Captain Mikey
Marion Elbridge Herrington (July 18, 1935 – November 16, 1997) (also known as Mikel Hunter Herrington), best known as Captain Mikey (and also known by the air names Mikel Hunter, Motorcycle Mikel, Lefty, Hot Rocks Hunter, and Oil Can Harry), was an American disc jockey; voice-over actor, who was the national voice for Sears; and innovative radio program director, who "pioneered album-oriented rock formats at San Jose's KOME and Los Angeles' KMET", and was described as "one of the very best programmers in Top 40 radio as well as what we called progressive rock on FM."
Captain Mikey | |
|---|---|
| Born | Marion Elbridge Herrington July 18, 1935 |
| Died | November 16, 1997 (aged 62) |
| Occupation(s) | Radio program director, disc jockey, voice-over actor |
| Years active | ca. 1960–1997 |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Ann Allen (1953- ) Miss Haro Janet Eileen Rew (1984-1997) |
In October 2007 he was inducted into the San Jose Rocks Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame on October 1, 2008.
Herrington inspired the fictional characters of program director Jeff Dugan in the 1978 movie FM, and program director Andy Travis on the 1980s television sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.
Herrington also managed and promoted a San Jose rock band People!, and produced a hit record for them, People!'s cover of the Zombies' "I Love You," which reached #14 on the Billboard charts in June 1968.
Despite popular misconceptions, he has no known connection to the "Captain Mikey" of WPNR 90.7FM at Utica College who hosted shows regularly from 1995 to 1999, and returned to those airwaves again regularly in 2012.