Timothy Kehr was an entrepreneur in every sense of the word, parlaying his business acumen and creativity into careers as a record producer, advertising agency founder and host of a popular overnight movies program on Twin Cities television.
Kehr died of melanoma Sept. 10. He was 67.
Kehr was still a student at Roseville High School in the 1960s when he began booking gigs for many of the Twin Cities top teen bands. He became an expert in Minnesota music and went on to produce scores of albums, including the Castaways "Liar Liar," which landed at No. 12 on the Billboard charts, and "Nowhere to Run" by the popular Stillwater garage band the More-Tishans.
From the late 1960 to the early 1980s, he worked at Columbia and Epic Records, Motown, 20th Century Records and Polydor. He was named Executive of the Year by Billboard magazine for seven straight years and was given numerous gold records for contributing to the success of hundreds of hit songs and artists. For two years, he wrote a column called "Musically Yours" for TV Digest.
"He was brilliant, a true entrepreneur who dabbled in everything," said friend J. Marie Fieger, who runs Nemer Fieger Advertising in St. Louis Park. "He built quite a group of fans over the years."
Kehr developed his passion for movies as a child, often spending Saturdays at the theater watching a triple feature, said his wife, Nancy Stewart Kehr, of Edina. In the late 1970s, when Twin Cities TV stations signed off at midnight, Kehr bought the midnight to 5 a.m. slot on KSTP-TV and hosted all-night movie parties on the air. For 10 years, he hosted "Late Night Movies With Timothy D. Kehr" on Channels 5, 9 and 11.
"For him to step in and buy that time, I'm sure the TV guys thought he was nuts," said longtime friend Tom Garry. "That was the way he was wired."
Kehr financed some of his endeavors with money he earned from popcorn stands he ran for years at the Minnesota State Fair. Once he used his music connections to get country music giant Kenny Rogers to help hawk snacks.
