Scott Stover Biography
WAMT WJZX WCKS WORZ-FM WDIZ WPRD WAJX WLOQ
Scott tells about his Central Florida Radio career. "I began my radio career directly after high school (two weeks after graduation from Titusville High School in June of 1984 at WAMT-AM 1060 and WAJX-FM 98.1 in Titusville. I’d like to offer information from my years of Central Florida radio experience.
WAMT-AM 1060 and WAJX-FM 98.1 were owned by Ogden Broadcasting at that time. In the spring of 1985 I went to
WJZX-AM 860 “Fox 86” (the former WKKO-AM 860) which had an Urban format. In July of that year, WCKS-FM 101.1 “CK101” was purchased by Capitol Broadcasting of North Carolina. The station began transmitting on a tower in Bithlo and became “Orlando’s New Star 101”. I started working there immediately after Capitol took over and changed the name, so I never got to be a “CK101” jock. CK101 had been my choice for Top 40 since moving to the Space Coast in 1977. It had been trying an Adult Contemporary format before it was sold to Capitol, which continued with great success as "Star 101FM".
Michael W. Lowe was a presence on "CK101", "Star 101", "CK86" (WCKS-AM 860), (WORZ-FM 101.9) "Z102", "WA1A" (WAOA-FM 107.1) in Melbourne and is now the morning man/PD on "Lite Rock 99.3" (WLRQ-FM 99.3) in Brevard county. Brian “Kirkland” (a.k.a. Brian Morgan) was with "CK101" and stayed with "Star 101" in middays giving us “Lunchtime at the Oldies” until the station’s demise in the early 1990s. He is now PD of heritage "Smooth Jazz" station WLOQ-FM 103.1 in Winter Park-Orlando. Gabe Burton, featured on your site, was one of the first DJs to let me hang out in the control room and watch the fun as it happened. I even answered phones, taking requests. That was in the late 1970s at "CK101". Gabriel is correctly credited as a personality on "Star 101" in the late 1980s. He is a good person to get central Florida radio history from since he grew up here and has a resume crammed with call letters from this region. He told me a story about riding his bike on I-4 before it was completed in the 1960s. Other "Star 101" personalities include Randy Marsh, Rob Early, Dave Riley and
Kevin Cruise. I would also like to note that copy/production guy Tony Petit has been with the station since 1985 and is now heard on the entire Clear Channel Orlando group as a commercial voice. I worked overnights at age 18, then moved up to evenings within a year. Some highlights of my stay include being the music "editor". I would take 12” remixes and cut a custom "Star 101" mix for air. I also saw the precursor to evening love song dedication diva "Delilah" take shape in a show called "Lights Out". For a short time in 1989, I returned to "Star" in the promotions department as “Scotty of the Enterprise” driving the 28 foot “Enterprise” providing morning traffic reports and making appearances at station events. This was the only time I have ever worked at the same station with the man who first let me observe control room activities, Gabe Burton. It’s very strange to see the pictures of Brian Morgan and Gabriel in the Star 101 studios because I have a shot of myself in the same control room in virtually the same spot!
In February 1987, I went to classic rock WORZ-FM 101.9, "Z102 FM" (Duffy Broadcasting) using my real name and cruising for winners in the "Z102 Nissan 300ZX". This is where Michael W. Lowe became morning man with Stu Smith. The PD was
Alan Edwards. Other "Z102" jocks include Jim Howie, Rick Pittman, Crystal Lake, Crystal (a different person who was a one-named midday jock from "BJ105" and later moved to "Q96" with Neil Mirsky, Dave Matthews who may have worked at every station in town) and others I will be able to credit later.
In the spring of 1988 Beasley-Reed took over "Z102" and flipped it to urban as (WJHM-FM 101.9) "102 JAMZ". The sale was slow to be finalized. I was one of the staff who stayed until the end.
Later that year, I was fortunate to work at rocker WDIZ(-FM 100.3). I had been a "DIZ" listener for years and was excited about the gig. Unfortunately, I was working two other jobs and couldn’t devote the proper attention to WDIZ. I was among a stable of talented people. Baxter and Mark were on mornings, Lee Randall was middays, Jan Williams at night, Ron Louis on overnights. Greg Morgan on afternoons. Mick Dolan (now at WLOQ-FM 103.1) was promotions director. We also had
Casey Dameron, Dave Lee and Evan Lee (not related). Dave Lee was the guy who would announce at 2am bar closing time "it’s a brain-donor’s derby out there so drive carefully."
I was also a member of the staff of "The Imagination Stations" radio network for kids. It aired in Orlando on the flagship station WPRD-AM 1440. Matt Gomez (“Mighty Matt”) has a contribution on your site and describes it accurately, but didn’t mention the important work by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary who composed and produced the jingles and show themes. I became production director after working for weeks with Peter Yarrow on preparations for the launch of the station. The lineup was Sam ‘n Eggs in the morning with "The New Day Highway". Sunshine Suzy with the "Dragon Wagon". Jammin’ JoJo and the "Curbside Carnival". JoJo was known to WORL AM 1270 listeners as "JoJo Dancer" before the Imagination Stations. JoJo went over to WZKD-AM 950 "Radio Aahs" to host the "All American Alarm Clock" morning show and is currently on
WCFB-FM 94.5 "Star 94.5" weekday afternoons. Mighty Matt and the "Cool Kids Caravan" hosted in the evenings. My air name was "Skatin' Scott". "Jungle John" was a very popular character with his sidekick Marty Monkey (he also moved to "Radio Aahs"). When the Imagination Stations Network folded in 1991, it was during the Gulf War and the sad event of kids losing a radio station created just for them was made worse by flipping the kid’s format to CNN news radio.
I have been fortunate to use my musical talents to perform for conventions and other events in our area. I have played keyboards for Sam Moore of Sam & Dave and was a member of the League of Nations band in 1992 when we opened for progressive rock act The Dixie Dregs in Downtown Orlando at what was then the Beacham Theater. From 1997 until April of 2000, I played every weekend on Cocoa Beach. In 2003, I returned to the air working for Brian Morgan at "Smooth Jazz 103.1", WLOQ-FM 103.1 using the name "Scott Silver".
I was born after the era of the "Boss Jock". I was never as talented on the radio as I was being a musician. But I have been fortunate to live out some musical dreams, watch the Orlando market evolve and work with very talented people."
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