Tribute To Steve "Mr. Beach" Leonard

Charlottesville, Virginia

June 15, 2020

I've written about Steve "Mr. Beach" Leonard previously and the joy he brought to listening to beach music on the radio. Mr. Beach passed away four years ago last week. I'm not sure if I can claim credit for this tribute to Mr. Beach, but two weeks ago I emailed the gentleman (Ron Moody) who took over the Saturday Night Beach Party on WFLO in Farmville after Mr. Beach's passing. I noted the upcoming anniversary of Mr. Beach's death and mentioned how cool it would be if he could play some snipets from old Mr. Beach radio shows. He wrote me back and said he would try to find some and play them on an upcoming show.

He came through on this past weekend's Saturday Night Beach Party. I recorded the show (and edited out all the commercials), and it is the sound track for the "slideshow" above. (The slideshow contains one photo.) Mr. Beach is in a pretty calm mood (no "woo-woo's), but you can still hear his enthusiasm for the music - I LOLed when he said he was opening for Tom Jones in Las Vegas. Everyone was a "close personal friend" to Mr. Beach. And he had a laugh that made you smile.

Steve, we will always miss you. Sure hope you are on the radio station in Heaven playing the Chairmen of Board's "Give Me Just a Little More Time." You should have had more down here.

Ron and Steve mention Parker Field where the Richmond Braves played. The R-Braves were the AAA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. Boy, I spent a few evenings there watching baseball before heading over to O"Malley's to win a few rounds of schnapps shots for winning "Name That Tune." But somehow I missed this Chairmen of the Board concert at the old ballpark in 1984. Or maybe I was there??