Yesterday morning I listened to the end of an era in Atlanta radio.
In the 1970s (and 80s) when I was growing up, Gary McKee and rival "Skinny" Bobby Harper dominated the Top 40 radio airwaves in the mornings. McKee was at WQXI, then 94Q, and now morphed into Star 94. I still accidentally call it 94Q at times.
Fast forward to 1990. Steve McCoy starts at the station. He had worked previously at Z93 and Power99, then spent a miserable year in the Dallas market before being lured back to Atlanta by Star 94.
McCoy requested that they hire Vikki Locke, who was a newsreader at Power 99 (later 99X) at the time. Locke started as a newsreader at Star 94 but very soon became McCoy's on-air partner. Thus "The Steve & Vikki Show" was born.
Back in 1990, just for some perspective, the music scene was very different. Nothing compared 2 Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U," Madonna was in "Vogue," Mariah Carey had a "Vision of Love," and Bette Midler sang "From a Distance." We held on to Wilson Phillips' "Hold On," and we pumped up the volume when Technotronic's "Pump Up the Jam" came on. In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from a South Africa prison, and Iraq invaded Kuwait, thus beginning the first Gulf War.
But that was then, and this is now, as they say.
Vikki has cited health concerns for stepping down. She apparently has a blood clot that has been difficult to treat, and she hopes a slower pace will help her recovery. Steve has said very little, but apparently is not leaving voluntarily. He hopes that he and Vikki can have another Atlanta morning show after she recovers.
After 17 years, some would say that Steve & Vikki have lost their edge, that they are more appealing to soccer moms than to soccer kids. But their ratings were still strong. There is something to be said for longevity. I would only hope that I myself might last for 17 years in one place with a great reputation.
Steve & Vikki, you will be missed. You are an Atlanta institution, and the landscape won't be the same with you gone.
For the month of November, Star 94 will run a best of Steve & Vikki format, hosted by Tom Sullivan and Shannon Holly (whose futures with the station are up in the air). The new morning team has already been hired. They are Marco, Shannon and Mikey, and they come from an Indianapolis station. All three are under 30 and single. So Star is definitely shooting for a younger morning audience.
In other Atlanta radio news, 104.7 The Fish pulled a fun stunt on Halloween with all-Christmas music for a day. It was a preview of their all Christmas music format which historically begins on Thanksgiving Day. Also, XM Radio has begun their Holly station with all holiday music. We get that through DirecTV here at our house. I had read somewhere that Delilah, the nationally-syndicated show that now airs weekday evenings on B98.5 in Atlanta, was to begin airing holiday music November 2. But when I tuned in for a few minutes while out and about Friday night, it was the same old sappy love songs.
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