The Crew

Doug Coupland once said, ~I like doing radio because it's so intimate. The moment people hear your voice, you're in their heads, not only that, you're in there laying eggs.~ Without a doubt, radio has become one of the ways to occupy one's time while you're either getting ready to got to work/school and/or driving in a car towards your intended destination. For it most definitely helps wake you up in the morning to start your day knowing full well the voices behind the mic are doing their very best to get you not only motivated, but at the same time be entertaining as well. When it comes to helping an individual become motivated and entertained at the start of an early morning, none do it better than the Gulf Coast's Qtip and Blondie in the Morning from the hit station 97.5 WABD.

If you think about it, there aren't a lot of people or in this particular case listeners who consider themselves a morning person and you can certainly include myself in that category. However, Qtip and Blondie in the Morning is the exception as I and possibly many others set their alarms to be awoken by the all-to-familiar voices of Glenn "Qtip" Johnson and Rachel "Blondie" Jones along with Intern Alyssa, Nick Fox, Producer Heather, as well as Scott Adams on occasion. As a loyal listener for a number of years you truly look forward to the hi-jinks, conversations, stories, challenges, etc. that are either planned or unplanned involving the quirky personalities associated with the morning show. In other words, it's all about unpredictability Monday through Friday.

As I said before, the voices heard on the radio help wake you up in the morning to help start your day knowing full well the voices behind the mic are doing their very best to get you not only motivated; but at the same time be entertaining as well. Fortunately, Qtip and Blondie are well known for that, so much so listeners such as myself expect nothing less. Of course, there are memorable moments of entertainment involving stunts from the station once known as 97.5 WABB such as Lil' Joe being dropped high in the sky from inside a car. Granted, I started listening when the voices of Wayne and Jay were behind the mics and yet the quality of laughter and all out amusement has never wavered to the point where it has, in my honest opinion, continued to rise instead of decline.

Let me ask you this question to those who are avid listeners to 97.5 WABD, how did you feel when the radio station was sold and it was going off the air? I think it would be safe to say a mixture of sadness, shock and disbelief were experienced by every listener on the Gulf Coast. On the other hand, as the countdown to the end started, those who worked in the past for the show came to reflect by sharing their stories like Matt McCoy, Mena Anderson, Little Joe, Pablo, Cherish Lombard, and countless others. You see, it was a sad state of affairs when at the stroke of midnight WABB officially went off the air leaving a void on the radio. Let me tell you something though, the morning show returned back home full force to where it belonged but with a new name, which pleased many in the Gulf Coast.

In retrospect, you never really think about getting the chance to meet the people on your favorite radio station until the opportunity is given to you. Personally speaking, the opportunity was given to me last year during the Toys For Tots drive being held at the Wal-Mart Supercenter. One word: awesome. Blondie tackled me with a hug...best memory ever. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to meet Intern Alyssa until recently at a Pensacola Ice Flyers game along with Scott Adams. Producer Heather, a meeting will hopefully be in the works someday. In the end, the crew from 97.5 WABD/Qtip and Blondie in the Morning aren't just voices on the radio or faces on YouTube to me anymore, they've become great friends who I keep in touch with and I'm fairly positive they would say the same for me because to them I'm a local celebrity.