Classic Soul Radio

[Guest General Jo]

Back in the day when vinyl was king and radio ruled the air, there was a little station in Norfolk, Virginia which had legendary personality jocks, like Daddy Jack Holmes. This small AM station was innovative and captivating, with dedicated listeners tuning and making these jocks a part of their daily lives. They played not only the national hits, but also records from the vast pool of talent that was emerging from the Tidewater/Peninsula area, an area rich in Soul and R&B. The station was 850 WRAP and later changed to 1350 on the dial.

There was no computerized programming back then, with each DJ spinning their own selections and their persoanlites being as much a draw as the platters on the turntables. You had Frankie "Soul Ranger" Stewart, Chester "B" Benton, Milton "Funk Master" Bowie, Maurice "The East Coast Rapper" Ward, HJ "The Real J" Ellison, Robert "Bobby Jay" Jackson, JJ Carmichael, and the incomparable, Frank "The Master Storyteller--King Hotdog" Halison.

Over the years, FM took over, along with computerized play lists and test audiences, so the innovative, creative, soulful AM stations faded away, changing to Talk radio, Gospel, or other formats.

But now, there is a renovation on Norfolk AM radio. 1350 AM is now WGPL, and some of those same jocks which made history with WRAP are back on the new station, with The Master Story Teller leading the pack from 10 AM to 2 PM Eastern Time--even bringing back the legendary Train at noon.

What's even better, is you can hear the live stream, from your computer all day, every day. You want Soul music? You'll find it here.

One of the songs in rotation is "Of All the Hearts" by Danny Gold & Co. featuring A.B.A. Taft off of the new album City Jam. This is the fourth version featuring Danny Gold, who originally performed it as lead singer for The Deceptions, then with Peace, Justice & Equality, and also as Danny Gold.

Check it out, ride the Train.