|
|
| Charlie Payne was born in
Texas. The management and, later, ownership of radio stations took him
from Dallas to San Francisco, New York, Virginia Beach and back to
Dallas. Charlie's father, Ben, was a registered pharmacist, and
Charlie was expected to follow the medical route. But, he built a radio
receiver when he was six and the fascination of radio made its mark.
He became an intern at KAND in Corsicana where his mentor and Hall of Honor instatee, George Erwin, taught him how to run the control board. When he was 15, he was making $9.00 a week at KAND. In World War II, Charlie was a member of the Army's Signal Air Corps and served in Europe with General George Patton's Third Army. He earned several medals and a presidential citation having fought in the famous Battle of the Bulge. Back in the U.S. after the war, he became the program director at KGVL in Greenville then moved on to program the new KIXL radio in Dallas in May 1947. When he was visiting WHO in Des Moines, he received a phone call from Gordon McLendon who hired him to bring the KIXL sound to San Francisco and KABL radio. In 1964, Gordon McLendon brought him home to KLIF. 1010 WINS in New York was in trouble and Group W hired Charlie to do something about it. "All News - All the Time" became profitable and 1010 WINS topped WOR in morning drive. Charlie then took the chance of a lifetime and purchased WCPK in Chesapeake, Virginia. He served as vice president of the Virginia Broadcasters Association while he was president of the Tidewater Virginia Broadcasters Association. Charlie increased WCPK's power from 1000 to 5000 watts and put a 50,000 watt FM on the air. He sold them both and now lives in Dallas. Charlie has written a
book,
Feedback:
Echoes from My Life in Radio.
(click here for
information about the book) |
