Soul on the Air #20 - Rudy Runnels, 1966

Play Music - Free Audio - Rudy Runnels - WOL Aircheck,...

As promised, here's a second installment of "Soul on the Air" for the month of January 2015. After a trio of Chicago airchecks, I'll move on to Washington, D.C. and the "Tall Tan Texan," Rudy Runnels, doing his thing on WOL in August 1966.

WOL, along with WOOK and WUST, was part of D.C.'s soul radio scene. Runnels - who was also the music director of the station - had been on KKSN in Dallas before moving to D.C., where he shared the WOL frequency with Bob "Nighthawk" Terry and black talk radio legend Petey Greene. He eventually moved on to WOOK and then became general manager of WHIH in Norfolk. I'm not sure what followed, though some research suggests that he was involved in Atlanta radio at some point (on WAOK; information is welcomed).

On this 23-minute aircheck, Runnels throws down some serious soul music from artists including Little Milton, Alvin Cash and even the Righteous Brothers, replete with great patter (dig the setup for Little Milton's "Man Loves Two" and Alvin Cash's "Philly Freeze"). Of course, there's the usual fun commercials and jingles as well. The fidelity of this aircheck is stunning, which adds to the greatness of the aircheck, and I hope you enjoy it!