potential and signed him on as The Boy Next Door. . . . Off-mike, Mort keeps house for himself. Just one look at his place and you know there's a "man about music" living there. The piano, couch and kitchen table are all strewn with sheet music, awaiting Mort's gifted hand at arranging. All in all, it's no wonder that Mort has become The Boy Next Door — not only to Block, but to thousands of WABC listeners who like his pleasant, relaxed musical manners.