R.I.P.: Birmingham Radio Legend Doug Layton

Doug Layton

Doug Layton, a Birmingham radio legend who had a part in a Beatles-record-burning campaign in the 1960s and for nearly 30 years was in the broadcast booth for some of the University of Alabama's classic football victories, has died.

Layton, who had battled cancer for the past two and a half years, was 81, according to al.com.

In 1966, Mr. Layton and Tommy Charles, his radio partner at Birmingham station WAQY-AM, made international news when they encouraged their listeners to burn their Beatles records in a public bonfire after John Lennon was quoted as saying the Beatles were more famous than Jesus.

Although no such bonfire was ever reported in Birmingham, Mr. Layton's notoriety for his role in the ban-the-Beatles protest followed him throughout the rest of his career, his wife, Villeta Layton, said.

Later, as a color analyst and pre-game host on the Alabama football radio broadcasts from 1969 to 2001 , Mr. Layton called some of the iconic games and moments in Crimson Tide football history, including Paul "Bear" Bryant's 315th career win in 1981 and Van Tiffin's 52-yard field goal to beat Auburn in 1985.

Tommy Charles, Doug Layton WAQY

When he was 15, he got his start in radio hosting an afternoon show called "Digging with Doug" on his hometown station WMLS-AM.

After attending Jacksonville State University and serving in the U.S. Navy, Mr. Layton was on the radio in Montgomery before he came to Birmingham to be a disc jockey at Top 40 station WSGN-AM in 1960.

He subsequently teamed with Tommy Charles, first at WYDE-AM and then at WAQY-AM, where they launched their Beatles protest.

Nearly three decades later, after Charles died in 1996, Mr. Layton teamed with John Ed Willoughby, who also had been Charles' on-air partner, to co-host a morning radio show on WERC-AM and later on WAPI-AM. They were on the radio together for nearly 20 years, and in more recent years, after retiring from their morning weekday routine, they continued to host a Saturday-morning sports-talk show on WJOX-AM and WYDE-FM.