Welcome to the San Antonio Files.

I'm Elizabeth Ruiz, and today, our guest is a legendary radio and television personality who grew up on San Antonio's east side, where his father owned a barbershop twice.

He was named Billboard magazine's Radio Personality of the year.

He's an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the top 100 radio personalities of all time.

He's also a member of the San Antonio Radio Hall of Fame and the Texas Radio Hall of Fame.

He hosted the award winning children's television series You and Me, kid on the Disney Channel, and has provided character voices on television and in film.

He's a former Rafale, and the city of San Antonio has honored him by naming the Sonny Melendez Community Center after him.

These days, he's in demand as a dynamic motivational speaker.

Please welcome the incoming rebel, Joseph Sonny Melendez.

Oh, Liz.

So here to hear.

Those words come out of your mouth right there.

That's that's that's an award.

Oh my God.

It's so great to be here.

I feel like singing reunited.

And it feels I know.

Yeah, right.

Exactly.

I could.

Hug you, but you're so far apart and we can't move the microphones.

Away.

Once they fix them, I understand.

Sonny, you and I just worked together in the 80s.

I was just your your news person.

No, no, I told you this many times.

You were a big, big part of the reason we succeeded.

And we're able to have, you know, the number one show in the city.

But I have to tell you that every day, because I think of our personality and our chemistry.

Every day was a party.

It was it.

Began as a party.

It ended as a party.

It was magic.

It was magic.

Every morning, people would come knocking on the back door.

I mean, now there's all kinds of security and everything.

Yeah, exactly.

But remember, people used to bring us tacos.

They'd bring us all kinds.

I made this for you.

This, this.

And, yes, we put.

Them all on the air.

The other day, I was going to the the kitchen cabinets, and I found this wooden cutting board.

Yeah.

And I remember one of our listeners brought that and said here.

And that's what made this real.

I mean, it was just, why.

Have a shoeshine box that it's carved says sunny on it.

But, somebody brought said, I made this for you.

Yeah.

It's, you know, we just have such wonderful, wonderful listeners, you know?

So to me, it wasn't work.

I had to do serious news, you know, for about 90s, my little news updates.

But you did it so well.

So much fun.

I've got to say, those were the best years of my radio career.

And it was because you and and we're going to talk more about that your days.

Okay.

TFM.

But I want to start with your journey, which began in New Mexico.

That's where you were born?

Yes, in New Mexico.

And then your family came here when you were.

How old?

I was five years old.

My dad came here to go to barber school, and, we lived in a little duplex on Camargo Street, right off of, Alamo downtown.

And, he wanted to he promised my mom that when they had children, they would go to Catholic school.

And in order to do that, to afford to go to Saint Michael's School.

My my father moved his into the barbershop, and the barbershop wasn't a full address.

It was 908 and a half Noland Street.

Yes.

Half was a print shop.

Halfway the building still stands is Dignity Hill and half was the barbershop.

And we lived in half of the half.

So we lived in that little space in the barbershop.

But, Liz, my dad did something that I think really kind of set things in motion for, for my vision of what I wanted to do.

He built what I say, I tell people, I said he built a dream machine for my brother and me in my backyard, but it was actually a tree house.

And I would go up there.

And as the stars began to twinkle across the big Texas sky around dusk, I would just dream about the things I would go.

I would do.

The people I meet, the the how, who would I would become.

And a lot of it had to do with with television and radio.

I was enthralled that you could actually talk on the radio, make people laugh, play great music, have fun.

I knew that I one day I was going to do that.

See, that's that's what I don't get.

How does that dream began there you were on the East side.

But when you listen to the radio, you know, you you there's an affinity with.

Now I see it from the other, the other side.

But people feel like you're their friend.

And that's how I felt about the different, different people.

I just tell you one of those when my favorite deejay was Don causer on on Q and oh, now, so when I was like in fifth grade, the K who had the Alamo, Beale, you know, they would actually like a motorhome.

Half of it was all glass and had a studio in it.

And they would go to different places in Detroit Fiesta Week.

They'd parked there in Alamo Plaza and I'd walk from Saint Michael's School and I would be there like from 330 to 6:00 when his shift was over.

And then I'd walk home or take get the Nolan bus.

