I first met Dick Williams when I was working at 1039 FM here in London. His son, DJ, was the station’s Sales Manager and Dad had dropped by before joining him for lunch. Dick is a broadcasting legend in this city and he’s finally releasing to the public the stories that have entertained his friends for so many years. The official launch of Dick’s book, A DJ’s Spin, happened last weekend but I was fortunate enough to read a few chapters well before it was published. Derek and I have both read the finished book and enjoyed it – Dick freely admits it was written with radio people in mind. He started in the biz at the age of 10, and he’s still in it, having bobbed around to radio stations in Cincinnati, San Diego and up and down the dial in London. He was known as The Tall One, and now in his mid-70’s, his voice is as smooth and compelling as ever.
The eBook has loads of photos and a really cool feature. You can click a link embedded in a story and it will take you to the audio that goes with it. Instead of just reading a description of what happened, you can actually hear it. Dick has great stories to tell. His career spanned all manner of music technology and an era when hilarious on-air pranks were just part of the business. Now, they could easily get you fired.
Today, Dick manages an online radio station, produces and voices commercials and probably has other ventures that I know nothing about. He and his delightful, accomplished wife, Mary, split their time between gorgeous Port Stanley, Ontario, and Key West, Florida. Dick also shatters the myth that kids are the only authorities on technology. Several times, I’ve gone to him for advice on sound quality and production and he’s always ahead of the masses. Relevant and revered – that’s The Tall One.