The Georgia Radio Hall Of Fame is a Georgia Non Profit Corporation

BILL ANDERSON - Bill Anderson was born in Columbia, South Carolina, but spent most of his growing-up years around Atlanta and graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism, having worked his way through college as a disc jockey at a station in Commerce. Anderson went on to become a country and western star and still performs today.

JERRY BLUM - In his 29 years at WQXI in Atlanta, Jerry was sales manager then President /General Manager. Jerry was the model for Arthur Carlson, GM of the television show “WKRP in Cincinnati. . On Jerry's watch, WQXI hosted the world famous Ramblin' Raft Race, Light Up Atlanta, and the Underground Atlanta Halloween Party. Jerry was honored with the first AIR award in 1996. Jerry is retired and lives in Smyrna.

NEAL BOORTZ - Neal Boortz has been a talk show host in Atlanta, Georgia since 1969. He worked at WRNG and WGST before moving to WSB. His show is syndicated nationally.

BILL BOWICK - Born in Albany, Georgia. He began his career in 1947 at WALB in Albany. In 1955, Bowick moved to WGBA in Columbus and was host of the morning show. In 1972, Bill moved the show to WRBL in Columbus, its home until a format change moved it to cross town WEIZ. Health problems forced Bill’s retirement from Magic 98 after hosting “Coffee with Bill” for nearly 50 years. Bill lives in Columbus.

KENT BURKHART - General Manager of WQXI in Atlanta in the 60’s. In the 70’s, Kent founded a world wide radio consulting firm based in Atlanta. Kent was also one of the founders of The Satellite Music Network. Burkhart was instrumental in the careers of many Georgia radio people. Still active as a consultant and owner, Kent lives in Key Biscayne, Florida.

BILL DRAKE - Born Philip Yarbrough in Donalsonville, Georgia, he is believed to have worked at WWGR and WWNS in Statesboro while attending Georgia Southern. He moved to WAKE Atlanta where he was program director and changed his name to Bill Drake, to rhyme with “wake”. In 1961, Drake left for California where he developed the world famous “Drake Format” and later was co owner of a leading world wide syndication and programming consulting company. He lives in Los Angeles.

HARLEY DREW - Harley grew up in Waynesboro and hung around WBRO when he was a kid. In 1962 he helped put WFNL on the air in Augusta. In 1964 he became program director at WBBQ, a position he held for 25 years. Harley also worked at WZNY and is currently the program director of WGAC and anchor of the top rated “Morning News”. Harley is on the Board of Directors of The Georgia Radio Hall of Fame.

PAUL DREW - Originally from Detroit, he moved to Atlanta in 1957 to work at WGST. Drew moved to WAKE in 1961. In 1963, Paul moved to WQXI. As host of the 7P-12M shift, he introduced Atlanta to, and later toured with, the Beatles. He eventually became program director of WQXI, a position he held until 1967. Paul was a successful program consultant and rejoined RKO as PD at KHJ in 1973 and went on to become Vice President of Programming for RKO Radio. Paul lives in Los Angeles.

KEN DOWE - Ken was the morning DJ at WQXI in Atlanta the early 60’s. Today Ken is Chief Operating Officer of Service Broadcasting Corporation in Dallas.

DON EDWARDS - Don began his radio career at the age of 14 at WGBA in Columbus in 1956. He also worked at WHYD FM. Currently retired from radio (since 1977), Don does voice work in Columbus.

HERB EMORY - Herb’s radio career began at WPNF IN Brevard, N.C. while he was in high school. When he arrived in Atlanta he was an intern with Skinny Bobby Harper at WIIN, then was a dj and newsman at WSNE in Cumming, WDGL in Douglasville, and WACX in Austell. At WFOM, Herb was Big Hugh Baby Jarrett’s sidekick. He then worked at WQXI AM, 94Q, and with Georgia Network News. In 1988 he started doing helicopter traffic for Star 94. In 1991 Capt Herb joined WSB Radio and TV reporting traffic from the sky copter lounge. A racing fan since his youth, Herb and his wife Karen began hosting an auto racing program on Saturday afternoons on WSB that same year. Herb and Karen live in Lithia Springs.

CHARLIE FOXX - Charlie came to WBBQ in the summer of 1974 and except for a brief time worked there until 1987. He was lured into the record business and was a promotion man from 1988 until 1996. Upon returning to Augusta, he did afternoons at WZNY until 1998 when he joined WKSP as morning man. In 2000, he moved into sales for 7 stations in Augusta and does swing and weekends on WIBL FM.

