Can you tell Me who this WLAC talk host of the early 80s was?

[David67]

I remember listening to a talk host host on WLAC on Sunday nights in 1982(I think it was 8pm-12am). The host was Christian and very conservative. I enjoyed His program,even though He seemed to be bombarded by prank and combative callers.

 

[SwissVol]

I do remember the host your talking about, but can not remember his name either. Yes this guy was very conservative and seemed to tork off a lot of callers.

The guy he replaced was on the opposite side of the political spectrum. Remember this was early 1980's and 1950's way of thinking was very much alive in some of the older callers who hated this guy. I seem to remember some caller calling this guy a **** Yankee ********, which was bleeped out. LOL

But the host your talking about was conservative from a Christian point of view. I wish I could remember his name.

If I remember correctly, WLAC went talk radio around 1980 or so. It did seeme like many of the same people called the show night after night. Talk radio seemed to take off when Rush Limbaugh's show finally hit Nashville. Do you all remember Debbie Ellis who had the show just before Rush's show came on? She did not like Rush and at times could be very contrary with callers.

 

[David67]

I fell off listening to WLAC from 1983-until around 1990. I listen quite a lot,WLAC is a blowtorch. 8)

 

[scottwmro]

I fell off listening to WLAC from 1983-until around 1990. I listen quite a lot,WLAC is a blowtorch. 8)

Don't get me started on Neil Rogers that was on 7-10PM in 1980 when 15 WLAC went from Top 40 to Talk. What a nut! He came here from Miami and couldn't handle Nashville Folks! I'll say no more!

Scott

 

[SwissVol]

Yes that was his name. He tended be a little on the liberal side of the political spectrum, but hey, I enjoyed his show, but boy did the pro Regan, get a haircut ,go to church boy and go along with the program crowd hate him. LOL

 

[romer979fm]

He came here from Miami and couldn't handle Nashville Folks! I'll say no more!

Scott...you're a bit confused: Neil did come to WLAC from Miami...but his role was ONLY to come to
Nashville and shake up the 'bible-thumper' crowd. The plan was always for Neil to go back to Miami
after causing a firestorm here. Seems to have worked. When Neil started taking calls...the segment
was called (on-air) "Dialing for Neanderthals".

 

[scottwmro]

He came here from Miami and couldn't handle Nashville Folks! I'll say no more!

Scott...you're a bit confused: Neil did come to WLAC from Miami...but his role was ONLY to come to
Nashville and shake up the 'bible-thumper' crowd. The plan was always for Neil to go back to Miami
after causing a firestorm here. Seems to have worked. When Neil started taking calls...the segment
was called (on-air) "Dialing for Neanderthals".

Chris,
I never knew the "real deal" behind Neal being at WLAC, and I thought he was from Miami, but he got a lot of junk stirred up the first 2 weeks he was on. That was one thing that Subrink did that made sense.

 

[SwissVol]

I remember one night some local person called in and flushed his toilet over the airways and commented: There that is what your program is. LOL

Most callers were probably people who probably still called black men "Colored boys". They could probably quote you 15 bible verses to support their case. They all thought Ronald Regan was king. They all hated long haired rock and roll types like me. LOL, at least back then anyway. And oh God, if you were from out of the south, you were most certainly an evil Yankee.

One evening one guy called called up and said: I bet you love that Jane Fondee. I am almost certain the man pronounced her name is Fondee. LOL IYEE BET YOU PROBABLY LOVE THAT THAR JANE FONDEE TOO DON'T YAH BOY. LOL

 

[K4WRF]

Neil Rodgers was the antithesis of a conservative. A self-proclaimed gay atheist, he was part of the crew that Dick Casper brought in here to “shock” the market. All of them came out of WNWS in Miami which was also owned by Woody Sudbrink. Bill Caulder was on late mornings after the news, Charlie Cappas midday, Carson Reni at some point, Neil then a husband and wife team whose names I cannot recall that’s been a long time now. They reluctantly let Hoss Man continue with early morning gospel time and a few preachers from 2AM until 5AM. All of them were real seasoned pros and it was indeed a challenging time to work there. We had to convert the operation from a Top-40 jock studio system to a produced telephone talk system over night and I mean that quite literally.

