Last
week, I tipped the hat to several in the business who work in the
same vocation as myself. I didn’t mention all the great writers in
this town, and I didn’t even start to talk about the incredible
people who work publicity. But, as I said, Nashville is full of some
very talented people. Some you know, and some you don’t. With that
mindset, I wanted to tip my hat to a few people who have been
influential in what is my first career – radio. I have been doing
it in one form or another since 1991. While I never developed one of
those classic “Five in a row, back to back” voices, it’s
something that I love very much. Whether it be on WDKN for eighteen
years, playing the classics on WSM Radio via the Interstate Radio
Network, or on my home since 2009 – WNKX, I love communicating my
love of music and broadcasting to the listeners. I started to think
about some of my biggest influences in the radio field. Now, indulge
me somewhat – because a lot of these people / stations (seven, at
least!) have ties to a certain three letters.....but that was what I
was influenced by......
First
of all, four names from WDKN.....
Hank
Walker – To be in radio, you’ve got be trained by someone.
Because, nobody walks into a station and knows what they are doing
immediately. When Jackie Rhodes hired me in April 1991, this is the
man who taught me. He was a very interesting person. He was
handicapped, and walked with crutches, but you would never have known
it. The thing I remember most from Hank Walker (if, indeed that was
his name – after all, how many people are actually named “Coyote”
that are on the radio?) was how to saw the call letters. It’s not
“W,” it’s “Double-U”.....Radio people know exactly what I
am talking about.
Gordon
Rhodes – My first PD. I have worked under five in my career. I will
tell you the biggest thing I learned from Gordon was to not sweat the
small stuff. And, indeed, it’s all small stuff. There were a lot of
times I would get uptight and worry about stuff going on at the
station. Gordon had a language all his own. Not going to say anymore
than that, but he was one of a kind. A Redskins fan, but I can’t
hold that against him. I remember on Thanksgiving afternoon 1993, the
Dolphins beat the Cowboys when Leon Lett touched a missed field goal
attempt – giving the Dolphins one more chance. Line 3 – the
studio hotline, which I was led to believe that God called in on from
time to time, began to blink. I knew. Do I answer it or not? I did,
and the voice said “How ‘Bout Them Cowboys!” Thanks for the
memories, GR, and thanks for being a good C.S....I Mean P.D.!
Ken
Loggains – I have a very scattered approach to life. I can misplace
my phone while holding it in my hand. Trust me, I do things like
this. But, we all have one co-worker that you just have an uncanny
chemistry with. I might have two or three, but with all due respect
to anyone I have ever worked with, I have never learned as much about
radio – and being a professional than I have from Ken Loggains.
Remember the TV Show “Mash?” Hawkeye and Trapper John / BJ made
the most out of the Korean War by poking fun at everything around it.
Small market radio is much that same way. You have to love it to do
it a long time, and there’s things that you crack a few jokes
about. If the first two hours of your day consist of four updates of
the obituaries, you’re going to have a warped sense of humor. Ken,
for eleven years, you were my BJ / Trapper / Hawkeye (depending on
who I am!). You’re still “Velvet” in so many ways!
Marcia
Campbell – Out of all the people I have worked with, nobody has
taken their talent to the top any higher than Marcia, who does
overnights on WSM-AM. We have known each other for over thirty years,
as we used to ride Bus 51 together. (I seem to remember a bus driver
who didn’t have a lot of hair who drove that bus that I have done
some radio with! Well, I can drop the hair jokes, can’t I?) We have
kind of been woven around each others’ lives a lot – especially
since 1995. One night on her “All Nighter,” she talked about
learning “so much” from me? I shudder to think what those lessons
might have been....but I am proud of her, and consider her one of my
best friends anywhere.
Keith
Bilbrey – If I had never listened to Keith Bilbrey, I might have
become a doctor or a lawyer, and never had financial difficulties
because of the salaries non-performers in the business tend to make.
If I had never listened to Keith Bilbrey, I would probably have never
gotten involved in radio in the first place, and gone where that has led me. He would take my phone
calls as a strange pre-teen, and have a lot of patience doing so.
Almost thirty years later, I still find myself coming out of a song
the way Keith Bilbrey does. Well, not exactly. The great ones make it
seem so easy, and he is the greatest in my book!
Hairl
Hensley – Of all the golden voices I have heard in my life, if I
could sound like anyone – it would be Hairl Hensley. A longtime
fixture at WSM Radio, Hensley exuded all the proper diction that you
needed to be in radio. As great as Eddie Stubbs is, and he truly is,
I still miss being that thirteen year old, and hearing that magical
voice in the evening hours. Radio sounds a lot different after dark,
and Hairl was the perfect voice for evenings at WSM. In ninth grade,
I shadowed him for my Business class. I still remember him giving me
some of the news copy from the station that day. A gentle heart –
as well as a gentleman!
Mark
Mabry – Again, another WSM tie here. He did afternoons on 650
somewhere in the mid 1980s. At 3:35 each day, he would host “Mark’s
Trivia,” which would be the time I would be getting off Bus
51....there that comes up again! I used to run his phones
ragged.....but an early influence, for sure!
WBDX
– OK, going to back away from WSM for a second. White Bluff got a
radio station in the early 1980s, and for awhile, they broadcast
until midnight. As a kid, I remember hearing this deep-voiced jock
talk about the weather in the “Bluff City.” For a kid, that was
some cool stuff - especially at 11pm!
Kyle
Cantrell – As a broadcaster, Cantrell is one of the best –
henceforth his work on Sirius / XM. But, as a programmer, I have to
admit that I stole more programming ideas from Kyle Cantrell than
anyone else. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, after
all. I remember interviewing him on the morning Johnny Cash died in
2003. That was a big moment – one where you realize what an impact
certain people have on you.
Shannon
McCombs – In the 1980s and early 1990s, there were two female
voices in town that stood above the rest- Lisa Manning and Shannon
McCombs. Manning was on many different stations during that period,
while Shannon was “Miss 103 KDF.” She had the perfect voice, and
the perfect personality. People loved her. Then, in the 1990s, she
started doing some TV work, and people found out that she did not
have “the face for radio,” as the old joke went. One person who
is as beautiful inside as out. I get to say that I know Shannon
McCombs now.....but better yet, she knows me! That’s pretty cool
within itself!
And,
I’ve got to tell you about that bus driver of Bus 51 in Burns, TN.
Randy Tidwell is someone I’ve known since 1980. He was my PE
Teacher at Burns Elementary. Since 1991, I have spent more Tuesday
and Friday nights with Randy Tidwell on the road broadcasting ball
games, or working the board during the games. Just like knowing Ken
Loggains has made me better, there are few people that I respect more
than Randy Tidwell. He is class personified, and whether it be via
Frank Becker, Jim Anderson, or Ed Sheley, I always love seeing if we
can come up with something on-air to make him think we’re crazy.
Whether it be “Randy Tidwell Bobblehead Night,” or “Autograph
Night with the ‘Voice of the Cougars,” we’ve tried some crazy
stuff. And, throughout it all, he’s still a classy person. Probably
thinks we are just a little bit weird, but...we are. Or, at least
Becker!
Well,
that does it for my look at my radio influences. I appreciate you
indulging me, but I wanted to share some of my memories with you!
