If you were lucky enough to be in or around Atlanta through the Seventies and Eighties, there were a few names everyone knew. Ted Turner. Maynard Jackson. Monica Kaufman. Phil Niekro. Steve Bartkowski. Bill Tush. And Gary McKee. Gary was the morning DJ on WQXI radio, Quixie In Dixie. He was first on AM 790 and then later simulcast on WQXI FM 94.1, better known as 94Q.
Born in Oklahoma, Gary was educated at Eastern Illinois University. Upon graduation he was drafted and served two years in the army, including a tour of Vietnam. Afterwards, he worked briefly at radio stations in Pensacola and Cincinnati before moving to Atlanta in 1971 to take over the Quixie morning slot from Simon Trane. He held that slot for eighteen years, a tenure unheard of in radio at anytime, but especially during the Seventies and Eighties.
He was an immediate success, becoming a well-known voice during the morning drive time. That was when Atlanta traffic was somewhat reasonable, unlike the perpetual gridlock it is today. Radios in offices and other businesses were often tuned to 94Q, so after the commute we were able to continue listening until the mid-morning host took over at 10am.
Gary was young, hip and quick-witted, surrounding himself with other young talent such as news reporter Yetta Levitt, sportscaster Beau Bock and Bob Carr, better known as Willis the Guard. Introduced as the security guard for the station, Willis more or less became McKee’s sidekick. He told corny jokes, was featured in comedy sketches and even recorded a few country songs such as PBR and Peanuts, The Buford Triangle and Drive My Truck, all of which received airtime.
There were a host of other characters on McKee In The Morning, as the show came to be known, including Red Neckerson, Anwar Habibi, The Kinky Lady, Rainbow Johnson and The Great Douhini. And then there was the Lobster Alert, which periodically warned us that in certain parts of town lobsters were on the loose and advised us to get our shell crackers and hot butter.
In addition to these characters, McKee would also have celebrity guests on the show. Musicians, actors, athletes and other personalities, both local and national, and would conduct insightful and entertaining interviews. He would also broadcast remotely from many local events such as St. Patrick’s Day in Buckhead, the Peachtree Road Race and, of course, The Ramblin’ Raft Race.
In October of 1972, my senior year at Walker High School, I was a member of the Junior Civitan club. We put together a haunted house to raise money for charity. Haunted houses were a big thing around Halloween back then. Ours was a huge success, with sponsors and businesses from all over helping us with funds and material. But who really put us over the top was Gary McKee. Bob Buchler, our sponsoring teacher, had called into Gary’s show one morning and invited him to visit that night for a “tour” of the house. Gary came out and the next morning on his show he said, “I have been to all of the haunted houses in Atlanta and the one that these kids have put together is by far the best. As a matter of fact”, he continued, “it is the best one I’ve ever seen, period.” He even gave directions to the house. After that, attendance exploded, with long lines surrounding the house each night. Because of the success of the house, the following spring our club won the Hastings Award, which was presented annually to the top club in the state. Thanks, in no small part, to a plug from Gary McKee.
I met Gary once, briefly. It was at the 1989 World of Wheels car show in Atlanta. He was an avid collector of Ford Mustangs and had two cars in the show, one being a beautiful blue 1970 Boss 302 and the other a 1966 Shelby. I had the opportunity to talk with him for a bit. Gary had done a lot of the restoration work on the cars himself and we discussed how involved restoration work could be. I then told him about my ’69 Mach 1, the one I sold for $1400 in 1974 and bought a Bug. He laughed and said not to worry, we pretty much all had a story like that.
Gary McKee passed away last week at the age of eighty-one. He retired in 1998. Radio has changed completely since then, going to Sirius XM satellite and other providers. Sure, the signal may be stronger and clearer but, like everything else, it’s not the same. It’s not even close. Sure, there are DJs on the satellite stations but they only speak occasionally. You may know their names but they are located remotely who-knows-where. What’s missing is the fun, the laughter, and the excitement of local radio. What’s missing is a time before social media when that was our link to what was happening in town. What’s missing is a time when turning on the radio made the drive to work more bearable. What’s missing is a time when we would drop everything and try to be the tenth caller through on a push-button phone to win cash or tickets to a concert or event. What’s missing is a time when a host like McKee truly had their hand on the pulse of a city. They were a part of the culture, a part of the fabric, a part of the lifestyle and a part of the city’s identity.
Godspeed, Gar-O. You may no longer be with us, but you are not missing. You never will be. You will always be a part of Atlanta.
My guy was Skinny Bobby. He got me to class at Georgia Tech daily from 1970 to 1974. I had to be at I-20 and Glenwood Road when Robert E Lee Pruitt came in to play Reville or I was late, Soon to be followed by Laverne rolling the dice to see who bought coffee. Those were some fun times on the radio.
One other note… I know everyone remembers the Tom Shane commercials, featuring Tom’s obnoxious, nasally voice. They started running during the morning slot. Gar-O would overdub them with the sounds of barnyard animals and other domestic pets, such as roosters crowing, cows mooing, pigs oinking, dogs barking, etc. Apparently ol’ Tom didn’t take too kindly to that and yanked the ads off the show. His ads ran on every time slot after, but never again on the morning drive time.
Great memories as usual! I loved McKee! I had a pen and paper by my bed and when he played the songs I’d write the lyrics down lol
Gary was a customer of mine for many years, and I had gone to his home up in Marietta Country Club. We spoke several times about his show at WQXI and how much we loved listening to him in the morning. He always had that distinct voice and when he would call me he was surprised when I would answer, Hi Gary what has happened. I saw that he had passed away due to complications of Alzheimer’s. For all of us that grew up in that era, Gary’s voice will be missed but not forgotten as you said. RIP my friend!🙏🏻