The Father of our Country: Country Chuck digs deep for popular radio show

Monday, Dec. 2, 2002 | 8:20 a.m.

Last winter when New Country KWNR 95.5-FM leapt from No. 19 to No. 1 in its Sunday evening ratings in the 25-to-64 age demographic, all fingers pointed to a no-nonsense, veteran disc jockey named Country Chuck.

During the year prior, the Sunday morning DJ had been waking Las Vegans to the storied songs and tinny licks of country music's yesteryear.

Country Chuck was spinning twangy tunes so old they would otherwise never be heard. The songs, played by request, were sometimes as off-color as his jokes. And his listeners loved him.

So when KWNR offered a second helping of the DJ on Sunday evenings, fans tuned in. The station's ratings in a time slot usually unpopular for any local station soared.

"Anybody can play country oldies," John Marks, program director for KWNR, said. "With him mixing it up it's something else nobody can tackle.

"Chuck is, in our ratings, one of the highest listened-to personalities at our station."

Sitting in the studio wearing khaki pants, white sneakers, a tan T-shirt and an Elvis watch that plays "Love Me Tender" on the hour, Country Chuck doesn't fit his nickname.

But for listeners who prefer songs sung by hard-lovin', hard-livin' salt-of-the-earth country legends, this is not a problem. Nor is the fact that Country Chuck (who doesn't want his real name revealed) is actually a doo-wop fan from West Philadelphia.

Rather, in an age where voice tracking is becoming more common on the radio and DJs piped in from out of state are replacing local blends, Country Chuck is considered a down-to-earth anomaly.

"For a Sunday morning, it's the most amazing thing." Country Chuck said during a recent interview. "6 a.m. I get telephone calls. After I play my first song, these all light up. Boom-boom-boom."

He hauls to the station a country hits book and his own collection of CDs, then answers the phone calls and e-mails from his bevy of listeners, many of whom start dialing in before the roosters crow.

Between the yodeling Jimmie Rodgers, Johnny Cash, the Statler Brothers, Roy Acuff and a young Dolly Parton, Country Chuck is sharing his stories and reading his fan mail on the air. Sidekicks Grouchy Grandpa and Napster Jimmy (Bearded Bobby in the evening slot) prepare the tracks for play.

Mountain music

Whether he likes the songs or not (the latter he points out by playing the computerized sounds of "Rex the Wonder Dog"), if the songs were recorded more than 10 years ago and made the charts, Country Chuck will likely give them air time.

The evening slot (6 to 9 p.m.) is reserved for more contemporary oldies, such as songs from Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, or even Dwight Yoakam.

Requests come pouring in from listeners in Providence, R.I.; Vancouver, Wash.; and even Sydney, Australia.

Country Chuck says he doesn't know exactly how his out-of-state fans know him. He speculates that the Las Vegas name recognition draws them in.

"In all of my years I'm really amazed at how successful these shows have become, considering I'm working the worst hours of the week," Country Chuck said, referring to his dedicated listening audience.

He attributes the live request line to the success of his shows.

But, he said, "the music is the star. I play songs you just don't hear anymore. I have a niche in the market. If I was playing contemporary music in the mornings, I wouldn't get this response.

"Nobody plays Waylon, Willie, Johnny Cash. And who's going to play Boxcar Willie?"

Country Chuck's listeners are grateful. Nancy Glidewell from Shoemaker, Pa., tunes in every week via KWNR's website. Her song requests are sent by e-mail.

With Country Chuck, Glidewell said, "You feel like you know him and have that certain rapport. If it's not a hit, or he doesn't have it, he says, 'Please give me another song. ' "

With other disc jockeys, she says, "It's just a whole lot of gibber-jabber talking foolish, nonsense and a whole lot of commercials. They couldn't care less whether they could accommodate you or not."

On the radio

So how did this East Coast DJ of Armenian descent get to be so cozy with honky-tonk music and his down-home listeners?

His broadcast career began in the late 1960s. After singing bass in a doo-wop group called the Fantasies in the mid '60s, Country Chuck went to broadcasting school, then landed his first radio job at a small-market station in Delaware.

In the afternoon he hosted a country show and was given the name Country Chuck. In the evenings he was Chuck "Main Mann" Manning at a rock station in the same building.

Both names would follow him to Las Vegas.

"I had never heard a country song in my life," Country Chuck said, referring to his afternoon gig. "I knew nothing about country music... I am a rock 'n' roller. But I've been more successful playing country."

During the next few years Country Chuck moved to a rock oldies station in Pennsylvania, then returned to Delaware as program director for an adult contemporary station.

In 1975 after he placed an ad in Broadcast magazine, Country Chuck was hired by KORK, a Las Vegas AM station that featured announcers Walt Reno and Red Mcllvaine.

Due to format changes, Country Chuck moved around to a few more radio stations under the names Chuck "Main Man" Manning and Country Chuck before landing his morning request show on KWNR.

Prior to hiring Country Chuck, KWNR (owned by media giant Clear Channel) featured a combination of local DJs and syndicated programs.

At KWNR, there is not enough listener demand to make a country oldies format work full time, Marks said. But, he added, the station strives to to enforce the variety and heritage of country music, "to pay homage to the old guys, the people who brought us where we are today."

Country Chuck still goes by his alter ego Chuck "Main Man" Manning when hosting a recorded show called, "Breakfast With the King" on Clear Channel's other Southern Nevada station, KQOL 93.1-FM.

"I'd love to have a full-time radio job," Country Chuck said. "But once you get old they throw you to the wolves."

Speaking from the heart is a Country Chuck trait, and his fans don't mind that he's sometimes abrupt when talking to callers. It's part of his charm. And Country Chuck is the first to say he has no patience and is never in the mood for small talk.

"But I let them know I love them and appreciate them," Country Chuck said. "My wife died in 2000. This is the highlight of my social life. I want these Sunday shows to go perfect."

So perfect that he plans all week for the show, including his trivia quizzes, his "Who's Singing That Song?" contest and his jokes.

"I'm very human," he said. "I blow lines. I make mistakes. But that's OK. This is not brain surgery. This is a radio show."