Tom | Wake County 100

Narrative, Continued:

His proudest moment in his DJ career was when he won a national award from the Billboard magazine; he won the air personality of the year award. He didn't know he was even in the running until he got a phone call one day and someone said he won. When he found out he smiled to himself and was amazingly proud. Tom flew straight to NYC to retrieve the award and even got to sit with DJ’s from all around the world, one of them being Don Imus who is still very famous today. After Raleigh Tom worked in a few other cities but by the mid 1980’s the radio industry had changed and he was bored. He quit in 1989 because his heart was not in it anymore. No longer did the radio industry have room for creativity or adventurous music, which was his passion and the main reason he loved the business.

“After living in many different cities after I left broadcasting and decided to settle down, I couldn't think of a better place to be than Wake County, North Carolina.” - Tom

Written by: Sofie

Tom

Gender: Male

Age: 26-64

Race: White

Nativity: Born in USA

Educational Attainment:

Bachelors Degree

Occupation:

Managing Real Estate Broker

Travel Time to Work: 30 minutes

Internet Access in home: Yes

Religion: Methodist

City: Raleigh

Narrative:

In the 1970’s Rock and Roll was huge. With Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin, rock was pretty much all Tom listened to. That is why in the early 1970’s Tom got involved with his college radio station, which began a long career in broadcasting. Back then in radio, DJ’s could pick whatever music they wanted to play on their station and there was a real emphasis on creativity and community involvement. Tom loved the way he was free to choose his music and his talking points. On his station in Raleigh which was WQDR (which at that time was playing rock) he played a mix of things like jazz, motown, and R&B, but mostly it was rock and roll. Back then radio stations were truly local and decisions made about the programming on the radio station were made locally. During the era when Tom first got started with FM radio it was just beginning to gain popularity and Tom was part of the rock and roll revolution of it. Tom enjoyed rock and everyday he would listen to at least a couple of his many vinyl records. During his career as a DJ he worked in a lot of different cities like Rochester, NY, Richmond, VA, and eventually Raleigh, NC. Tom said it wasn't hard moving because he was young and single. In fact, he could move and pack everything he owned in his car. Most of the stuff taking up room in the car was the gigantic speakers for his stereo equipment and orange crates full of vinyl records. When he first started playing at WQDR in Raleigh one of his big fans was a woman he would eventually marry. He says that she used to be a big fan of him and joked that he hopes she still is.

The Doon School