Johnny Williams ―1970 to 1972
Johnny Williams' Timeline
It has been difficult for me to contend with the death of my friend, Bill Todd
(known as "Johnny Williams") died May 13th, 2007 of ALS (amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's Disease). ALS is sinister as it is painful. Bill and
I had talked just months before his death. I had no idea he was ill; he never
alluded to it. He was, however, teary-eyed as he recalled his days and his beloved
listeners at WRKO. With all his on-air ego and powerful voice, "The Mover,"
in real life, was "just plain Bill." I only wish Bill had opened up to me so
that I could have been there for him. Ironically, my wife had died in October,
2005, from a related disease.
Bill Todd was a very loving man. He named himself "The Mover," initially calling
himself the "Midnight Mover" when he began at WRKO, doing overnights, and when
his shift was moved to afternoons slot, he simply deleted the "Midnight" from
the moniker. I like to say it's because he really "moved" the hits on
the Big 68.
He came to WRKO from WIBG, Philadelphia, in 1969, replacing Shadoe Stevens.
When he left WRKO in mid-1972, he moved to Los Angeles where he became Cat Simon
on KHJ, because there was already a Johnny Williams doing overnights there.
Going back in time, Williams was doing mornings as Bill Todd at WAAT in Trenton,
NJ during the summer of 1968. He left WAAT ("The Hot Waat") when they changed
format to AC, and went to WMID/1340 in Atlantic City. Then, it was weekends
at WIBG where he first used the name "Johnny Williams." He eventually worked
his way up to full-time nights, then left for WRKO. When he left WRKO, he became
Cat Simon on Los Angeles' KHJ. Later, Johnny became Program Director of WKRQ
in Cincinnati, and, after developing an AOR mindset, took on AOR PD gigs in
Cincinnati, Chicago and Houston.
After his radio gigs, he worked as an independent record promoter in Los Angeles,
finally running his own enterprise, utilizing his marketing skills.
If you can help fill in the blanks, please
let me know!
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| At WAAT, 1967 |
Johnny Williams, October, 1969 |
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Bill Todd (undated |
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| Johnny Williams, January, 1970 |
Johnny Williams, 1971 |
Airchecks