I know over the past several weeks, numerous media outlets have featured stories about 104WDKX celebrating their 25th Anniversary. All of the stories have revealed the struggles and triumphs of owner, Andrew Langston. All of the stories have shown how a very small, but close knit family have created and maintained a very successful business. The story that hasn’t been told is the one about the Langston Family, the people behind the business.
It was 1979 and I was 16 years old. Without getting into too many details, I was growing up in a very strained home environment. I was basically raising myself. I went to DKX to look for a job because I always dreamed of working at a radio station. I was in need of money to buy basic needs like clothes, shoes, lunch money, etc… Mr. Langston himself greeted me at the door. He sat me down in the conference room (this was before they moved to their current location), and proceeded to tell me all about himself and the station. As you can imagine, I was totally impressed. He asked about one hundred questions about me and let me now what his expectations would be of me if he hired me. The next thing I knew, he told me I could start the next day.
My main assignment was reporting on area high school sports (yes, I was actually talking on the air). I was the envy of everyone in my high school. I also typed, filed, maintained the record library, and yes, emptied the garbage cans. During the summer when Andre was home from college, we DJ’ed private parties and provided music for a lot of the local summer festivals. I will never forget that time when DKX sponsored a happy hour at the festival tent. I helped Andre set up all of the equipment and the party began. Andre had been teaching me how to spin/mix records. He told me to start playing some music and then he would take over when people started coming. Well, they opened the gates and folks started filing in. I looked over my shoulder to give Dre the signal to take over and to my surprise, he was gone. I had to spin the music for the party for 2 hours until he returned. After I wiped the tears of joy from my eyes when he arrived, I asked him why he did such a cruel thing to me. He told me that he had total confidence in my abilities and the only way you can learn is to jump right into it. That’s when I looked up and saw hundreds of people in front of me dancing and having a good time. That was the first time in my life I actually felt I could do anything.
I would go to DKX everyday after I got out of school. Knowing my home situation, Mr. Langston would always have something at the station for me to eat when I got there (right down to the daily piece of candy Mr. Langston’s father Sam gave me everyday). To this day, Mr. Langston almost daily sends out for lunch and feeds the whole staff. Mr. Langston always made sure I had a ride home after work everyday so I wouldn’t have to take the bus home. Actually, the entire staff took me under their wings and watched out for me. Besides Mr. & Mrs. Langston being like mom and dad, I had acquired 4 new big brothers. Dre, Danny Harris (morning show), Ken Boddie (news) and Gordon Thomas (sports). Whenever we were at any type of function, you would have thought I was a movie star walking in with my bodyguards.
As time went on, it became more difficult at home and I had to leave the station. I graduated from high school, went to beauty school, received my license in cosmetology, and had a baby within a two-year period. I kind of lost touch with everyone. When my daughter was two, I started a job with the Xerox Corp. I was out one evening and I ran into Dre. He was now home from Michigan for good. We talked for hours and caught up on everything that had been going on. I told him that Xerox had just hired me, but I was still having problems making ends meet. He often gave me side jobs to do at the station to subsidize my income. Sometimes that didn’t always mean a paycheck. Sometimes, I would get gift certificates for Wegmans. Then there was that time when my phone was turned off, and Dre paid the bill to have it turned back on. And then there was the time when I had to spin a party and on my way home, my car slid on wet pavement and I ended up in a ditch because I was driving on bald tires. The next day, Mr. Langston heard about what happened, called me into his office, and made me take my car to a tire shop and paid to have four new tires put on my car.
Once my daughter became school age, I didn’t have anywhere for her to go after school. Once again, the Langstons came to my rescue. The school bus dropped my daughter off at the station everyday after school. Once again, Mr. Langston made sure that food was saved from lunch so that my daughter could eat when she arrived. Once she ate and did her homework, she had to empty the trash, file CD’s and she even got the chance to do several commercials that required a child’s voice.
I could go on and on about all of the things that the Langston’s have done for my daughter and I. I often wonder, where I would be if they had not come into my life. The funny thing is, their modesty does not allow them to even realize the impact they have had on me, my daughter and numerous other people that they have helped. Believe me, I am not the only person they have helped over the years. There have been hundreds of stories similar to mine. Yes, they have impacted Rochester radio and will forever go down in history as an impossible dream that came true! But, the way I will always remember the Langston’s is they way that they cared so much about this 16 year old girl that showed up on their doorstep, looking for a job. The way they took care of her, the things that they taught her, the way they protected her, the way they loved her. The way they still do for so many.
My thanks to the Langston’s, Andrew, Gloria, Andre and Mr. Sam (RIP). Thanks for saving my life!
Keep on Jammin’
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