The Summer of Dwayne

Thump, we hit another curb as we turned right. I didn't say anything but it was the second time we had
bounced over the curb while making a right hand turn. We we're cruising the streets of Myrtle Beach. Dwayne was giving me the tour. It was July of 1987 and he had convinced me that we need to hit
Myrtle Beach for the weekend and I had agreed. Earlier in the evening we had met some of Dwayne's beach buddies and hit a few nightspots. By the time we were  bumping curbs we were headed to one of D's friends condos to spend the night.

By this time Dwayne had indeed become the music director for WROQ. He had pursued the job daily. He was in my office with ideas for which new songs made sense for the station. He talked to everyone around the country about music. Remember, this was pre email, pre internet. Dwayne worked the phones like a crazy person.

Dwayne's background up to that point had been in radio news. He grew up in Boone NC and graduated from Appalachian State. He eventually ended up at WKZQ in Myrtle Beach as a news anchor and reporter. Dwayne was at once fearless and tenacious in almost any situation. He chased hurricanes, went undercover with the sheriff's department on a drug bust and interviewed everyone you can imagine. He won several South Carolina news awards from the Associated Press and others.

What I saw in Dwayne was that same unending pursuit. Only now he was in pursuit of great songs and information about those songs and artists. We spent a great deal of time together I got settled in. While his mountain upbringing had instilled a certain hillbilly aspect to his nature, he was also one of the most intelligent individuals I ever encountered. He was fluent in all important subjects. From politics to pop culture. He was also witty, charming to a fault and in the right circumstances a complete Southern Gentleman. I like Dwayne right away. I mean, other than his Jed Clampett walk and his George Jetson hair cut what was not to like.

So, I made a decision. Why not give this guy a chance. He was so passionate about it. He also saw a dead end in the news side of the business. So I went to the General manager and told him I wanted to move Dwayne out of news to become my music director. OK, he said, what air shift will he do?
Well, he's not really gonna do an air shift, just be music director. An off air music director? The GM was dumbfounded. I'll admit, it was unheard of. But, I figured I was doing 3-7 on the radio plus being the PD for WROQ and operations manger over our AM station Big WAYS and I could use the help. Finally he agreed, but told me, you have to tell Lassister.

Frank Lassister was the news director. A veteran broadcaster to be sure. Golden throated and well traveled,  Frank was not happy about losing his street reporter and fill in person to be a God Damn music director. But I managed to convince him that it would be good for the station, and that Dwayne could still fill in for him when need be.

I'm sure Frank was not alone in wondering what the hell I was up to. Mostly I recognized Dwayne's talent. But I was also looking for an ally. Someone to bounce ideas off and to help me make the station better.

With Vicky and the girls still in NY waiting for our new house to be ready, Dwayne and I spent a lot of time together. We worked long hours and often went out to dinner to plan and scheme. Dwayne was a natural born strategist and loved game playing and crafting attacks and counter attacks on our competition.

To some extent snaring the MD job at the Q full filled a dream of Dwayne's. Having grown up in Boone he had listened to the station for many years. It really was his dream job. Dwayne also brought a lot of Swagger to the station. Confidence. It was infectious. He loved being at the Q and over the years he gave his heart and soul to the station and his co-workers, no not co-workers, friends.

Over the  years Dwayne became well know all over the country by radio and record people alike. When a special version of a new song came out..Dwayne would have a copy the next day. Overnighted by one of his friends. When information about an artist broke, Dwayne was on the case. When a new format trend developed in other markets, Dwayne had the info.

All I had to do really was challenge him. Whatever the challenge was, he wouldn't sleep until he had accomplished something great.

One of my favorite Dwayne stories involved the release of Madonna's song Vouge. We had received word from the label that they were shipping us a copy of the new single over night. It would be arriving the next day. Dwayne came to me with this info at about 9 am. I mused, sure would be nice
if we could get a copy and hit the air with it before 107.9 wouldn't it?

Dwayne smiled. What if I told you I could get a copy of Vouge by 8 tomorrow morning? Well, I said Fed ex doesn't get here until 10 or after so how can you do it?

So in an effort to out-do the competition we hit the air that morning at 11 with a promo that guaranteed the Q would have the new Madonna single before anyone else. We would play it at 8am the next morning and then every 95 minutes all day.

The next morning I'm driving to work. It's about 8 and I hear my morning guys making a fuss over Dwayne bursting into the studio with a special delivery. Yup within seconds Vouge was blasting through my speakers. I flipped over the competition. No mention of Vouge.

Dwayne was waiting in my office when I got to the station. OK I said, how did you do it. After a few moments of his patented giggle he shook my hand and said, it pays to make friends with guys who work at the Fed ex counter at the Airport. Dwayne had gone to the airport and picked up the package at 5 am, rather than wait for the regular delivery to the station. Brilliant.

As he walked out of my office he tossed another package to me. It was addressed to WBCY.
Dwayne grinned and said, the guy at Fed Ex said, hey, since your picking this up for the radio station will you deliver this one to?

Sure Dwayne told him. We didn't hear Vouge on the competition for another 24 hours.

That kind of planning was typical of Dwayne and over the years we had many more adventures just like that one. Dwayne became a frequent guest in my home and got to know Vicky and the girls and we enjoyed 4 and a half years of friendship and fun at the Q.

We all eventually went our separate ways, but stayed in touch. Dwayne went to the West coast to work for a trade magazine and to terrorize L.A.

