Remembering Gene McKay
Scott Nilsson
For those who listened to Gene, or saw him on stage…
Thursday, Apr 26, 2007
Posted on Sat, Mar. 31, 2007
Beloved radio host leaves legacy of wit
Colleagues, longtime fans mourn loss of Columbia’s ‘dean of broadcasters’
By DOUG NYE
Special to The State
For more than four decades, Gene McKay’s quick wit and satirical commentary entertained thousands of radio listeners across the Midlands.
But McKay, whose real last name was Klemick, could get serious when talking about America or commenting on music or just the everyday wonders and problems of life. It was a mix that connected with his audience.
This weekend, those listeners and his colleagues are mourning the loss of McKay, 73, who died Thursday morning. He had suffered a heart attack two days after having back surgery March 12.
Few could imagine what a hit McKay would become in the Columbia market when he began working at WIS radio in the spring of 1966. McKay, a Chicago native, had spent little time in the South.
Bill Benton, who worked with McKay for 41 years, remembered his on-air partner’s first few days in Columbia.
“He had rented a little house out near Columbia College, and I volunteered to help him move in,” Benton said. “He was still pretty much a Northerner, and he was kind of suspicious. I don’t think he could understand somebody wanting to help him for nothing.
“It took him a while to get Southernized. But he became as much of a Southerner as, well, anybody from North could be.”
During his morning show stint at WIS in the late 1960s and on into the 1970s, McKay kidded that Irmo was the site of that “famous institution Krovney Tech.” The school’s mascot? An armadillo.
Of course, they only existed in McKay’s mind, but his references to Krovney produced plenty of laughs; it was McKay who helped launch the annual Irmo Okra Strut.
In 1977, when McKay became a partner of WSCQ-FM “Sunny 100,” he, Bill Benton and Dave Wright began the “Good Morning, Columbia” show.
Wright said the show was born out of desperation.
“We were on the verge of bankruptcy,” Wright said. “Nothing will grab your attention like bankruptcy. So we came up with the idea of the three of us doing the show. For whatever reason, it worked.”
The show’s popularity was immense, helping the station generate enough advertising to not only avoid bankruptcy but also pay all its bills. McKay’s humor was a big part of that winning combination.
“He was one of a kind,” Wright said. “I remember when I first met him to have coffee one morning in 1966. It took me about 10 minutes to realize that here was a very talented guy.”
One memorable day, fitness legend Richard Simmons dropped by the show to promote a local appearance.“McKay said ‘Richard Simmons thinks he’s going to come in here and roll all over us,’” Benton said. “‘Well, let’s show him, he’s not,’ McKay told us.”
For nearly 90 minutes, McKay and Wright drove Simmons crazy with goofy questions that he was rarely allowed to answer.
In the late 1990s, Sunny 100 was sold and “Good Morning, Columbia” and McKay and Benton moved to WISW-AM 1320. Wright decided to retire and was replaced by Doug Enlow.
“Gene was sort of the dean of broadcasters in the radio market,” said Bill McElveen, general manager of Citadel Broadcasting, which owns WISW. “It’s difficult to articulate the way he touched people in the community. I’ve had calls from people who said they started listening to him when they were 15 or 16 years old when he came to Columbia and they hadn’t stop listening since.”
When McKay was the announcer at University of South Carolina football and basketball games, WIS-TV’s Joe Pinner said he would sometimes draw the ire of referees at Frank McGuire Arena.
“He would forget to turn off his mic and make some funny reference to what he though was a poor call by the official,” Pinner said, “and everyone, including the refs, could hear it.”
One of Wright’s favorite McKay moments happened during a July 4 thunderstorm.
“Lightning struck our radio tower three times,” Wright said. “Benton was the only guy in the studio and had his earphones on. When lightning strikes, it really makes a horrible noise in the earphones. Benton got a call, and the guy on the other end said, ‘This is God. Have you had enough?’ It was, of course, McKay.”
Benton said McKay’s brain must have been working in high-speed mode all the time.
“When he was talking with somebody and as soon as they finished, he always had some snappy comeback. Some people compared him to Groucho Marx, who was quick with a quip,” Benton said. “The big difference is that Groucho used cue cards; Gene didn’t.”
McKay will be remembered at 2 today at a special service at Dunbar Funeral Home, Dutch Fork Chapel, Irmo. The get-together is being called a celebration of life.
For those who knew him and listened to him, they will tell you that Gene McKay’s life is one well worth celebrating.
Doug Nye is a retired staff writer with The State who covered local media for several years.
Four things Gene McKay did to help shape the personality of the Midlands:
• McKay was co-owner of WSCQ-FM 100.1 for 21 years, from 1976 to 1997. On the station’s 20th on-air anniversary, Gov. David Beasley called in congratulations and asked if anyone besides Strom Thurmond remembered its signing on.
McKay responded: “I don’t think so, but since you’ve declared this ‘Sunny 100 Day’ across the state, does this mean we won’t have to pay any more taxes?”
• In 1973 McKay, fascinated by an Irmo hardware store named The Ancient Irmese General Store, wondered aloud on the air whether the “Irmese” might have been short people who lived off okra. That October, the first Okra Strut was held.
• When the Coliseum opened for basketball in 1969, McKay was the arena’s announcer. “He liked to ad-lib a lot, but most of the time he was straight up,” said Tom Price, USC’s former sports information director.
• McKay played Uncle Gene on Joe Pinner’s children’s show, “Mr. Knozit.” “I don’t think he liked the kids, and I don’t think they particularly liked him. It was a perfect marriage,” Pinner said.
— Otis R. Taylor Jr.
© 2007 TheState.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thestate.com
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