Ken 'Spider' Webb
Since the late
1960's native New Yorkers depended heavily on the voice of Ken
‘Spider’ Webb, one of New York’s most popular morning radio personalities,
to get them going early every morning with classic soul music, 'the color of the
day', plenty of laughs and family humor. Ken
has made radio his life-long profession, beginning his on air career in amateur
radio at the age of 13.
Concurrently and after 6 years as a Television Broadcast Engineer/Instructor at Brooklyn College
(CUNY), in July of 1971 Ken became the very first radio ‘morning man’ for
Inner City Broadcasting’s flagship station, WBLS-FM (NYC). He has also
worked at WRKS-FM, WLIB-AM, WWRL-AM and most recently WQCD-NY (CD101.9).
By 1983, Ken
had raised WBLS-FM morning ratings to the #1 position becoming a household name
in the city. He then moved to RKO
Broadcasting’s WRKS-FM and brought it’s morning ratings to the #1 position
for the very first time in that station’s history, where it remained until
1995 when he returned to WBLS. While
on the air, Ken exceeded exceptionally in the area of
community service. He founded the
WBLS Sure Shots Benefit Basketball team in 1972 and the KISS Kards Benefit
Basketball team in 1983 in which he regularly coached and played.
These teams literally raised thousands of dollars for the local
communities in the NY Metro, New Jersey and Baltimore-Washington areas.
Ken used his broadcast presence to raise needed funds for numerous
community organizations, ranging from community causes to needy families.
Ken has been
consistently in demand to serve as Master of Ceremonies for numerous major
concerts on local, national and international stages. These include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Madison Square
Garden, The Apollo, The beacon Theater, Westbury Music Fair, the Nassau Coliseum
and many other theaters and clubs in the New York Metro Area.
Outside the US mainland, Ken has served as master of ceremonies for
events and concerts in the US Virgin Islands, Japan, Mexico and more.
Along with
interviewing these many artists, he has served as MC and host on stage with entertainers such as;
George Benson, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, James Brown, Phyllis Hyman,
Natalie Cole, Smokey Robinson, Nick Ashford and Valorie Simpson, Pattie LaBelle,
The Commodores, Barry White, Luther Vandross, Will Smith Vanessa Williams and
many more.These and
more would attest to his solid reputation of working with the best in the
entertainment industry.
Ken takes great
pride in his image as a wholesome role model, often lecturing to students in
schools and colleges, in and out of the US on the necessity of a good education
and the perils of substance abuse.
Ken has not
only appeared many times on NY television but actively involved in TV
engineering and television production as well.
He has appeared on VH1’s “Four On The Floor”,
“Lou Rawls Parade Of Stars”, “ABC Eyewitness News”
(WABC-YV),
“Midday Live”, “Tony
Brown’s Journal”, “The
McCreary Report” (Fox TV),
“Regis Philbin & Kathy Lee Show” and others.
Ken also served as the Program Director of the
Tropical Television
Network, which served over 1 million households in New York City and Miami
Florida.
In 1985 Ken
began syndicating his 2-hour weekly radio jazz show, ”Jazz From the City”
from his won studio in Long Island New York.
The 2-hour weekly jazz show aired in Japan on the 40-station network,
[The Tokyo FM Network], the Philippines, the Caribbean and 150 stations in the
US. In connection with this, Ken
thus produced numerous sponsored jazz events associated with his JFC in New York
City and the Caribbean. He has recently developed a internet radio
marketing and advertising company, Webb Internet Radio Network which
is made up of 12 internet streaming channels and can be found at
www.kenwebb.com.
Currently Ken
enjoys listening to jazz, golfing, water sports and electronics.
Since his early days as an audio and video engineer, he designed and
constructed radio and TV studios. Ken
not only constructed and maintains his own studio, but is an active consultant
for broadcast radio and television stations particularly in the Caribbean and
Africa. Ken has also served as Senior Director for ChaRosa Foundation and
proposal and grant writer for government funded non-profit
organizations.
Ken
manages to fit in hosting his daily Sirius/XM Satellite Radio show,
'Soul Town",6 am to 12
noon, Channel 53 (Sirius) or Channel 60 (XM) ET, Mon thru Fri.
Ken married
Theresa Cannady in 1964 and has daughters Felicia (Teri Webb – WJJZ-FM
Philadelphia), Tracey, Laurie, twins Kevin and Keith, Seth and Chanel.
Ken and his family have resided on Long Island since 1971.
Ken considers Bible a primary part of life each day.
PO 548, Wheatley Heights, NY 11798
Tel: (631) 491-5368
Email:
kenwebb@kenwebb.com
www.kenwebb.com
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