What's some favorite air names?

[FMSales]

Since we have some great threads going on here about Memphis radio history and such, I got to thinking about various personalities and some of the more interesting air names that graced our airwaves (outside all the unique Froggy names we endured). Anyone care to start a list?

 

[AlbumOldies]

> Since we have some great threads going on here about Memphis
> radio history and such, I got to thinking about various
> personalities and some of the more interesting air names
> that graced our airwaves (outside all the unique Froggy
> names we endured). Anyone care to start a list?
>

Flying Dutchman from WMPS is the first one that comes to my mind. Didn't WHBQ have a "Birdman?"

 

[radiosaur]

> > Since we have some great threads going on here about
> Memphis
> > radio history and such, I got to thinking about various
> > personalities and some of the more interesting air names
> > that graced our airwaves (outside all the unique Froggy
> > names we endured). Anyone care to start a list?
> >
>
> Flying Dutchman from WMPS is the first one that comes to my
> mind. Didn't WHBQ have a "Birdman?"
>

Yes, that was Bill "Birdman" Thomas, a great talent who succumbed to cancer some years ago.

I personally liked the name JoJo Walker. I worked with him briefly in Little Rock in the 1980's.


Since the Memphis radio history buffs seem to be posting this week, I highly recommend you go to oidar.com and read John Long's autobiography called "Puttin on The Hits".

For you newbies, John was PD of WHBQ during the Dees era. Rob Grayson can fill in ALL the details. John's Memphis adventure starts at Chapter 13. It's fascinating reading, especailly if you know some of the players. But beware, it's a little bittersweet at the end.

<P ID="signature">______________
Never hold a cat and a dustbuster at the same time.</P>

 

[JustaFan]

> > Flying Dutchman from WMPS is the first one that comes to
> my
> > mind. Didn't WHBQ have a "Birdman?"
> >
>
> Yes, that was Bill "Birdman" Thomas, a great talent who
> succumbed to cancer some years ago.

I always dug the Emperor Charlie B. Watson<P ID="signature">______________
FJC</P>

 

[robgrayson]

I can only scratch the surface.... WMPS had Donnie Brooks, who had to change his name to Dan "turkey" Wilson because the "original" Donnie Brooks came into the market. WHBQ had Mason Dixon, Truckin Tom Cookin Kent, Dickie Doo Doo Edwards. And what great news names... Sid Leake, Janis Gordon, Marvin Easley, Bud Leonard, Dan Sears, Terrence McKeever.

My buddy Art Mehring once did a gig at an R&B station in Las Vegas under the name "Les Finesse"!

Back in my formative years at WDDT, Greenville, they brought in a guy named Ken Highland to interview for a gig. He didn't get the job, but they liked his name so much, they gave it to the guy who did get the job. They had a sort of set list of names (Sonny Day, Mike Mitchell, etc.) that they would give to a new person, to help gloss over the high turnover rate. I worked there 6 months under my own name, then they bought a new jingle package and changed my name to Jim Cassidy.

When I went to WJDX in Jackson, I wasn't allowed to use my name because my brother Walt was in the market at a different station. So right before I went on the air the first time, the PD tagged me "Bobby Grey". UGH! That stuck with me in one form or another (usually Robert Grey) through WHBQ, WMPS, 13Q, back to Jackson at Y-16, until I got my name back when I got to Rock103.
RG

 

[FMSales]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

I highly recommend you go to oidar.com and read
John Long's autobiography called "Puttin on The Hits".


<hr></blockquote>

Thanks for sharing the link. It was fascinating reading and highly recommended for anyone interested in radio history, especially here in Memphis.

 

[Danoinark]

I remember we had an overnight guy at WMPS used the named the Nighcrawler.
Dan



> I can only scratch the surface.... WMPS had Donnie Brooks,
> who had to change his name to Dan "turkey" Wilson because
> the "original" Donnie Brooks came into the market. WHBQ had
> Mason Dixon, Truckin Tom Cookin Kent, Dickie Doo Doo
> Edwards. And what great news names... Sid Leake, Janis
> Gordon, Marvin Easley, Bud Leonard, Dan Sears, Terrence
> McKeever.
>
> My buddy Art Mehring once did a gig at an R&B station in Las
> Vegas under the name "Les Finesse"!
>
> Back in my formative years at WDDT, Greenville, they brought
> in a guy named Ken Highland to interview for a gig. He
> didn't get the job, but they liked his name so much, they
> gave it to the guy who did get the job. They had a sort of
> set list of names (Sonny Day, Mike Mitchell, etc.) that they
> would give to a new person, to help gloss over the high
> turnover rate. I worked there 6 months under my own name,
> then they bought a new jingle package and changed my name to
> Jim Cassidy.
>
> When I went to WJDX in Jackson, I wasn't allowed to use my
> name because my brother Walt was in the market at a
> different station. So right before I went on the air the
> first time, the PD tagged me "Bobby Grey". UGH! That stuck
> with me in one form or another (usually Robert Grey) through
> WHBQ, WMPS, 13Q, back to Jackson at Y-16, until I got my
> name back when I got to Rock103.
> RG
>
<P ID="signature">______________
....a broadcast service of Plough Incorporated.</P>