Back to Rogers, it drove Neil crazy when the Bible quoters would call him and quote scriptures to him on the air. Neil was quick witted, trash mouthed and offended most of the poor unsuspecting callers and would cut them off with remarks, boy did the Eventide delay get a work out during his shift, he hated the callers here and made that abundantly clear on and off the air. After a couple months, he had enough and accepted a job in Philadelphia but Dick Casper convinced him to return to Miami. His furniture had to be diverted midway at a huge cost to Sudbrink.

Neil went back to WNWS BUT, all the listeners in Miami listened to him on WLAC at night. Rogers could not escape, the Miami audience now knew what tweaked him and would call him on WNWS and quote from the Bible, Rogers was livid.

What a time, what a ride! Those were indeed the days…..It's never been the same for sure.

w/

 

[briancraig]

The host who was very conservative and Christian on WLAC in the early 1980s was Bill Steensland.

 

[Tibbs4]

Not meant to offend anyone...

But, I remember listening to a little of good ole Neil when a twanged-up listener called in and asked:
"Neil, are yew a homnisexual?" Neil instantly fired off "Why? Are you asking me for a date?"
Caller never had a chance after that. Neil left him speechless. End of conversation.

It was one of the best timed comebacks and shortest conversations I have ever heard on radio.
I think that was about the end of his time here.

Funny, you guys would single Neil out after all these years, especially since he would be fairly
tame by standards of past years, but he did fire off some spectacular lines at people.

 

[David67]

The host who was very conservative and Christian on WLAC in the early 1980s was Bill Steensland.

Bill Steensland was the Guy! Thanks,I wonder what ever happened to Him?

 

[K4WRF]

The host who was very conservative and Christian on WLAC in the early 1980s was Bill Steensland.

Thank you! That lapse was about to cause me to loose sleep, could see his face but could not pull up the name. Casper referred to him as “wild Bill” IIRC. He also went on to do other shifts. Dick also said Bill could bring out the worst in a different segment of the audience and was fascinated by him. Later on, Casper consulted then ran KCMO in Kansas City. Steensland followed him there and became somewhat of a local celebrity. About this same time, there was an incident in Denver where controversial KOA talk show host Allen Berg was murdered by a white-supremest group. I am not certain but I seem to remember Casper relating there had been some minor confrontation incident with Bill, In any case, this coupled with the Berg incident caused him to withdraw from talk radio in concern for him and his family. In the lat 80’s or early 90’s, Casper returned to WLAC for a short period and Steensland came by for a visit, I remember he was not in the business at that time. That was the last I heard of him. Lot of people passed through there on the way somewhere else.
w/

 

[scottwmro]

Neil Rodgers was the antithesis of a conservative. A self-proclaimed gay atheist, he was part of the crew that Dick Casper brought in here to “shock” the market. All of them came out of WNWS in Miami which was also owned by Woody Sudbrink. Bill Caulder was on late mornings after the news, Charlie Cappas midday, Carson Reni at some point, Neil then a husband and wife team whose names I cannot recall that’s been a long time now. They reluctantly let Hoss Man continue with early morning gospel time and a few preachers from 2AM until 5AM. All of them were real seasoned pros and it was indeed a challenging time to work there. We had to convert the operation from a Top-40 jock studio system to a produced telephone talk system over night and I mean that quite literally.

Back to Rogers, it drove Neil crazy when the Bible quoters would call him and quote scriptures to him on the air. Neil was quick witted, trash mouthed and offended most of the poor unsuspecting callers and would cut them off with remarks, boy did the Eventide delay get a work out during his shift, he hated the callers here and made that abundantly clear on and off the air. After a couple months, he had enough and accepted a job in Philadelphia but Dick Casper convinced him to return to Miami. His furniture had to be diverted midway at a huge cost to Sudbrink.

Neil went back to WNWS BUT, all the listeners in Miami listened to him on WLAC at night. Rogers could not escape, the Miami audience now knew what tweaked him and would call him on WNWS and quote from the Bible, Rogers was livid.

