Retired DJ 'very humbled' by honor
Seven new names will be added to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on Saturday, one of whom will follow Little Richard and Otis Redding onto the Douglass Theatre Walk of Fame the day before.
And the inductee is...
HAMP SWAIN
Why he is being honored:
Known as Macon's first black radio DJ, "King Bee" — as he was known on the air — helped break fellow Georgians Little Richard (who was once the lead vocalist of Swain's band), Redding and James Brown on his WBML show. "I remember when we got the demo of [Brown's] 'Please, Please, Please,' and first played it," the now-retired announcer recalls. "It was a capella, you know — just James and his group The Famous Flames in the background. And it just went wild. Explosive! Crazy! The harmony and the sincerity and his delivery of the song, it was just different. But it was something I thought had a chance, and I guess I was right."What he has to say about it: "It's overwhelming! More than I can handle. You ask me how I'm going to celebrate and I'm thinking, 'How am I going to handle all of this — physically?' " he says with a laugh. "I'm an old guy. [78]. But I have a young mind. And seriously, I'm very humbled by all of this. It's an honor."
What may surprise you about him: Not only does Swain have a young mind, but a youthful ear. "These days I switch from the hip-hop station, 107.1, to the oldies, 100.1, listening for something that I can bear," he says of the two Macon stations owned by fellow radio pioneer Mike Roberts, former morning announcer on V-103. "Most of the hip-hop people I don't really know, in particular... but I like [contemporary R&B singer] Mariah Carey. She is fantastic!"
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