And little did I know from watching him and thinking, one day I'm going to do that, that in years to come, I would enter the Texas Radio Hall of Fame before he did, and then I would nominate him to be, and he got into the Texas that.

Incredible.

This is.

The circle of.

Life.

That's the San Antonio family.

Yes, exactly.

Big connection where we're a major city where growing but still with grace and charm and and we still have that family.

Yeah, atmosphere, which is what was always at the forefront of whatever project you do.

That's really.

It was family and children.

Yeah.

And so how did you make this dream become a reality?

At Central Catholic, I actually.

Had two dreams.

And people say, well, did you change your dream?

I said, no, I collected them.

I had the dream I was going to be on the radio.

And then it dawned on me one day when I was watching my favorite cartoon show, Yogi Bear, that there were people doing those voices.

And I was starting to do impressions and I would impersonate Yogi, hey, hey, hey, I'm Yogi Bear, smarter than the average.

Bear.

And little booboo.

Yogi, Yogi, we're going to get in trouble with.

A ranger.

But I'm saying, little booboo.

I was doing that.

When you were a kid.

Yeah, when I.

Was a kid watching, watching the show.

And I thought, I'm going to do that.

I'm going to be the voice of cartoons.

I can do that, I know I can.

And there was this little duck that thought, Yogi was his mother, and he would say, Mr. Bear, Mr. Bear, would you be my mama?

And I thought, wow, what a great voice.

I'm going to learn how to do that.

Now, see, when you're a kid, you don't know what you can't do.

Yes.

And so I tried and tried and I would do it and I, you know, got a sore throat and a good from my mom.

You know, my mom, you knew her.

She was like this tough.

I said, mom, listen.

Mr. Bear, he.

Says.

I'm your parents.

It Bugs Bunny.

When you, you know.

But but she encouraged me.

Yeah.

You had to have some kind of encouragement because a lot of kids can dream and say, oh, I'm going to do this.

I'm going to do that.

And then the parents will pull them back to reality saying, no, no, no, no.

That was good.

Yeah.

And then one day, out of my mouth came Mr. Bell.

Mr. Bell, would you be my baba?

I don't have a mother.

I just a poor little orphan.

I was in shock.

I'm looking.

I'm thinking.

Oh, my.

I can make him say.

Eddie, this is great.

All right.

And then the other dream was from watching the Mickey Mouse Club.

I told my mom says I'm going to work for Walt Disney.

I'm going to be part of that fun.

I'm going to.

I'm going to I don't know how he's going to do it.

And so with radio, I didn't want to wait to have to grow up to be on the radio.

So I got my little recorder and my little record player, and I would play the songs.

I had like 540 fives, and I played him over and over and introduced them just like they did.

And I make these little recordings, and then I play them for my friends on the phone, one at a time, little five minute shows, and we didn't have a phone where we lived.

We lived.

They up.

The phone was in the barber shop, a payphone next to the shoeshine stand.

So in night my dad felt bad because we didn't have a phone, so he would give me three dimes.

Liz and I'd stumble in the dark.

I'd make my way over to the shoeshine stand, and I would dial one friend, and I had to, like, go one, two, three, one, two, three because I couldn't see the numbers.

And I, you know how many times I did that wrong number, you know?

So.

And I played them for my friend.

For all I know.

They said, okay, I got to go.

And, you know, just kind of put the phone down.

But that was how badly I wanted to be on the radio.

The key there is the fact that little did I know that I was giving myself experience.

So when I first finally got to be on the radio, I had all those years of doing all these little shows and that's experience.

Sure.

So when you got to SAG.

Exactly.

You were.

Ahead of everybody else.

Now, did you at San Antonio College?

Yes.

No.

I'm glad you mentioned that.

Yes.

It because that was a big, big part.

You know, I went to Central Catholic High School.

What an incredible education that was.

Did you go to school with Henry six?

I did see there.

Was a request.

Yes.

The class of 64.

And then from there I went to San Antonio College, and I would be the first of my family to go to college.

And I was I had already gotten my classes going to be an art major.

And I'm walking out of the building to go to the San Pedro to get the bus and go home.

And I see this little door with a square window and I'm thinking, where have I seen that?

And I thought, is it a radio?

So I looked in there and I saw this unbelievable sight, this little control board with a microphone on it, and my head was spinning.

I asked somebody from maintenance said, what's going on?

This is all the radio, TV department.

