Rock Radio Scrapbook

AIRCHECK OF THE WEEK
For week of January 16, 2011
Weekly issue #614

Talent: JOHNNY MIDNIGHT
Station: WONE Dayton, Ohio
Date: September 28, 1966
Time: 8:58

(Picture courtesy Don Williams)

Tune into most music stations after midnight these days and you're most likely to hear syndicated shows, voicetracking or wall-to-wall music. A live voice? Good luck.

But it wasn't always so.

The all-night show used to be alive with real, living, breathing human beings. Jocks not only worked the all-night show but entertained with personality and a more one-on-one relationship with the listener than existed in other dayparts.

Taking us back to that time is this aircheck of Johnny Midnight. That wasn't his real name of course - he was Don Williams and his long resume includes stops at KSTT Davenport, Iowa, WAQI Ashtabula, Ohio, WHK Cleveland, WHLO Akron, Ohio, WELW Willoughby, Ohio, WTOD, WTTO and WSPD Toledo, and WFTL plus sister FM WEWZ (later WJQY) Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Williams was one of the WONE Boss Men from June, 1966 to February, 1968. He told Rock Radio Scrapbook that when he arrived at WONE the program director's opening line was "Welcome, Johnny Midnight"! He wasn't too pleased with being assigned such an air name, and admits he would have stayed at WHK had he known. But Williams says WONE wasn't so bad, he just didn't like being kept in the dark about the Johnny Midnight thing.

Enjoy Johnny Midnight (with newsman Lloyd Nolan) here.

The WONE Boss Men
(l-r) Dave Dayton (Thom Sanders), Wayne Moss, Jerry "Shadoe" Jackson
Johnny Midnight (Don Williams), Rick Stevens, Tom Campbell
(Picture courtesy Don Williams)

(The Don Shuttleworth Collection)

More 1966 airchecks here!

 

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