The New 1230 WCOL

WCOL’s Golden Groove: Columbus Voices 1965–1978

Welcome to WCOL’s Golden Groove, a nostalgic trip back to the glory days of 1230 WCOL-AM in Columbus, Ohio. For those of you who tuned into the Columbus Top 40 AM giant for any length of time, WCOL-AM’s days of dominance with our all-allocotted 1960’s Top 40 smash hits had Columbus youth flooding Columbus record shops Marco’s, Kelly’s, Brickner and Basic Love and Lazarus to pick up the weekly music surveys from its then 3 story downtown studio locaation at 22 S. Young Street and its large staff that included a full fledged print shop in the basement working around the clock to produce the wildly anticipated WCOL music surveys. For those readers who missed the WCOL Glory Days, from 1965 to 1978 this Young Street powerhouse under the leadership of general manager Dan Morris and programming VP Bryan McIntyre who had assembled what became known in Columbus media circles as the “Best Radio Newsroom” in Columbus media market along with WCOL’s rock-star jocks Wes Hopkins and Kemosabe, Jerry Gordon and dozens of other popular Columbus voices “owned” Columbus, bucking far more powerful AM competitors in WTVN (610 AM) and WBNS (1460 AM) with a combination of earsplitting hyperactive pacing, precision timing and tight playlists that would be copied by Columbus radio competitors to no avail. This AM Top 40 powerhouse that didn’t take No. 1 songs off its playlist until they actually went down on the pop music charts released major Columbus talent including Wes Hopkins, Jerry Gordon, Terry Tyler, Tom Kennedy, Harry Valentine,  Mike “Hawk” Hawkins, Jim Davis and more to later successful radio careers outside Columbus, while a roster of top- notch music mixers that included Chuck “Rock ‘n’ Roll” Martin, Terry Ward, Vicki Yakivich, Jerry and Mike Adams kept WCOL-AM at or near the top of the AM radio charts from day one with what became known as the “Most Popular Station” in Columbus. So grab a snack and a coke, find a comfortable seat and plug in for WCOL’s Golden Groove. WCOL music history buffs may want to read this post first.

Picture Columbus in the summer of 1965: The Beatles are ruling the charts, Ohio State is in full swing, and WCOL-AM is blasting out of your transistor radio and car stereo at work and during rush hour. Great Trails Broadcasting had taken over WCOL a few years back, making it a pure Top 40 powerhouse. Dan Morris, the general manager, kept the station on track, while programming VP Bryan McIntyre had a unique sixth sense for what became a hit. If McIntyre heard a song and felt it was a future smash, WCOL often programmed it faster than other stations. This gave WCOL’s playlists a competitive edge, making them sharper and more on point. The WCOL studios at 22 S. Young Street were chaotic, fun and creative. Picture turntables spinning, cigarette smoke in the air and stacks of 45s then a transition to carts with-in every jock’s reach. The PAMS jingles (created in Dallas) would interrupt your favorite song, but with their instantly recognizable brassy hooks, “New WCOL Time uttered by the on air jock,  you knew you were listening to the hottest spot on the dial: “The New WCOL, Columbus!” Those weekly music surveys were gold. WCOL dropped them at record stores like Marco’s and Lazarus each week. They were a hit, with Columbus teens clamoring to get them, arguing over “I Get Around” and “Boogie Wonderland,” or which was No. 1, “Respect” or “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” They weren’t just play-lists. The surveys ranked songs, highlighted Columbus bands, promoted concerts and were a true barometer of Columbus youth culture. WCOL didn’t follow the pack—it led, often breaking records before the national charts even recognized them.

The Jocks Who Rocked Your World

WCOL’s jocks were the station’s soul, voices larger than life who made you think they were spinning records just for you. WCOL had a killer line-up, each one bringing their own style and personality.

Wes Hopkins, with his imaginary Indian sidekick Kemosabe, ruled mornings for more than a decade. Hopkins had a quick wit and cheeky sense of humor. Kemosabe would “weigh in” on Wes’s patter with sarcastic side-comments to Wes’s wild on-air antics. Hopkins had a Columbus sense of place, shouting out local restaurants like the Teen-Age Record Shop or griping about rush-hour traffic. His crisp delivery made every song seem like it was written for Buckeye Nation. He had a sense of humor and local flair that was hard to beat. Hopkins retired in the late 1976 replaced by J Parker Antrum a native from Northern California

Tom Kennedy, who came to Columbus from WKLO, held down afternoons with his easygoing baritone voice and endless cruising references (all ‘COL jocks knew High Street like the back of their hands). Kennedy would pepper in just the right amount of local color with shout-outs to places Columbus kids knew and loved, whether it was a diner on East Broad or an OSU tailgate party to pimpin’ an upcoming appearance at Club 2001,  his warm voice was perfect for Motown, the Beatles, and every other Top 40 hit.