Radio, TV.

What if you could get a degree in, do you get a degree?

But so I call my dad.

He says, yeah, that's what you always wanted to do.

I changed my major and my teacher was Jean long with, who now has a building named after.

Yeah, dedicated her entire career to young broadcaster.

Oh, she develops.

Yeah.

I learn so much from radio personalities.

And here's, here's a you're going to love this.

You know, I told Liz earlier, if she does this says introduces me.

She go get coffee.

I can introduce my, interview myself.

That's true.

That's.

I'm sorry.

But but you got to hear this story.

Okay?

So right after I got my classes, there was a, fair in San Antonio at the Coliseum was called the Teen Fair of Texas.

And it was like ten days of all the top bands in the country.

And by that time I was doing singing impressions, and I wanted to meet Bobby Vee.

The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, rubber ball, all those great hits.

For you at San Antonio College.

At the time.

I just registered, okay, so I knew that I was going to be part of the radio TV department.

So now in between registration day and, and the first day of school, that's when they had the big fair, and I didn't have the 695 or whatever it was to to go to the fair and the, the Dean Fair of Texas.

And my mom said, why don't you get a job selling lemonade?

And then maybe you can meet Bobby Vee.

I said, mom.

You're a genius.

You're a genius.

So I did.

I got a job selling lemonade.

I the lady who, was in charge, was also the caterer for the party.

So I got in the back to go to the press party.

When?

When Bobby was going to be there.

He wasn't there yet.

And I walk into this room, and there's all this food on this big table, and there's five guys just kind of milling about.

And I recognize them from their posters that friends of the Beatles, they they didn't have any, any hits, in the U.S so I'm one of them pointed to my recorder because I had I had my graduation suit on, I had a sketch pad, I drawn a charcoal drawing of Bobby, and I also had an album of have him sign it.

Then I have a recorder.

I was going to interview him.

I was all set and and one of the guys says, what's that?

I said, that's to interview the bands.

And then I thought, they're one of the bands.

Why wouldn't I interview them?

So I kind of reluctantly, because I didn't want to use up all my tape to Bobby.

So I punched push Record and I say, who's your favorite Beatle?

George?

How do you like Texas hunt?

How do you like the hamburger?

It's okay.

This is my first interview ever.

Now with Bobby.

I knew all the questions.

Yes.

Right.

So then he.

Bobby shows up with his entourage.

I make a beeline for it.

I listen, I mean, I told him who I was and everything very gracious.

And I said, can I ask you a few questions?

Absolutely.

So he's answering all these questions very eloquently, just like he would do it on the radio.

Now the real DJ show up from Kono and Ctsa and they're all coming up.

Hey, Bobby, how are you doing?

And he says, guys, can you hold it down?

I'm doing an interview here.

Yeah, it's a 17 year old kid, right?

Yeah.

From college.

Needless to say, my feet didn't touch the ground when I left the building.

But who was that groove?

Well, come on, there's your.

There's a kicker.

Little did I know that the group that I had interviewed, my very first interview, it was their first tour in America, and I'd been among the first in the US to interview Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones.

Your first interview, see?

And yeah, I mean, you never know, but you have to be ready for anybody.

Mick Jagger, right?

Recently on the Academy Awards.

Yes, I now I'm upset that he didn't credit you with Dylan's first.

Interviews when they came.

You know.

I'm glad you mentioned that, because, look, you got Mick Jagger, you got Bob Dylan, you have, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, you know?

And what are they doing?

What they love exactly.

Doesn't matter how old they are.

And you and I are still doing.

Exactly.

Love.

Exactly.

What's the white line?

Yeah, exactly.

Okay.

So after after sack, then you got a job in El Paso.

In El Paso.

From there, you came to KSA because of the wonderful promotion.

My first job in El Paso.

Attention.

Yeah, I appreciate that.

But the first job that I got in El Paso was at the number one station on Sunday mornings for seven hours from 5:00 am to noon, and as you know, in radio it's three hours.

And, but I was seven, but I would look at the clock live and I say, oh, good, I still have I still have four more hours.

I still have two more hours.

Yeah.

Right now I'm looking at the clock saying, oh, good, I still have four minutes.

You know exactly that.

Yeah.

That's true.

Yeah.

Speaking of, we want to cover so much territory of what you've done so much.

