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.