Walt Baby Love

Few interviews have been as informative, entertaining and moving as the one we recently conducted with nationally syndicated radio celeb - Walt "Baby" Love. With nearly thirty years of radio experience under his belt, and two syndicated shows listened by millions, weekly, Walt had much to share on his remarkable broadcasting journey.

Bringing his perspectives on Urban vs. Gospel music popularity on radio and his fortunate break into radio broadcast was insightful. As a popular personality across America with his two very popular syndicated radio shows - The Countdown & Gospel Traxx - his comments and outlook are invaluable.

But when Walt began to share his daunting battle and miraculous victory over Cancer, it became pure testimony. Walt Love was surprisingly personal, insightful and refreshingly honest throughout our exchange. In the end, we received more than we bargained for. On behalf of all of us at GOSPELCITY, we'd like to thank you for such an uplifting testimony, Walt.

Christopher Heron: First, let me congratulate you on your 20th anniversary with your syndicated radio show - The Countdown…it's quite an achievement. Did you leverage your success of that show to start your latest success story - Gospel Traxx - which has been on the air for the last seven years?

Walt Baby Love : We became interested in wanting to do Gospel Traxx basically because I'm a born-again Christian and accepted Christ when I was a young boy. Then, like most people, I went along just trying to serve the Lord but got distracted with the world, got distracted from the standpoint of meaning. Then when I became more of an adult in this business and began to look at things, I realized the only reason I was succeeding was because of my faith in God. When man stepped in my way, opportunities still came about and those opportunities came because of the Lord.

It was just put in my heart about 10 years ago to do a program like Gospel Traxx. But, I thought I'd be able to go to other major syndicators and convince them, "here was something not only good to do, but could be a new revenue stream because it hadn't been tapped." And much to my surprise, no one wanted to hear what I was talking about. That's when my faith really played a role. I shouldn't say just my faith but my wife's faith also played a role.

We talked to our pastor, Prophet L.K. Johnson in Chicago. He said to me, "Walt, you don't have to go ask other people for permission to do something that glorifies the name of the Lord. God has already blessed you. If you believe in what you're doing, then you oughta take your money and go do it."

CH: Hmm…faith.

WBL: So in essence, we stepped out on faith and formed a little company, Walt Baby Love Productions, in the midst of giants. And here we are, seven years later. Glory, hallelujah! Now, I don't know if that's the answer you're looking for but that's the truth.

CH: How do you account for such an overwhelming reception to Gospel Traxx being syndicated to so many stations across the country?

WBL: The thing I looked at is you know God uses people to help people. My affiliate radio stations, their managers, their program directors of all these R&B/Urban hip-hop kind of stations were the first to say to me before I started Gospel Traxx, "Why don't you do a syndicated gospel show?"

And, I said "What?" They said, "Well, you know, in The Countdown, every now and then, you play a gospel song. Like, when you just feel the urge to say something positive to people, we notice you do that, and we don't mind because so many people call us to start requesting the gospel song that you played." I said, "Really". They all said to me, "If you do a gospel show, we will be the first to sign up and become an affiliate while still carrying your R&B countdown." Do you know, Christopher, this was one of the few times in my life in this industry when folks didn't mislead or lie to me? When I got the show together, I sent them applications. They said, "Send me a contract, I'll sign up and take it."

CH: Just like that?

WBL: Just like that. Now that's only, in my opinion, the glory of the Lord because He obviously touched their hearts, their souls and their minds to live up to what they said to me. A lot of these people, I've since been friends with for years and have actually helped them get the jobs they currently have. I get calls from corporate executives and vice presidents of programming etc. saying, "Walt, is there someone you could recommend?" So, I've been this bridge, this conduit, 21 years in May. I've been here at R&R and have been able to help a lot of corporations find good people as well as put good people in touch with other good people at corporations they didn't even know existed. I think that all that good has come back during the course of Gospel Traxx.

CH: You speak with quite a spiritual conviction. Does that come from your training as an ordained minister for the AME Church?

WBL: No, I think that comes from living life and growing up in Crayton, Pennsylvannia in the mountains with my great-grandparents and having no real running water, 'til I got into junior high school, high school. Looking at this man work hard everyday and love his wife and my grandmother trying to do anything she could to help him. I grew up with an example; we went to church all week. I went to choir rehearsal, to prayer meetings, VYPU on Sundays at five o'clock - all day church. So, I think my conviction comes from living life; and so my training as an ordained minister is only polishing some things from the standpoint of learning how a particular denomination does things, how the church wants to see things, but my conviction is really all about my own walk with the Lord.

CH: At what point in your life did you realize you were going to have a career in broadcast radio?

