(I used to write a bi-weekly column, RadioRadio, for Players magazine in the Tampa Bay area. The following story appeared in 1991.)

Profile: Charlie Logan

By Bob Andelman

Mr. Mojo Rising

Hey, Charlie Logan! You've just been named program director of the most popular rock 'n' roll radio station in town! What's the first thing you're gonna change?

"We're going to take it radical jazz/new wave!"

The Charlie Logan/PD era at 95 YNF has begun.

The Charlie Logan/DJ era at 95 YNF is at an end.

For every yin, there is a yang. Even as Logan began celebrating his promotion, he began hustling behind the scenes to find an on-air replacement for himself. WYNF needs a full-time PD and Logan will not be on the air much longer.

"It could be as little as two weeks or as long as two months," says Logan. "People are being interviewed, we've started accepting tapes. I don't know who's going to replace me and I don't know when. The problem in replacing me is I was on the air 10 years and I was out all the time in the community at events."

(RadioRadio hopes to hear Russ "Boy-in-the-Box" Albums get the afternoon slot. He'd make an excellent driving-home-from-work/stuck-in-traffic companion and smooth transition from his pal Logan.)

Logan says he'll maintain an on-air presence, continuing to host "Radio Clash" and "Live at Morrisound," filling in for vacationing jocks, whatever. "People won't say, 'Whatever happened to Charlie Logan?' My voice will be on the radio station. They might forget my name," says Whatsisname, "but they'll remember the voice."

As for the PD's job, Logan is "floating." "I'm pumped," he says. "I'm very, very pumped. This is the job I've wanted for a long time. I'm happy (General Manager) Shawn (Portmann) had the confidence I could do it because I certainly do."

Since 1982, Logan has played the role of second banana at the radio station, assisting program directors Carey Curelop (twice), Mark Larson and for the past 18 months, Tom Marshall. In recent years, his duties also included those of music director.

"I think with his 10 years of being with the station, it's the right move," says Portmann. "He's been such an integral part of designing the station for the last 10 years, now he'll be in a major position for the next 10 years. Many of the things we have done have been out of Charlie's creative mind. That's a real winning attribute. The 'Radio Clash' show is an example. This guy can excel in the position."

"My attitude is Carey, Part II," says Logan of his approach to the job. "Carey and I are very similar in approach, in attitudes, the way we dress, the way we wear our hair, the way we address people. He's probably the most respected PD out there. I learned from the right guy."

Patiently for all these years, Logan - he of the rough-hewn, whiskey-soaked voice - waited for his chance. He came on particularly strong in the last year or so even as then-PD Tom Marshall was stalling out. Logan made little-known and rarely heard local bands hip for a wide listening audience through his innovative "Live at Morrisound" programs. And even before that, "Radio Clash" on Sunday nights at last gave national bands on the cutting edge a local showcase. Logan even added a daily "Dash of Clash" to his Monday-Friday afternoon night drive show.

So while Marshall was clinging to the classics and the station's "heritage," Logan was pushing 95's sound into the '90s. The two efforts were bound to cause a rash.

Nobody is saying why Marshall and the station announced that he had "mutually resigned." Although a super nice guy, he had for months been rumored to be at odds with station personnel who thought it was time for the station to push ahead with rock's new generation and away from artists now old enough to be grandparents.

"Both of us agreed it was time to do other things," Portmann says of Marshall's departure. "I'm sure he's going to be real successful at whatever he's going to do."

As for Logan, he says he'll stick to the straight-and-narrow. "We're just going to try and do it better," he says. "Nothing different has happened, nothing different will happen except a re-dedication to be the best. I know it sounds corny, but that's what the move was about. One thing YNF has always been and will continue to be is consistent. That'll be the same. We've always played the best rock 'n' roll from the past and the best of the new. Something I've always been dedicated to is pushing the limits of the format without sacrificing the economics that are necessary to be in existence."

But when pressed, the new PD admits there may be an opening in the format for a few more new sounds. For instance, when asked if there could be less classic rock played per hour, he answered, "That could be a possibility.

