Perspective

By John Hook 

Broadcaster,Author, Radio and Music Historian 

Although the book I'm doing isn't about WGIV, I believe it's an important, lasting influence on what happened to the musical tastes of Charlotte.  Beach Music blossomed in the unusual environment there, many aspects of what became the Beach Music scene were nurtured in that environment.

This is the perspective I operate from.  Facts and events are of course interesting, but I like to take an ontological approach and look at the historical drift in which things take place.

Since I came to the Carolinas in 1975 I've heard innumerable stories about WLAC and WGIV.  In the larger context however, I've always been fascinated by the profound impact those two stations had on two to three generations of young people, impacting even more by what became institutionalized beyond WLAC and WGIV.

For example, all stories note that WLAC and WGIV were the primary sources for R&B for quite a long time.

What hasn't been written and reflected upon are three other phenomena which took place simultaneously:

    1)  Both stations were integrated very very early compared to the rest of Southern culture.

    2)  Both stations' staffs were populated by Southerners, two important ones at WLAC were from, or influenced by, South Carolina.

    3)  WGIV nurtured a number of people who went on to become major broadcasting talents. 

One could argue that those talents were the result of Nature, or Nurture.   I believe they were the result of both.

To me this demonstrates that the programming, and background moods, of both stations were facilitated and implemented by Talented people.  I'm not convinced that just anyone could have sat in the Air Chairs of those two stations and have the same effects as those who lived and breathed them both into Living Larger than (Cultural) Life.

There is more to reflect upon regarding the talents of WGIV.  Your story, as well as Julian Barber, Owen Spann, and others, show that each of you went on to network with other important Southern talents, each of whom had lasting impact on broadcasting, and those cultural elements that broadcasters can affect.  Beyond that, many  transcended their provincial roots to become even more important in the shaping of cultures in the U.S.

Looked at from yet another perspective, the WGIV and WLAC staffs were constituted by what I consider to be the essence of entrepreneurship, that is, to shape and make history.  WGIV and WLAC changed the historical drift of the South and many Southerners in many ways.  This is what I consider to be 2nd, 3rd, and 4th levels of entrepreneurship, beyond the ordinary first level of Investment, Rolling the Dice, Standing by a Product or Service until it Comes to Fruition, and often Failing.  Only to get up and begin again.  First level entrepreneurship generally lasted 20-30 years.  Although nowadays first level entrepreneurial activity can be made up of much shorter 5 and 10 year cycles.

There are interesting stories about Frances Fitzgerald being a visionary.   At this point I maintain that belief as well.  However, there is something else I believe that Fitzgerald provided for that he never planned.  The visions, probably unarticulated, of each of his staff members.  Fitzgerald provided an environment in which innovation could take place according to the personal and professional visions of each of you.  This is what I find most fascinating of all.

In your own ways each of you were able to not only transcend the lives you led up to the moment of employment at WGIV, your participations with WGIV, and ultimately your listening public, helped them to transcend the historical drift of the time as well.

John Hook