Stu Wayne, a Broadcast Pioneer

In October 1948, "Radio & Philadelphia Best" Magazine wrote this article about Stu Wayne.

About twenty-five thousand records ago, a young announcer stepped up to the KYW microphone one August morning in 1945 to say for the first time: "This is the Musical Clock with Stuart Wayne."

A lot of disc grooves have worn thin since then, a lot of new records have become hits, and a lot of people have been made happy by the genial young man who is now famous for his penchant for "talking across the back fence" to early morning listeners in and about Philadelphia.

Take the time last summer, when Stu's regular secretary went on a vacation and filling in for her was a lovely young lady named Peggy Jo Dunn. Peggy Jo is just like any other young lady of 17 now. At one time, however, she was a seriously sick little girl, bedridden with rheumatic fever. Eighteen months ago a friend told Stuart Wayne of her condition. The first time he asked people to write Peggy Jo she received 400 letters; in a year's time she had received 14,000.

That announcement started a shut-in club that has grown in over a hundred member, a group that is constantly receiving cheerup mail and cards. Wayne's fame for shut-in work has spread to such an extent that this year he was named radio chairman for National Shut-In Day.

Turning a "Musical Clock" into a public service vehicle was a natural for Stu as picking hit songs.

It is no secret that Stu Wayne was first to recognize Jack Owens' "How Soon" as a hit and he sparked it to national popularity.

Getting up early (Stu starts his daily stint at 6:30 am) is not new to Wayne. He was born and raised on a little farm in North Canton, Connecticut, some 34 years ago. At 21, he found himself in the automobile business. Then Mother Wayne answered a newspaper audition ad placed by a local radio station. Son Stu rose to the occasion and he's been in radio ever since.

Coming to KYW in 1942, Stu served as a staff announcer for three years before being assigned to the "Musical Clock."

Although Mr. and Mrs. Wayne have no children of their own, Stu is "Uncle" to a host of youngsters in Philadelphia. Each day he devotes the final ten minutes of his program to youngsters in a segment he calls "Tunes for Tiny Tots at Ten to Nine." The feature has been such a success that KYW has scheduled a special 15-minute "Tunes for Tiny Tots" Saturday mornings.

Radio keeps the Wayne family pretty busy. But week-ends will find Stu and his wife, Agnes, aboard their power boat. "Lucky II," or spending a quiet few days in Connecticut.

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com