Chuck “Rock ‘n’ Roll” Martin, by 1974, brought the heat to evenings, jumping in after Terry Tyler left to hit it big at WNCI and later in Boston. Martin had a high-energy style that made after-dinner hours one long party. Whether he was raving about “Stayin’ Alive” or spinning tall tales about Columbus nightlife, Chuck kept his pace and energy high, making every night seem like a Saturday. Martin had a lot of friends in the Columbus nightclub scene, often making personal appearances MCing, and spinning records for club audiences. Martin would later move on to stops in  Fort Wayne, Detroit, Southern California, Vancouver, Salt Lake City, and Honolulu.

Harry Valentine ruled Saturday nights on WCOL with a wildly popular dedications show. Kids would call non-stop, begging Harry to play “My Girl” for their high school sweetheart or “Bridge Over Troubled Water” for a buddy in trouble. His earnest delivery made each dedication a special moment to remember.

Jerry Gordon, a big-voiced jock with a Harley-Davidson swagger, burst into WCOL in early 1967, blowing away airwaves with his booming delivery. He was perfect introducing psychedelic classics like “Purple Haze” or pumping up Columbus listeners with his amped-up energy. Gordon would go on to WMEX in Boston and later radio in San Francisco, but WCOL was where he made his mark.

Jim Davis worked midday in the mid 1970s, a smoker with a deep, sultry voice that could make even a bubblegum hit sound like an old soul classic. Davis hosted the Return of Doctor Bop weekend special, mixing oldies with rock ‘n’ roll stories and clips. His show had listeners locked in, waiting for what his sexy voice would spin next.

Mike Adams was a station all-star, a Columbus native who worked as both a DJ and briefly as music director. Adams was as good at crafting promos as he was at picking hits, and his WCOL-AM bio describes the Young Street studio as “a pressure cooker of rock ‘n’ roll, where every shift was a performance.” He worked closely with McIntyre on WCOL’s sound, and their close work made the station’s playlists sharp and cohesive.

Terry Tyler, before he went to WNCI and Boston fame, was a WCOL speedster, a rapid-fire talker who lit up the airwaves. Terry was a big-voiced jock who set the stage for Chuck “Rock ‘n’ Roll” Martin to keep the evening spot bumpin’.

Terry Ward was both an on-air jock and the public face of a legendary WCOL promotion. “Keep It On WCOL,” read signs in front yards and on car windows and garage doors across the city, and Terry Ward was the prize van driver making the appearances, walking up to your front door or driveway and announcing “You’ve won a prize from WCOL.” Driving a big van, Ward cruised Columbus (listeners sent in their locations by snail-mail postcard) and met families displaying KEEP IT ON WCOL signs. Prizes included cash, concert tickets and record stacks.

Steve Joos, an early WCOL jock, had a smooth, versatile style, adapting to any shift he worked. After WCOL Joos became general manager of sister station WIZE in Springfield, Ohio, and went on to launch WSNY Sunny 95 in Columbus. 

Vicki Yakivich was a powerhouse voice with a quick wit, a favorite of young women when she worked late-night/overnight shifts on WCOL. Vicki was one of many women who worked in male dominated radio on-air during the mid-late 1970s, but in an age when many female jocks were straight reading announcers with deadpan deliveries, Vicki had a presence that was larger than life. After WCOL Vicki worked radio in Pittsburgh and South Florida and moved into television.

Beeman Black was another popular Columbus voice, a jock with a larger-than-life personality and an energetic style on air. Black was popular with the radio station, too. Listeners would drive to the radio station and drop off survey cards that told the station they were listening to a specific station and why.

Carl David Hamilton was a radio wunderkind who grew up in DeGraff, Ohio and became a fixture on WCOL’s late night shifts, so popular that even before graduating high school from DeGraff High School in 1971, he earned his First Class Radio Telephone License in 1968. Carl would go on to program and manage major market stations in Rockford, Chicago and Houston. WCOL was his launchpad while attending Ohio State University.

