Winn Simmons, age 12, at WOLS Florence, S.C. Winn Simmons, 2002

Winn Simmons started in radio at the age of 12. On visits to his grandparents' home in Florence, S.C., he would spend most of his days at WOLS radio, where he would watch Tom Kinard (aka Tom Jones, WAYS) and the jocks for hours. He had free reign in the production room and made lots of tapes. Winn was FCC-licensed at age 13 and tried to hang around the local stations in Laurinburg, being "that little kid who always got in the way." His first job, at 16, was at WLAB in St. Pauls, N.C. doing weekends and late afternoons. During his high school years he interned at WPTF/WQDR in Raleigh. During college and after, he went on to work at a number of stations in North and South Carolina (WPDZ, WFMO, WTSB, WKZQ, WWKO, and WJOT.) In 1982, he went into the family business, but worked a little in radio to "keep his feet wet." Following several years of success in the Insurance business, he went back to his first love, doing Saturday Afternoon Beach Party on WGQR, Elizabethtown, N.C.

The Repository thanks Winn Simmons for sharing!

[Descriptions by Uncle Ricky unless otherwise credited]

TOP STREAM 96 Kbps (15 Khz STEREO) TM Productions ALTERNATIVE Jingle Demo (9:40) . . . Be like all the others . . . [ Description by Uncle Ricky ]

This TM Productions ALTERNATIVE demo is HOT, and it's right off the 5-inch 7.5 ips Demo Reel contributed by Winn Simmons. The Demo Station is WQXI (wonderful long-time Atlanta Top 40) but these jingles ran elsewhere, too. As to the initial release date of this demo... well, the use of The Trammps could place it in 1977 or 1978. This is a truly fantastic package. An entire 70's-type station could be built around these, and some were.

Return to the Repository

TOP STREAM 64 Kbps (15 Khz Web-TV compatible STEREO) TM Productions AIRWORKS Jingle Demo (9:40) . . . Feel it, or put on some Montovani . . . [ Description by Uncle Ricky ]

This TM Productions AIRWORKS demo features Ken Justiss who "takes over" the demo about 3 minutes in. It makes heavy use of STEREO effects, so it would seem to have been marketed to early FM stereo stations. Great fidelity - right off an original TM demo 7.5 ips reel. Yet, two AM stations are featured here, WAKY and CKLW. Let's go to comments for date of syndication. Whenever, this was a VERY nice package, but wouldn't you want to play them in STEREO?

Return to the Repository

TOP STREAM 32.0 Kbps (10 Khz) Dick Biondi, WNMB-FM North Myrtle Beach, SC. July 24, 1976 (18:18) . . . what condition do you think my condition is in this morning? . . . [ Description by Contributor Winn Simmons ]

Dick Biondi at WNMB-FM, 1977 (Picture courtesy Bill Norman) Here's long-time Chicago broadcaster Dick Biondi doing mornings on WNMB-FM in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. At the time, Dick was semi-retired, doing radio in the mornings and playing golf in the afternoons. He is also heard on most of the commercial production and "the second edition" of the morning news. Dick was the only small-market jock I ever knew who drove a new, beige 1976 Mercedes-Benz to work, daily.

Return to the Repository

TOP STREAM 32.0 Kbps (10 Khz) WKZQ-FM Myrtle Beach, S.C. Composite 1979 (3:01) . . . the Beach's music FM . . . [ Description by Uncle Ricky ]

This is a short composite of WKZQ-FM Rock 102 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, circa 1979. The best I can determine: it includes an unidentified Captain of Afternoon Rock (in the morning, or was that a promo?), someone named Casey, (Could this have been Steve Casey of Fred?), Debbie Snyder, Shotgun Stone and The Pilot John Van Phelps (or was it Pelt?) These people with (mostly) unusual names sound like they were comfortable in the old-fashioned high-energy Top 40 way, and Myrtle Beach was surely the place to be, at least in the summertime.

Return to the Repository

TOP STREAM 20.7 Kbps (10 Khz) Z104 WZYQ Frederick MD Composite, 1979 (17:16) . . . Yes, my Love Is Alive, now if I could just get her enthused . . . [ Description by Uncle Ricky ]

Keemosabe Joe, Terry Tyler, Truckin' Tom Armstrong, The Catfish and Brother (Chuckie) Boo Baron (WAYS) are heard in a composite of this remarkable Top 40 FM in Frederick, Maryland in the late '70's. This composite's fidelity varies from segment to segment, but it includes promos, airchecks and jingles from what we believe was 1978 and 1979. It's possible that there's some 1980 in there, too. Contributor Winn Simmons dated this exhibit as 1980, and specifically noted "Chuckie Boo Baron" as a notable portion of this composite. Brother Boo Baron is featured during the last few minutes and begins at 14:01.

Return to the Repository

TOP STREAM 32.0 Kbps (10 Khz) Robert Murphy In The Morning, WAYS Charlotte, N.C. 1982 (5:52) . . . won a weekend in Myrtle Beach by guessing how we spell Murphy . . . [ Description by Uncle Ricky ]

Here's Robert Murphy In The Morning on WAYS in Charlotte, simulcasting in 1982 with Stan Kaplan's WROQ-FM. You'll hear the winner of the How Do You Spell Murphy contest, and don't you just love the way those southern girls talk? You'll also hear a few seconds of newsman Frank Coley, (aka J. Frank Coley), a veteran of WIXE in Monroe, just like Repository curator Uncle Ricky.

Return to the Repository

TOP STREAM 32.0 Kbps (10 Khz) The Animal, WJZR Kannapolis-Charlotte, N.C. 1984 (9:54) . . . it's up - it's been up since I got up . . . [ Description by Uncle Ricky ]

For someone who grew up in neighboring Concord in the '60's, it's difficult to believe that the home of Cannon Mills would grow big enough for the "big town sound" of WJZR (Z-100) in the '80's! This aircheck was made in the Summer of 1984. Equally amazing is The Animal, the talented host of the Morning Zoo, slightly reminiscent of The Greaseman, with a bit of Jackson Armstrong's Gorilla thrown in. Contributor Winn Simmons wrote that Animal R. O'Boogie "passed away some years back."

Return to the Repository

The Winn Simmons Collection was created on April 13, 2003

Reel Top 40 Radio Repository ©1996-2010 REELRADIO Inc.