The curious case of 61 Country legend David Lawrence…
Few Kansas City radio personalities have loomed larger for longer than the esteemed WDAF radio personality. Although technically a country station, Lawrence pyramided his larger than life personality and penchant for hard news, coupled with colorful local on air guests into a position atop the morning radio ratings roost for the better part of two decades.
That is until the radio movers and shakers at station owner Entercom decided that music – not words- was the key to ratings success and sent Lawrence packing right before the station moved to the FM dial in 2006.
Almost as an afterthought, they did name the new FM broadcast booth for him.
So it was that one time behemoth broadcasters like Lawrence and KCMO AM legend Mike Murphy were cast aside and replaced by younger, at times angrier and (arguably) more superficial on air talent.
Flash forward to the present when two weeks back Lawrence, having retired to Texas and dabbling in social media as an Uber driver, passed away, a victim of ALS.
With nary an official word from anyone…until now.
“His family’s putting together some kind of a memorial service here,” says longtime Lawrence pal Roger the Plumber. “They were looking for someone to help them with it. but I think Entercom’s going to do something.”
What was it that made Lawrence so special?
“The thing is, I never heard anything bad about him,” Roger says. “He was always so gracious to people and so generous. He would collect thousands of turkeys and money and give everything away to the Salvation Army every Thanksgiving.
“And he had the No. 1 show in Kansas City for 10 or 15 years straight. He had Charles Gray, Kansas City’s best newsman ever. ”
While nothing was really said, that Entercom didn’t feel Lawrence would be a good fit with younger listeners after moving from AM to FM – effectively forcing him to retire – had to be disappointing.
“Yeah but what they didn’t know, was that David was very frugal and had saved his money and was set to retire,” Roger says. “And when things got rough, he packed up and left and didn’t look back.”
Dave was a great guy and that 61 Country lineup for those 15 years was unbeatable. Dave Lawrence as the morning DJ and that news crew with Charles Gray, Caroline Rooney, and Frank Haynes were familiar and friendly voices..you knew this was an all-star lineup!
Hard to argue with a track record and a cast like that!
David was so kind, so was his family frequant visitors at Stanfords and had me on his show several times…so sad he passed, he was a wonderful person.
I came to KC in the mid-80’s to sell for KCMO A/F, when I checked the book, Arbitron ratings, I looked up the WDAF morning show and literally cried. David Lawrence had an audience that was as large as local TV morning shows. As a competitor David was in the battle for the fun and enjoyment, and as a result his audience knew he was there for them.
I did not know him well and have seen some terrific posts about him elsewhere..yet ONLY here, did one over inflated jackass have to make it about himself……sad.
I THOUGHT BOOMER WAS BAD YOU EARN A HOLE OF THE DECADE PAL..LOVE TO HAVE LUNCH WITH YOU SOMETIME…
Respect, my comments are about respect, respect for the phenomenal job David performed, respect for the huge audience he won and kept for decades, respect for the attitude he displayed. As a competitor David won by being a nice guy, something Mr. Pell does not understand. I knew David and respect his place in Kansas City media history.
YES
Johnny Dare and Nycki Pace both penned glowing tributes to him on their Facebook pages. Well worth looking up and reading.
Just saw that David died. Can’t believe it. We were in the Navy together and reconnected when my family moved to KC in the late 70’s. We saw each other from time to time but unfortunately lost touch. He was a gentleman and will be greatly missed.
Miss David in 2021 just as much as I missed him when Entercom…Left Wing punks… cancelled David and other great radio hosts. I wish KFKF had picked them up just to rub Entercom’s nose in the blunder!
Rest In Peace… David Lawrence!
Docs…quit making money off treatments and CURE these horrible diseases!