A Life Celebration Service will be held at Palm Gardens, 5927 East Virginia Beach Blvd, Norfolk, on Saturday September 3, 2016 at 12 noon. Quality Services provided by E. Vaughn Wray Funeral Establishment
E. Vaughn Wray
Funeral Establishment 5873 Poplar Hall Drive Norfolk, Virginia 23502
(757) 327-4400.
THE TRAIN IS ON!
He went by many names. His real name was
Frank J. Halison, III. More people knew him by the personas he created
for his radio shows, probably his most lasting name was The Master
Storyteller. He was a ratings bonanza for various stations he worked
because he had personality and creativity.
One of his best
creations was “The train.” Every day, at a certain time, people would
tune in for half an hour to an hour, where Frank would play the same
song over and over while he
spontaneously conducted a tour of various cities in the area, picking up
passengers by name. It was a brilliant marketing plan.
He would pick up passengers for various reasons, some of them having
special stories, some as special favors, some as regular friends who
were frequent riders. I was in the latter category. Frank would also
pick up the people at the local jail, the prostitutes on the corners,
the homeless, as well as dignitaries and local celebrities. People
would be excited to take a ride on that imaginary train. People would
even pay to be picked up on that imaginary train.
The Master
Storyteller (who was once listed in the phonebook incognito as M.S.
Teller) would do the train off the top of his head and weave stories,
advice, and inspirational messages into the journey. He always ended
his show with a nod to his father, “Big Frank from Louisville, who never
cooked a pot of bad gumbo and some folk said he never will.” There
was a shout out to his mother, “Good-night Miss Bessie B. wherever you
may be,” along with the obligatory, “Fly on mighty sparrow, fly on.”
Sometimes there was even a story, like the one about the little dog
walking along the railroad track when a train came along and knocked off
a little piece of his tail. The dog turned around to get it and
another train came along and knocked off the dog’s head. The moral of
the story is—Don’t lose your head over a little piece of tail. Now
that’s another story!
Would love to ride that train one more
time. So, here is the train riding song—a tribute to The Master, Frank
Halison, who took his final ride August 10, 2016.
How many times do you think he would play this over and over while "The Train is on."
A few friends of Frank Halison paying their respects to him at the viewing and remembering old times.
They were the DJ’s who delivered the music we loved, but more than that, they were the “personality jocks” who kept us up on the latest happenings. Starting with the legendary “Daddy” Jack Holmes, these were the velvety voices which issued us the time, the weather, the hot news of the day, the latest gossip, and all the tidbits of info which touched our meager lives and made us feel better.
We are searching for names, pictures, and stories about the Personality Jocks who touched your lives from stations like WRAP, WHIH, & WPCE.
Names like:
“Daddy” Jack Holmes
Dick Lamb
Bob King
Dave Riddick
Oliver Allen
Bill Curtis
Bill Boykins
Frank “The Master Storyteller--King Hotdog” Halison
KNOWSTON featuring the music programs of the ORIGINAL OLDIES SHOW
Show a little love for the site with a small, medium, or large donation. Support VMSoul.com and help us keep your legacy alive.
Back in the day when vinyl was king and radio ruled the air, there was a little station in Norfolk, Virginia which had legendary personality jocks, like Daddy Jack Holmes. This small AM station was innovative and captivating, with dedicated listeners tuning and making these jocks a part of their daily lives. They played not only the national hits, but also records from the vast pool of talent that was emerging from the Tidewater/Peninsula area, an area rich in Soul and R&B. The station was 850 WRAP and later changed to 1350 on the dial.
There was no computerized programming back then, with each DJ spinning their own selections and their persoanlites being as much a draw as the platters on the turntables. You had Frankie "Soul Ranger" Stewart, Chester "B" Benton, Milton "Funk Master" Bowie, Maurice "The East Coast Rapper" Ward, HJ "The Real J" Ellison, Robert "Bobby Jay" Jackson, JJ Carmichael, and the incomparable, Frank "The Master Storyteller--King Hotdog" Halison.
Over the years, FM took over, along with computerized play lists and test audiences, so the innovative, creative, soulful AM stations faded away, changing to Talk radio, Gospel, or other formats.
THE MASTER STORYTELLER "King Hot Dog" Frank Halison
Mr. Boykins passed away Jun 19, 2014. Mr. Boykins was a long standing force in the Hampton Roads music industry as a promoter, radio personality, and more.
Shout out to the great Jay Dee Jackson who got his first break in radio at WPCE with Frank "Hot Dog"
Halison, then later at WRAP with Chester B.
Calvin Shakespeare Perkins
Can you recall rushing home to move those rabbit ears around on that old TV, so you could pick up WHRO TV's broadcast of "The Gig" hosted by Calvin "Shakespere" Perkins? Calvin also was a hot, personality jock on radio station WHIH.
"The Gig" featured students from the area's schools doing the latest dance steps on the air to the hot music of the day. "Shakespere" was like the Pied Piper of local talent, leading them on to the promised land and exposing them to new heights. He now goes by the moniker, Calvin Van P, and he is CEO of Buy Hot New Music.com., in Woodlawn, CA.
All you GET DOWN DANCERS from Carver, Crestwood, Norcom, Booker T., Phenix, Huntington, Union Kempsville, East Suffolk, and others...roll call!!
Ron Anthony
He brought the Quiet Storm to the area, a format which is now all over the world.
Michael Jackson, Valerie Hamlin, Jimmy Williams Backstage at the Hampton Coliseum, 1979
Edward H.
I REMEMBER GROWING UP AND LISTENING DADDY JACK HOLMES EVERY SCHOOL MORNING YELLING GET UP FROM THERE BOOKER-T,NORVIEW,LAKE TAYLOR, GET UP FROM THERE. AFTER THAT EVERY DAY WAS A GOOD DAY. I STILL MISS HIM AND THE OLD DAYS. THANKS FOR KEEPING HIS LEGACY GOING.
---- LT. HIGH.....CLASS OF 1982
Valarie B.
calvin cooke is a real rags to fame kind of thing coming out of the washington park projects in 70s and cutting his radio teeth on portsmouth va's wpce 1400 am and then on to the number 1# r&b station at the time While still paying his dos calvin cooke hooked up with Soul Ranger / Master Storie Teller/ J.D Jackson & none othen Chester Benton / H.J Ellison/ and Daddy Jack Hommes. with a supporting cast like this its no wonder they ruled the air way of Hampton roads 4 years , These Guys were radio super stars. todayu calvin is a Voice Over Artist base out of his philadelphia studios and has owns his on radio production company many people over the years have heard his voice all a round the country and never new. who it was from NY to the LA basin This cats voice work is all over the place. please do not for him.
Zeke Zanders
VMSoul mourns the death of
Jerry "Zeke" Zanders
Zeke worked at WHUR, Al & The Kidd, Atlantic Records, MCA Records, and more.
Cards
and other expressions of sympathy can be sent to his daughter, Star
Downing, 419 Randolph Street NW, Washington DC 20011. If you are
financially able, Star can really use some donations. You can also call
Ms Waller at Rhines Funeral Home directly and charge your donation to a
credit card, 202-529-4300.
DJ Law
VMSoul mourns the loss of Lawrence “Kool DJ Law” Brown,
