Mike Tussey: The protégé who became one of the best of the best….

Every generation or so will come an naturally talented individual in the professional world who excels so easy, it has people not only talking, but also has them sometimes wondering where they come about so much talent.

This story begins in 1963 when I was at WIRO in Ironton, Ohio working Saturday night’s “Sandman Show” 8pm till midnight sign off.

When you worked a request show back in the mid-20th Century, it’s you, the hits and the phone. There is no one else in the building.
One Saturday night I received a call from a young kid who requested a song, I played it later, and the show moved on.

The Saturdays began to roll through a month and this time he called and asked for his request, but then had a very strange request.
He mentioned that all his life he had listened to radio and had decided he wanted to be a DJ and asked if could visit the station and just sit and watch.

I thought for a minute and asked his name and where he lived. He told me he lived in Ashland a few miles away and that his name was Jim.

I said sure that would be ok, having some company might be nice, so we set a date for him to be at the station at 8 p.m.

He then told me something that caught my ear. He was just 14 and was in Junior High.

I asked, “How are you going to get here and how will you get home?”
He quickly answered that his parents would drop him off and then pick him back up at 11 p.m.

So, we were set. I was looking forward to meeting Jim and his parents very soon. Jim arrived right on time and came in the control room and pulled up a chair and began to watch and ask a ton of questions.

After several weeks I decided to pull an experiment and see what young Jim could do voice-wise. I asked if he thought he was ready to just read the weather.

An emphatic “Yes” followed; so I pushed the auxiliary mic over in front of him and introduced him as he would be checking the weather.
When Jim took the cue, his voice was filled with a ton of energy, enthusiasm and confidence.

Yeah, I was very impressed. It was as if he had practiced for weeks and this was his chance! 
Later, I began to let him intro some of the hits. On the Air I just called him Jim.

The owner of WIRO, Ken Auble for some odd reason never heard Jim On the Air. If he had, I am sure I would have heard about it.

Over the passing months, I guess you could say Jim was like a talented protégé that I worked with as much as possible. In fact, as young and talented as he was, I could easily call him a prodigy.

Today, I am close personal friends with Hall of Fame Legendary broadcasters such as GARY BURBANK, JIM LABARBARA AND DUSTY RHODES.

I have absolutely no doubt, these aforementioned Super Stars, began with the same dream and ambition that Jim had those early months of his dreams.

When you’re a broadcaster there are so many requirements needed for success especially when speaking into the mic. These elements, such as enunciation, clarity, confidence, voice level and energy will get you on your way.

Now, reach back and add a dynamic personality to your persona and you are ready to soar. How do I know? That Recipe for Success once worked for me or should I say, a very young MIKE TODD.

In the broadcasting profession you never know where your next stop up the ladder may be. Along the way you learn all you can, improve your skills and work ethics. Take it from me, good things will happen.

It was now 1964 and over the past months I had put together a rock band that was playing at Ironton’s Jolly Roger night club. Strange as that may seem, it was more of a challenge than anything. However, things fell in to place and were on our way.

When performing you always hope for a nice appreciative crowd and lots of applause. One thing for sure, you never know who’s in the audience.

We had just taken a break and a fellow broadcasting colleague, the late BOB MARTIN, Program Director of WKEE in Huntington came over to say hello. He came right to the point and offered me a part time position at WKEE working weekends. I would have jumped at the opportunity to join WKEE, but it would have to be a fulltime position which he said was not available.

Bob then mentioned if I knew of anyone who may be available. Instantly, I thought of Jim. I told Bob that due to his high school age there wasn’t time to build a resume, but he indeed had the talent to fill the bill and I recommended him without any hesitation. So, Jim’s first official broadcasting position came at one of the top stations in the market.

Jim was like a thoroughbred who wanted to excel On the Air and make an immediate impact. For him, there was no limit once he found the legendary “Air Chair.”

My young protégé JIM SCHNEIDER would in time, become one of the very elite talents in our Broadcasting profession. However, his thousands of fans I’m sure remember him as, “THE FLYING DUTCHMAN.”

Over the years, Jim became Program Director at WKEE and WTCR in Huntington, West Virginia In 1981, I received a call from him while he was at 50,000 Watt WTCR. Jim was offering me the opportunity to become the new host of the All Night Country Music Show on Saturdays 12 Midnight to 6 a.m.

You’re right, I accepted and just like that, Jim brought me back home to WTCR. This was where my historic years of the mid-60’s with my “Mike in the Morning Show” all began.

It’s funny sometimes in our lives how things do happen that seem to just have a story-book ending. In the broadcasting profession, you will meet the very best, the elite, the legends, the icons.

However, indeed you will meet and become friends with the everyday average solid talents who seem to be the glue that holds it all together.

In our profession, we all have felt those magic moments that somehow leave indelible marks within our memories that you cherish through the years.

Moments like those early months I spent with a very young Jim Schneider up on Radio Plaza at WIRO were very special. I could feel it even then. I am very happy Jim was fortunate to have lived his dream. For those of us who worked with Jim along the way, we were very fortunate too.

Sadly, we lost Jim much too early in his life as he passed several years ago. We lost a Legendary Icon that left his memories with so many of us. May he Rest in Peace.

Today, Jim and I proudly share the Hallowed Halls of the very elite and prestigious, WEST VIRGINIA BROADCASTING HALL OF FAME.

Jim was inducted in 2007, I followed him in 2010. Jim was certainly an example of sometimes in life your dreams really do come true.

Mike Tussey has “retired” from a 60-plus-year career as a legendary play-by-play announcer for over 2000 football, baseball, and basketball games, including most recently for ESPN+. His career also includes a stint in law enforcement, teaching and coaching, and writing books, including the “Touchdown Saints.” He grew up in Eastern Kentucky and now lives in Florence with his wife, Jo. He has opened another “Door of Opportunity” and is now a regular columnist for the NKyTribune.