My name is Ralph Allen and I
worked with nearly everybody mentioned on this website. I worked at WCAW
with Jim Little, Mike Hammer, Randy Scott and Bob Casto.
Later I was Operations Manager at WCHS shortly after Jim Little left,
and I worked at WXIT and again at V-100. I knew all these folks.
Mike Hammer passed away some time ago from a heart attack, and an
incredible friend, Gary Pallant, former program director of WKAZ
recently passed away in Arizona. He was a dear man, and an incredible radio
talent. I never worked at WKAZ but the announcers there were my friends, as
we all knew each other and loved Charleston with a passion.
I worked at WCAW when it was a rocker and we duked it out daily with WKAZ
while I was a college student at then the Morris Harvey College, now the
University of Charleston. I worked with Jane Martin at WXIT and
WCHS, she is such a great talent. I went to school with her daughter
at Morris Harvey so just about everybody mentioned on the website I knew
well.
I finished my career in Columbus, Ohio at North American Broadcasting (920
WMNI, 99.7 The Blitz) after serving as Program Director, Operations Manager,
and General manager. At age 45, I went back to school to become
a psychologist. I practiced one year and said, "This is just crazy!"
I now hold a Real Estate license and work as a realtor in Parkersburg.
The pair of stations, WCAW and WKAZ were two of
the best sounding radio stations I ever heard and I had the incredible
pleasure of working for one of them during my college days in Charleston.
A couple of guys went to majors from Charleston:
Chuck McDowell had worked at KLIF and KILT in Dallas several times,
and Buddy Blake was our PD. He went to work as a record
promoter in Nashville and did a great job in that career. Mike
Wingfield, who was at WCAW when I was at WXIT went to KCBQ in San
Diego, and Mike McVay, who was the PD I hired from WKWK in
Wheeling, went straight from WCHS to Ten-Q (KTNQ) in Los Angeles as a PD
and was a huge radio star. McVay is now one of the most successful
broadcast consultants ever and he is based in Cleveland.
Gary Pallant, former WKAZ PD went to new
York, and then to Toronto, and back to Tuscon... Roger Galloway, a
superb newsman at WCAW joined him there. I have so many fond
memories of what I feel was the golden age of radio broadcasting, and
Charleston was such a bright and shining star in the industry for so many
years. I can count a dozen or more broadcasters that went to major
top 50 markets from Charleston, including myself.
I failed to mention that Loveable Sam (Amy
Johns), a sweet and incredible lady that appreciated great soul music,
was clearly a special part of WKAZ's history. Amy was one of the
first female disc jockeys in West Virginia and she was so smooth in her
delivery and had a voice that would absolutely melt the knobs off the
radio...
Jay Jarrell had night time ratings that
were unbelievable. He WAS an entertainer for sure, with a unique
speech pattern and delivery, and he used the telephone request line as
smooth as anybody I ever heard. I would consider Jay to be one of the best
"night jocks" of the era.
Charlie Cooper and Ric Robinson
came on the scene a little after my experience in Charleston and those
guys are local legends ... big voiced pros that just sizzle. I saw
Trooper Ric on Fox News the other night as a spokesman for law
enforcement and he was articulate and handled himself well. Good job
Ric!
Yes, WKAZ was a magical place ... and the music
... the atmosphere ... Larry Gibson cruising town in the Big Red
news cruiser...show business for sure! What a great bunch of people.
Some great radio is still being done in
Charleston. Dave Glenn is as smooth as ever, and a great on-air
talent. Steve Bishop does a fine job, there are still some
other pros left there. Jeff Clark worked with me in Parkersburg
when he was just a kid...so anyway...what a great experience to be part of
that Charleston radio scene.
Interestingly, the jockeys at WCAW knew the
jockeys at other stations, including WKAZ and we would often meet for lunch
or dinner and talk about broadcasting. Jim Little worked at
WCAW before he went to WKAZ and later WCHS. Little Jim was funnier in
the hallway than he was on the air at times. He was a great friend.
Randy Scott, a supreme talent, left Charleston and went to WLEE in
Richmond and I believe finished his career there in that market.
I have a recording studio in my home and still do a lot of voice over
production. Charter Television Cable gives me a lot of work.
95 WKAZ surely was a special radio station and I
loved listening to it, hour after hour, as well as to WCAW -- they both
were such great stations. In Chicago, WLS and WCFL had a similar
relationship. There was a time in the late 1960's that any of those
stations would be nearly impossible to pick as better than the others.
They were all just superb.
What a great blessing for me to have been a
small part of those years and a part of Charleston radio.
What an incredible time.
Ralph Allen
Parkersburg, WV
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