Condolences: Rocky Allen
• We keep losing legends…. this time it’s Rocky Allen, best known as the former longtime afternoon talent on WPLJ/New York, who died Wednesday, June 3 after battling colon cancer for more than a year. He was 71.
Allen famously anchored The Rocky Allen Showgram with his longtime producer/co-host Blaine Ensley over two tours of duty in afternoon drive at WPLJ — the first time from 1993 to 1998, and a return engagement from 2005 to 2008.
“Rocky believed the next show could always be bigger and funnier than the last,” said Tom Cuddy, Program Director of 710 WOR/New York, who is credited with bringing Allen to WPLJ in 1993, where The Rocky Allen Showgram quickly gained traction among afternoon listeners. Cuddy remarked, “I once asked Rocky if you could have any guest on the planet, who would it be? He said ‘let me sleep on it!’ The next day he told me Paul McCartney. I told him if you reach No.1 25-54, I’ll do everything in my power to deliver an in-studio appearance. Months later, Rocky and Blain scored No. 1, and I was able to reward them with a very rare McCartney visit. I don’t believe Paul has ever visited a local radio station since.”
That’s Allen (center), flanked by then ABC Radio Station Group President Mitch Dolan and then WPLJ PD Tom Cuddy.
Allen’s extensive major market resume also includes stops at WABC/New York, 92 PRO-FM/Providence,WKSE/Buffalo, WDVD/Detroit, and KHTR/St. Louis.
Allen’s career was interrupted in the mid-’90s by serious health challenges, but he returned to the air, demonstrating his resilience. He later underwent a back operation that left him paralyzed from the waist down, taking five months off to learn to walk again. At the height of his popularity, WPLJ released a best-selling comedy CD featuring Rocky and Blain’s most requested comedy bits called A Piece of the Rock.
Rocky Allen is survived by his wife, Julie, and two daughters. [Special Thanks To Tom Cuddy]