I mean, not only here but, you know, nationally.

And so, after El Paso, you came to KSA, you were program director there, did wonderful things about you end up in Los Angeles.

At the number one personality station in the country, KMBC.

But this this building looked like the white House.

I mean, really, I mean, it was owned by Gene Autry and everybody on the show, everybody on the radio had a national television show.

Gary Owens of the Laugh-In.

Wink Martindale was the host of Tic TAC Toe, and I was doing, segments on a show called Kids Are People, Too.

So what I learned there is that even though these guys were decades older than me, I had earned my right to be there.

And because of that, I gained their respect and their kindness.

So that was a big, big factor.

Yes.

And one thing I want to mention that a lot of people may not know is that's when when they did We Are the World.

Yes.

No.

That song, that which, by the way, I think we need another one of those.

Yeah.

Now.

Yeah.

But you decided to do a children's version of We Are.

And that was by accident.

I woke up one morning and I heard, a child singing.

We are the.

World.

We are the children.

And I thought, oh, this is on my clock radio children's version of me.

Why didn't I think of that?

And then I realized I was listening to the actual recording, and that was that was Michael Jackson's part.

And so then I went on the air and shared what happened with my listeners, and I said, I wonder if there's any two singers, kids and maybe parents want to get involved and, you know, produce the children's version, We the World and raise money for USA for Africa.

Well, you can imagine Los Angeles.

We were inundated.

We had hundreds and hundreds of kids audition.

And every time we the audition, we stood up.

We applauded.

We gave them a t shirt and certificate and we have 50 of the most incredible voices.

And then we actually not only produced it, but it ended up being a video.

And it was nominated for a Grammy.

That's right.

Incredible.

Now, you also did.

Here's another dream that you fulfilled, you and me kid on the Disney Channel.

How did that come up?

Well, I found out two years before the channel launch that they were going to.

There's going to be I saw this is my opportunity, so I had my agent get me an interview with the suits.

You know, they have, you know, before three gentlemen and a lady.

And they were getting pitches all day long at the Buena Vista Studios.

So I walk in and I say, okay, this is called Saturday in the Park.

We go to different parks all over the country.

I got 20 kids.

The guest stars are all these different parts, and they're all looking at me and the lady.

At one point she goes, and I think, oh, they're making fun of me.

But I just kept going and kept going.

And Liz, I never forget what they said.

They said, Sonny, that's a that's a nice idea, but not what we're looking for.

However, with your enthusiasm, we think you'd be perfect for a show we're about to produce.

Called you and Me, kid.

Would you be interested?

Let me see.

Yes, I know, and it ran for nine years.

Yes.

And an award winning show with that.

Also, how'd tell us about how your character voices started?

Because you you you did that for The Jetsons.

You were in that crackle and pop and the Parkway commercial.

Well, again, you know, it goes back to when I was a kid learning to do all these voices.

And there was an agent who called me one day, says, I heard you do these voices on your show.

Your dad thought about doing cartoon work.

I said, are you kidding?

Since I was a kid, he says, give me a sample of your work.

Let me see what I can do.

Two weeks later, I'm at the Hanna-Barbera studios, my first job working with the original cast of The Jetsons.

Now, here is the unbelievable part of his story.

Not only did I meet the greatest voice actor of all time, Mel Blanc, who taught me many of his voices, but also the voice of of Elroy, George Jetson son, and Astro the dog.

We're we're done by a man named Daws Butler and Don Messick.

Daws Butler and Don Messick were also Yogi and Booboo.

Oh my gosh.

I not only made the dream come true, but I was working with the people that I'd watched.

Okay, how how many voices can you do in one minute?

In one minute?

Okay, well, I give you I'll give you a little medley of, Okay.

Yeah.

Mel Blanc, this is, Elmer Fudd, Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Tweety, and Foghorn Leghorn.

Okay, be very, very quiet.

I'm looking for a widow weapon.

And when I find out what I want to tell my part.

Wimp from wimp.

He.

What's up?

Doc.

Have you seen a widow, Gwen Webb?

Big eyes?

Yeah.

Big teeth.

Yeah.

Big smile.

Yeah, I seen him.

Hey, nice a stinker.

I tore I saw a pretty cat.

I did, I did too.

I put it that way too, buddy.

I bought 25.

That put it with me.

Wow.

