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Wolfman Jack's Early Radio Days in Virginia

N

N4GBK

Hi Radio Fans! I believe there are errors in the Wikipedia listing for 1010 WRJR in Portsmouth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Radio_stations_in_the_Hampton_Roads-Tidewater_area. The Wikipedia site says the 1010 frequency was WHIH in the 1950s. From my research, WHIH was 1400 in Portsmouth and is now WPCE. Robert Smith aka Daddy Jules - later known as Wolfman Jack - has been reported on multiple sites to have been at 1270 WYOU in Newport News around 1960, not WHIH. WYOU later became WTID and is now WJTZ. I remember WPMH 1010 as a new station in 1971-72. I do not think there was a 1010 anywhere in the Tidewater - Hampton Roads area before WPMH signed on in the early 1970s.
Some references
VARTV http://hamptonroads.vartv.com/
Radio Hall of Fame http://www.radiohof.org/discjockey/wolfmanjack.html
I believe the author of the Wikipedia page mixed up two Portsmouth radio stations, 1010 and 1400. Call sign changes, frequency swaps, it's hard to get an accurate history of our old radio stations. A lot of people rely on Wikipedia. Any thoughts? Have a great week! -Bill
 
Yes, they screwed up. 1400 was actually WLOW until 1961 when they became WHIH. My 1964 Broadcasting yearbook shows WPMH as not on the air yet, but being built. 1270 is WTJZ, not WJTZ.
The Wolfman was at WYOU at the time you said. He talks about it in his autobiography.
 
Thanks for the info. I'll wait a few days to see if anyone else has something to add then I'll make an attempt to correct Wikipedia. I hope I don't transpose any more call signs WTJZ - WJTZ <grin>.

In 1971, I was a weekend guy at WGAI 560 in Elizabeth City, NC. The station's new owners had changed the format from "block" programming to Top 40. There was a really nice older guy who had been there for years who had been doing classical and big band programs on the station at night. He was not a Top 40 person. The new owners helped find this gentleman a job at the "new" station in Portsmouth, 1010 WPMH. In those days, any station running a directional AM antenna had to have someone with a First Class Radiotelephone license on duty whenever they were on the air with the directional. WGAI and WPMH were both directional all the time and so us folks with a "First Class Ticket" were in demand. I believe the gentleman was at WPMH until they changed to a religious format, then retired. VARTV says 1010 WPMH signed on as a big band station in 1972. Sort of coincides with what I remember. I'm curious about what happened between the construction permit circa 1964 and the station signing on in in the early 70s? Did they sign on in the 60s and my memory is fuzzy? I guess they could have renewed the CP a couple of times. Stay cool! -Bill
 
1010AM in Virginia was orginally occupied by WELK in Charlottesville---the original top 40 station there. The problem was, 1010 was daytime only and WELK wanted to go 24/7. Meanwhile WINA operated at 1400 but they had applied for 5000 watts on 1070 full time. WELK got the licence for 1400 but they had to wait for WINA to vacate the frequency. THere was a lot of litigation before the FCC regarding 1070 in the mid-late 60s, so the debut of 1070/WINA was delayed many times. Meanwhile, WPMH/1010 in Tidewater had recieved a CP to build the station, but they couldn't go on the air until WELK vacated 1010 in C'ville. Around 1970 WINA finally got a green light on 1070 and WELK/1400 and WPMH could finally go on the air. As a side note, it was about too late for WELK---they had sacrifced a good daytime signal for purely local 24 hr coverage, only to have FM rock to start to gain mommentum. In a few years WELK/1400 was history and the frequncy was silent until WKAV came on some years later, first as a "beautiful music station."
 
If you have the book and can reference it (they are sticklers for references), you can fix the pages without a Wikipedia account. It will, though, register your IP address.
 
