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GREENSBORO — You could drive right by and not even notice the 17 empty acres off Meadowview near Interstate 85.

But Dave Compton does.

The first time he stopped, he couldn’t go down the driveway. It was too painful, too sad. The next time, he knew he needed to grab something, anything as a reminder.

He picked up a brick. That’s all that remains.

In about two years, Compton’s memory spot will become the new headquarters of the Greensboro Transit Authority. But four decades ago, that spot was where local radio really made waves.

Southern gospel reigned, FM radio in Greensboro took root, and everyone from football star Joe Theismann to radio star Wolfman Jack stopped by to jaw on-air.

Today, it’s just a big empty field, full of earth movers, dump trucks, broken concrete and huge clouds of billowing dust.

But Compton doesn’t see it that way. He sees familiar faces, an above-ground swimming pool and a white dog named Stormy.

It was the spot where he really jumped into radio, fresh out of Reidsville High. At 19, he started as a weekend announcer, making $140 a week playing Southern gospel on WPET (950 AM).

He stayed in that two-story building off Meadowview for nearly a quarter-century. He became WPET’s program director. He also became personal with the highs and lows of everyday life.

He got married, had two sons and lost his mother, Lelia, and his brother, Keith.

Today, Compton is 50. He still wears his Reidsville High ring, and he still works as WPET’s program director. Seven years ago, he left Meadowview and moved into an office complex off I-40, alongside five sister stations, all owned by a broadcasting giant in Pennsylvania.

But earlier this month, he saw his old building off Meadowview become demolition fodder.

It’s a good thing. The building had been locked up and empty. Still, thieves stole copper pipes and aluminum framing, and homeless people crawled inside through a 12-inch hole for a place to stay.

When it was built in 1971, that building was big-time. It represented Greensboro’s cutting edge radio.

WPET had been playing Southern gospel since 1967 — still does today — and preachers used to lease the field beside the station to hold tent revivals.

But it also became Greensboro’s first FM home to rock ’n’ roll.

WRQK (98.7 FM) came on the air in November 1973 with a huge, 100,000-watt signal that could be heard from Boone to Salter Path.

The station played a format called “Rock N’ Gold,’’ which included everything from Bachman-Turner Overdrive to Parliament to General Johnson and the Chairman of the Board.

WRQK started the first two-person morning show on the FM dial in the Triad, with Wes Jones and Willie Edwards, and had a studio penthouse with three glass walls.

Listeners could pull in from Meadowview and yell requests from the parking lot. The DJs walked out on the roof to hear the suggestions.

Alan Jeffries played beach music  Sunday afternoons; “Wes & Willie’’ had billboards on Battleground, and DJs had a pool out back to swim and relax — even between breaks.

It was old-school radio, a time when one owner ran one or two stations and on-air patter gave you a real sense of the personality of the city, straight from the street.

Today, WRQK is long gone. It’s morphed into something called Simon. And radio has become part of corporate America, with fewer jobs, fewer local voices and fewer local owners running the local airwaves

And now, the building off Meadowview is gone, too.

So, Compton has a brick. As do many of his former colleagues.

Compton says he’ll probably mount his brick on a piece of wood and put it on his shelf in the den.

“Just a happy reminder,’’ he says, “of days gone by.’’
 

Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jeri.rowe@news-record.com