Waking up funny

By BABITA PERSAUD

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 5, 2000

Tom Joyner brings his morning crew to Tampa for a live broadcast this morning and a concert tonight.

Oh, oh, oh! It's the Tom Joyner Morning Show -- in Tampa today.

Don't expect the volume to be low, because that isn't Joyner's style. His radio show, syndicated out of Dallas, reaches 1.5-million listeners on 100 radio stations, mostly black-oriented, around the country daily. And talk about diversity -- his guests have included President Clinton and soul queen Chaka Khan.

For his live broadcast this morning from the USF Sun Dome, he's bringing a stage, lights, jumbo screen, '70s funk stars Cameo and the whole Joyner crew: Sybil Wilkes, the no-nonsense news anchor. J. Anthony Brown and Myra Jay, sidekicks. Miss Dupree, the show's psychic friend, and Tavis Smiley, social commentator.

For what? "One hell of a party," said Joyner from his Dallas home last week.

The crew will broadcast live from 6 to 10 a.m. at the Sun Dome. Then at 8 p.m., they'll throw a concert and comedy show with Cameo, J. Anthony Brown, Myra Jay and Miss Dupree.

Only 2,000 seats are available for the free live morning broadcast, so if this is the first you're hearing of the show and want to see it for yourself, expect crowds. In other cities, fans have started lining up at 4 a.m.

The show has a loyal local following, said Glenn Cherry, general manager of WTMP-AM, sponsors of the event. When WRBQ-AM dissolved and stopped carrying Joyner, listeners flooded WTMP with calls. The station knew it had to carry the show.

Why is Joyner's show so popular?

"Simple," said Cherry. "It's funny."

It's a brand of humor not often heard in white-dominated media, with jokes and wry observations about African-American life.

Joyner can say: "If you're nappy and you know it, clap your hands."

Or have a satirical feature like "Hidden Racism."

Listener: "How come a nail polish color for white people is called Pretty in Pink and one for "darker tones' is Gold Digger?"

Overhead voice: "Hidden Racism?"

To which Sybil usually responds: "Naah, it's just a coincidence."

"My brother came up with Hidden Racism," Joyner said. "Racism keeps him up at night."

In some ways, the show is old-time radio, with more call-ins and theater of the mind features than gags and prank calls popular with other morning programs.

There's the soap opera It's Your World, set in the fictional town of well-to-do Wellington. And "Little Known Black History Fact," and "Express Yourself," where listeners sound off on the question of the day: "Back in the day, what was your favorite cafeteria food?" or "If you could tell your boss anything, what would it be?"

Joyner plays music from Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, the O'Jays. He also gives away scholarships on the air. Each month is dedicated to a historically black university. Each Thursday is Mother's Day, dedicated to listeners' letters about why their mothers deserve a prize.

And once in a while, Joyner and crew will launch an on-air campaign.

They urged that Rosa Parks be recognized by the federal government for her role in the civil rights movement. Soon after, Clinton awarded Parks the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor the government can give an individual.

They urged CompUSA to advertise in minority media, prompting the company's CEO to call the show and promise to make amends.

They urged Christie's auction house not to auction off slave memorabilia. The house has a policy not to auction off Holocaust items. Why, asked Joyner, would slave items be treated differently? "I felt that wasn't right because slavery was a holocaust too." Christie's ended up donating the items to a museum.

Tom Joyner

Joyner, 50, grew up in Tuskegee, Ala., and graduated in 1968 from Tuskegee Institute with a sociology degree. A friend got him a job at a radio station in Montogomery and his career was started.

For a time, he traveled daily between his Dallas morning show and afternoon radio show in Chicago, calling himself, "the hardest working man in radio" and "Fly Jock." The two-city gig was a publicity stunt that worked.

Joyner filled his crew with others who also enjoyed some renown: J. Anthony Brown, a stand-up comic and a writer for Arsenio Hall's TV show; and Smiley, a host on Black Entertainment Television. In 1994, ABC Radio Network syndicated the Joyner show, taking the "Oh, Oh, Oh! It's the Tom Joyner Morning Show" national.

The road show was spawned during the presidential election campaign, with the goal of urging blacks to vote. At first, it was only "a long table and a bunch of microphones," said Joyner. To get in, you showed your voter registration card. Even today, the show is called a Party with a Purpose, with Joyner urging his audience to vote and fill out their 2000 Census forms.

The crew does 30 cities a year, each on a Friday, and each with a special musical guest such as Cameo. This is the show's first time to Tampa Bay.

"People ask me all the time about how it feels," Joyner said. "But it's not a power trip. It's an empowering trip."

This show also marks WTMP's first time hosting an event at the Sun Dome, Cherry said. For the 46-year-old AM station, "It's a step up," Cherry said. "Listeners all over the country will be hearing WTMP, the Sun Dome and Tampa."

-- St. Petersburg Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report.

At a glance

Tom Joyner Morning Show with special guest Cameo, 6 to 10 a.m. today at the USF Sun Dome, Tampa. Free. Call (813) 974-3002 or check http://www.WTMP.com. You can hear the broadcast live on WTMP-AM 1150.

At 8 tonight, Cameo appears with comedians J. Anthony Brown, Myra Jay and Miss Dupree at the USF Sun Dome. Tickets are $30 and $35. Call (813) 974-3002 or Ticketmaster at (813) 287-8844 or (727) 898-2100.