Radio

Ed Wilson – Legacy

Ed Wilson’s St. Louis radio career spanned 30 years, with a brief hiatus for a trip to California.

In May of 1942 he moved to St. Louis from a radio job in Chicago and became a folksy-talking disc jockey at KWK, a job he held for 16 years. He had a huge fan base among teenagers and also hosted a local teen dance show on television, the weekly “St. Louis Hop.”

A change in KWK’s ownership was the motivation for Wilson to move uptown to KSD in 1958, where his popularity continued. When he went to Hollywood to try his hand at movies, Wilson’s voice was still heard here. He appeared on KSD via recorded programs and still voiced many local commercials.

Returning to St. Louis in 1962, Ed Wilson admitted movies were not for him, and he took a disc jockey job at WIL. After two years there, he took a job at WEW, only to return to WIL in 1970.

Thomas Patrick Convey – Legacy

Thomas Patrick Convey was, first and foremost, a promoter. In 1925 he helped organize a group of major business owners who financed the building of KMOX, which Convey then managed for a short time. He then used his own money to buy a local station that had gone off the air. KFVE’s call letters were soon changed to KWK, and Convey and his family managed their station over a couple decades. He was also frequently heard on the air as “Thomas Patrick” providing play-by-play of Cardinals’ and Browns’ games on the station. His son Bob took over management of the station after his death in 1934.

Wiley Price, Jr. – Legacy

Wiley Price, Jr. got his first job in radio in 1944, when he was 31 years old. WTMV, licensed to East St. Louis, gave Price a regular, daily program, thus making him the first African-American in this market to host a radio show. A military veteran, Wiley Price was responsible for selling the ads on his program and was expected to pay the station for the airtime. He had subsequent shows on KXLW and KSTL under similar financial arrangements. Calling himself “Mrs. Price’s boy Wiley,” Price focused on what was then called “race music,” but he left the radio business when the station owners insisted he play the new music form, rock and roll.

“Gentleman” Jim Gates – 2011

The career of Gentleman Jim Gates began at KATZ in 1968. After three years, he moved to KWK, followed by WESL, where he was co-owner of the station and served as GM and PD. In 1986 he returned to KATZ as GM. He also worked at KXOK in 1993 and them KMJM where his show was the highest-rated on the station. In 2000 Jim had a show on the Peabody Award-winning KJZJ, and he also worked at WFUN-FM and KTGP. Known as “The Brown-Eyed Scorpio, Gates earned over 40 Gold Records from the music industry. He became the first station executive in the country to air Rap when he programmed the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.” The NAACP presented Jim Gates with its Legend Award in 2008.

Doug Eason – 2011

After working as a broadcast specialist for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service, Doug Eason made his mark in commercial radio in a career that spanned over 40 years. The majority of those years were spent in St. Louis radio, where Eason was remembered by his listeners as a gentle-voiced disc jockey and strong presence in his community. However, the man affectionately known to his co-workers as “The Leprechaun” also worked as VP/GM of KATZ and WESL. His degree from SIU Carbondale opened doors for him later in his life. While teaching full-time and mentoring high school students, Doug Eason also hosted a daily show on WGNU.

John McCormick – Legacy

John McCormick became known in St. Louis as “The Man Who Walks and Talks at Midnight.” ​

His overnight program on KMOX was a throwback to radio’s earlier days, when deep-voiced announcers steeped in knowledge and personality held forth on the nation’s powerhouse stations. ​

McCormick began his work at KMOX in 1958, having already established himself as a radio personality at Chicago’s WGN and WBBM and stations in New Orleans and Los Angeles. ​

He held forth on the KMOX overnight shift for 31 years, with listeners awaiting his familiar clichés, like his sign-off at the end of each morning’s show: “And now, the night has separated from the day.”

Like many KMOX personalities, McCormick stayed on the air past the usual retirement age of 65, finally hanging it up at 75. ​

John McCormick weather, KMOX, 12/15/1989

John McCormick signoff, KMOX, 12/15/1989