Johnny Dark
14:00 - 19:00 GMT daily
mailto:thehop@worldspace.com
Johnny Dark began his broadcasting career at WHIL-AM in Medford, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, on May 30th, 1953. After a couple of years at honing his craft, he began getting job offers from several Boston stations. However, when these stations realized that Johnny hadn’t fulfilled his military obligation, these offers were withdrawn. It was then that he decided to join the Army for two years and then resume his career path.
Johnny became a member of the United States Army on February 17th, 1957. After basic training at Fort Carson, Colorado, he received advance training at the Army Information School at Fort Slocum, New York. His next assignment took him to Fort Belvoir, Virginia where, because of his professional experience, he was put in charge of the bedside network at DeWitt Army Hospital.
In the summer of 1958, Johnny auditioned for a night-time radio show at WEAM-AM in Arlington, Virginia. He was hired immediately and began broadcasting six nights a week from a chain of drive-in restaurants called Tops. Six months later, “Tops Tele-Quest Time” was the #1 rated night-time program in the Greater Washington area.
After his military discharge in February of 1959, Johnny remained with WEAM until December of 1960 when he was hired away by WMEX-AM in Boston. In the spring of 1961, WCAO-AM in Baltimore was looking for an air-talent and several industry people recommended Johnny for the job. He accepted the position and, shortly thereafter, was put into the night-time slot. Six months later, Johnny was the #1 rated personality in Baltimore with a rating share of 63.9!
In the spring of 1964, Johnny was named the program director of WCAO. On September 13th of that year, he enjoyed one of the highlights of his career, introducing the Beatles on stage at the Baltimore Civic Center.
The following year, Johnny was lured back to WEAM-AM in Arlington, Virginia, where, shortly after his arrival, he was named program director. A substantial increase in ratings followed but a desire to return to Baltimore led him back to WCAO-AM in the fall of 1966.
Johnny continued his fine ratings history in Baltimore for the next 16 years. In 1982, Plough Incorporated, the owners of WCAO, announced that the station would be changing its format from Top 40 to Country. Never having done country, Johnny considered leaving but WCAO management convinced him to stay. Two months later, they called upon him to lead the station in its new format. The following year, WCAO’s first in the country format, the station was named Major Market Station of the Year by Billboard Magazine and Johnny was named Major Market Program Director of the Year. Johnny and the station would be repeat winners the following year. The awards were many over the next several years including Johnny being named a finalist as Broadcast Personality of the Year by the Country Music Association.
In November of 1991, Summit Broadcasting, the new owners of WCAO, decided to change the stations’ format to Urban Gospel and Johnny and his staff were dismissed. A few months later, WWMX-FM hired Johnny as the host of a new program called “70’s Saturday Night.” The show debuted at #1 (18-34) in its first Arbitron Ratings book.
Johnny stayed with WWMX-FM until the summer of 1993 when he joined the staff of WBIG-FM (“Oldies 100”) in Washington, D.C. The next 11 years would become some of the most enjoyable of his career and Johnny would become well-known for his specialty programs the “Top Ten At 10” and “Dial-A-Hit,” a 6-hour all-request show.
In the fall of 2004, Clear Channel Broadcasting released most of the staff of WBIG-FM, Johnny was among that group. Two days later, he was hired by WQSR-FM in Baltimore and joined the staff of Baltimore’s “Oldies” station. For the next six months, Johnny’s night-time broadcast was the only one that showed a rating increase. However, in the spring of 2005, WQSR-FM switched to an all-automated format and the staff was released.
For the next year, Johnny continued making personal appearances and kept busy with his fund-raising efforts as a board member of the Children’s Cancer Foundation, a position he has held for 25-years. In July of 2006, Johnny joined the staff of “The Hop,” the “Oldies” channel on World Space Satellite Radio and continues to play the music he loves best, the great hits of the 50’s, 60’s, and early 70’s.
