Originally posted Sunday, October 21, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
A cavalcade of Atlanta radio vets were inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame in LaGrange Saturday night.
Among those who entered the hall were Majic 107.5/97.5 host Silas "SiMan" Alexander, Classic 102.9 host Mitch Faulkner, retired WGST/WABE host Denis O'Hayer, former Star 94.1 newsman Rob Stadler, former 96rock and Eagle host Steve Mitchell, former 96rock jockJeff Winter and Cox Media Group D.C. veteran radio reporter Jamie Dupree.
Eric Seidel - who discovered both Clark Howard and Sean Hannity while running WGST in the 1990s - was also inducted, along with Bob Neil, who ran Cox's radio operations for many years before retiring in 2011.
And in a surprise appearance, Hannity - after supporting Sen. Ted Cruz at a Houston rally earlier in the day - flew to Atlanta and made it to the event in time to support his buddy Seidel.
Seidel said having Hannity there was “incredibly meaningful. The fact that he made the effort is an indication of the deep friendship and love we have for each other.”
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Stadler, who worked at Star 94 for a whopping 28 years as its news host, said he was "very humbled and surprised with this honor." He gave shout outs to his bosses, many legendary radio executives such as Jerry Blum, Don Benson, Clarke Brown and Rick Mack.
SiMan, too, was “pleasantly surprised” and thankful for all the radio companies that have employed him over 38 years. Before Majic, he worked at V-103 and Kiss.
Mitchell, in a text, said he was just happy to tell his old “Rhubarb introduced me to my first ex wife” joke and getting to meet Hannity, which he posted on Facebook.
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Faulkner, who used to work with Kiss, said he feels embarrassed by honors like this and chose not to attend the event. Instead, he worked Saturday night on air on Classix. But he said in an interview that he appreciated being recognized by his peers. He told his listeners about the induction and they were able to thank him for his service.
Dupree, who is based out of D.C. and is heard locally on News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB, was unable to make the event but provided an audio thank you. He has a rare medical condition that makes it difficult for him to speak so his bosses were able earlier this year to get him a special audio converter using old audio enabling him to be heard on air. That device enabled his voice to be heard at the event Saturday night as well.
What was probably just as interesting were the folks that didn’t make the cut among the nominees.
The hosts of the two longest-running music morning shows in Atlanta - Bert Weiss of Q100 and Kevin Avery and Taylor Scott of 104.7/The Fish - did not make the cut. This is a year after V-103's most successful morning show host in its history Frank Ski was also nominated but didn't get inducted.
Weiss on air said he hired a bus to drive down to LaGrange and brought 26 family members and friends to support him. Win or lose, he said, he wanted to celebrate the achievement of even being nominated.
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