Hi Chuck-
My name is Rick Campbell.
I was the 8-Midnight man and a salesman from 76 to early 78 at
"Alabamas Music GIANT Q104" - as we chistened it that first year.
That first 2 years is when the Q shocked the radio world in Alabama.
From the moment I went on the air at the Q my life was girls girls girls and more girls.
I was 23 and had the world by the tail - literally.
Every time I picked up the request line there was a hot girl on the other end -
it was a magic time that makes me smile everytime I think about it.
The Q changed lives overnight - for both the listeners and that magic staff that will never be replicated.
I was working at WGAD, Gadsdens AM Top 40 Station when Q104 went on the air.
Malcolm Street hired me away to WHMA AM-FM in Anniston shortly after the Q made it's debut.
Two months later in the summer of 1976 I got a call from Dennis Deason one afternoon while I was on the air.
He complimented me on my show and asked if I would be interested in taking the 8pm-to midnight slot at the Q.
I met with Bill Barron and Ron Livengood a couple of days later and, for $225 a week & 15% of what I sold, went on the air shortly after the station moved to Chestnut Street.
From the very first day it was special.
I had been in commercial radio for a couple of years but my father worked at and owned radio stations all my life so I was at home in radio station environments but the Q was special - very special.
It was electric and hip and wild - it instantly became the shizzzzzzzzzzzzzle in Alabama!
Q104 exploded accross the state the summer of 1976.
From Huntsville to Birmingham to Talladega and everywhere in-between Q104 was everywhere.
You heard Q104 in the mall, the grocery store, the movie theaters, and every kid in every car was rocking down the road to Q104 - to this day I haven't seen anything like it in radio. I'm glad I was part of it.
I ended my radio career in 1983 at WWL in New Orleans.
Louisiana Lerouxs lyric from their hit "New Orleans Ladies" was true for me:
"A sassy style that will drive you crazy" - I found a New Orleans Lady,
married her in 1980 and 30 years later we're still together.
We started a family and I realized I wasn't going to get rich as a radio announcer.
I went in business for myself and today I own several businesses in New Orleans.
I'm glad someone took the time to chronicle this episode in Alabamas radio history.
We'll never see days like those again.
It was a once in a generation age of expansion - a golden era of awakening and freedom.
Q104 beamed up that transformed the lives of everyone in north central Alabama.
The original "Q Crew" was a unique blend of a little experience and a brand new class of enigmatic DJs fresh off the air from Gadsden State Community College.
We were New World FM explorers - dreamweavers for ourselves and our audience and we all realized something special was happening.
We did our jobs well: Alan DuPriest, Rick Sisk, Bill Barron, Dennis Deason, me, and many more -
and the fabulous music of the 70s that radiated thru us and everyone around us.
It all fell together perfectly - it was rich, vibrant, and alive, and it was fun.
To all of you I worked with and those who came later - we made history. How many can say that?