WQOK (AM)
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WQOK-AM (1440 Khz - 5KW Directional) A Greenville, South Carolina Radio Station (1956 - 1982)that at one time had the call letters WMRC-AM (1941-1953)and WAKE-AM (1953- 1956)
In 1958 many radio stations were fighting what was considered a losing battle to TV. Many stations were searching for ways to bring back their faltering listeners. Sponsors that usually bought radio exclusively were now spending the bulk of their advertising budgets on TV. One Greenville radio station's management had an idea. WQOK-AM 1440 started featuring a format called "Top 40 Radio." At the time, the station was owned by Dick Broadcasting, in Chattanooga, TN. The station was being programmed by veteran Greenville radio programmer Jerry Mosteller. The sales manager was a young man named T.C. Hooper from Chattanooga, TN. The station quickly became the #1 station in the market with an endless stream of rock'n roll music emitting from the "Four Towers Of Power" on White Horse Road. WQOK had found it's place in Greenville's radio market. Every "Mom and Pop" store, Mobile Home Dealer, Soft Drink Distributor, Automobile Dealer and Loan Company was advertising their products and services on "1440 Greenville." "The Big Q" was one of the first stations in the area to use fast talking, big voiced deejays that would talk up the intro of the records with a lot of "jive talk" and take telephone requests from the teenage listeners. [1]WQOK had a stable of legendary deejays during the from 1958 - 1963 like; Ken Dee (Dockens), Lake Cely, John Hudson, Ken Rogers, Sonny Epps, Bo Sanders, Carl Stubbs, Mal Harrison, Lee Sims,Paul Gold, Wayne Seal, Rick Fight, Dan Ellis, Charlie "Byrd" Lindsey, "Wild" Bill West, Noel Ballew, Jim McAlister and dozens more. The station was so popular with the younger demographics (12-24), one survey in 1961, (Pulse, Spring 1961) Ken Dee had 62% of the total radio audience during his afternoon show. Noel Ballew's morning show in 1961 garnered a hefty 40% of Greenville's total radio audience. Rick Fight's "Crazy" afternoon show in 1959 had an astounding 55% (Pulse, Spring 1959) of the Greenville radio audience. WQOK was truly a dominant station. There were jingles for just about everything…."Weather jingles." "News jingles," "Time Jingles," "Dee Jay Identification Jingles" … all of which were sang with happy voices, horns honking and guitars twanging. The lyrics to one of the early jingles:
[2]The best sound in town on radio, Is W-Q-O-K, one- four- four-, oh, Exciting listening, take your "Q" For Music and News designed just for you, It's W-Q-O-K, Greenville for your Hot Top Forty Radio……
Of course jingles were a little bit longer and "rather cheesy" by today's standards, but the golden days of rock'n roll radio in Greenville, SC were on WQOK. American radio had found it's "silver bullet" to fight Television.
[3]In 1961, T.C. Hooper purchased WQOK from Dick Broadcasting. For many years, in fact into the early 80's, WQOK was always one of Greenville's top stations. WQOK was a leader, it was Greenville's "Top 40" station for 25 years, always keeping the same basic format and making a positive and permanent impression on every young listener in the area. WQOK went dark in the early 80's. FM had taken over. AM radio was in "Limbo," trying to find itself again. The "Big Q" turned off its transmitters and was sold to Key Market Broadcasting and Kirby Confer. It could never be resurrected. Many people in Upstate radio circles have said, "If WQOK had been able to put their programming on an FM signal in the mid 70's, the station would still be a dominant factor in Upstate radio." Some of the great radio people that worked at the "Big Q," in the last decade of WQOK those that come to mind are: Lee Nolan, Lee Alexander, Russ Cassell, Steve Chris, Teddy "Vee" Vigodski, Davey "Dee" Danheiser, Chris Scott, Lisa Rollins….and dozens more.
If you grew up in Greenville, SC in the 60's and 70's, WQOK was a part of your life.