LESLIE FRAM - Fram joined Power 99 in Atlanta in 1990 as part of the morning team, then she became Program Director when the station changed to WNNX and has remained part of the morning show to this day. She is the recipient of many local and national awards.

JOEL GODARD - Joel is from Milledgeville and attended Emory University. He worked in radio in Macon before coming to Atlanta and working at WARM, WQXI, and WIIN. Today he lives in New York City and is announcer on NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

STEVE GOSS - Steve began his career as an intern writer/producer at WGST while attending Emory. Later he segued to sister station WPCH. He remained at the station through several ownership, format, and call letter changes. In 2007 he was named host of "Morning Edition" on WABE in Atlanta.

JOHNNY GRAY - In 1985 Johnny accepted a position with the new country FM in Atlanta, WKHX. He became music director of both WKHX and it's sister station WYAY. Eventually Gray was elevated to Assistant Program Director of both stations. After 21 years at the stations, Johnny retired in September of 2006 and lives in Alpharetta.

SAM HALE - Sam came to Atlanta’s WQXI in 1962. In 1966 Sam began to devote full-time to his avocation, the stock market and enjoyed a successful career as a Chartered Market Technician and affiliate of the New York Society of Security Analysts. He retired in 2003. Since leaving full-time broadcasting, Sam has continued to do limited voice over and commercial work. Sam is VP/SEC/TREAS of the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame and lives in the new Georgia city of Johns Creek.

CLARK HOWARD - In 1987, Clark began doing guest appearances on Atlanta radio giving travel advice. The success of those appearances landed him a show on WSB which is syndicated nationally.

J J Jackson - JJ came to WRFC in Athens in 1973. In 1974 he was hired by WQXI. In 1986 he joined WFOX. In 2001 he was part of the original staff at WLCL. JJ also hosted a Food show on WGST. J J now lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

LARRY JAMES -Larry grew up in Columbus, Georgia and attended Jordan High School. In 1961 Larry got his first radio job at WDAK (Big Johnny Reb Radio) in Columbus hosting the 6:15 to midnight show. The 10P-12Midnight portion was known as the “Late Date Show" with” LJ the DJ”. Soon Larry became PD/Morning man at a new Top 40 station in Columbus, WCLS. In 1967 he moved to WPNX and country music, staying until 1970 when he went to WQIK in Jacksonville. After Jacksonville Larry worked at WUNI in Mobile until 1975 when he went to WBT in Charlotte. It was there that Larry was named the Country Music Association’s Medium Market Air Personality of the Year in 1978. In 1991, Larry joined KPLX/KLIF in Dallas as Creative Services Director. He returned to the southeast in 1999 to do imaging at WIVK in Knoxville. In 2000 Larry segued to WMJJ, Magic 96.5 in Birmingham where he did imaging until 2006. Today, Larry is retired and lives in Columbus and is on the Board of Directors of The Georgia Radio Hall of Fame.

HUGH JARRETT - Hugh came to WPLO Atlanta in the 60’s. He worked at WFOM, WSB, and most recently at WWEV. He was also a member of the Jordanaires, backing Elvis Presley and appearing in many of Presley’s movies. Hugh lives in Cumming.

RED JONES - Red came to WQXI in 1961 as Program Director and remained there until 1968, except for a one year period as PD at WDGY in Minneapolis. While there, he was instrumental in the formation of the radio network for the Atlanta Falcons and putting WKXI FM (now 94Q) on the air. Red then moved to WFOM. In 1975 Red went to Valdosta where he co-owned WJEM and stayed there until 1980. Red then moved to WLAG in LaGrange as GM of the AM & FM. Red has been n Carrollton since 1985 and held various positions at several stations. He has been at WKNG as morning man since 2001.

RHUBARB JONES - Rhubarb grew up in Tallapoosa, Georgia and worked at WECC in Bremen while attending West Georgia College. Upon graduation, he worked at WCLS in Columbus. Rhubarb moved to Atlanta in 1985 and has been at 106.7 since it was WYAY (now Eagle). He is the longest running morning radio personality in Atlanta. Rhubarb has won many local, regional, and national awards for not only his work in radio, but in the community.

