THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 7, 1995 TAG: 9508050023
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Profile
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
FOR A GUY who spends five hours a day alone behind a microphone, Russ Cassidy doesn't hurt for company.
Some of country music's brightest stars - Aaron Tippin, Lorrie Morgan, Faith Hill, Brooks & Dunn, John Michael Montgomery, Ty England and Lari White - witness every minute of his midday show. Their life-sized, cardboard likenesses command one end of WCMS' spacious Virginia Beach studio.
But his rapport with listeners is more than two-dimensional. It's deep. Twenty-five years in the business gives a deejay that connection; 25 years at the same station cements it.
Cassidy disproved the revolving-door rule of radio when he celebrated his silver anniversary at WCMS last week. The key to his longevity?
``When I'm talking, I envision one person and talk to him. I can't come on and say, `Hi, everybody!' '' Cassidy pointed around the studio. ``You have to throw all this stuff out of your mind and talk to that person one to one. It's more real.
``Someone once told me that I talk like I live next door. That's what I do, and that's what comes back.''
The other part of the equation is the nature of the medium.
``Everything is always changing,'' he said. ``I don't have to put on the same Goodyear tire every day or punch the same computer printouts. I get to play with stuff. I talk to the listeners and play with them. You can be creative.''
Cassidy laughed. ``People in this business are a little off. I mean, you've got someone slaving over a hot microphone talking to cardboard people five hours a day.''
He interrupted the conversation and turned to the mike.
That was Suzy Bogguss. Next, Neal McCoy. I promised you and I'll deliver. Ninety-four, heading to 95 today. Uh-uh-uh.
A native of Hampton, Cassidy graduated from Kecoughtan High School and studied broadcasting in Washington, D.C., during the politically charged summer of 1968. He was working part time at WCMS that winter when WLPM in Suffolk offered him a full-time job spinning rock 'n' roll.
Two years later, he was back at WCMS for good. He lives with his wife, Patty, and daughter, Renee, a good stone's throw away in the Tanglewood section of Chesapeake.
Watching Cassidy wrap up his 10 a.m.-to-3 p.m. shift is like watching a juggler. A neat, compact man of 44, tan from a vacation on the Outer Banks, he darts around the studio with stacks of CDs and promo tapes, poses for a photo and takes phone calls. It's a polished act, and he doesn't miss a cue.
Polished also describes country music when he first broke in. That was the Nashville Sound, with its syrupy strings and overblown production. Cassidy, who deejays four nights a week at Blakelys, a club in Chesapeake, prefers the neo-traditional style of Garth Brooks and Clint Black.
``In 1968, you had 25 or 30 artists on the charts,'' he said. ``Now, there's a new artist every week. It's nice to see country get back to the basics because that's what made it in the first place. It can ride that wave for a long time. I don't know where it's going, but it's nice to know it's high right now.''
Cassidy's own plans are more definite.
``I'll keep doing what I've been doing until I can't do it anymore,'' he said. ``People ask me how 25 years have come and gone. I tell them I work cheap. I thought I might still be in the business, but not at the same place. The averages are way against that. Most successful deejays are the ones with the largest house trailers.''
He chuckles at the idea, though, that even with his experience, he's a long way from being senior man at WCMS. Morning man Joe Hoppel will log his 40th year at the station in November.
``You mean my dad, Joe Hoppel?'' Cassidy said. ``It really feels good. It means I have a lot more senior to go.''
Program note
WHOV (88.1), the student-run station at Hampton University, has brought something new to FM morning drive: ``The Weekday Gospel Express.'' The one-hour program is hosted by Doc Christian, a former voice at 103 JAMZ, and features an up-tempo mix of traditional and contemporary gospel.
Program director Jay Wright said listeners who've followed WHOV's Sunday broadcast have been asking for a weekday program for years.
``We consider it a cup of inspiration for the morning,'' he said. ``Before you go to work and deal with the boss or turn on the news and see the world is going to end tomorrow, here's some good gospel music to, if not inspire you, at least get you through the next eight hours.''
``The Weekday Gospel Express'' airs Monday through Friday from 7 to 8 a.m. For information, call 727-5407 or 727-5670. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
BETH BERGMAN/Staff
WCMS deejay Russ Cassidy with the cardboard cutouts that keep him
company during his shift.
by CNB