Rodney Ho
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« on: November 20, 2009, 06:32:56 PM » |
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Moby just told me that his radio network PD and former Kicks boss Dene Hallam has fallen ill and is in intensive care. He didn't know the details of Hallam's medical conditions but he said it's not encouraging. Dene is in his mid-50s, Moby said. I liked Hallam. He was a very well-respected country music PD in his day. He was fired from Kicks soon after Moby was let go in 2002 and part of it may have had to do with his comments to me about test groups thinking Moby sounded too hick for the suburbanites. That created an uproar among country fans and generated an Atlanta magazine cover story. Dene would never talk to me again, although there was never any dispute over the veracity of his statement. Bottom line: he was just being too honest. That's the reason the typical answer I get when people get fired is either the generic "we decided to go in a different direction" or "no comment."
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RoddyFreeman
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« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2009, 07:12:59 PM » |
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In the 1980's, Dene Hallam was one of the most renown and respected programmers in country radio. He became PD of New York's 50,000 country station, WHN-AM, at the age of 28. Then he crossed the street to New York's first country FM, WKHK, and beat his former station.
Dene is one of only two program directors to win the Major Market PD of the Year award in two formats (country and top 40). The only other person to accomplish that is Scott Shannon.
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AndyWaldrop
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« Reply #2 on: November 21, 2009, 08:47:15 AM » |
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I was informed last night that Dene had passed on.
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Kent
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« Reply #3 on: November 21, 2009, 09:07:56 AM » |
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Although I know Dene mostly by reputation, I did contact him a few times more than five years ago and appreciated some of his qualities. After he had surgery while still working at Kicks, I sent him a card, and he sent me a "Thank you" card back, which surprised me. I also contacted him about a position when he worked at WDAF in Kansas City. Unlike most of the other PD's in that building, he wasn't afraid to answer the phone, and he'd waste little time in calling you back if you got his voicemail.
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grhof
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Honoring Georgia Radio People Present & Past
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« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2009, 11:53:36 AM » |
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Kachme
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More radio, more often!
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« Reply #5 on: November 21, 2009, 12:14:43 PM » |
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Dene was a class act, a very gifted programming mind and a good guy. His daughters got to spend a little time with him in the hospital last night before he died, and I hope they know how much he loved them. His smile lit up the room when he talked about his girls. With his passing, it feels like a great radio chapter has ended.
Sandy Weaver Carman
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Taking the written word and bringing it to life is an art form, not a Frankenstein experiment...it's not for amateurs! :-)
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Dillo1
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« Reply #6 on: November 21, 2009, 01:47:45 PM » |
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I was with a country group in the '90's called Smokin' Armadillos out of Bakersfield, CA. Dene started playing one of our songs at KKBQ in Houston when we could barely get airplay in California still. Over the years, we got to be friends with Dene, and we have some great stories and some very fond memories of him. He didn't play every thing we released, which is what I respected so much about him. He was a revolutionary PD who usually determined what he played simply by the fact that he thought it was a great song. . . what a novel concept! This is indeed a very sad day.
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the_widows_son
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« Reply #7 on: November 21, 2009, 02:14:14 PM » |
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I had a great visit with him a few months ago. I am glad I got to see him and his passing makes me sad.
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beachguy3b
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« Reply #8 on: November 21, 2009, 07:19:49 PM » |
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I'm just a radio guy who spent 36 years talking to people, never in Atlanta, but I knew Dene Hallam by his reputation, and when I saw a blip about his being ill, I immediately wanted to know what the story was- let's face it, if you're an old-timer in radio like I was when I left it in 2005, you knew who Dene Hallam was, and knew him to be one of the very best.
My sympathy to his family, and to those of you who were in his family of friends or the radio family. I didn't have to meet him to know we've lost one of the very best.
David
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Jay F
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« Reply #9 on: November 21, 2009, 10:08:47 PM » |
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I remember enjoying reading any trade article that featured Dene Hallam. He was very outspoken, He believed requests and listener feedback on songs was very important. He stayed away from what was called "turntable records"...the passive songs that climbed the charts despite no passion from the listeners. In Houston in particular I remember him playing songs few other stations were on and not playing songs just about every other country station played. In one article he criticized the "herd mentality" of country radio, how every station played the same exact songs in every market. In 2009 the herd mentality is as common as ever, there are no Dene Hallam's out there. I'm sorry to hear of his passing.
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