Pat earned four Billboard awards during his time in Raleigh at KIX for Best Morning Personality in a Medium Market and Best A.M. Personality in a Major Market. He released two rock ‘n’ roll singles (which did nothing) and while in Raleigh, he recorded three comedy albums, most of them featuring bits from his show. “At least I got my money back,” says Pat.
Pat’s Publicity Stunts during the WKIX years included four hot air balloon rides, with the last one ending in a crash landing. “But I did get my champagne!” Pat says. “I also wrestled Victor the Bear, a dumb idea that lasted 30 seconds. I quarterbacked the N.C. State Freshman team and later the Alumni Teams as ‘Celebrity QB’. Four plays each game and I damn nearly got killed.”
“The biggest fun thing at ‘KIX was organizing and coaching the KIX Kagers basketball team. We played 35-40 high school faculties a year and raised over $80,000. I averaged 25 points a game and never played in high school!”
Pat’s bits were always delivered straight, and unless you listened carefully, it was sometimes difficult to tell whether he was kidding, or not! And his deliberate, seemingly annoyed pauses when something supposedly goes wrong are pure Patterson, too.
Fortunately, there was never any confusion regarding Johnny Dollar but we wouldn’t be surprised if a few less-studious students at N.C. State sometimes used Uncle Zeb’s Miracle Liniment, even without a specific recommendation from Dr. Patterson.
Pat has finally gone high-tech and set up a web site full of his air checks and humor bits and I urge you to check him out at
www.therealpatpatterson.com
-- Dalton Hammond
