PHOTO INDEX: THE LATE DON STEVENS HARD AT WORK OR PLAY IN THE WARM STUDIO AND STEVENS ON THE POPULAR WARM SURVEY SHEET. THIS SHEET WAS FROM OCTOBER 15TH, 1966. THE NUMBER 1 SONG WAS "96 TEARS".
WE'RE HALFWAY HOME
The first words I heard about Don Stevens were ones of ridicule and derision. It was all part of Harry West's way of busting his fellow jocks. Jack Donager was "Jerk" Donager and Don Stevens was "the old man of radio". Don Stevens was "the guy Columbus left behind when he discovered America!" Don Stevens was so old......", you get the point. As a young listener, my curiosity was aroused and I wanted to see how bad this guy really was. After all, if the comments were coming from the lips of my radio idol, Harry West, then Don Stevens had to be a feeble old guy with a puny voice.
WRONG! The first time I heard Don Stevens I was blown away by his voice. It was powerful and forceful but at the same time could modulate down to a gentle cadence that most likely made WARMland housewives swoon. Don held down the 9am to noon slot and after the 1030AM edition of WARM news, (I believe that was the 21rst edition) Stevens would open the mike and boom out "WE'RE HALFWAY HOME". Once in a while, Don would actualy sing on his program. He'd run an instrumental cut of the song "Welcome To My World" and belt it out over 5,000 watts of power. If only there was a tape of that somewhere! But we have a version of "Welcome To My World" which I'm sure even Don Stevens' would approve of. From YOU TUBE, the late Jim Reeves singing the late Don Stevens' signature song.
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