What a time, what a ride! Those were indeed the days…..It's never been the same for sure.

w/

Watt,
I thought I was right when I said Neil was from Miami and I recall him and Charles Cappas saying they were from WNWS. I tell ya, Neil was able to keep the former Top 40 listeners with all the shock comments made. These days, WLAC's programming stinks, but that's just my opinion.

 

[K4WRF]

I now see that Neil is still going strong at WQAM Miami, some things never change. Another WLAC talker of controversy was a British lady named Victoria Jones. She was just about as full of vitriol as Neil and quick on the comeback. These people were like a fish out of water in this market but they sure kept it on the edge and interesting.
w/

 

[Evangelist]

Bill Steensland is living in the Midwest, still working in radio, including contributing reports to shortwave station KNLS.

Victoria Jones was out in left field but not as far out there as Debbie Ellis was. Debbie was extremely hateful to callers and even nasty to callers who agreed with her. She was probably the closest thing to hate radio Nashville has had.

WZEZ (now WJXA-Mix 92.9) approached Victoria Jones about doing evenings after her stint at 'LAC ended. She ended up leaving Nashville.

I wasn't in Nashville in 1980 but can assure you if someone called black people "colored folks," I doubt they really admired Ronald Reagan, given that he actively fought prejudice against black and Jewish people long before most of us on this board were born. He surely would not have admired them.

 

[PaulO]

I remember listening to a talk host host on WLAC on Sunday nights in 1982(I think it was 8pm-12am). The host was Christian and very conservative. I enjoyed His program,even though He seemed to be bombarded by prank and combative callers.
I know I won't spell his last name right but his name was Bill Steenslan. He hosted that program but also didn't like when people refered to him as just a talk show that did christian shows. In other words he didn't liked being type cast by the callers.

 

[SwissVol]

Victoria Jones was out in left field but not as far out there as Debbie Ellis was. Debbie was extremely hateful to callers and even nasty to callers who agreed with her. She was probably the closest thing to hate radio Nashville has had.

.

I wasn't in Nashville in 1980 but can assure you if someone called black people "colored folks," I doubt they really admired Ronald Reagan, given that he actively fought prejudice against black and Jewish people long before most of us on this board were born. He surely would not have admired them.

Couple of points. Debbie Ellis was NOT well liked in the Nashville area. I think you're correct about Regan's racial views since he fought for better treatment among Blacks in an era that had atrociously political and social policies against Black Americans.

But I remember hearing from many of these types of people how much they disapproved of Jimmy Carter, liberals, long hairs, blacks, Yankees, Non Americans and anyone who was not a localized person, how terrible those people in that aforementioned group were.

What I do remember the most about this era of talk radio in Nashville was how Nashville was forced to become a big city. Most US Cities, many smaller than ours already had this type of talk radio in place. It is my opinion that by the time Rush Limbaugh's program was heard here in Nashville, the Nashville talk radio audience had grown up considerably. By growing up, I mean used to National talk shows.

No, I have no facts to prove that statement, but I bet those who worked at WLAC would agree with that. Of course Rush came along 10 years after WLAC made the plung into talk radio. I always tended to look at Rush as more of an entertainment type of character rather than a hard nosed political commentator, but I have members of my family who hated Rush's program and would never let the opportunity pass to lecture me about the evils of Limbaugh. LOL Even I came from a conservative midwest German American background, but I guess we were fairly liberal in many ways.

I did not mean to pain all conservatives with the same brush.

 

[Evangelist]

Debbie Ellis was despised by listeners. She was there between my stints at WLAC but some of my friends who worked there say she was also unpopular and difficult, which I do not find surprising. Listening to her argue with callers who agreed with her was just too much.

 

[scottwmro]

I now see that Neil is still going strong at WQAM Miami, some things never change. Another WLAC talker of controversy was a British lady named Victoria Jones. She was just about as full of vitriol as Neil and quick on the comeback. These people were like a fish out of water in this market but they sure kept it on the edge and interesting.
w/

Watt,
I went to WQAM's site and saw pics of Neil. Wonder what brand of cigar he's smoking? Wonder what's in it? (HA!)

Scott