Radio HOF

V.A.L. Jones – Legacy

V.A.L. Jones was literally the first lady of St. Louis radio. She was the first announcer, program director and scriptwriter at KSD, the market’s first commercial radio station.

Miss Jones was the subject of several articles in national radio publications of the day for her work in getting the station on the air in 1922. “Radio in the Home” wrote in September 1922 of her distinctive voice, “You recognize it among the voices of other radio announcers for its clearness of enunciation, for the purity of diction it employs…”

She was said to have received thousands of letters from listeners, and her on-air identifier was simply “Miss Jones announcing.” Virginia Adele Laurence Jones spent five years at KSD, having been hired by owner, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, because of her knowledge of the city, her musical knowledge and her writing ability, which she had demonstrated as a rewrite person at the paper.

In the station’s first year, Miss Jones held weekly auditions for on-air performers, usually hearing 50 – 60 acts per week.

She left KSD when she married an engineer from another local station and he was transferred to Kansas City. ​

Robert R. Lynn – Legacy

​Robert R. Lynn began his broadcast career at KWOS in Jefferson City, MO., while he was in school at the University of Missouri – Columbia Journalism School. He came to St. Louis in 1959 after working at two stations in Houston, where he claims to have been fired by Dan Rather.

In addition to his 20-year career as a newsman at KXOK followed by two years at KMOX and a brief stint at WIL, Lynn was well-known in the St. Louis market for his commercial voiceovers.

He was president of the local AFTRA chapter for three terms and received the Nellie Booth Award for meritorious service from that organization in 1991.

He even found time to do some acting at the St. Louis Municipal Opera during the 1969 season, and after his retirement from radio, he appeared in a national television movie and mini-series.

Robert R. Lynn was part of the crack news team at KXOK during the station’s rock heyday in the late fifties through the sixties. The men were well-known for their deep-voiced, authoritative presentations and rapid delivery.

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

Buddy Moreno – Legacy

​Buddy Moreno’s name became synonymous with the Big Band era because the group he led appeared many times on CBS, NBC and Mutual network radio from 1947 – 1952. His CBS appearances included several stops on “Saturday At the Chase,” which originated live from St. Louis.

His second career was as a disc jockey, first at WHHM in Memphis. After a year there, he returned to St. Louis, where he worked at KWK, WEW and WSIE. At the latter two stations, the formats allowed Moreno to share his big band expertise and experience with listeners, and he developed a regular following that would tune in just for his programs.

He was an all-night disc jockey at KWK for ten years, moving to WEW to take the job of announcer/program director. In 1996, Moreno came out of retirement to host a weekly big band program on non-commercial WSIE.

Buddy Moreno, KWK, 7/15/1961

Chuck Norman – Legacy

​Chuck Norman started his radio career in 1948 as a late-night disc jockey where he made money selling time on his own show. Three years later he moved to WIL.

​Five or so years into that gig, he left the market for a year but returned and put WGNU (Granite City) on the air in 1961. In 1965, he added WGNU-FM, claiming it was the first radio station to broadcast country music in stereo. He sold the FM in 1978.

​The AM format was switched to talk in 1977 and the station was later dubbed “Radio Free St. Louis” developing its audience by featuring non-mainstream hosts.

​Through his entire life, Norman maintained ownership of the station, which, in his later years, gave him the distinction of being the only original sole-owner left in the St. Louis market.

​In addition, he held an annual holiday party every year starting in 1976 to benefit the area’s needy families.

Ron Morgan – 2004

​Ron Morgan came to St. Louis in 1973, taking an on-air position on Pulitzer powerhouse KSD. It was the beginning of a stay in St. Louis radio that would span nearly twenty years.

Known as “Morgan in the Morning,” he peppered his programs with droll humor supplemented with an infectious laugh and gave his program team plenty of opportunities to share the spotlight.

He also did mornings at KSD-FM and KLOU, as well as other shifts at KMOX and KHTR.

Morgan was also program director at CBS-owned KLOU when it hit the air with an oldies format, giving the station a strong group of personalities to complement the music, and he served as operations director at KSD-FM.

Ron Morgan was visible in the community as a long-time supporter of the Easter Seals Society.