For those of us who loved to party hearty on the weekends...friday and saturday nites, starting at midnite, were special times because it would be time to "get aboard...the Nite Train" with T.C. It would be difficult to call it a night after coming in from partying somewhere and having the radio tuned to AM1480WCIN where T.C. was not only playing the "best music of your life", but giving you the history and side stories about the music from the 50's, 60's and 70's. Just when you think you might drift off to sleep he would hit you with "your jam" from back in the day.
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| King of Dusties in Cincinnati T.C. |
I've got to say that T.C. holds a special place in my heart because at the time WCIN was undergoing an ownership change and the format was not one that the community was accustomed to...I had the good fortune of being able to call on some old friends to come back behind the mike and breath life back into that iconic radio station. I'll never forget T.C.'s reaction when I asked him to revive his oldies show..he almost had tears in his eyes because of the joy he felt to be able to keep the music alive. He is a true historian of our music and I'm proud to be able to put his story in this blog. Not only is he an historian of the music, but he also has salvaged a lot of the on air sound that I'll be featuring from the various personalities of yesterday.
T.C., (Tyrone Cannon), is a Cincinnatian born on May 22, 1965..(Wow, a year after I graduated from high school!) in Corryville. He attended Hughes High School and graduated in 1983. While at Hughes, T.C. enrolled in the Radio and Television Vocational Program. While in this program he was appointed Music Director and Disc Jockey for the school radio station WHBA 1200AM. After high school he continued to pursue his career in radio, and in 1984 volunteered to co-host and program an Oldies Show on AM1480WCIN. The program was called "Sunday Soul Serenade" with DJ Pat Gregory..who gave him the radio name T.C. Soul Serenade was cancelled in 1985 and in November of 1987 T.C. was hired on as an overnight Board Operator. January 2, 1991 T.C. was given his own show, called The Nite Train, the best music of your life, which aired Friday and Saturday nights from midnite til 6am. The show featured classic and rare dusties, blues, doo-wop and jazz with a history lesson behind the music and artist. In April 1997, T.C. produced the first Nite Train Dusty Convention at the Apple Nightclub in the local community of Woodlawn. In attendance at this first convention were over four hundred people who came to hear the music they grew up with in addition to doing all the old dances of that day. The inspiration for T.C.'s convention was the legendary Chicago DJ Richard Pegue who was to become a mentor and major influence in T.C.'s radio career. Subsequently, The Nite Train Dusty Convention was housed at the Hartwell Country Club in Cincinnati for the following nine years, and moved to a new location at the UAW Hall 647 in the community of Reading, Ohio. There was a format change at WCIN and The Nite Train ran for the last time on May 13, 2007 making it the longest running "Dusty" show in the greater Cincinnati area.
T.C.'s love for the dusties started as a young boy when his mother Betty would play music around the house. He started collecting records at the age of eight, and has a very large collection of classic and hard to find 45's and LP's in his record library. Some of his favorite artists are: The Impressions, The Spaniels, The Dells, and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. T.C. refers to himself as the "King of Dusties in Cincinnati", due to his vast knowledge of the music. In his spare time T.C. travels, watches old 1970.s blaxploitation movies, stepping Chicago style, reading and hanging out with family and friends.
T.C. has recently stepped up to fill a void in the Chicago area by continuing a tradition that the market has been accustomed to for many years. T.C's convention is put on twice a year in the Chicago area and is always well anticipated and well attended. This blog will make sure that the word will get out announcing the next time the Nite Train Dusty Convention will convene.