DON KENNEDY - He is affectionately known as “Officer Don” to thousands of adoring Georgia television viewers over the age of 50. In the 1960, long before FM was cool, he and a group of investors started WKLS FM, which he later sold. After that he ran a state radio network and was with WSB radio in 1983. Today he owns and hosts the nationally syndicated radio program, “Big Band Jump", heard on radio stations around the world and on XM. Don lives in Atlanta.

DON KING - His 50-plus year radio career began August 25, 1955 at Macon's WBML. He eventually served as Program Director, filled the morning slot and set a world's record for continuous broadcasting of 125 hours. They did strange things in the 50's. After 19 years at WBML he joined the local NBC T.V. affiliate, then back into radio at WNEX and WMAZ.

DEL WARD LESLIE - Del got her start in radio in Chicago. Upon returning to her hometown of Macon she hosted "Date with Del" on WMAZ Radio for many years.

JACK LENZ -Jack started in Augusta, GA as a DJ on WGAC AM. Then to WBBQ in Augusta where George Weiss told him, "I don't have any money to pay you but you can MAKE as much as you want”, and handed him a sales rate card. Then to WGIG in Brunswick, GA, on the air and sales. Then to WSAV Savannah as PD and did the Noon news on the New WSAV-TV. Jack moved to Lyons GA as part owner and GM of WBBT AM. After selling the station went back to Savannah as PD/Sales for WCCP. The call of the big city took Lenz to Atlanta with brief stints at WPLO and WIIN, then Jack was hired at WSB for sales in 1963, became General Sales manager where he stayed until 1980 when he joined an investor group to build and manage WMNX-FM in Tallahassee, FL. After the station was quickly sold, Jack joined Palmer Communications as GM of WTNT AM/FM and retired from Broadcasting in 1986. He now lives on St .Simons Island, GA.

JOHN LONG - Started in radio at WLAG in LaGrange. In addition to John's extensive work in GA radio at WTRP, WFOM, WQXI, WMOG, WIMO, WPLO, WFOX, WMRZ, during his career he also held important programming positions with RKO. John was Founder of the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame. He is retired and lives in St Marys, Georgia.

JEFF MCCARTNEY - Jeff spent 12 years in Atlanta at 94Q doing afternoon drive and handling Music Director duties. Since 1995 he has been with HITS Magazine as a Top 40/CHR Music writer and currently resides in Ponte Vedra, Florida.

KELLY MCCOY - Kelly's radio career began in 1970 at WKLY in Hartwell. He also worked at WDOL FM and WRFC in Athens. In May of 1978, he was hired at WQXI 790 in Atlanta and stayed there until 1985, at which time he began his current association with WSB FM.

GARY MCKEE - Gary McKee was morning man at WQXI from 1971 until 1989. He moved to WSB in July 1990 where he worked, first on AM, then on FM through December 1996. After that he hosted the mornings a WZGC-FM (Z-93) in Atlanta, until he retired in 1999.

MOBY IN THE MORNING - Moby came to Atlanta in 1991 to join WKHX Kicks 101.5. He was there for ten years before joining WZGC. Moby formed his own syndication company/network based in Atlanta in 2005 and is heard on stations around the state.

AUBREY MORRIS - Aubrey Morris spent 13 years as a newspaper reporter before being hired at WSB in 1957. He stayed until retirement in 1987. Along the way, Aubrey interviewed everyone from Harry Truman to Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and, because of his relentless determination and nose for news, is the epitome of the phrase “first on the scene”. Aubrey lives in Atlanta.

LARRY MUNSON - Since 1966, Larry Munson has been the voice of the Georgia Bulldogs. He also does sports commentary on WSB. Perhaps the most memorable “Munsonism” is “look at the sugar falling from the sky, look at the sugar falling from the sky”, which occurred when the Bulldogs clinched the SEC Championship by beating arch rival Auburn 19 to 15. Larry lives in Athens.

FRED NEWTON - In 1967 Fred Newton was the original morning personality on Macon's heritage country station, WDEN. After being transferred to Tampa and Jacksonville by Rowland Broadcasting, he returned to Macon in 1972 as VP/GM of Piedmont Communications (WCRY). In 1982 he became VP/GM of WMAZ/WAYS in Macon. WAYS pulled a 27 share in 1987, under Newton's leadership. In 1989 he returned to Piedmont Communications as President and general manager of WPEZ/WDDO/WMGB. After Piedmont was sold in 1996, Newton retired to St. Simons Island, where he lives today.

