Shock Theater

Host Dr. Lucifur

A hosted horror movie show with Ken Bramming as Dr. Lucifur presenting horror movies for WSIX-TV, Channel 8, Nashville, Tennessee, USA; on Fridays at 10:15 pm; and later moving to Saturdays at 10:30 pm; from November 1958 to April 1967.

The Dr. Lucifur character was revived by Bramming as the unseen announcer in the Creature Feature show hosted by Sir Cecil Creape.

History[edit | edit source]

Originally airing on WSIX-8, and later WMCV-17, the show was host by Dr. Lucifur, portrayed by Ken Bramming, showing classic Universal Monster movies, as well as mystery films featuring Sherlock Holmes and Mr. Moto.

The show originally opened with the classic "Night on Bald Mountain", but later was replaced with the original composition "Blues for Lucifer", performed by local musician Norman Cole. During the opening Dr. Lucifur would stroll into frame and a pool of light beneath a lamppost to announce the night's movies.

Sadly, and too often with many horror hosts, there is little to no footage left as most of the show was shot live and not taped, save for introductions. Bramming would pass the torch of Nashville’s horror host to Sir Cecil Creape as he announced Creature Feature for that program’s run.

Dave Lawrence writes: "For many years in the Middle Tennessee area, viewers could tune to WSIX-8, and later WMCV-17 to see a suave eye-patch wearing Transylvanian nobleman known only as Dr. Lucifer. Hosting the first version of Shock Theater shown on Nashville airways, Ken Bramming brought his character life as he personally selected every movie shown."

Dr. Lucifur[edit | edit source]

Shock Theater ran on WSIX from 1958 until its cancellation in 1967. In October 1968 Dr. Lucifer returned on independent channel WMCV-17, on a show 'Mystic Circle' with such characters as Frankenstein and Dracula, but the show was canceled in November 1969, .

Dr. Lucifur would sign off each show saying “Good night…and pleasant dreams!”

Elena Watson writes: "In Nashville, Tennessee, the host of Shock Theater on WSIX (now WKRN-TV) was a dapper gentleman by the name of Dr. Lucifur who claimed to have been the president of Transylvania for the past 200 years. Dressed in white tie and tails, this fiendish fellow also sported an eye parch and a long cigarette holder. he always appeared in what was called the mystic circle, a wavy border which framed the doctor as he stood under the light of a lampost. This was used for his intro and farewell, and was always in black and white. Dr. Lucifur rarely appeared in the rest of the show, although his voice was often heard as the camera assumed his point of view."

Other Characters[edit | edit source]

Other characters included Granny Gruesome, Frantic Freddy the Hipster, poet Cyril Songbird, Baron Von Sloucho, Mrs. Moshe Gumora, the Poor Slob, were played by other cast members including Corky Savely, Herschell Martin, Richard Dixon, and Norm Fraser.

Elena Watson writes: "Ken Bramming, who portrayed the host, also appeared on the show as himself and various other characters. Helping him along was a young fellow named Corky Savely who specialized in offbeat characters. A few of theses were Frantic Freddie the Hipster, Cyril Songbird the Poet, a Percy Dovetonsils type, and the infamous Granny Gruesome, who could knit a sports car out of 1500 pounds of steel wool. Among the show's sets was a cavelike hipster hideout called the Purple Grotto. Of course, this was really just a [stage] flat with a door in it, which once fell over during a live skit."

Ken Bramming[edit | edit source]

Kenneth Bramming as shown in the book More Nashville Nostalgia

Bramming got his start in radio in 1948 at WCBC, a station in his hometown of Anderson, Indiana, after attending the Indiana School of Radio, doing station breaks, weather, and five-minute news updates.

Within three months, he’d graduated to his first big assignments: live interviews with jazz greats like Louis Armstrong and Lionel Hampton. “Hamp, that was a wild interview,” Bramming recalled. “He was coming to town for a dance, and it was that night. So Saturday afternoon, what’s going to be a 10-minute interview lasted all afternoon because Hamp got over to the piano, started playing, and a couple guys who were musicians came running into the studio with their horns and we had a big jam session. That was one nice thing about small-town radio. You could do whatever you wanted.”

Bill Demain writes: "In the early 1950s, the deejay’s stay on the Hoosier radio network was interrupted by Uncle Sam, who tapped Bramming for the Korean War. But it was behind a microphone, not a rifle, that he served his country. “I ended up doing radio shows with the 25th Army Band, which was some band,” he said. “They had guys from Gene Krupa’s and Woody Herman’s band. We had some great shows. They called me in from the camping trips out in the boondocks, which of course I loved. I was not a happy camper.”

After the war, Bramming visited his parents, who had moved to Nashville. He planned to leave after a few weeks, but a lucky break involving one of Nashville’s most famous sons made him stay. “Pat Boone was scheduled to be on the announcing staff at WSIX,” Bramming said, “when he got his break with Arthur Godfrey and had to go to New York. So I took his place on television. A little 15-minute thing. I hadn’t been on TV. They put me in there, cold turkey, and said, ‘You’ll do.’ So I stayed on television for about 14 years.”"

After doing Dr. Lucifur, Bramming bounced around radio stations in Nashville, including WWGM-TV and WSM-FM before settling in at the home of the bright ’n’ easy favorites, WAMB, in 1979. At WAMB he was an announcer and program director at Nashville's nostalgic WAMB Big Band radio station. Aside from his morning show, Bramming, as programming director, was also responsible for putting together the station’s “Music in the Night,” Nashville’s mellowest sounds from 10 p.m. to sunrise.

Ken Bramming died in 1997 at the age of 70.

His voice was heard every day in the station ID ("Beautiful Music in the Night"), until 2014, when the station changed formats.