Biography
Edwin Starr belted out the promotional jingle “Scotts on Swingers, on the Radio, Scotts on Swingers, on the Radio” to the melody of his own “S.O.S. (Stop Her on Sight).” Ric Tic Records released the tribute to Detroit radio legend Scott Regan in July 1966, five months after the original single appeared. Regan’s Arbitron numbers at WKNR during the mid-1960s were so dominant that he seemed capable of walking on water.
His first significant on-air position arrived in 1963 at WFUN in Miami. From there he moved north to Detroit, joining WKNR in 1965 and remaining until roughly 1969. After a one-year stretch at CKLW in 1970 he returned to WKNR, where he originated the remote “Motown Mondays” broadcasts from the Roostertail Supper Club—the station’s first live-music presentations.
Those evenings placed Regan in the role of introducing the Four Tops, the Temptations, and the Supremes on their respective live albums. Motown trimmed his extended Temptations introduction from the original Temptations Live LP, yet reissue compilers restored a substantial excerpt on the CD version. The restored segment shows him meandering through tangential remarks—Eddie Kendricks’s habit of collecting photographs, a well-intentioned but awkward reference to the late Paul Williams as “Big Paul” the joker, and a swapped identification of David Ruffin as Jimmy Ruffin’s brother and vice versa—while Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin escaped similar treatment. He redeemed the rambling with the ringing exclamation, “The Upper Deck Is Proud to Present the Temptaaaaations!”
Commercial success opened doors to production and talent scouting. Regan helped secure a Rare Earth Records contract for the rock band Magic and assisted other artists. By 1972 he was working the overnight shift at WDRQ; additional stops followed before he settled in New York City as a freelance writer and producer. The WKNR call letters now belong to an all-sports outlet in Cleveland, Ohio.
His first significant on-air position arrived in 1963 at WFUN in Miami. From there he moved north to Detroit, joining WKNR in 1965 and remaining until roughly 1969. After a one-year stretch at CKLW in 1970 he returned to WKNR, where he originated the remote “Motown Mondays” broadcasts from the Roostertail Supper Club—the station’s first live-music presentations.
Those evenings placed Regan in the role of introducing the Four Tops, the Temptations, and the Supremes on their respective live albums. Motown trimmed his extended Temptations introduction from the original Temptations Live LP, yet reissue compilers restored a substantial excerpt on the CD version. The restored segment shows him meandering through tangential remarks—Eddie Kendricks’s habit of collecting photographs, a well-intentioned but awkward reference to the late Paul Williams as “Big Paul” the joker, and a swapped identification of David Ruffin as Jimmy Ruffin’s brother and vice versa—while Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin escaped similar treatment. He redeemed the rambling with the ringing exclamation, “The Upper Deck Is Proud to Present the Temptaaaaations!”
Commercial success opened doors to production and talent scouting. Regan helped secure a Rare Earth Records contract for the rock band Magic and assisted other artists. By 1972 he was working the overnight shift at WDRQ; additional stops followed before he settled in New York City as a freelance writer and producer. The WKNR call letters now belong to an all-sports outlet in Cleveland, Ohio.
Albums