DALE O’BRIEN - Dale was born and raised in Kalamazoo, studied radio and television at Michigan State University, and helped establish the university's network of campus radio stations. In December 1973, he came to Atlanta to do afternoons at Atlanta's Z93. In the the spring of 1982, Dale joined WSB-FM, Atlanta, hosting "O'Brien in the Morning" until the fall of 1994. He hosted mornings at WPCH, Peach, from 1995 until early 2001 and now does voiceover work and lives in Marietta, Georgia.

RON O'QUINN - Ron started in radio at WMGA in Moultrie while in High School in the early 60's. In 1963 he went to WVLD in Valdosta. After that he went worked at several stations in Florida before being offered the job of Program Director of Swinging Radio England. After touring with the Beatles in 1966, Ron returned to Georgia to the Rounsaville Organization, an Atlanta based company, as National Program Director of their Urban Stations and worked at several of their stations in the US. In early 1971 Ron became the manager of WSIZ in Ocilla where he stayed until 1976. After being out of broadcasting for a few years, Ron started a syndicated oldie show called, Rock and Roll Reunion, which was carried on 88 stations across the country, including 16 in Georgia. He also hosted a weekly oldie show, Memories Unlimited, on WQZY and WKKZ in Dublin until 2001. Ron is now retired and living near Glenwood, Georgia.

KIM PETERSON- From 1992 through 2006, he hosted a radio talk show on WGST in Atlanta. Peterson is retired and lives in Atlanta.

GEORGE PATTON- Consultants told him to drop network an go music and news. In the 50's he did just that and led WBML to one of the top spots in Georgia Radio. As Vice President and General Manager of the Macon facility, he built a mobile news operation that captured the Macon market, assembled an announcing staff that seldom turned over, and editorialized on Middle Georgia issues when most broadcasting stayed clear of anything that might scare a sponsor away. Patton stayed at 'BML until the early 70's, when the station was sold.

BOBBY POPE- Macon sportscaster whose daily sportscasts still run on WMAC. His "Saturday Scoreboard" during football season has run for over 30 years in Macon. Bobby Pope is in his 18th year as Athletic Director at Mercer University.

LUDLOW PORCH-Ludlow got his start at WRNG “Ring Radio”. He was on WSB from 1988 until 1991, when he started his own radio network where he hosts his daily show heard on many stations in Georgia. The show originates in Suwanee, Georgia.

RANDY & SPIFF- Randy Cook and Spiff Carner came to Atlanta in the late 90’s to do morning at WFOX. In 2003 they moved to WLCL, then in 2005 to WLTE. In 2007 they joined WGST as morning hosts where they remain today.

RANDY REEVES - From 1967 until 1970, Randy Reeves worked at WCON in Cornelia while attending high school. In ’70 he went to WDOL in Athens, then in ’71 to WRFC where he remained until 1973. He came back to WRFC in ’74 after a one year absence and stayed until 1976 when he left for sister station WCGQ in Columbus. After one year there he went back to Athens to WAGC, and then in 1977 Randy moved to Atlanta and WGST. In 1978 he joined WZGC where he remained until 1986. Randy was there when WARM changed to Power 99 and stayed until he left to open his own voice studio in 1989. Today Randy is the imaging voice for stations across the country. His studio is in Woodstock.

JERRY ROGERS - Jerry came to WSGA in Savannah in 1967 and rose to the position of general manager after being program director for a number of years. In 1991 he got a construction permit to build his own station, WRHQ in Savannah, where he remains today.

BILL SANDERS - In 1957 Bill began working at WKLY in Hartwell. At the University of Georgia Bill created and hosted the University Almanac radio program. He served as the voice announcer for all of the public broadcasting stations in the state during the 1960s. Following a stint at WSB Radio in Atlanta, Bill became News Director for the Northeast Georgia Radio and was News Director of WDUN AM&FM in Gainesville. Bill was the voice of the Upper Room for the Protestant Radio & Television Center in Atlanta. In 1975, Bill became the youngest state broadcasting association director in the nation when he joined the Georgia Association of Broadcasters. In 2003, Bill retired after serving Georgia’s broadcasters for 28 years and lives in suburban Atlanta.