By 1978, FM was king. WNCI’s clean sound was wooing listeners, and WCOL-AM’s 1,000-watt signal couldn’t compete. Great Trails poured its investment into WCOL-FM, and the AM side cycled through formats without finding a niche: adult standards, talk/news, oldies. The station lost its core audience. Dan Morris and Bryan McIntyre left for new adventures, and by the early 1980s, 1230 AM was a shell of its former glory. WCOL AM experimented with a bunch of formats and new music specialists including Spook Beckman and Rick Minerd during the late 1970s. In 1979 WCOL AM took to a window-front studio that faced Broad Street from 22 South Young street. The jocks broadcasting from this studio corner included Spook Beckman, a long time Columbus disc jockey with a streetwise voice and a very popular audience favorite. Rick Minerd, who came on board WCOL in 1979 to help take WCOL to a talk/music hybrid format did something no Columbus radio personality did during the 1970s. Rick was approached while he was a guest on a live radio show on WCOL to join Franklin County Sheriff Earl Smith’s Sheriff’s Office. Rick went on to write a memoir, Deputy in Disguise, about his time in law enforcement.

Spook Beckman and Rick Minerd (aka Deputy Rick) were part of WCOL’s next generation, Beckman had a gravelly voice and a big personality, and he kept WCOL Gold alive. Minerd, who had an interesting career path as a hometown radio mainstay with WRFD, WNCI, WMNI and WTVN on his resume.

It was a twist of fate during Rick Minerd’s afternoon talk show on WCOL when then-Sheriff Earl Smith dropped by as a guest. Smith, spotting Rick’s natural charisma, had a bold idea: create a brand-new role as Public Information Officer to bridge media and the sheriff’s office and Rick was his perfect pick. Thrilled, Rick a rock n’ roller at heart, cut the long hair, jumped at the chance, aced the grueling training academy, and emerged armed with a gun, badge, uniform, and a thrilling new chapter in law enforcement. He quickly became a media magnet, gracing local and national TV screens as a go-to expert. A standout was his regular gigs on FOX’s America’s Most Wanted alongside host John Walsh, where he helped cast a wide net for fugitive “bad guys”—including nabbing an escaped rapist in 1991. Minerd channeled his experiences into authorship, penning over a dozen best-sellers like Deputy in Disguise: From Headphones to Handcuffs and Honey, I Promise!, blending cop tales with life lessons. He even looped back to 1230 WCOL for weekend stints as “Deputy Rick,” hosting the rollicking Jailhouse Rock, years later becoming Chief of Police.  These days, the retired chief owns Heartlites Radio, a beloved online station dishing out classic hits and commentary on Heartlites Radio Magazine Network.

Gordon went on to San Francisco, Tyler to Boston, Hamilton to Chicago, but they cut their teeth at WCOL.

Bryan McIntyre was WCOL-AM’s Programming Guru. These days all programming VP’s owe it all to programming consultants but back in the day McIntyre was unique in his talent to program and stay current with not only hits and news, but he gave the jocks at WCOL free reign to explore and try anything that they wanted to try, helping build the jocks we became when we worked for WCOL into radio stars and long-term friends to this day.

News Director Jay Solomin led the largest news department in Columbus, with an on-air team that included Kris Kridel, Mike “Hawk” Hawkins, Phil Gardner and Jon Lapolla. This was no easy listening news department—the WCOL Newsroom was a media powerhouse in Columbus, competing with all media, even the Columbus newspapers. WCOL brought energy and a heavy local focus to its news department, cutting through cluttered and often staid late news “peg shows” on Columbus television. The crisp, quick delivery of Kridel, the sheer presence of Hawkins, the storytelling voice of Gardner, and the incisive reporting of Lapolla brought gravitas to WCOL, making breaking news and weather as big a draw as its playlists. The station also added real value to high school sports and the Ohio State Buckeyes with Solomin, a hardcore Buckeye fan, front and center. This wasn’t just a Top 40 station—it was a hub for all things Columbus.

The Columbus Radio Rumble

In the 1960s and ‘70s, Columbus was a Top 40 free-for-all, and WCOL was the scrappy champ holding the crown. WTVN (610 AM) was the heavyweight, a 5,000-watt monster with a full-service format that mixed Top 40 with news and adult pop to appeal to older listeners. WBNS (1460 AM) was another big player, with a wider playlist and a strong news team. Both had clear signals over WCOL’s 1,000 watts, but WCOL had the youth market locked.

