Skeets Yaney – 2013
One of the only live radio musical performers to make the transition to disc jockey in St. Louis, Clyde “Skeets” Yaney, the “Golden Voice Yodeler,” began performing for free, singing and yodeling on KMOX in the 1930s. Within three weeks he was hired, allowing him to quit his job in road construction.
He soon achieved star billing as part of the Skeets and Frankie duo, part of the National Champion Hillbillies, a group was featured on KMOX and CBS Network programming into the 1950s. They developed a large nationwide following, and Skeets received a stream of gifts and fan mail from female admirers.
When economic pressures caused radio stations to do away with live entertainment, Yaney re-invented himself as a disc jockey, first on WEW, then KSTL, extending a local radio career that spanned 40 years, all the while continuing his personal appearances at local clubs and fairs.