Hudson & Landry were an American comedy team who wrote and recorded four gold albums on the Dore Records label in the 1970s: "Hanging In There" (1971), "Losing Their Heads" (1972), "Right Off" (1972), and "The Weird Kingdom" (1974). The vignette "Ajax Liquor Store" (1971) was nominated for a Grammy Award.
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"Emperor" Bob Hudson (born Robert Howard Holmes on October 7, 1929 in Erie, Pennsylvania) got his start in radio while serving in the US Air Force in Anchorage, Alaska. He began his civilian career in radio during the mid-fifties first in Erie, Pennsylvania, Cleveland, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, and San Francisco before settling in the Los Angeles area. He was consistently ranked among the top 10 DJs in Southern California from 1957 until his retirement in 1988. Hudson worked at a variety of LA radio stations, including KFWB, KBLA, KEZY and KGBS, and came to prominence when he replaced Bob Eubanks as morning man on KRLA in 1963. In 1966, Billboard ranked Hudson #1 in his morning drive time slot.
Holmes was featured in a George Lucas USC film school project The Emperor, which features Holmes during his time as an L.A. disc jockey. Holmes passed away in 1997, and is survived by his former wife, Joanne Holmes, and four kids Tom, Colleen, Mike and Jay as well as his grandchildren Jenette, Bethany, Elizabeth, Kathleen, Chris, Pat, Rachael, Emily and John.
The popular sketch The Prospectors features a character named "Harlo," named for his former wife Joanne's father, Harlon Rarick.
Ron Landry (b. October 24, 1934)[1] worked at several radio stations in Virginia before becoming the morning host on WDRC in Hartford and then WBZ in Boston. Landry also was a disc jockey while he served in the Army.
| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Hanging in There | Dore | |
| 1972 | Losing Their Heads | 35 | |
| 1973 | Right Off | ||
| 1974 | The Weird Kingdom |
Compilations of their material include "The Best Of Hudson & Landry" (1975), "The Best Of Hudson & Landry, Vol. II" (1985), and "The Complete Collection" (2004), a 3-CD boxed set on ITP Records, featuring rare non-LP single sides and unreleased material on the third disc.
The comedy duo was born in the early 1970s when Hudson met Landry while both were working at KGBS in Los Angeles. The two became a potent morning duo and it was their on-air chemistry that led to the recording of several successful comedy albums on Dore Records.[2] Hudson & Landry recorded a total of 52 comedy vignettes. 39 of them were released on 12" vinyl.[3] Their first release was the single "Ajax Liquor Store", which was nominated for a Grammy Award alongside Lily Tomlin's "One Ringy Dingy". During their career, they were frequent guests on a number of popular television shows including The Flip Wilson Show, The Steve Allen Show, and Smothers Brothers specials to name a few.
After the duo split up, Hudson continued working in radio, including a stint at WMEX, later WITS, in Boston, until his retirement in 1988. He died on September 20, 1997 at age 66.[4]
Ron Landry became a successful writer for television shows, including Flo, Benson, The Redd Foxx Show and Gimme A Break. He also continued working in radio. Landry died of cancer on September 16, 2002 at age 67.[1]