If you were in the New York metropolitan area in the '60's, you should recall Enoch Gregory. The faceless voice filled the airwaves at a time when we were beginning to identify with our music.
Enoch was born in Hertford, North Carolina. He attended North Carolina A&T before joining the Army where he attended broadcast school. After completing the course, however, he found that there was no place in the Army's overseas broadcast unit for a Black man. Instead he was sent to a small fort-in Kentucky in the press office. Undaunted, he established relationships with local radio stations and began giving them news feeds.
After his Army service, he moved to New York. He took a job at WNJR-AM as a summer replacement. He became an on air personality for WWRL-AM. He was known as the "Master Blaster" because he created explosive sounds throughout songs. Enoch is credited with bringing Black radio out of the dark ages and into a time of formats. He took a modem approach to ethnic broadcasting. He took pride in being a down-home guy. He brought plain folk to the airwaves. He recognized that there was a place for everyone in what was going on.
In the late '60's, he moved to Detroit where he was able to bring WCHB-FM to the number one spot in a period of three months. He worked at several stations in the Detroit area before returning to New York. He feels fortunate that he was able to be accepted back into the New York radio scene. Because of his earlier training Enoch was able to create and produce national radio commercials for many products. He was singled out in 1974, for creating a series of educational vignettes designed to challenge school children. For his "Cool School' efforts, he was awarded a citation from New York City and honored with Enoch Gregory Day.
After 25 years in radio Enoch retired. However, he temporarily re-entered with a gospel ministry program in Maryland He still lives in Maryland with his wife where he is presently working in sales and marketing. He hopes to be involved in a syndicated gospel program again.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|