WQOK 1440 rocked the Upstate until 1982, the day the music died
Long before Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, and even MTV, Top 40 rock ‘n’ roll AM radio was the entertainment king. Fast-talking disc jockeys, who juked and jive-talked while spinning the hits, fed the nation’s hunger for fun times and music from the hot stacks of wax. In New York, Cousin Brucie and Wolfman Jack battled for radio supremacy, while in Chicago, DJ Chuck Buell could be heard at night rocking the hits over much of the United States from WLS radio, the Big 89.
Beginning in the 1950s, rock ‘n’ roll was new, and the popularity of disc jockeys was only slightly second to the artists themselves. Billboard advertisements with photos of disc jockeys fueled celebrity status. DJs received fan mail and drew throngs at weekend sock hops or when serving as masters of ceremonies at beauty pageants and battle of the bands’ competitions. Businesses attracted enthusiastic crowds by inviting disc jockeys to broadcast remotely and appear for autograph sessions and record giveaways.
The Day the Music Die at WQOK
In Upstate South Carolina, WQOK was the station of choice for teenagers and young adults who tuned in to “be-bop down the boulevard of better music.” Disc jockeys from The Big Q regularly took the stage with Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars at Greenville Memorial Auditorium before sellout crowds of screaming fans. DJs endeared themselves to listeners by taking live, call-in song requests. WQOK fan favorites included disc jockeys “Ken Dee” Dockins; John Hudson; Sonny Epps; Noel Belue; “Teddy Vee, the Polish Refugee,” “Dave Tolly” Tollison; Steve Chris; and Jay “Weekend” Michaels.
With studios located off White Horse Road near Berea, WQOK was widely identifiable because of its four lofty radio towers. WQOK disc jockeys would jive-talk that they were “holding sway and sending the hits out your way from under the four towers of power.” Due to FCC rules, WQOK covered much of Upstate South Carolina during the daytime, but after dark and with favorable atmospheric conditions, WQOK’s sound could be enjoyed as far away as Myrtle Beach.
For 25 years, WQOK sat atop the local rock ‘n’ roll radio market, but in March 1982, “the best sound in town” ended its run. On the station’s last night, DJ Wes Shealy counted down the minutes and closed with Gloria Gaynor’s “Never Can Say Goodbye” and Don McLean’s “American Pie.”
Long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had a chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a while . . .
Shealy thanked listeners for “25 years and making us No. 1. Goodbye, Greenville.”
With those words, WQOK signed off and went dark, a victim to FM broadcast quality and power. Today, in the Facebook group “WQOK: Music, Memories & Friends,” 4,000 members of the “Big Q Family” share their love of this legendary station and their remembrances of the glory days of radio and rock ‘n’ roll.
Dr. Courtney L. Tollison Hartness is the proud daughter of former WQOK DJ Dr. C. David “Dave Tolly” Tollison. She is also the Distinguished University Public Historian and Scholar at Furman University. Thanks to Rick Jones of the Furman’s James B. Duke Library for photo assistance.
