John Carlton, a Broadcast Pioneer

(Left to right) John Carlton with the Four Preps
1957

On the left is Broadcast Pioneers member John Carlton at a WFIL-TV, Channel 6 event. He's talking with "The Four Preps." They are (left to right) Lead singer Bruce Belland, Glen Larson, Marvin Ingraham and Ed Cobb.

The Four Preps were a Capitol recording group who had a wholesome, clean-cut image with 13-charted hits beginning in 1956. They all went to Hollywood High School where they were discovered by A & R rep Nik Venet and were classmates of Rick Nelson.

In fact, both Bruce Belland and Glen Larson appeared for years with Rick on “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” as some of his fraternity brothers. The Four Preps appeared in concert with Rick in 1957 and appeared doing backup for a duet for David Nelson and Miss Universe, Carol Morris. Three years later, in 1960, the group shows up again on Ozzie and Harriet singing “Winter Wonderland.” In January of 1962, they were back performing on the broadcast.

Glen A. Larson is probably the most famous of the guys who made up the Four Preps. He’s the one behind some of the world's best-known primetime television programs. He’s the Consulting Producer for SyFy network’s “Battlestar Galactia.” He was also the producer of the original series plus many others including Knight Rider, the Fall Guy, Magnum P.I., Buck Rogers, Quincy and The Six Million Dollar Man. In the early sixties, he was a writer for the original TV epic, “The Fugitive.”

Ed Cobb who passed away in 1999 became a very sought after composer. Bruce Belland did some of the writing on some of Larson’s series, but is also better known for his composing. He is now a senior network TV programming executive and has provided countless voices for animated feature films. Marvin Ingraham stayed with the group until it disbanded in 1967.

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com