THE FIFTH BEATLE
MURRAY THE K
Sounds terrific! Take a listen!
– DJ Murray the K
Murray Kaufman, known in the US as Murray the K, was born in New York City on 14 February 1922. His mother played piano on the vaudeville circuit, and pushed him into a career as a child actor, before sending him off to military boarding school.
During the Second World War he arranged entertainment for the troops, and afterwards moved into public relations, radio production and working as a co-host at the AM radio station WMCA. He then moved to WINS in New York where he hit his stride, at first on the all-night show and then his own 7–11 p.m. slot, where he remained until early 1965. Wise-cracking, charismatic, and one of the first DJs to incorporate sound effects and jingles, he became an early fan of The Beatles, and used his gift of the gab to work his way into their inner circle. He showed them a good time in New York, taking them to the Peppermint Lounge with The Ronettes, and broadcast his shows from the band’s hotel rooms in New York, Washington and Miami. It was during these broadcasts that he gave himself – thus inventing – the moniker ‘The Fifth Beatle’. John was never happy about people using the title, stating, ‘The Beatles are The Beatles.’
Murray the K continued to work as a radio DJ and TV producer throughout the sixties and seventies, before ill health forced him to retire in the late seventies. He died of cancer in 1982, and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1997.