Dave Moran

Early 1970s	2006

Working at WROV in the mid-sixties was good! How good was it? It was good enough for me to commute 55 miles each way and work all night for less money than I was making working days in Lynchburg.

If you were a resident of Roanoke in those days, I don't have to tell you how WROV absolutely ruled the airways. The station used to run an announcement once an hour which said "WROV has more listeners than all other stations combined." And the amazing thing to me was, it wasn't just kids. Teenagers, men, women, geezers - I was constantly approached by people who wanted me to know they heard me on WROV and were regular listeners.

But the "local star" status was only part of it. I had the opportunity to work with and hang out with guys like Fred Frelantz and Jack Fisher who were just as much fun off the air as they were on the air. Let me share with you just a few examples of how good it was.

Fred and I were invited to an after-concert party one night at the Lakeview Motor Lodge. After the party, there were only four of us left, so we hung around and partied and shot the breeze until 3 am. Who were the four? Me, Fred, Andy Williams and Roger Miller.

Another night, right in the middle of my air shift, promoter Pete Apostolou walked in unannounced with a guy he wanted me to interview. This was apparently about the time Little Richard started saying "shut up" to everything, but I got through the interview OK and he even remembered me when I saw him several years later.

About a month after Little Richard, here comes Apostolou again with James Brown, "The Hardest Working Man In Show Business." (James had not yet been ordained "The Godfather of Soul"). I introduced James on the air by saying "and now, ladies and gentlemen, it is 'Star Time,' are you ready for "Star Time?" then went on, word for word, with the entire introduction from his 'Live at the Apollo' album. He was blown away that I could (and would) do this and even had me do it again for him before he left.

Then there was August 5, 1965. It was my twenty-second birthday and Tom Jones (the biggest act in the world that summer) was in town for a concert and I had free tickets. But Fred and Jack were the emcees and somebody's got to work at the radio station, right, so guess who? After the concert, the station hot line rings and there's Fred and Jack and Tom Jones. They made him sing "Happy Birthday" to me over the air and then he wound up interviewing me! Asked me all about myself and acted genuinely interested!

And that's what working at WROV was like, at least when I was there. It was the only radio station I know of where guys would leave bigger markets and higher pay just to work there. With over forty years in the broadcasting business behind me now, WROV was still the most "fun" place I ever worked. After WROV, I went into broadcast sales. Later forming my own company and owning several radio stations in Virginia and North Carolina. I presently live at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia and work part-time as Captain of a cruise boat.