Jim Lowe

Radio Host | Singer | Songwriter Born May 7, 1927 in Springfield, MO

Radio host and singer-songwriter Jim Lowe’s first big hit for Mercury Records was “Gambler’s Guitar,” a song later popularized by Rusty Draper, a country and pop singer in the 1950s and '60s.

Lowe recorded songs like “Close the Door (They’re Coming in the Windows),” “Green Door,” which went to #1, and “Four Walls.”

He transitioned to radio, hosting “Milkman’s Matinee” on WNEW in New York, NBC’s innovative radio program “Monitor” and others.

"Monitor" was a 40-hour continuous broadcast that covered sports, weather, music, news and humor with comedians like Jonathan Winters, Phyllis Diller, Ernie Kovacs and Bob Hope and interviews with celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Helen Hayes.

Dozens of big-name personalities from television and radio hosted the program over its 20-year history including Dave Garroway, Monty Hall, Gene Rayburn, Ed McMahon and Robert W. Morgan.

Lowe retired from broadcasting in 2004.

— Maloy Moore for the Los Angeles Times Aug. 30, 2010