PAUL SEBASTIAN - Paul hung around WFOM while in high school then got his first job in radio at WIMO in Winder. He worked at WDYX in Buford, went back to WFOM as program director in the 70’s. Paul, also known as Hoyle Dempsey, was at WAPE in Jacksonville for 17 years. He is now creative services director at WRHQ in Savannah and is on the Board of Directors of The Georgia Radio Hall of Fame.

DICKIE SHANNON - Dickie got his start at WTIF in Tifton. He went to Augusta in 1974 and went to work at WBBQ. After a brief move to WGUS in 1986, he retuned to WBBQ in 1987 and stayed for 13 years. In 2000, he moved to WGOR where he remained until health problems forced his retirement in 2005. Dickie passed away on April 17th, 2007.

RICK SHAW - Rick began his radio career at WSB-FM in 1965 while a college student. He joined WSB fulltime as an engineer in 1969, moving into programming in 1979 when he was promoted to Assistant Program Director. In 1985 he became Operation Manager, a position he held until 1991. During that period he spent many seasons as Producer/Engineer for the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Falcons & Georgia Bulldogs. Rick moved to WGST with the Atlanta Braves in 1991, followed by three years with the Atlanta Falcons broadcast team at WZGC. He became VP of Broadcast Operations for Atlanta-based PGA TOUR Radio in 1999. Rick went back to WZGC in 2003 as Director of Affiliate Relations and broadcast producer for the Falcons, where he remains today.

SCOTT SLADE - Scott’s first job was in 1970 (when he was 15) at WGRI in Griffin . Before leaving for Athens, he managed to work at the other two Griffin stations, WKEU and WHIE. He won his first AP news award at the age of 16. In 1973, Scott was on the sign on staff for student station WUOG at the University of Georgia. In 1975 he worked at WZGC and in 1984 joined WSB where he has been everything from talk show producer to helicopter traffic reporter to his present position as host of Atlanta’s Morning News, the number one rated radio program in metro Atlanta for over ten years in a row. Scott has been honored with numerous local, regional and national broadcast awards.

BRUCE STEVENS - Bruce was raised in Alaska and hung around KENI in Anchorage. He moved to Augusta in 1965 and worked at WRDW, WFNL, and WGUS. Bruce joined WBBQ in 1974 where he was music director and Assistant PD. Bruce became program director in 1989 programming both WBBQ and WZNY. Bruce is out of radio and in the automobile business in Augusta.

HAMP “King Bee” SWAIN-Hamp Swain was the first black DJ in Macon hosting a show called “Teenage Party". In his own words: “I had been in insurance before I went to WIBB. The company I worked for had their own program on the station and it was rather successful. So, one day they came to my boss and said they were looking to put a black DJ on the air. I went and tried out and they gave me the job”. Hamp introduced Macon listeners to Otis Redding and James Brown before they ever had record deals. He also appeared as, what else, an announcer in the movie "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings." Hamp lives in Macon.

TERRY TAYLOR - Terry WAS program director/afternoon drive personality on Macon’s WNEX. He now works at WDEN. His radio career in Macon has spanned more than 40 years.

TONY TAYLOR - Tony became the “Quixie Tiger” in 1963 and rose to become operations manager of WQXI. After nine-years of success in NYC he was lured back to Atlanta by Meredith Corp. when they purchased WGST from GA Tech. He also was a familiar commercial voice on radio and TV in Atlanta and recently retired from the advertising agency which he developed and lives in Cumming.

BROTHER GARFIELD TURNER - Garfield Turner used to do record hops with Augusta DJ Flash Gordon. He met the owner of WWGA in Waynesboro and started bugging him for a job on the radio. In 1978, Bob Hunnicutt hired him to do a part time gospel show. When Hunnicutt bought WKZK in Augusta in 1982, Turner went to work there. He’s been there every since playing Southern Gospel.

JOHN YOUNG - After success in other cities John Young became part of Georgia radio in 1978 taking over Atlanta's Z93.Within one year the station became #1 in 12+ audience and stayed either #1 or #2 in overall ranking every rating period during his PD leadership lasting til 1987. During that same period he was also co-host of the morning show with Steve McCoy, and began a television voice over career at TBS network for an afternoon break which continued until 1995 and included TNT, CNN and the Braves Baseball Club. He now serves as signature voice for over 35 television and radio stations and is host of a radio show on Marriage, relationships, and cultural issues for Salem Network from their Atlanta facility WNIV.

The Georgia Radio Hall of Fame is not affiliated with, but, fully supports the Georgia Association Of Broadcasters.