Thanks for the great 1010 history!
 
fortmill said:
As a side note, it was about too late for WELK---they had sacrifced a good daytime signal for purely local 24 hr coverage, only to have FM rock to start to gain mommentum. In a few years WELK/1400 was history and the frequncy was silent until WKAV came on some years later, first as a "beautiful music station."
Click to expand...

Not exactly correct Fortmill. WELK never went silent. After toying with "Soft Rock" for a couple years, WELK sold 1400 to Richard Latora's Latora Broadcasting Inc. in 1981 and the calls were changed to WXAM. After three years of different types of pop music formats, Latora sold 1400 to C. Mark Wilson's Cavalier Country Broadcasting and the calls were again changed to the present WKAV. The station featured a Country format until shortly before Wilson sold the station to Charlottesville Broadcasting in 1993. The format changed to a Music of Your Life type format until Clear Channel Bought the property in 2000. The station is now all Sports and again under new ownership.
 
Robert Smith (AKA The Wolfman) was indeed a partime announcer for station 1270 WYOU in Newport News, Virginia while stationed in Norfolk with the U.S. Navy around 1958-1960. In 1962 that station became WTID with the moniker "music in good taste". What's little known is that the Wolfman picked up his now famous persona from WGH Radio DJ Baron Be-Bop. Baron Be-Bop was a sometime persona of talented radio DJ Bob Calvert who did the 3-7pm shift on WGH. About once every two weeks Bob Calvert, the man with a thousand voices, would do a deep-gutteral type delivery of his famous voice. He ceased doing the Baron Be-Bop persona around 1961 because it was too hard on his voice. This became the inspiration for Bob Smith who did the voice later in his career as a full-time persona. Dale Parsons, program director of WNBC Radio in New York City and former Newport News native, did a conference call with Calvert and the Wolfman in the mid-1980s. The Wolfman had a satellite\taped program on WNBC's all night show. The Wolfman mentioned that Calvert's Baron Be-Bop was the early inspiration for the radio "Wolfman". The "Wolfman laugh" was something created and added by Bob Smith to his version of the Baron-Be-Bop persona. Bob Calvert died several years later around 1991 and will be remembered as the voice of WGH.
 
Amen! A good friend and an incredible talent.
 
fortmill said:
1010AM in Virginia was orginally occupied by WELK in Charlottesville---the original top 40 station there. The problem was, 1010 was daytime only and WELK wanted to go 24/7. Meanwhile WINA operated at 1400 but they had applied for 5000 watts on 1070 full time. WELK got the licence for 1400 but they had to wait for WINA to vacate the frequency. THere was a lot of litigation before the FCC regarding 1070 in the mid-late 60s, so the debut of 1070/WINA was delayed many times. Meanwhile, WPMH/1010 in Tidewater had recieved a CP to build the station, but they couldn't go on the air until WELK vacated 1010 in C'ville. Around 1970 WINA finally got a green light on 1070 and WELK/1400 and WPMH could finally go on the air. As a side note, it was about too late for WELK---they had sacrifced a good daytime signal for purely local 24 hr coverage, only to have FM rock to start to gain mommentum. In a few years WELK/1400 was history and the frequncy was silent until WKAV came on some years later, first as a "beautiful music station."
Click to expand...

I would like to correct your reference to WKAV. I worked at WXAM 1400 in Charlottesville starting in 1982. Due to failing ratings, we went from oldies to a more rockish format and next to big band for a few months. I think it was around 1983 or 84 when we were sold and changed to WKAV with a format switch to country and initial ratings success. Part of the problem with WXAM was that the older guys on the sales staff disliked us younger air types and always told us how much they missed the good old days at WELK. Not a good environment when the sale staff despises the product they are selling. :'( I left WKAV in 1987 and lost track of the market. I know nothing about Wolfman Jack in VA, but there was a pretty hot AT named Prader in the Roanoke area, so I was told.
 
Recently bought a copy of "Have Mercy" by Wolfman Jack. Autobiography published in 1995 before his death. Fun reading. He indeed started at WYOU.

I'm in Belvidere, NC.
 
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