Tom Joyner “The Fly-Jock”

Black History Spotlights

This is a new segment the Westside Gazette that will feature thru the end of February.  That is the conclusion of Black History Month. Hopefully it will educate or jog your memory on the legacy of our Black pioneers!

The landmark radio host and “Fly-Jock” had a remarkable history.  He was born and raised in Tuskegee Alabama. Both of his parents were graduates of historically Black colleges.  Tom went to Tuskegee University. Tom Joyner graduated with a degree in sociology.^[4] While a student at Tuskegee, Tom joined the  Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

At first, his goal was to be a musician. He hooked up with fellow classmates and joined a band called the Commodores.  That included his college friend Lionel Richie. The band had a bad start and did not make any money.  Tom’s family encouraged him to seek another way to make a living.

He had been involved in college radio and began his professional broadcasting career in Montgomery, Alabama immediately upon graduation, and worked at a number of radio stations in the South and Midwest, including stations in Memphis and St. Louis, before moving to Chicago in early 1978. 

   In Chicago, he first worked at WVON, doing the morning show, but left the station after only three months to work at a competitor, WBMX-FM.  By late July 1978, however, he had been hired away by Charles Mootry, general manager of station WJPC.  This station was named for “Johnson Publishing Company”, owned by John H. Johnson, owner of Jet and Ebony.

In 1985, Joyner was simultaneously offered two positions: one for a morning show at KKDA-FM in Dallas and one for an afternoon show at WGCI-FM in Chicago. Instead of choosing between the two, Tom chose to take both jobs, and for eight years, he commuted daily by plane between the two cities, earning the nickname “The Fly Jock” and “The Hardest Working Man in Radio”.

           He later told Radio Ink magazine that he racked up 7 million frequent flyer miles over the course of his employment at both stations.  A travel agent had found him a $30,000 fare that would guarantee him a round-trip seat for five years.  Tom was able to work for both stations simultaneously since neither of his two employment contracts had an exclusivity clause.

In 1994, Tom was signed by ABC Radio Networks to host a nationally syndicated program, The Tom Joyner Morning Show, featuring Joyner and a team of comedians and commentators reporting and discussing the latest news and sports of the day.