McIntyre’s tight playlists and hyperactive pacing made WCOL THE place to be for teens and twenty-somethings. If WTVN played it safe with Andy Williams, WCOL was breaking “Paint It Black” or “Funky Stuff” before it hit the Billboard Hot 100. FM was shaking up radio by the early 1970s. WNCI (97.9 FM) flipped to Top 40 in 1970 with a cleaner signal and a slicker, consultant-driven sound. WCOL fought back with its jocks’ personalities and local connections, but AM was on the decline.

Great Trails moved it’s WCOL-FM (92.3) from religious to album rock with a quirky bunch of live local talent, rebranding it “Stereo Rock 92” and focusing it on album-oriented rock to complement WCOL-AM’s pop hits. But for more than a decade, from 1965 to 1978, it was 1230 WCOL-AM that had every Columbus kid on lock.

Famous Promotions That Set the City on Fire

WCOL was a promotion genius, turning Columbus radio listeners into rabid fans. Weekly music surveys, handed out at record shops and all across Columbus’s teen hangouts were like collector’s items, ranking songs, shouting out local bands and hawking concerts.

The “Keep It On WCOL” campaign was a stroke of marketing brilliance. WCOL asked listeners to show their loyalty with signs—on front yards, car windows and even rooftops—demanding “Keep It On WCOL.” Terry Ward, in a white van with a megaphone, cruised Columbus (listeners would mail in postcards with their locations) and stopped at houses, surprising fans with cash, concert tickets or stacks of records. Karen Miller, now 69, recalls her family’s Keep It On WCOL sign in Upper Arlington. “Terry pulled up with a megaphone and gave me tickets to see the Doors. I was the coolest kid in school.”

Listener Memories: What WCOL Really Meant to Columbus Kids

As a Columbus native, WCOL-AM was my lifeline. I had a whole shelf of Columbus radio books just so I could check my facts and stay current before writing this.

Tom Reynolds, now 64, a retired mechanic who was 16 in 1967, sneaked his radio into his bedroom so he could hear Jerry Gordon’s booming voice. “He would play “White Rabbit” and rev up his Harley on air,” Tom remembers. “It was like he was riding right through my bedroom.”

Susan Miller, who worked at a downtown diner in the ‘70s, remembers Jim Davis’ Return of Doctor Bop weekend shows. “That low voice made every song epic,” Susan says. “I mean, when he played “Be-Bop-A-Lula” the whole kitchen was singing.”

Carl David Hamilton’s late-night show was a treasure for kids who stayed up past their bedtime. Mark Jenkins, now 67, tuned in while he was in high school. “Carl was so young, but he sounded like an expert,” Mark says. “He played “Midnight Confessions” and would talk about Columbus and the OSU Buckeyes like it was the coolest place in the world.”

Harry Valentine’s dedications on Saturday nights were pure magic. Lisa Thompson, now 66, sent in a dedication for her boyfriend in 1970. “Harry played “Close to You” and read my letter on air,” Lisa says. “I still have the tape.”

The nostalgia runs deep. In 2003 WCOL did a big reunion bash  jam-packed with fans and jocks trading stories and passing around faded music surveys. One guy played a tape of Mike “Hawk” Hawkins rattling off a news update, and the crowd roared like it was 1972. WCOL had that kind of grip.

The Legacy Lives On

WCOL-AM is just a memory, but its spirit lives on. The FM side, 92.3 WCOL, is a powerhouse today, one of the biggest country music stations in Ohio. But for those who grew up in the ‘60s and ‘70s, the REAL WCOL was 1230 AM—Wes Hopkins and Kemosabe waking up Columbus, Jerry Gordon and his Harley roar, Jay Solomin and the WCOL Newsroom, Terry Ward’s prize van cruising Columbus, to mention just a few. The original WCOL AM from its tiny 3 story Young Street home had produced an original Top 40 Columbus radio that grew the listenership from a basement print shop that churned out the widely anticipated weekly music surveys, to Buckeye Nation through its all-allocotted classic top- 40 ‘60s AM radio music programming as well as an entire roster of radio stars that would become household names for Columbus area radio listeners through personalities like Mike Adams,  and WCOL-AM’s Programming Guru Bryan McIntyre who would later go on to become a pharmisutical executive.