 

[MemphisMitch]

> I can only scratch the surface.... WMPS had Donnie Brooks,
> who had to change his name to Dan "turkey" Wilson because
> the "original" Donnie Brooks came into the market. WHBQ had
> Mason Dixon, Truckin Tom Cookin Kent, Dickie Doo Doo
> Edwards. And what great news names... Sid Leake, Janis
> Gordon, Marvin Easley, Bud Leonard, Dan Sears, Terrence
> McKeever.
>
> My buddy Art Mehring once did a gig at an R&B station in Las
> Vegas under the name "Les Finesse"!
>
> Back in my formative years at WDDT, Greenville, they brought
> in a guy named Ken Highland to interview for a gig. He
> didn't get the job, but they liked his name so much, they
> gave it to the guy who did get the job. They had a sort of
> set list of names (Sonny Day, Mike Mitchell, etc.) that they
> would give to a new person, to help gloss over the high
> turnover rate. I worked there 6 months under my own name,
> then they bought a new jingle package and changed my name to
> Jim Cassidy.
>
> When I went to WJDX in Jackson, I wasn't allowed to use my
> name because my brother Walt was in the market at a
> different station. So right before I went on the air the
> first time, the PD tagged me "Bobby Grey". UGH! That stuck
> with me in one form or another (usually Robert Grey) through
> WHBQ, WMPS, 13Q, back to Jackson at Y-16, until I got my
> name back when I got to Rock103.
> RG
>

Nobody mentioned my favorite here in Memphis when Scott Shannon went by "Super Shan". I was offered a job once in Johnson City by the GM Rocky Stone. Mornings was Sandy Beach and afternoons Dusty Rhodes. He wanted me to come up with a name for me in the night spot...I passed. I heard an aircheck once from a morning man named Harley Worthit, which made him Harley Worthit in the Morning. For those who remember Gary Guthrie as PD at FM100, when we worked together in New Orleans he went by Max Beauxzeaux (Bozo) and Trigger Black. I guess I have been lucky I have been in radio since the early 70's and the only time I used a different name was at Froggy...ribbit..that's all I got!<P ID="signature">______________
“The Beatles will never get back together as long as John Lennon remains dead.”
-George Harrison</P>

 

[lashlarue]

At one station in NY state, I was Tony Bonzini, just because they had a jingle shout. I was also Dusty Rhodes at another station for the same reason. We had a female jock at the station who went by Pepper O'Brien. Others include Calib James, "Fartin" Frank Martin.

Rob: Love your work and air check collection on realradio.com

And I have read John Long's web book at least three times. It is just great stuff. In my opinion John could walk into an AM today, and revive it with music and personalities.

Thanks!

 

[meepmeep]

> > I can only scratch the surface.... WMPS had Donnie Brooks,
>
> > who had to change his name to Dan "turkey" Wilson because
> > the "original" Donnie Brooks came into the market. WHBQ
> had
> > Mason Dixon, Truckin Tom Cookin Kent, Dickie Doo Doo
> > Edwards. And what great news names... Sid Leake, Janis
> > Gordon, Marvin Easley, Bud Leonard, Dan Sears, Terrence
> > McKeever.
> >
> > My buddy Art Mehring once did a gig at an R&B station in
> Las
> > Vegas under the name "Les Finesse"!
> >
> > Back in my formative years at WDDT, Greenville, they
> brought
> > in a guy named Ken Highland to interview for a gig. He
> > didn't get the job, but they liked his name so much, they
> > gave it to the guy who did get the job. They had a sort
> of
> > set list of names (Sonny Day, Mike Mitchell, etc.) that
> they
> > would give to a new person, to help gloss over the high
> > turnover rate. I worked there 6 months under my own name,
>
> > then they bought a new jingle package and changed my name
> to
> > Jim Cassidy.
> >
> > When I went to WJDX in Jackson, I wasn't allowed to use my
>
> > name because my brother Walt was in the market at a
> > different station. So right before I went on the air the
> > first time, the PD tagged me "Bobby Grey". UGH! That
> stuck
> > with me in one form or another (usually Robert Grey)
> through
> > WHBQ, WMPS, 13Q, back to Jackson at Y-16, until I got my
> > name back when I got to Rock103.
> > RG
> >
>
> Nobody mentioned my favorite here in Memphis when Scott
> Shannon went by "Super Shan". I was offered a job once in
> Johnson City by the GM Rocky Stone. Mornings was Sandy
> Beach and afternoons Dusty Rhodes. He wanted me to come up
> with a name for me in the night spot...I passed. I heard an
> aircheck once from a morning man named Harley Worthit, which
> made him Harley Worthit in the Morning. For those who
> remember Gary Guthrie as PD at FM100, when we worked
> together in New Orleans he went by Max Beauxzeaux (Bozo) and
> Trigger Black. I guess I have been lucky I have been in
> radio since the early 70's and the only time I used a
> different name was at Froggy...ribbit..that's all I got!
>


