TN Radio Hall of Fame Class Inducted

Charlie Chase

Some of the Volunteer State's best known names in radio were inducted into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame at the Embassy Suites Hotel here in Murfreesboro Saturday night (5/4/2013). Hall of Fame board member Gary Beaty hosted the evening and the WGNS Radio website provides terrific coverage.

This was the second class of Tennessee broadcasters who were inducted into the Hall of Fame, and a repeat opportunity for Murfreesboro to host the gala. The non-profit group is dedicated to recognizing those who have influenced and those whose careers are in Tennessee' radio.

2013 Career Inductees

Seven people were inducted in the Career category, which honors those still living and in many cases, still working in broadcasting. They are:

Les Acree: Legendary country programmer and consultant who worked at stations in Memphis (WMC, WGKX and WMQM), Nashville (WKDA), and Knoxville (WIVK). He was named Program Director of the Year by Billboard in 1991, 1994 and 1997 and by the Gavin Report in 1998.

Charlie Chase: Best known as the host of The Crook and Chase Show and The Crook and Chase Countdown, Charlie Chase worked in east Tennessee, before coming to Nashville. There, he worked at WMAK and WSM before also having a TV career on Nashville’s Channel 4 and The Nashville Network.

Rick Dees

Rick Dees: He rose to national fame while working mornings at WMPS in Memphis, when he wrote and recorded “Disco Duck,” which sold six-million copies and won a People’s Choice Award. Dees moved to WHBQ in Memphis and later to Los Angeles. He was Billboard’s Top 40/CHR major market “Air Personality of the Year” for 10 consecutive years.

Tommy Jett: One of the original “Jet-Fli” guys on 50,000 watt WFLI, the name Tommy Jett Reynolds has been synonymous with top 40 rock in the Chattanooga area for more than 50 years.

George Klein: Klein has a 50-year radio and TV career in Memphis, starting with WHHM’s high school football broadcasts and baseball broadcasts for the Memphis Chicks at WHBQ. He worked at KWAM and WMC, and was a close friend of Elvis Presley.

George Klein

R. M. “Bob” McKay, Jr.: Bob McKay put WKRM in Columbia on the air in 1946. He later launched WPHC/Waverly in 1963, followed by WVRY-FM/Waverly in 1970. He acquired a second station in Columbia and changed its calls to WKOM.

Pat Sajak: A native of Chicago, Sajak was in broadcasting school when he got his first radio job. In 1968, he joined the Army and was sent to Vietnam, where he was a DJ on Armed Forces Radio. He came to Nashville’s WSM-AM in the early 1970s, playing pop in afternoon drive. Sister station WSM-TV (now WSMV) brought him on screen as a staff announcer and later, as weekend weatherman.