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Country radio personality Bob Kingsley, who lives in Weatherford, has been nominated to the National Radio Hall of Fame. Community members can vote for him to win. CRYSTAL BROWN/DEMOCRAT PHOTO

June 18, 2010

Radio personality Bob Kingsley nominated for National Radio Hall of Fame

Crystal Brown CNHI The Weatherford Democrat Fri Jun 18, 2010, 08:00 AM CDT

WEATHERFORD — Voting started this week to induct the next personality into the National Radio Hall of Fame. Parker County’s own Bob Kingsley is up for the slot along side competitors Bob Brinker, Carl Kasell and Howard Stern.

Host of Bob Kingsley’s Country Top 40, Kingsley is the lone music-format host among the nominees. He is known around the nation as the syndicated voice of country music.

He already boasts awards like twice being named the CMA’s National Broadcast Personality of the Year, ACM’s National Broadcast Personality of the Year Award in 2007 and in 1998, he was inducted into the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame. His show has been named the Billboard’s Network/Syndicated Program of the Year award 16 times.

But his recent nomination for the National Radio Hall of Fame puts his name among those with whom he grew up and who inspired him to pursue a career in radio.

“This is a big time deal to be nominated,” Kingsley said. “You hear people say that, but look at the cast of folks who are in there. The thought of hanging in there with some of those people is amazing to me, truly.”

A childhood illness at age 7 kept Kingsley in bed for a year, and during that time he grew attached to the radio. Programs like “The Shadow,” “The Green Hornet” and “The Lone Ranger” provided an escape. At age 18, he became an announcer for the Armed Forces Radio while stationed in Keflavik, Iceland, with the Air Force.

“It was just perchance that I started working there,” Kingsley said. “I always loved music and the opportunity to actually play the music I liked on the radio for the people was so cool, I couldn’t stand it. Right then I decided that’s what I wanted to do. It’s been a long road from there, but it’s been a great adventure.”

Kingsley took a job producing American Country Countdown in 1974, and took over as host four years later. In January 2006, he launched The Country Top 40 and is known for his yearly specials — Christmas in America and a year-end countdown show.

In 1995, ABC pushed to have all their radio personalities come back to Dallas, and at first Kingsley wasn’t interested. Then he discovered the Cutting Horse Capital of the World was nearby and he’s been a Weatherford resident ever since. He and his wife, Nan, live at the Bluestem Ranch with 19 cutting horses.

“I came here with two,” Kingsley said. “I have no idea where the rest of them came from.”

For the past 15 years, Kingsley, originally from California, and wife, from the East Coast, have worked to become part of the local community, a task they said wasn’t really possible living in Los Angeles.

“We’ve tried to be good citizens and community-minded,” Nan Kingsley said. “It’s been such a joy and so much easier to give back in a community like Weatherford.”

Now they are encouraging the community to give back a little to them by supporting Kingsley with a vote.

Log onto www.ct40.com and follow the link to vote, or go to www.radiohof.org. Voting is free and open to the public, but an online registration is required.

Voting continues through midnight Sunday, Aug. 1. The National Radio Hall of Fame inductions will take place during a live national radio broadcast from Chicago at 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6.

If selected, Kingsley will be one of only three country-based personalities in the hall of fame along with Gene Autry and the Grand Ole Opry.

“People are anxious to see more country recognized, and I’m glad to be the forbearer,” Kingsley said.

The Country Top 40 airs locally on 99.5 The Wolf from 6 to 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. to midnight each Sunday. Kingsley records the show at his Weatherford studio on Martin Drive along with Ken Halford, producer; Shawn Studer, director of affiliate relations; Curtis Box, engineer; Jeff Ogle, production assistant; Patrick Dougherty, webmaster and technology; and a crew of four in Los Angeles and one in Nashville.

Putting the show together is a week-long process of waiting for the new rankings to come out, gathering information on each artist, pulling together one-on-one interviews with the musicians and editing the pieces together to create a four-hour show.

“You’d think we’ve been doing it a long time and there’s nothing to it,” Kingsley said. “But it’s a new adventure every week.”