In a field where people are dissected and exploited, abused and mistreated, or chewed up and spit out on a regular basis, most don’t last a few years.
Quenn Echols has lasted 30.
He’s worked in both TV and radio. In the latter, he as an intern, jock and (now) a Program Director. He’s been on the air in eight cities in five states (yep, that’s right).
And in TV, he was the host of a local entertainment show, and the face of national ad campaign.
Quenn has owned several nightclubs, dated one of R&B’s most treasured divas (before she hit the big time), and is friends with some of the biggest names in entertainment.
Add to that being the father of two (adult) children and you’d probably say Quenn has lived a very full life – and he’s not even 50 yet.
Not bad for a kid from Como, Texas.
I’ve known Quenn for less than a decade, but I’m amazed by what he’s accomplished. I’m 30 years old, and haven’t done a tenth of the items on his lengthy resume.
Some in the industry would be jealous, not give him his props ... downplay his contributions and write him off as “lucky.”
But if you know what I know, you’ll pay close attention to the words in this interview. Especially if you want to be in this industry.
Call it your backstage pass.... and the ONLY place you'll get this kind of advice for FREE.
Quenn Echols has been one of the gatekeepers of Urban music for some time now.
Every day he shares the best and the worst of this industry with us. Every day he introduces us to someone new, or reunites us with someone we forgot.
So it only seemed fitting to share this interview during THIS month. BLACK MUSIC MONTH ...
To introduce those who don’t know, and re-introduce those who forgot, to a man who helping to keep Black radio (and therefore Black music) alive.
In this three-part interview, you’re about to learn from one of the best in the business. The ups and the downs. The trials and triumphs.
The wisdom of a man who’s been through a lot and is still thanking God for every minute of it.
***
ME; How did you get started in radio?
QE: It really started in high school. I was the sports editor of my high school paper and had a high school group of media students in DFW.
I was elected spokesperson for the group and ended up doing TV commercials during Black History Month – I realized I had a lot of ham in me, plus I started getting attention from girls (way more than I did playing ball)
Basketball took me to UTA, where I majored in Radio and TV broadcasting (possibly to report sports). (My mom wanted me to stay in music b/c I was in the band … drum major even …).
I was playing basketball at UTA and realized I wasn’t going pro. I had a gift of gab. Everyone said I could talk but we didn’t have that forum at UTA then.
I was a P.A. in some of my production classes. A guy (sports director) at KKDA (K104/Soul 73) in Dallas heard about me from one of my professors and wanted me to come check out the radio station.
I ended but being a sports reporter. At the end of my freshman year, going into my sophomore year, I was the Fort Worth correspondent for KKDA FM.
It went on from there. But once I knew this is what I wanted to do, I sat my mom down and told her. She supported me. We both knew I’d be broke for a while pursuing this field but she supported me and helped me out.
ME: What did you want to be when you were little?
QE: First I wanted to be a spy like James Bond (because he got all the women). As I got older I wanted to be a pilot but I couldn’t figure out longitude and altitude so I gave that up.
Growing up in Como, we played sports a lot. We competed by block or by street, and the more I played, I realized I had talent. At 10 or 11 I was playing with much bigger kids and adults.
ME: Who were your favorite players back then?
QE: My favorite player back then was Dr. J because he was dazzling on the floor. I also liked Walt Clyde Frazier (NY Knicks) and Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, but I couldn’t shake and bake as well as he could.
ME: So basketball took you to college and college brought you to radio … then what? After the gig at KKDA, how did it go from there?
QE: I was at KKDA for about two years. Then I left and when to the competitor, KNOK (owned then by Black Enterprise). I did weekends and overnights, then eventually the coveted afternoon drive position.
At 21, I was the youngest on-air announcer in a top 10 market. I was at KNOK with Tom Joyner, who was the AM guy back then and I learned a lot from him.
Little did I know I was learning from a future radio (media) legend. I was there for 7 years, nearly 3 of which I did a local TV entertainment show (which shall remain nameless).
ME: Did Tom give you any advice?
QE: He told me to go somewhere (a station) where I can be the star.
ME: Good advice! So what happened next?
QE: In 1987 I left KNOK and went on a radio tour, doing on-air and programming in cities like Montgomery, AL, and Marion/Myrtle Beach & Columbia, SC. I did that for about two years.
In South Carolina the radio station was basically in a trailer. A lot of people think here in Shreveport was my first time programming two stations at once but I did that in South Carolina back then too.
My last stop on the tour was in Norfolk, VA. I got homesick and decided to head back home (to Fort Worth).
ME: So how did you end up in Shreveport?
QE: In 1989, I was up for an AM show at 100.3 Jamz in Dallas, along with Russ Parr. The powers that be were taking too long (months) with the contract and I was getting an offer in Shreveport from KMJJ. I got impatient with 100.3 and took the job at KMJJ doing mornings and programming.
ME: So what was your time at KMJJ like?
QE: I was there for about a year. I introduced them to CDs! I bought their first two CD players. Back then they were still playing songs from carts. I didn’t stay there long. I got taught a good lesson that had nothing to do with talent. It was a political lesson, in a small market. It taught me what management in this market was like.
ME: So where did you go from there?
QE: Actually I ended up back in Dallas, working at 100.3, the same station I turned down (laughs). So I was there with Russ Parr (who of course ended up syndicated!). After two years there I accepted a job doing mornings at 107.3 in Tyler, Texas. I lived in Shreveport and worked in Tyler. I wasn’t there long.
ME: Why’d you leave?
QE: That market wasn’t ready for that kind of diversity at the time. And my goal changed. I opened a club in Shreveport called Paradise Alley.
ME: And how did that work out?
QE: Well it ended with controversy. I don’t mind talking about it because most people know anyway. I had an incident with Luther “Luke” Campbell at a party held there. Because of the controversy I was pointed in a direction that ended up helping and changing my career.
ME: Where did you go from there?
QE: I ended up taking an on-air job at KRMD in Fall 1992. I was under an alias. About a month later I finally got my chance to be a reporter when I got a job at Channel 6. I worked in production and did general reporting , even though I secretly wanted to do sports.
In 1994, while covering the State Fair, I ran into Cary Camp (current General Manager of the Radio Group where KDKS & KBTT are housed). We’ve been friends ever since. When we met he said he had someone working for him but may need me later ... and he did. I worked at both Channel 6 and KDKS for a while.
ME: How long did you do that?
QE: A couple of years and then I went back home and worked at V100 in Dallas. I was also a personal banker for Bank One for a while.
ME: Jack of all Trades! So how’d you end up back at KDKS?
QE: In 1998 I cam back and have been here ever since.
ME: Why’d you come back?
QE: Because Cary asked me to. There were only a handful of people I would ever come back to work for and Cary Camp is one of them. I was proud of being a part of putting KDKS on the map, because were weren’t even a reporting station back then. When I came back KDKS became a top-competing station. Its truly a nothing to something story.
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