Wallace: Richmond radio remembered

The recent death of Frank Soden (WRNL) brings a sense of finality to the era of local radio in Richmond. Soden's professionalism, basic generosity, and radio talent is irreplaceable.

Soden's death, along with Harvey Hudson's (WLEE) last year, clearly closes the lid on traditional local radio. Tim Timberlake, radio and public relations figure, remarked on Hudson's passing that Richmond's loss was huge – and he's exactly right.

To remember creative local radio (all AM in those days), the listener must rewind to 1945. As World War II concluded, thousands of war vets returned home and sought work and housing, with a hopeful economic environment – different from the 1930s.

Alden Aaroe (WRVA) was climbing to new, unrealized, audience acceptance. From the Hotel Richmond studios, early-morning folks would catch him reading seed catalogues; conversing with Millard the Mallard, hammed up by newsman, John Harding; and gleefully playing the dog-barking version of Jingle Bells at Christmas. Annually, he urged his audience to donate new shoes for needy Richmond children through the Alden Aaroe Shoe Fund. Some may recall Aaroe delivering a daily half-hour of live radio on Broad Street, chatting up "people on the street" – creative, communicative….and local.

Harvey Hudson (WLEE) and Fred Haseltine (WRNL) broadcast morning shows competing with the "old shoe" Aaroe style of "morning drive." Hudson's show was frenetically paced, compared with Aaroe's droll, constantly running storm of call-in contests, leading to daily chaos….and great amusement. Haseltine seemed more informative, very theatrical, offering his rich voice to the morning audience. Hudson would progress to live broadcasting from Carolina's Azalea Festivals, and the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City.

WRVA sampled semi-classical music at 9 a.m. – first, with Carl Stutz (co-composer with Edith Lindeman in Little Things Mean A Lot), and years later, the deep based Harry Wood with an understanding of what good music included.

WRVA hung on to nighttime audiences as well – first with Frank Brooks, followed by Lou Dean. Dean's taste in pop music was almost exotic while often chatting about his camping adventures across the United States – an additional enticement to listeners.

Other WRVA personalities included Tim Timberlake, Jim Jacobs, and newsmen George Passage, then Harry Monroe.

Contrarily, WRNL, heavy in news, introduced News Leader editor, Dr. Douglas S.

Freeman's, views daily. Additional talent included Bill Morrison, music and news guy

(later with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts), plus professional newscaster Roger Mudd. Yes, that Roger Mudd!

Early on I attended live broadcasts of the C.F. Sauer Hour with announcer Howard

Hamrick, and orchestra conducted by Mark Troxill. We saw the modernly designed WRNL Studios on Fifth Street. Management was preparing for a superb television station there, which didn't occur . Ray Schreiner, another fixture, and favorite of teens, enjoyed afternoon hours, playing music, chatting directly to the teen audience. Schreiner and Haseltine, both WRNL personalities, were involved in local theater as well.

By the early '50s, new radio players included a country music station, WXGI (founded by two ex-GIs); and a new minority station, WANT. The quickly passing WLLY contributed innovation in Dee Deering, the first female morning hostess, which naturally intrigued. WLLY brought us Gene Creasy (the voice) as well.

Culturally, deep rivalry between WLEE and WRVA expanded. WRVA enjoyed locks on adult audiences. Yet, WLEE was ours (teens of the 1950s); that slightly neurotic station evolved with us.

Founded in 1946, before relocating to West Broad Street, WLEE resided in the basement of the Broad-Grace Arcade, with live-audience studios. Hardly considered as uptown as WRNL, WLEE, a hodgepodge outfit, gave us Joe Mason, play-by-play guy, for the Richmond Colts baseball team, from Moore's Field; preceded by news commentaries of Fulton Lewis Jr. and Gabriel Heater. One could even catch The Shadow there.

Then there was "Uncle Lud" Sterling. Harvey Hudson recruited the unorthodox Sterling at World War II's conclusion - the rest was AM history. Constantly edgy, skirting appropriateness, Sterling's behavior continued to tease. Clearly, WLEE provided Richmond's "Wolfman" (as in American Graffiti).

Broadcaster Floyd Henderson, later of WLEE, and I often laughed about that reality.

Then the inventive Jess DuBoy splashed on the scene with thumping innovation. His creative "chimes format" at the impish WEET 1320 – housed in the "WEET Penthouse,"

North Hamilton Street, bordered on early wall music. DuBoy created Gentleman Jim (Jim Granger), Bachelor Bill (Bill Mead), and Crazy Mr.WEET, an MCV dental student, Dr. Bob DePugh. Mr. WEET played wonderful "Modern Jazz" on Sundays. That scrappy WEET, including talented Barbara Felton, became an entertainment force – never to slow down.

So what's left?

Jimmy Barrett – WRVA morning; Bill Bevins - Lite 98; and ubiquitous Tony Booth are likeable remnants. They remind us of what local radio was.

Wonderful Frank Soden and his colleagues became a deep part of us as we were growing up.

We loved those characters with their radio gigs. Tim Timberlake had it right: We miss them deeply.