2004-2005 Inductees:

Gary Brown
     Gary was quick to admit he was a radio groupie when he was a kid. He'd ride the Kingshighway bus to Radio Park to watch Johnny Rabbitt do his show on KXOK. In the summer of 1970 Brown was able to talk his way into a job at KWK, which had a black format at the time.
     Program director Bernie Hayes said Brown would do anything he could to be around the announcers.
     After an on-air stint in Kansas City at another black station, Gary "Records" Brown landed at KADI-AM and FM in St. Louis where he got the chance to establish himself as the market's premier oldies personality. The "KADI Original Oldies Show" became a Sunday night tradition.
     Brown also programmed KGLD and, at the latter part of his career, did morning drive on KLOU, even while he served as the owner of several stations in Missouri and Illinois.

Almus J.C. "Slim" and Zella Mae Cox
     "Slim" began his radio career in Kennett, Missouri in 1947 with Slim Cox and the Foggy Mountain Boys and several other groups. A year later he met Zella Mae and they were married in 1948.
     Their first gospel radio show was on KBTM in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Later in St. Louis they first appeared on WGNU with their weekly gospel program in 1955 sponsored by Schweig Engel, followed by KXEN and WEW.
     Their performances were also heard on WSM's Grand Ol' Gospel program in Nashville for nearly 4 years, and their daily gospel radio broadcasts have been carried by 18 stations in 4 states.
     The broadcast careers of the husband/wife team of Slim and Zella Mae Cox spanned over 56 consecutive years.

Frank Eschen
     Eschen obtained his journalism degree from the University of Missouri in 1932 and was able to quickly get a job at WIL based in part on his broadcast experience at KFRU while a student.
     In 1934 he went to KSD, where he spent the rest of his broadcast career. He left for military service in World War II, returning in 1945. In 1946, he personally accompanied St. Louis Archbishop John Glennon to Rome for his installation as a Cardinal.
     While in Europe, he also covered the Nuremberg trials and the sudden death of Glennon in Ireland.
     Co-workers spoke fondly of Eschen's willingness to take young announcers under his wing and give them professional guidance and critiques. He also was a regular on the dramatic productions of "The Land We Live In" when it was carried on KSD.

Bob Hamilton
     Bob's characteristic news delivery became so well known in St. Louis that he has been imitated by stand-up comics in local clubs and at least once on a commercial announcement that ran on several stations.
     He began in the business in Fulton, Missouri at KFAL and then landed in Union for a short stint at KLPW.
     Hamilton joined Pulitzer's KSD in St. Louis in 1971, where he worked as a newsman.
     In 1982 he moved up the radio dial to the news operation of CBS-owned KMOX.
     He won several awards for his work at KMOX and was paid the ultimate compliment when he was asked by corporate executives to continue on the job there past the retirement age of 65.

Davie Lee
     A Texas native, Lee came to St. Louis when WIL became the first full-time country music station in the market.
     He was part of the "dream team" of DJs at the AM station beginning in 1968. The Country Music Association ranked Davie among the top 5 country DJs in the nation seven different times during his tenure at WIL.
     After WIL was sold, he joined KUSA, working there from 1989-1996. He then left when that station was sold, managing station KHAD in DeSoto, then returned to WEW in St. Louis from 1998-2002. During each of those four years, Davie Lee was voted the market's top Southern Gospel Music DJ.
     His free-lance voice work has been heard on radio and TV stations around the country, and he also worked as the voice of steelradio.com on the Internet.

Richard J. Miller
     Miller began his work in St. Louis radio when he acquired KXLW in 1958. The station brought music and personality to the R&B/gospel audience in the area. In 1969 he added KADI-FM to his local operations and subsequently bought stations in two other cities.
     His local stations provided a career springboard for talented people he hired like Gary "Records" Brown, Jim Doyle, Al "Scoop" Sanders, "Radio" Rich Dalton and Ed Goodman.
      Miller established the concept of weekly oldies shows on Sunday nights, and the program spanned three decades. He was one of the first to promote his stations using posters, which have since become collectors' items.
      Miller's St. Louis stations became regular stops for national talent, including Harry Chapin and Wolfman Jack, who would stop in to do DJ shows when they were in the area.
     Richard Miller had sold all his radio properties by the mid '90s when he became chairman of Truman Bank.

Charlie Stanley
     Stanley's first radio job was at KXOK, and his general manager told him he'd never make it in radio. He worked at KATZ before going to a sales job at WEW. He moved up to sales manager and bought the station in 1964, selling it 28 years later.
     Under Stanley's ownership, WEW gained a following as a middle-of-the-road music station. He bought a 1945 Mack fire engine, painted the call letters on the side, and showed up at just about every parade in the region.
     Charlie Stanley often described himself as a hustler and he admitted there were many times over the years when he was on the verge of losing the station when debts piled up.
     He was affectionately dubbed the "trade-out king" by his colleagues in the radio sales business who marveled at his abilities to get accounts on the air.

Emil Wilde
     Emil's voice was heard on St. Louis radio stations from 1939 to the late 1980s. An accomplished singer, he began working on KFUO in 1939, leaving for the military service for three years during World War II.
     He came back to the Lutheran Church-owned station in 1944 and remained for 11 years, and he was the announcer on The Lutheran Hour on the Mutual Network for over 10 years.
     There followed a brief stint on WIL, where he was known as Alan Scott.
     Wilde continued as a radio newsman on KWK for four years, then on KSD for eight years and KMOX for nine years.
     His experience during his many years on the air served him well when, in 1986, he became manager of the student broadcast operation at Lindenwood College in St. Charles.