Steve Anthony ― 1979 to 1980

Steve AnthonyHere's Steve Anthony's "WRKO Story" as he told it in March of 2004:

"I actually worked at WRKO twice. In 1979, I was hired out of Dallas (KNUS) by Harry Nelson. In 1980, I went back to Dallas briefly to work at Z-97. When Charlie Van Dyke took over as PD at WRKO, he called and offered me mid-days. First, it was a thrill to work at WRKO, but also to be hired by two radio legends, Harry and Charlie, was beyond anything I could have dreamed of."

"On my first round, I worked 10pm-2am. I have to agree with Dennis John Bailey that it has to be the worst shift for a young, single guy. When I could, I would tag along with Scott Burns (my roommate) and Dennis John Bailey on their exploits."

"On my second round, I was sandwiched between two of the greatest voices in the industry; Frank Kingston Smith and Charlie Van Dyke. Talk about intimidation! I can't tell you how much I learned listening to and working with those guys."

"I also got started on my current career (software development) while at the station. The music department had scrapped a relatively new Radio Shack computer. It was just sitting in the old music call-out room. I mentioned to one of the engineers that I would like to learn how to use a computer someday. A few minutes later he came back with all the manuals and said "have at it." So I spent many late nights learning how to program in BASIC."

"The first program I built tabulated music research results. When Charlie saw it, he okayed a music research effort. We brought some people in and did some call-outs. It only had a couple of runs (budget issues). But it got me heading into IT."

"In 1995, I decided to move on and get into computers full-time. Today, I manage a small software group that builds Internet and database applications, though I still do voice-work on the side."


Airchecks
  December, 1980