Just before Christmas that next year I got a call from Dwayne. He said that he was going to be back in North Carolina for the holidays and we should get together. We did just that along with John Kilgo and Ray Mariner, two more of our Q compatriots. We gathered in North Myrtle beach at Kilgo's family's beach house. We spent the weekend re-living our great times in Charlotte, telling stories and promising that we would keep in touch and keep getting together every year.

We did just that. That gathering was named "the Kilgo conclave".
For the next 15 years the four of us would gather around the holidays for the Conclave. After that first year other folks began to join us. Some years we would gather at the Beach. Some years in the Mountains. I think the reason we felt the way we did was Dwayne. He was the hub we all revolved around.

We stopped doing the Conclave three or four years ago, I've lost count. Too many conflicts, family commitments and so on for us to be able to find a weekend that worked for everyone. At the last conclave  as we always did, at some point in the weekend we spent some time alone remembering the glory days at the Q. Dwayne never failed to thank me for giving him that opportunity all those years ago to get out of news and into music. It turned out to be his calling. After radio, and the LA magazine experience Dwayne entered the world of Record promotion, working for several different labels. He was masterful at it.

My friend Dwayne died last fall. He was just 49. Most of the Conclave group reunited at his funeral in Boone.

Several years after the curb bumping in Myrtle Beach Dwayne mentioned it to me. He said, man I shouldn't have been driving, but I didn't want to admit that to you and I was nervous cause I was driving my new boss around. I was hoping you didn't notice.

Notice what? I said.

Next time:The Hippies next door.

Life in the fast lane part 1

One of the most important things I've learned in 35 years of radio, is that people are the most important resource we have in the business. They tend to be quirky, introverted, passionate and ego-centric. Those are not bad qualities to have when you spend you days sitting in a room along pretending that you are talking to people. That's what it's like to be on the radio. You sit there, playing songs and talking to no one. Being an introvert helps and a very high percentage of on air folks have that quality in spades. Most are more comfortable in front of a microphone that a group of people. On the other hand, when you put a microphone in front of most anybody else they act like it's a rattlesnake and recoil.

Anyway, the experiences I've had are wonderful but the people I've met on this journey have made it really special. Up to this point in the story I had already encountered some very memorable characters, but in Charlotte that went to a whole new level.

All of us have times in our life that we cherish and look back upon fondly. For many it's High School or College. For some it's the military experience. I have great memories from all of those times, but my time in
radio is even more special. Charlotte in particular stands out because the the incredible cast of characters I encountered at WROQ as well as the folks who became our neighbors. It will take me a few chapters to
re-live the rich experience we all had while in Charlotte.

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It was May of 1987 when I crossed into North Carolina on I 77. I stopped at the rest area at Fancy Gap to take a breather and admire the view. I had been driving for a few hours from Woodstock Virginia. I  had stopped over there to see my old Air Force friend and roommate Martin French. The day before I had driven from N.Y. about a six hour drive. Vicky had given me a wonderful send-off: A surprise going away party in our backyard in Waterloo. Friends and former co-workers showed up for the party, some I hadn't seen in quite some time. She managed to arrange the whole thing complete with a large tent in the backyard without me suspecting a thing.

Up to this point in the trip I had been reflecting on the party and saying goodbye to Vicky and girls for a while. I'll admit there were some teary miles along the way. But as I got back into the car after a brief rest at Fancy Gap I started thinking about what I was traveling toward. I flipped on the radio as I got back on
the interstate and tuned in 95.1. The Q came blasting in. After about 30 minutes I thought to myself, wow!
The station sounded great. One of  my first thoughts was, yikes, what have I gotten myself into? Am I ready for this? This is really a big time sounding radio station.

I've found that over the years, each time I have gone to a new station I have the same reaction when driving into town for the first time to take over as the Program director. But in all cases I've  figured it out and went on to be successful at each turn.

I arrived in Charlotte in the early evening on a Sunday night. The station had set me up at a Hampton Inn for a month so I could get settled. I checked in and started planning my first day at the station which would begin early on Monday morning.

It turned out to be a typical first day experience. I spent time with the General Manager and the Corporate programmer who had hired me. I met with the staff and moved into my office. What cool digs, the office was a glassed in office with a private bathroom, a first for me. We spent some time strategizing on the direction of the station and then I settled in for put my plan together.

Here is where one of the most memorable characters entered my life. He was hanging just outside my office door and had been for quite some time. I finally motioned for him to come in.

He shook my hand and said with his amazing baritone voice, Hey, I'm Dwayne Ward. I remembered that
he worked in the news department as a street reporter and fill in anchor on the morning show when our Lead anchor was out.

We both sat down and Dwayne handed me several CD's. These are some tunes I think we should look at to add to the play list he said. I took the CD's and replied, uh, don't you work in the news department?
Yup, he said, but I'm going to be your music director.

With that he got up and walked out.

Next time: The Summer of Dwayne.

Summer Hiatis is over....

Ok, so I sort of took the summer off from the blog and History of Radiorandy.

In case you just found this, there are chapters done that start in, well the beginning when as a kid
I dreamed about being on the radio. You can catch up on the story be scrolling down thru the early posts.

The story is complete through 1986 which takes us up to our pending move to Charlotte and
the incredible days at WROQ.

Several Chapters about our time in Charlotte are ready to go and I will post them over the next few days.

Thanks.
RCB