David Vasser "Brother Dave" Biography
WRKT

Dave Vasser was doing nights at  WRFC-AM 960, Athens Georgia. Benjamin Hill was working part time in the news department. Ben's dad owned the local newspaper in Cocoa and Ben got the Program Director's slot at WRKT. In 1974, Ben hired both Dave and Merv Pilgrim to join him in Florida. They all worked under the leadership of owner Chet Pike. Dave's air name was "Brother Dave".  He began doing nights and was production director.  Dave would eventually move to afternoon drive. The Music Director and mid-day host was Merv Pilgrim while Jim Sumpter did mornings.  Dave remembers that the station was actually in Cocoa, but was licensed to Cocoa Beach.  The studios were on a then mostly dirt road called named Pluckebaum Road.  Dave called the concrete block building on the site the "Radio Ranch" because there was nothing else out there but cows and horses and old abandoned orange groves there. When Dave arrived,  WRKT-FM 104.1 was formatted AOR and WRKT-AM 1300 was playing a Top 40 format. They had all live jocks on both stations. Dave says; "...one of the most dedicated engineers I ever worked with (was) named Ron Schrader..."  Schrader had worked for NASA during the booming 60's. After leaving  WRKT, Dave spent seven years at WTMA,  WWWZ,  WCSC and WQSN all in Charleston South Carolina. Then it was on to Charlotte North Carolina area in 1980 where Dave worked at  Z-100,  WFOX,  WROQ,  WABZ,  WZKY and other stations around Charlotte before ending his radio career with a 14 year run of the "Brother Dave Show" on Magic 96.1 FM in Charlotte.   

Ben Hill sets the record straight; "...In fact, the newspaper (Cocoa Tribune) was owned by my great grandmother, but she sold it to Gannet in the mid 60’s … a LONG time before I became program director."

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