Page 56 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2022

Finally, players of ska music credit “No More Doggin’” by
Roscoe Gordon, heard on WLAC, as being its Genesis!
Times would catch up to the station, and in the ‘70s a
new regime would once again change the format to Top 40
and eventually Talk Radio. The others would retire, but the
Hossman kept his gospel show on ‘til the mid-1990s.
It’s hard to imagine in today’s world that one radio station
could have made that big of a difference, even those involved
tended to downplay its impact. I met Bill “Hossman” Allen at a
recovery meeting in Nashville in 1993. I heard that voice that
had reached out to me so many nights across the ionosphere,
now coming from a senior gentleman standing in a circle
reciting the Lord’s Prayer. I grabbed his arm and begged him
to let me talk to him. I babbled on about how he had changed
my life, and he just smiled and suggested we meet up.
Over lunch, I asked him if he had any idea how much he
had influenced American music in general over the years. He
laughed and said, “Well, we did a good job, we had a lot of
fun and I like to think we made a lot of people happy.”
He paused and added, “I know one thing for sure, we sure
sold the hell out of some Stim-U-Aid!”

Rev. Billy C. Wirtz lives in Ocala, FL, with his wife Linda, 14 cats
and a horse. Get in touch at revbilly88@aol.com or facebook.
com/revbilly88. Check him out on Patreon at patreon.com/
revbillycwirtz to become an official member of Rev. Billy’s First
House of Polyester Worship Online Congregation. Member
benefits include Rev. Billy’s monthly bulletin “Missionary
Position,” hand-signed prayer rugs, advance chapters of
his books, radio shows emailed directly, Patreon-only online
concerts, a personal concert at your house and more!

All original artwork by Matt O’Brien. Check him out on
Instagram @skullface_project

54 Blues Festival Guide 2022