THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020052
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: SOUNDCHECK
SOURCE: BY SUE SMALLWOOD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
FROM THE Eagle to the former Fox, Jay Francis has landed. The wayward radio mouth, who with partner Jimmy Ray Dunn was unceremoniously booted from country station Eagle 97's top-rated morning show in December, found a new home last week at WAFX-FM, 106.9. Francis now hosts the classic rock station's afternoon drive shift from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The new gig is a homecoming of sorts for Francis; before his Eagle 97 stint, he was at WNOR, WAFX's sister station. Both stations are owned by Tidewater Communications and share office and studio space in Chesapeake.
``He came over and did an audition shift with us, and I liked what I heard,'' said program director Dan Michaels, also a recent addition to the WAFX staff. ``Here's a guy who knows our music, has a passion for it, and presents in a very straightforward style. We've got a great music base all set up, and we want to make sure we have the best people presenting it.''
The move from WGH's new country format to WAFX's classic hits isn't as unlikely as it might seem, says Francis. In fact, he says a lot of Eagle 97 listeners are tuning in to his WAFX show.
``We had a very, very loyal audience'' at WGH, said Francis, ``and we loved them. You'd think that a so-called country person wouldn't listen to this station, but they're calling and telling me, `This is the stuff I grew up with.' I was surprised that so many people found me here.''
Guitarist Bill Kirchen, who stopped at Hampton's Nsect Club as a member of Nick Lowe's band Wednesday, has a Hampton Roads link: As a member of country-boogie-rockabilly outfit Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, he backed up our very own '50s rock rebel, Gene Vincent.
Kirchen recently recalled a rehearsal in a dirt-floored basement in Oakland, Calif., about a year before Vincent's death in 1971:
``He had no problem sitting in that basement with us. He was so nice, he was a sweet guy. And he still had a fabulous voice, he still sang like a bird. But he was insecure, he seemed to be nervous about his ability. He really liked to just go over tunes, and I think it was fun for him to run into people who really actually knew his old records.''
The Cody band backed Vincent on a few California club dates and an ill-fated Oakland Coliseum show, opening for Merle Haggard, where Vincent muffed the words to Jerry Lee Lewis' ``Crazy Arms.''
``He blew the lyric and kind of cringed,'' Kirchen remembered. ``He didn't seem to be focused on what he was up to; you could tell that something was wrong. He wasn't very well-received there in Oakland. This was the straight ``Okie From Muskogee''-era Merle Haggard show and Gene was all done up in a tight leather suit - leather shirt and leather trousers - and he just didn't look quite right. But what a great image: Sing like a bird and have this real nasty, bad boy, crooked teeth look.''
The 1958 lineup of Gene Vincent's rocking, rolling, reeling band the Blue Caps reunited two summers back for an extensive European tour. ``Gene Vincent's Blue Caps Tour '93'' is a new 90-minute video of the band's journeys through England, South Wales, France, Germany and Holland, featuring drummer Dickie ``Be-Bop'' Harrell and backing vocalist/``clapper boy'' Tommy ``Bubba'' Facenda (both Portsmouth residents), guitarists Johnny Meeks and Jerry Lee Merritt, backing vocalist Paul Peek, Vincent sound-alike Graham Fenton and special guest Billy Lee Riley.
The collectors' video is $24.95, plus $4 shipping and handling, from Merritt Productions, PO Box 891, Camas, Wash., 98607. MEMO: Got a comment about local radio, music, nightlife? Leave it on the
Soundcheck squawk box, 640-5555, category 3277.
ILLUSTRATION: Jay Francis was dumped by Eagle 97.
by CNB