Years ago I promised myself I would never post on a message board...the passing of 2 great friends of old has changed my mind. As stated by others, it certainly is a sad time for the WOBM family. To lose both Mr. Maze and Kevin Hodge - two of the warmest, friendliest & caring guys I have met in my radio career - leaves me with a heavy heart.
Hodge or "Hodgemo!" as I preferred to call him was a great enigma. He had pipes, James-Earl-Jones-type-pipes, but chose to be soft spoken. He loved meeting people but was never fond of doing personal appearances...though the few he did do were tremendous! I will never forget the laughs Dan Blackman & I had when we did combined WOBM AM & FM station appearances and the old-timers would gather around Kevin to get a "limited edition WOBM Star Country Boot Mug". As Dan & I were howling behind the vans Kevin in great spirit would greet his listeners and take it in stride. Of course when we'd get together for lunch the next day he would crack that "cat-got-the-mouse" grin and promise to choke us to death next time. ;-)
Years later (1997) we stood stageside at the PNC Bank Arts Center as he was about to go out and introduce BOSTON. Just then he turned to me and said "Matt-man this isn't for me...I can't do this!" As a stage hand pressed a mic into his hand and gave him the green light Kevin looked at me for help. I asked the stage hand "where's the other mic?, we're the new Q104 Morning Team and have to go out together!" Sure it was a lie (we were doing different airshifts) but I wasn't going to abandon good bud. We wound up ticking-off the stage crew and had to share 1 mic (big deal) but it went off without a hitch. Many more laughs were to follow, one in particular showed how he was anything but self-centered. While the Q104 jocks were asked to provide headshots for some sort of printed program, a Christmas concert or something (maybe Grand Funk at the Beacon?) Kevin handed in a childhood picture of him in a snowsuit after a storm holding a stick in the air and told management that was the best he could do...they printed it! I laughed 'til I damn near cried!!! His sense of humor made everone feel comfortable and at ease...he had a great knack for that.
Now the tears are for his widow Deb, friends & family.
Deb, he talked about you non-stop and loved you with all of his big heart.
Kevin thanks for the great memories....Pacem!
Matt DeVoti