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Best Radio Personality 29.89% Doc West/WXKE*
Others with Votes:
1998 Winner: Doc West
1997 Winner: Doc West
* On the ballot
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Doc West has become a radio legend in Fort Wayne. It is no surprise that Doc
wins the Whatz Up Readers Poll for Favorite Radio personality. He has
a huge pool of fans, and they have jumped in and given him the win for the
second consecutive year.
West
has plrobably played more guitar rock n' roll in the city than anybody else
in the history of Fort Wayne. He is the Bob Seivers of rock roadio to anyone
over 30.
He is still in the game, and if it is rock and roll that is going on, even
after all these years West is probably talking about it.
"Oh, yeah," he says about best part of the job. "It's not the money,
it's the fun.
Here's a guy who has the station logo tatooed on his body, with photos
posted on the station website. Here is a guy who has played Pink Floyd songs
more than 27 million times in his career, and here's a guy having to
change his game a little, since WXKE has attempted to try and strengthen
their market position by playing rock that isn't just classic.
"It's actually been a lot of fun for me, he says of the format
adjustment. "I've played the old stuff thousands of times. Now we play
a mix of some of the classic and new stuff. There is a lot of good new
stuff, and yeah, there is a lot of bad stuff too.
"It is interesting to watch it all evolve," he admits, adding, "You know the
Eagles have a album coming out, and radio is at a point where it probably
won't get played at what is called a rock station today. I mean to
some, the old bands are like Pearl Jam."
Part of the reason for Doc's notoriety is a result of working for an
independent station. They broadcast from a souped-up, ranch-style house on
Goshen Road, amidst the commercial buildings and warehouses.
Rock 104 and Doc West, who embodies the spirit of the station, make tons of
public appearances. They pass out CDs and wear their headphones and
talk to some groupies and wave and introduce a band and throw some beer
t-shirts and posters into the crowd. Then they do it again the next night.
Doc West? He's the kind of guy who will be on the radio until he can
no longer talk. He loves music and radio.
"I have no plans of leaving, but in radio you never know," he says "It
would be hard to imagine, but it's always inevitable. You just go
through the steps of evolution and I can't really tell what'll
happen." (Rob Nichols) |
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