The wildest rudeness.

Two ness.

Shrewdness.

Yeah.

Shit.

At.

Sorry.

I spit all over that.

That's all right.

That.

Gosh, you know, I mean, so much talent, but, but we want to get back to.

Okay.

When you came back to San Antonio, you weren't CFM.

It was the number one station.

Nobody could touch it.

Nobody could come close.

If there was a major event here in San Antonio, you were a part of it.

And.

And if we weren't invited, you made sure we were.

And you brought Hollywood.

You bought a bit of Hollywood to San Antonio.

We were riding limos, going to all these major events.

I mean, the the New Year's, the citywide.

I mean, these were citywide event.

Oh, yeah.

And you did it.

You made it happen.

Well, thank you.

Very kind.

I mean, I really was, was just, you know, a conduit to all these wonderful things, but we couldn't have done it without the audience and without people like you by my side.

You know, just having this, this, this wonderful love affair with the, with the city and, and one thing that I learned in early on, even from El Paso, was public service.

Whenever there was anything that was needed, we could marshal and take all the power of radio to do something.

It mean 1990, I think it was 1998 and a big flood here, and people lost their homes.

And, I was a magic 105 by then.

And so we decided that we'd broadcast from underneath the, the big sign at Central Park Mall, and we'd broadcast there all day from seven, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., and we wanted to fill an H-e-b semi with supplies, furniture, whatever people could bring.

And then we also wanted to get 25 pints of blood and raise $5,000.

Liz.

There was a steady line of two cars the whole time.

By the time it was over, we had raised $50,000, 125 pints of blood and filled 19 semis.

Yeah, pretty amazing right?

And funny.

I know one of the highlights of all of the celebrities.

Each of you had to be Pope John Paul.

Yeah.

And okay, he was coming to San Antonio.

But you got a heads up.

You went to Rome.

Tell us about.

I went to, Saint Francis Academy, and, I did a motivational, presentation.

And the nun, Sister Joe, wonderful nut and wonderful, sister.

She says she, she was the the art teacher there.

She says, Sonny, you know, if you're ever at the Vatican, ever.

If you're ever in Rome, our nuns take care of the Vatican.

Maybe we could get you to, to meet the pope.

And I thought I'm going to Rome.

Okay, I've got the hook up.

That was it.

And then I.

That night, I went to a, a, grand opening of a, a travel agency, and I meet the, promotions director, national promotion director from TWA, Transworld Airlines.

And he says, yeah, if you're going to do a promotion, you know, we're trying to promote a a new flight from New York to Rome.

So you delivered the letters?

There was a picture with the wrong shaking.

Exactly.

With a metal.

And then he comes here and we're at the plaza.

I mean, he did the big mass.

It was over.

Yes, but I was there with the reporters, and I said, no, I can't I can't be there.

Part of the crowd.

And you said, there's a seat next to me on the front row.

Yes, at the plaza.

And you came.

You dragged me over there, and I was trying to feed a life story so that when they took the panoramic picture I'm sitting right now.

I know you were there.

But that was incredible.

Linda Ronstadt, used, San Antonio as a test audience when she did canciones.

I mean, it's just the transition to mariachi music, and you and I were a mix for that event with Mariachi America.

Yes.

It's incredible.

It was fantastic.

And then Gloria Estefan, every morning you would play the conga on Ctfs, at what was it, 745 or 750?

Well, it was always a surprise.

You know what time it is, Liz?

It's time for, the, And everybody.

Yeah.

You know.

T you know, I did the conga.

Yeah, I was just it was just a wonderful, wonderful that when I first heard that song, I thought, that is.

And that's fantastic.

And then when I finally met her, she thanked me for doing that, but she said, can I get a picture with you for my son?

Because we want you and me, kid.

Yes.

That's something Gloria Estefan telling you that.

But, gosh, she took us on an incredible ride.

I mean, not just the city of San Antonio who felt like they were part of.

You were part of their family.

You know, we all were part of their family.

They asked to do the conga.

Only you could get the nuns to do the conga.

But, Sonny, thank you so much for all that you have done.

I am Elizabeth Ruiz.

Thank you for being on the San Antonio Files.

I'm gonna shake your body, baby.

Do that.

Cause I know you can't control yourself any longer.

Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger.

Don't you find it?

You better.

Do that.

Don't be.