Michael W. Lowe Biography
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Michaels's radio career began in 1972 at
WEZY-AM 1350 where Michael did the play-by-play and color commentary for Merritt Island High School football and Brevard Community College Basketball with Dwayne Nigh and the late Tom Morley. In 1973 Michael moved to WKKO-AM 860, hired by PD Rick Ryder. He worked there, part-time, until March of 1974.
Michael replaced Jim Lewis on WCKS-FM
101.1 doing the 6pm-12M shift under PD/GM Les Roberson. He left WCKS for nights at, Top 40 formatted, WRKT-AM
1300 in 1975. Michael would become Program Director under GM Chet Pike. (Chet passed away on October 13, 2004 from heart failure. He was 72.) Following an ownership change in 1978, Michael took over mid-days at cross-town rival, Top 40, WEZY-AM
1350 ("Y-135"). New owner Bob
Clark flipped the format to country, changed the call letters to WCWR-AM
1350 and brought in a new PD from Jacksonville named Bill
Buck.
In August of 1978 Michael left WCWR to become the new PD of WRMF-AM
1060 in Melbourne, before the calls were transferred to Fairbanks when WRMF was sold to Regional Broadcasting.
He remained as PD under the new GM Al
Ruscito. The WRMF staff included; Jim "Biff" Burns-News Director, afternoon anchor
Dan Fiorucci (Now an assignment editor for KTUU-TV, It was on to WCKS-FM 101.1 "CK-101", Cocoa Beach, where Michael stayed from 1981 until 1985. There, he was reunited with former co-workers Gabriel Burton and GM Les Roberson. In Michaels own words; "...What an incredible station! After beating my head against the wall for the first five years of CK’s existence trying to beat them—Les Roberson and
Billy Charles (Sales at WFTV-Channel 9, Orlando), Jim Morgan "The Chrome Dome" (and the voice of Wal-Mart) Steve Craig (Biddle), Jon Greenwood, Jan Moore (Leslie Overby), Beth Dickey & Larry Kessler..." Capitol Broadcasting took ownership in 1984. The PD at that time was Allen Edwards, who has just started the new Clear Channel Traffic Network which will debut in January, 2005. While there Michael worked with "...the amazing John Bogart, our Production Director (who left for WLW, Cincinnati in ’85) and, a dear friend, the late Perry Moore (why they made him change his name to Mel Burns I’ll never know…I think it was something about his Orlando non-compete from WDBO…whatever)."
1986 saw a brief return (for five months) to WKKO-AM before leaving for Orlando to help PD Allen Edwards start WORZ-FM (101.9). "Z-102 FM The Rock You Grew Up With" would be the first station to compete with WDIZ(-FM 100.3), since WORJ(-FM 107.7) left the air and before WHTQ(-FM 96.5) and WJRR(-FM 101.1) came into being. Michael started doing the 6PM to Midnight shift, eventually moving to AM drive with Stuart Smith as part of the "Z-102 Morning Patrol". Other members of the "patrol" were traffic guy Ed Geiger and in the news room; Donna Morehouse and Carren Sheldon. The morning show producer was Andy McDonald and works with Michael now as the engineer at Clear Channel-Melbourne.
Michael would take a short lived break from the broadcast business around 1990. He would become a high school teacher and do traffic updates for Orlando radio stations. It wasn't long before Michael would be behind the microphones once again returning to the air at WAOA-FM 107.1, doing mornings with with Al Varnson as "Mike and Al Your Morning Pals". Al Varnson is head of the Varnson Group Advertising Agency, in
From 1997 until 2002, it was back to WAOA-FM 107.1. There under PD J.T. Daniels and GM Chet Pike, WA1A went to (it’s first-ever) number one in the Spring ’97 book. Daniels was fired as PD by Chet Pike and Michael took over as PD/OM. WA1A remained at number one for a market setting record of 12 straight books, before slipping from the top in the Spring of 2003.
In 2002, Michael would leave for WGNX-FM in Vero Beach, spending about a year there. Michael joined WLRQ-FM 99.3 in 2004, as PD and has already had two number one books, and as Michael said; "... and counting…see you in late January for an update."