Courtesy of Robyn Watts’ fabulously huge collection, here’s another ‘California Aircheck’. WKQB ‘Q107’ was considered the number one hit music station in Charleston in 1988, before Hurricane Hugo all but destroyed the station one year later.
Station VP/GM Steve Judy comes on with an announcement at the 5 minute mark that the winner of the ‘which station played more music’ audience survery is Q107. He announces that the results were certified by a local law firm. Amazingly, I’ve never heard something like this before, although its a clever promotion ploy.
Station background:
WKQB was the last station knocked off the air during Hugo in 1989, as the airstaff rode out the storm in the studios. Most experts say that Q107 provided the best storm coverage in the Lowcountry at the time. As an unfortunate consequence, WKQB was severely damaged by the hurricane and barely made it back on the air before deletion. They were on the air for one week in 1991, before 107.5 changed call letters and the format to Classic Country under the monniker “Bubba 107.5 WBUB”. Today, 107.5 is WNKT, a sports station which these days is licensed to Columbia, SC. The station moved out of the Charleston market some years ago in a massive frequency swap which involved a number of radio stations.
Very cool. Thanks for posting. I was among the many who listened to MD during Hugo to the final minutes when they finally got blown away. Micheal was a pioneer in my opinion to the shock jock of today. Very creative. Yes, I was a closet Q-listener when not on the air with WEZL at that time. Where did MD go? Buddy Barton (now deceased) was owner / General manager. Again, thanks for the memories.
The last I heard, Michael was a Vet in the Mt. Plesant area.
I too listened to Q107 when they broadcast from the “Tower of Power” durring Hurricane Hugo and was glad to have their voices proving that there were other people surviving the storm. It honestly was comforting to hear a familiar voice durring the chaos going on around me.
Q107 always greeted me on the road when I was on long trips and when I heard the famous “Q107” call sign, I knew I was home!
I still miss Michael Dee and his sidekick Kato in the mornings! They made the long drive to work, stuck in I-26 traffic bearable.
-Scott H.
For a few years in the early 2000s it was Cat Country 107.5, #1 for new country AND the legends. Best country station in SC until it went off the air around 2007.
The 107.5 frequently was moved from St. George (part of the Charleston market) to Eastover, SC (to be part of the Columbia radio market) back in 2007. They are now Sports/Talk as “107.5 The Game”. The move was somewhat ironic for me as I had wished back in the late 80s that Q107 could move into the Columbia radio market. Close to 16 years later, I’ve got my wish….sort of.