Today was a special day for a lot of people that I respect
and admire very much. If you were to tune into WSM 650 AM, you would have heard
many voices that have graced that station over the years. The reason for the
homecoming was the 90th birthday of the station.
I can’t tell you the first time I listened to WSM. It has
always been a part of my existence – even though my radio won’t pick it up now
in my apartment! I remember listening to Charlie Douglas one night on the Music
Country Radio Network – the nightly programming of the station in the 1980s –
and he had Grandpa Jones and Barbara Mandrell on that night. I couldn’t tell
you if they were live or if it was taped, but it left a mark. Then, one night
when I was twelve, I won tickets from Mark Mabry to go see Hank Williams, Jr.
play the Opry House for a TNN special. My brother Randall, my father, and I
went to Nashville. We had to pick up the tickets from the station offices,
located on McGavock Pike, and killed time before the show walking around the
Opryland Hotel. I remember being captivated by the station’s studios in the
Magnolia Lobby. That night I bought a Country Song Roundup with Johnny Cash on
the cover – and the die was set from that moment on. While I didn’t know what I
was going to do specifically, I wanted it to revolve around music and radio.
From that point on, WSM was an important part of my life. I
shadowed Keith Bilbrey and Hairl Hensley for school projects in Junior High,
and tried to win everything the station gave away. If you ask Keith, I probably
did. But, there were others that left a mark…..Larry Black and Liz White in the
mornings….Buddy Sadler and the “All That’s News” hour from 5-6pm each weekday.
I didn’t know what the stock market meant – and still am rather clueless in
that era…..but I knew what Cracker Barrel was trading at each afternoon! I was
also blessed to be able to have memories of listening to Grant Turner on the
Opry, as well.
As I started my career in radio in 1991, WSM was always the
goal, kind of the gold standard. I wanted to work for those call letters more
than anything….and still do, for that matter. I’ve since had success in a lot
of different areas, but I wouldn’t mind for one week saying I was an employee
at 2644 McGavock. (And, for a year, I was….sort of….more on that later!)
The station influenced me from a programming standpoint, as
well. I became PD at WDKN in 1995, and one might rightfully say that I took a
lot of inspiration (I could call it stealing, but I digress!) from the work of
Kyle Cantrell, who was the Operations Manager there. I appreciated the way that
he merged the present with the past – which isn’t an easy task at WSM……Over the
years, I also became friends with several of the newer personalities there,
such as Bill Cody and Eddie Stubbs. The station – and the music around it –
mean so much to me, and has for thirty years.
In 1995, one of my sisters from another mister, Marcia
Campbell, went to work for WDKN doing a weekly bluegrass show. A few years
later, she was offered a job on the Interstate Radio Network – the 1990s equivalent
of Music Country. When she was in the position of hiring talent for the
network, I got the call one night coming home from a basketball game. She asked
if I would be interested. I wouldn’t have been more so if she had offered me a
date with Faith Hill. (Well….)
So, from January 1999 until January of 2000, I was on the air
on the Interstate Radio Network at night on the weekends – although I did do
quite a bit of fill in work. The overnight shift was different, but it remains
one of the highlights of what I have done in my career. Of course, that meant I
was on WSM. The late night callers ran the gamut – from some of the format’s
biggest stars to lonely people looking for a voice to listen across America. I
was grateful for the opportunity from her. In late 1999, WSM made the decision
to originate its’ own programming at night again….so my last night on the “Air
Castle of The South” was….January 1, 2000. Regardless of whatever I do in my
career, nobody can take away the fact that I was the very first voice heard on
the 650 channel during the new millennium. Marcia Campbell, you know I love you…..and
appreciate you so much for that!
So, Happy Birthday to WSM Radio…..Here’s hoping for 90 more
years, and if you still have my resume on file….lol….give me a call!
