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Thursday, November 1, 2007
11/1: Steve McCoy’s first public comments about leaving Star
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Above: Tommy Sullivan, Vikki Locke and Steve McCoy at the Tabernacle, June 2, 2006, during the Next Big Thing concert featuring James Blunt, Bo Bice and K.T. Tunstall. CREDIT: Robb Cohen
Steve McCoy, who is leaving Star 94 Friday after 17 years along with Vikki Locke, wasn’t willing to submit to an interview by phone or in person so the best I could get was emailed answers to four of 18 questions I sent him yesterday. Here are the questions and answers verbatim except for grammatical fixes. What’s interesting is it sounds like he’s assuming Vikki will want to join him in a future endeavor once her health problems are out of the way. I don’t know if that’s the case because Vikki hasn’t been willing to talk since her original conversation with Richard Eldredge in June.
Q: What are you most proud of about the past 17 years?
A: The fact that Vikki and I were able to gain the confidence of a large audience and be so accepted for so many years is something that most morning shows envy in markets around the country. There’s so much “creative remembering” in radio today, and I’m proud that we were two people who always tried to create something new and unique every morning.
Q: You worked first with Vikki at Power and recommended she join you. Why?
A: Vikki was the best thing to happen to me. She’s one of the most creative people I’ve ever been around. It’s rare that you meet a person in your career who when it comes to career type goals sees things the same as you. We both would look at an interview or an idea like our Mile of Men, and come at it a different way…..but the beauty has always been that we would both build on each others ideas, and make every bit better each time. Neither of us ever worried who’s idea it was….but that it worked.
No matter what industry your in…when you have two people thinking like that….it’s magic and we are hopeful that magic can continue.
Q: What were your favorite moments from the show over the years (in some detail please) and your most embarrassing? Some notable moments I’ve been told they include Vikki’s birthday party that Rusty put together in 1993 in which David Justice and Halle Berry called in as well as Elton John; Tommy Sullivan eating off someone’s plate at a Waffle House, the 1996 April Fool’s Joke about the Olympics, the Live in it and Win It stunt, the Children’s Healthcare radiothon in which you revealed your son’s death on the air.
A: Actually there we’re a bunch of birthday shows. The first one was for Vikki’s birthday when I first learned Elton lived here. I grew up with Gerry Klaskala,who at that time was the head chef at Buckhead Diner, where Elton dined quite often. I asked Gerry if he would give a note I wrote inviting Elton to call in on Vikki’s birthday. Gerry got it done, and to my surprise Elton called Vikki on her birthday. That began a great friendship for us and Elton. He subsuquently came on the show and would stay all morning seven or eight more times, and the only time we both we’re speechless was when we we’re invited to dine with him and Bernie Taupin a few years ago. Vikki also got the opportunity to visit Elton at his London home a few years ago. On my first birthday show with Vikki, she got Pam Anderson to come on the show.
Q: Are you going to find another job in this market once your noncompete is up?
A: I am not retiring. Vikki and I have built a strong relationship and success in Atlanta. We both love the people and the city. I would be hopeful that other stations have taken notice of what we have been able to do. We both have worked hard for the community and I would love the opportunity to still be one of the top morning shows here in Atl. Next to my son dying at Children’s Healthcare, this has been the hardest number of months to go through on the air. We have tried to remain professional through out it all, and I know God must have a plan.