By the way, Phil...er, I mean, Mitch, i LOVE that George Harrison quote, too.
With a name like "Mitch McCracken" I should think you'd never need to change it up much. There may be a lot of people in radio who swiped THAT name to use on the air.
I would have had you call yourself "Mitch McCroakin'" if I had been PD at Froggy when you were there. I'm surprised they didn't think of that...oh, wait!... I know who was there when you were...I AM NOT so surprised. Hee.

 

[robgrayson]

> At one station in NY state, I was Tony Bonzini, just because
> they had a jingle shout. I was also Dusty Rhodes at another
> station for the same reason. We had a female jock at the
> station who went by Pepper O'Brien. Others include Calib
> James, "Fartin" Frank Martin.
>
> Rob: Love your work and air check collection on
> realradio.com
>
> And I have read John Long's web book at least three times.
> It is just great stuff. In my opinion John could walk into
> an AM today, and revive it with music and personalities.
>
> Thanks!
>
Thanks for the kind words! And I believe John Long could almost raise the dead. I know he wouldn't have any trouble raising a staff to back him up!
RG

 

[lashlarue]

RG,

I have two stations in Tennessee, but will continue my pipe dream of finding one close enough to Memphis to bring back to life.

In the meantime, I will watch my Grizzlies, spend time at Sun Studios and continue to operate our AM stations.

 

[MemphisMitch]

> > > I can only scratch the surface.... WMPS had Donnie
> Brooks,
> >
> > > who had to change his name to Dan "turkey" Wilson
> because
> > > the "original" Donnie Brooks came into the market. WHBQ
>
> > had
> > > Mason Dixon, Truckin Tom Cookin Kent, Dickie Doo Doo
> > > Edwards. And what great news names... Sid Leake, Janis
> > > Gordon, Marvin Easley, Bud Leonard, Dan Sears, Terrence
> > > McKeever.
> > >
> > > My buddy Art Mehring once did a gig at an R&B station in
>
> > Las
> > > Vegas under the name "Les Finesse"!
> > >
> > > Back in my formative years at WDDT, Greenville, they
> > brought
> > > in a guy named Ken Highland to interview for a gig. He
> > > didn't get the job, but they liked his name so much,
> they
> > > gave it to the guy who did get the job. They had a sort
>
> > of
> > > set list of names (Sonny Day, Mike Mitchell, etc.) that
> > they
> > > would give to a new person, to help gloss over the high
> > > turnover rate. I worked there 6 months under my own
> name,
> >
> > > then they bought a new jingle package and changed my
> name
> > to
> > > Jim Cassidy.
> > >
> > > When I went to WJDX in Jackson, I wasn't allowed to use
> my
> >
> > > name because my brother Walt was in the market at a
> > > different station. So right before I went on the air
> the
> > > first time, the PD tagged me "Bobby Grey". UGH! That
> > stuck
> > > with me in one form or another (usually Robert Grey)
> > through
> > > WHBQ, WMPS, 13Q, back to Jackson at Y-16, until I got my
>
> > > name back when I got to Rock103.
> > > RG
> > >
> >
> > Nobody mentioned my favorite here in Memphis when Scott
> > Shannon went by "Super Shan". I was offered a job once in
>
> > Johnson City by the GM Rocky Stone. Mornings was Sandy
> > Beach and afternoons Dusty Rhodes. He wanted me to come
> up
> > with a name for me in the night spot...I passed. I heard
> an
> > aircheck once from a morning man named Harley Worthit,
> which
> > made him Harley Worthit in the Morning. For those who
> > remember Gary Guthrie as PD at FM100, when we worked
> > together in New Orleans he went by Max Beauxzeaux (Bozo)
> and
> > Trigger Black. I guess I have been lucky I have been in
> > radio since the early 70's and the only time I used a
> > different name was at Froggy...ribbit..that's all I got!
> >
>
>
> By the way, Phil...er, I mean, Mitch, i LOVE that George
> Harrison quote, too.
> With a name like "Mitch McCracken" I should think you'd
> never need to change it up much. There may be a lot of
> people in radio who swiped THAT name to use on the air.
> I would have had you call yourself "Mitch McCroakin'" if I
> had been PD at Froggy when you were there. I'm surprised
> they didn't think of that...oh, wait!... I know who was
> there when you were...I AM NOT so surprised. Hee.
>
I did suggest that one and the response was "They would know it was you". Like that would be a bad thing?<P ID="signature">______________
“The Beatles will never get back together as long as John Lennon remains dead.”
-George Harrison</P>

 

[DeadElvis]

> Anyone care to start a list?