"What I see is drawing on our heritage to continue to push forward into the '90s," he says. "I think there's a place for heritage and a place for the '90s. I'm a 37-year-old guy who likes both the Rolling Stones and Suzy & the Banshees. I think AORs are more open to playing bands like Jesus Jones or School of Fish. In the past, programmers were afraid of bands with names like that. Unless we want to be an old, boring station, we have to play the best the '90s give us. If that's new material by Jesus Jones, so be it. If that's new material by the Doobie Brothers, so be it. We'll play both. We're not going to let the new scare us.

"We're reaching out," says Logan. "We're saying to the community - 'We love music.' On the 'Wax Museum,' you're going to hear the blues. You're going to hear Frank Zappa. On 'Clash,' you're going to hear something weird. These are things most radio stations don't do."

The betting here is that Logan will be a breath of fresh air at a station that has been too predictable for too long. Change won't come overnight, but it's going to come.

"Predictability will not be a part of this station in the sense of being boring," says Logan. "It will be in the sense of when you punch up YNF, you know what you're going to hear. But it's not going to be 'Satisfaction,' 'Beast of Burden' and 'Miss You on every Stones block. I guarantee you that.

"I hope the listeners continue to respond," he adds. "PLEASE! I need the gig. ... And look out 98 Rock!"

SPEAKING OF WHICH! Hey, 98 Rock PD Greg Mull! Your old pal Charlie Logan just became your PD counterpart and arch-rival. What say you?

"I think it was a great move. It was a move Charlie definitely deserved. He shouldn't have been passed over the last time. He's the most deserving person and I'm glad he got it. I see in Charlie a real bright guy."

PROGRAM NOTES! The live third hour of "Tampa Bay Rocks" on 98 Rock (Sundays, 11 p.m.) is off to a weird start, following Deloris Telescope's farewell appearance one week and Cast of Nasties' disintegration the next. Live radio - you gotta love it! We hope appearing live on stage at the Rock-It Club while being broadcast live by 98 isn't akin to the curse of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated. By the way here's the July line-up: Bleeding Hearts (7/7); Uncle Sally (7/14); Stranger (7/21); and Silent Scream (7/28) ... Also on 98, "The Pit" was extended a third hour on June 29, its first anniversary. The heavy metal show now airs every Saturday night from midnight until 3 a.m. ... WTKN 570 AM has lopped off an hour of its local origination sports programming in favor of more CNN Headline News. Dominic Cornelia and "Sports Edge" are out and Mike Sharp's "Tampa Bay Sports Hour" will continue in the 7-8 p.m. nightly slot. ... Topics on this month's editions of WUSF 90 FM's "Taylor Made Piano," hosted by Dr. Billy Taylor, include "Swing" (7/6); "Pre-Bop" (7/13); "Bebop" (7/20); and "Cool, Third Stream and Progressive Jazz" (7/27). ... WHBO 1040 AM has given up the ghost of oldies in favor of simulcasting its sister station, Mix 96. The roll call of local simulcasts grows: Q105, W101, WQYK and now Mix 96. Maybe 95 YNF was too hasty in selling WSUN?

MARS NEEDS WOMEN! Here's a look at special topics scheduled for July editions of WMNF 88.5 FM's "The Women's Show," heard every Saturday at 10 a.m.:

July 6: Studio performance by musician Patty Sanophy of Easy Street; interview with Gita Mehta, author of Raj

July 13: "Women in Politics - The Next Step?"

July 20: Interview with Petra Kelly, co-founder of the German Green Party

July 27: A pre-concert look at the work of singer/songwriter Dianne Davidson

THERE ONCE WAS A GIRL FROM PUCK! Jay Marvin, late night talk show host at WFLA 970 AM, has placed his third poem with the prestigious San Fernando Poetry Journal. His work is political and social in nature.

MORNING MOUTH! There's a great profile of Big Apple radio personality Don Imus in the June 24 edition of New York magazine. And the cover photo is pretty sharp, too.

WRITE! Mailbag's been a little thin lately. Send us a note, will ya? The address: RadioRadio, c/o Players, P.O. Box 1867, Pinellas Park, FL 34664. Or fax us: (813) 577-1414. And a special note to radio air personalities: don't rely on your station's promotions people to send us your photos. Because they haven't. Do it yourself.