a special station

WSM... (arguably)   the most famous call letters in the history of radio.

WSM...you heard it over the air on 650 kilocycles.  For many years,
the powerful 50,000 watt signal was a fixture across North America,
the Caribbean and Central America.  It was a "Clear Channel" station
with no other facility sharing the dial position...thus virtually no
interference.  Unfortunately, changes in broadcast regulation over the
years have drastically reduced the 'protection' of the signal's interference
free coverage area.

WSM...you saw it in movies.  WSM microphone 'flags' popped up in
dozens of films about Nashville, the stars, the guitars, the heartbreaks,
and the hits.  While many of the movies were less than stellar, the often
high profile presence of WSM was a promotional tool earned by few
other radio stations.  Our "Grand Ole Opry" and close ties to the country
music industry gave us a reason to be in movies...they didn't have one.

WSM...you saw it on television.  First on locally produced shows, then
on the major networks, and later on our own "Nashville Network".
Now, the station and its famous adjunct "The Grand Ole Opry" are even
occasional prime time stars on the likes of cable television's A&E
Network which ran a 75th Anniversary documentary on the duo in the
fall of 2000.

WSM...it's still here and going strong.  Well on the way to a century
of service, WSM is still heard at the familiar 650 spot on AM, and now
has global coverage via a 24/7 streaming audio feed on the internet.

When I joined the WSM staff in 1967, I was well aware of the station's
heritage.  While I respected it, I'll have to admit that I didn't understand
it, and to make matters worse, I wasn't a country music fan.  In time,
that changed, as did my awe of the station itself.

Here was a radio station, in what was generally thought of as a hick town,
which had actually found a programming niche, promoted itself well,
did a professional job of churning out contrived "hayseed" flavored program-
ming, and in the process, actually put Nashville on the map.
 
Over the years, as the station matured, it could be credited with creating
associated entertainment venues that would make Nashville the undisputed
"Country Music Capitol of the World".  Oh, I almost forgot to mention...
WSM was a dandy promotional tool when it came to selling millions
of dollars worth of the parent company's life insurance policies, along
with ringing up enormous profits as a result of the commercial
announcements it broadcast.

While in many respects WSM was similar to most other full service
radio stations, it was always just a little different, too.  The long standing
reputation for overall excellence, good solid news, weather, and public
service programming was probably a given.  Likewise for the friendly
voices of good announcers and air personalities.  But the big difference
was (and is) the Grand Ole Opry.  The aura of Opry magic is intricately
woven into just about everything WSM does... and is constantly reflected
in the station's on-air "personality".  Since its inception "The Opry" has
given WSM a distinctly different peg to hang its hat on.

WSM and the Opry are living history...and to have been on the staff
of this one-of-a-kind phenomenon in broadcasting for over 30 years
was an incredible personal experience for me.

That brings me around to something you may have been wondering.

How did my career make its way to a station that didn't really  seem
to mesh well with either my previous broadcast experience or my goals?

Here's the story.

When a temporary job I held at KXGO in Fargo ended in the fall of 1964,
I needed interim employment prior to moving to another Fargo station.
Unfortunately, there were no area openings, and I answered a classified ad
in "Broadcasting Magazine" which resulted in a position at WWGM Radio
in Nashville, Tennessee.  The trek to Nashville was to have been temporary,
but a series of quirky happenstances combined to transform it into a
permanent relocation.

My first three years in "Music City U.S.A." (so named by WSM announcer
David Cobb) were spent at a small station that played what most people
think of as 'elevator music'.  I loved WWGM but became increasingly aware
that the little easy-listening station was in deep financial difficulty.  With that
in mind, and a strong desire for job security and employment by a firm with
a rock-solid reputation, I set the wheels in motion for a move to the 50,000
watt giant owned by an old-line insurance company.  It doesn't get much
more secure than that in the radio industry.  Six months after my initial
inquiry, application, and audition, I was hired.

July 3, 1967 was my first day on the payroll of "The National Life and
Accident Insurance Company"; parent company of WSM radio and television.
It was an historic day insofar as it became the first day of the rest of my life
in radio.

Lest you get the impression that I thought everything was perfect at WSM,
I'll set the record straight by saying no.

Over the years, station management made decisions that I knew were later
regretted.  On numerous occasions I spoke out against what I
perceived as ideas which were inappropriate for a station of WSM's
reputation.  I didn't always win those arguments, but more often than not
was proven to have been correct in my initial assessment.

In spite of a few instances of straying from what the station knew to be it's
turf, it managed, for the most part, to remain true to the ideals of those who
so brilliantly crafted it over the years.

In the 2000's, WSM is a rare jewel indeed because of it's local LIVE staff
announcers and locally originated programming.  In this age of satellite
fed sound-alike nothingness, a station such as WSM is indeed rare.

WSM is distinctive.  It has been distinctive since its inception in 1925.

There is only one WSM ... and now it's not only serving listeners tuned to
the familiar  650 dial position from the Concord Road historic transmitter
site (the background on this page features the unique WSM transmitting
tower) ... the magic of WSM is worldwide on the web.

WSM was a pioneer, WSM is still a pioneer.

WSM is WSM.

That says it all.