A good name is not enough, in itself. One has to have the talent to make it a total package. A name like Mason Dixon by a talentless fool sounds silly; someone with talent makes it sound cool.

That being said, my favorite during my tenure in Memphis:

Smokey Rivers.

Great jock, better name.

DE

 

[PandaFritters]

> > By the way, Phil...er, I mean, Mitch, i LOVE that George
> > Harrison quote, too.
> > With a name like "Mitch McCracken" I should think you'd
> > never need to change it up much. There may be a lot of
> > people in radio who swiped THAT name to use on the air.
> > I would have had you call yourself "Mitch McCroakin'" if I
>
> > had been PD at Froggy when you were there. I'm surprised
> > they didn't think of that...oh, wait!... I know who was
> > there when you were...I AM NOT so surprised. Hee.
> >
> I did suggest that one and the response was "They would know
> it was you". Like that would be a bad thing?
>


Who did that? I hope it wasn't me!

 

[MemphisMitch]

> > > By the way, Phil...er, I mean, Mitch, i LOVE that George
>
> > > Harrison quote, too.
> > > With a name like "Mitch McCracken" I should think you'd
> > > never need to change it up much. There may be a lot of
> > > people in radio who swiped THAT name to use on the air.
> > > I would have had you call yourself "Mitch McCroakin'" if
> I
> >
> > > had been PD at Froggy when you were there. I'm surprised
>
> > > they didn't think of that...oh, wait!... I know who was
> > > there when you were...I AM NOT so surprised. Hee.
> > >
> > I did suggest that one and the response was "They would
> know
> > it was you". Like that would be a bad thing?
> >
>
>
> Who did that? I hope it wasn't me!
>


No it wasn't you I was called into the office that Jerry Dean has now. Some beautiful blonde's then, I think she was the Sales Manager. There were some other people in there but I couldn't tell you who they were...like I said there was a beautiful Blonde, I couldn't look away. That's when I suggested Mitch McCroakin and Snoop Froggy Frog (too urban they said) so I got stuck with James Pond! <P ID="signature">______________
“The Beatles will never get back together as long as John Lennon remains dead.”
-George Harrison</P>

 

[MemBirdman]

> > > > By the way, Phil...er, I mean, Mitch, i LOVE that
> George
> >
> > > > Harrison quote, too.
> > > > With a name like "Mitch McCracken" I should think
> you'd
> > > > never need to change it up much. There may be a lot of
>
> > > > people in radio who swiped THAT name to use on the
> air.
> > > > I would have had you call yourself "Mitch McCroakin'"
> if
> > I
> > >
> > > > had been PD at Froggy when you were there. I'm
> surprised
> >
> > > > they didn't think of that...oh, wait!... I know who
> was
> > > > there when you were...I AM NOT so surprised. Hee.
> > > >
> > > I did suggest that one and the response was "They would
> > know
> > > it was you". Like that would be a bad thing?
> > >
> >
> >
> > Who did that? I hope it wasn't me!
> >
>
>
> No it wasn't you I was called into the office that Jerry
> Dean has now. Some beautiful blonde's then, I think she was
> the Sales Manager. There were some other people in there
> but I couldn't tell you who they were...like I said there
> was a beautiful Blonde, I couldn't look away. That's when I
> suggested Mitch McCroakin and Snoop Froggy Frog (too urban
> they said) so I got stuck with James Pond!
>

I hated the naming of Froggy. Tripp and I used to work together, pre-radio, and when he got the Froggy shift, we bounced names back and forth. I the spirit of great nighttime names, we finally landed on "Swamp Daddy" as his name, but they decided Trippy Hillfrogger or something like that. Trading something great for something crap...that's the Entercom way!!

 

[radiopirate]

> At one station in NY state, I was Tony Bonzini, just because
> they had a jingle shout. I was also Dusty Rhodes at another
> station for the same reason. We had a female jock at the
> station who went by Pepper O'Brien. Others include Calib
> James, "Fartin" Frank Martin.
>
> OMG! I had a huge laff over "Fartin" Frank Martin! That's classic.
Burbach Broadcasting was HUGE on handing out the names...one of those being
Tony Bonzini (which by the way was one of my all-time favorites). When I
worked for them in Parkersburg, WV, they gave me the name Bill O'Brien just
because they had the jock jingle/shout.

Another fav from back in the day was "The Mojo Man"