WBL: Not until I was ready to get out in the military in December 1967. I was just about ready to get discharged after two tours of duty. I was in for approximately six years, eleven months.

CH: Vietnam?

WBL: No, I was in Southeast Asia and in Northeast Thailand…but the point is a number of guys kept saying to me, "Man, you oughta become a disc jockey", as they used to call it. So while I was in the army, I started writing letters. Nobody would pay me any attention. While I was actually still in, I went on a couple of interviews. People were very nasty to me. I stumbled on a copy of Broadcasting Magazines while I was still in the military and went to its classifieds and noticed it had all these job opportunities. So, I decided to send letters and tapes of myself. And, I must have sent about thirty of them and I got four responses saying that they would possibly be interested in talking with me and would like to hear something else. What I sent wasn't exactly what they wanted but it gave them a sense that I could articulate.

So the interesting thing was, is one gentlemen named Richard Oppenheimer, a professor down at the University of Texas, in Austin right now, was like my mentor. Mr. Oppenheimer wrote me back and said, "Young man, I don't have a job right now but let me know when you get ready to get out of the military. If you'll do that, I'll see if I can find a place for you with our company. I'm here in Houston, Texas. I think you could have potential. Would you send me another tape," and Christopher you'll find this interesting, he said, "with another photograph of yourself, a different pose." So I did. I made another tape and I sent a different picture. He called and said, "Y'know I gotta ask you a question. Is this really you in this picture? The picture you sent me? I said, "Yes sir, why is that?" He said, "I'll just be blunt with you. I thought you were a white guy who likes black music and was obviously knowledgeable about R&B music. You don't sound like our other disc jockeys, um, most black people I know; I didn't wanna take a chance offering you a job. You get here, and you're black, I don't believe I could put you on this particular radio station."

CH: Wow!!!

WBL: That was kind of interesting to me. Now, here I was in the military, just coming back from Southeast Asia, having been in ten tours, close to seven years. And, here was somebody concerned about what color I was because my sound didn't fit a stereotype.

CH: Right.

WBL: But, see, I always thanked him for that because when it was time for me to get out of the military six months later. He said, "We'll look forward to seeing you show up on this date and I'll have a job for you." I didn't even ask like what time or anything. All I knew was I was gonna get a chance to be on the radio. And here we are, 30 years later.

CH: What a remarkable story.

WBL: I was blessed. And all because this guy was willing to give a black man with no experience a chance. But, he felt I had the ability.

CH: You have two concurrent shows going with The Countdown and Gospel Traxx. Elaborate on your presentation, your style, your tone seeing that the two shows fit two very different musical formats, two different demographics and to some degree, two different audiences.

WBL: Actually, it's almost the same audience. We target 18-34-year-olds and 18-49-year-olds - those people with disposable incomes in the African-American community. The African-American community is responsible for spending 572 billion dollars on goods and services. And, we've been blessed, we have more than two shows going: two versions of the countdown and we have the urban AC version of the countdown, which targets 25-54-year-olds. Then we also have African-Americans Making History Today, a short form, 30-second program. We tell you about African-Americans like Mr. Ken Chenault (CEO) of American Express. Men and women like that, it's heard on 125 different urban stations in the country that's an image building campaign, an idea that I had years ago. I thought we should try to tell folks about black folks who are doing something historical that actually affects their lives. And then we have the two different versions of Gospel Traxx; the two-hour version and the three-hour version. So, basically, our audience is intertwined. Some of the same people listen to me on Saturday mornings around the country on their favorite radio station and tune into Gospel Traxx on Sunday morning.

God has made Walt Baby Love, that name, a brand and my audience transcends color, culture and demographic. If you look at our ratings, our biggest numbers are 18-34-year-old black females and 18-49-year-old black females. And then if you look at the adults, 25-54, you see black men and women there. Teens have come along - that's the interesting thing.

CH: That is interesting. Let me ask you another question pertaining to demographics and music; you've worked in major markets across the U.S., particularly New York, Chicago and L.A. Is music generally received the same way, or do they all have their peculiarities in terms of taste and preferences?

WBL: I think you're right. They all have their peculiarities for their part of the country. Like Chicago, you can play the blues in Chicago and it's just like you were playing it in New Orleans or Alabama, and it would be accepted. But you try to play that same blues in New York or L.A. and they're gonna say, what's that?

CH: They're not hearing it.

WBL: Right, they're not hearing that. Each market has its own specific requirement. If you're talking R&B, I mean Jagged Edge, Alicia Keys, it's gonna be accepted everywhere. But, you can find some other things that would be specific to New York and won't happen any place else but there.

CH: Now, when it comes to gospel music, does the same rule apply? Are there some artists that are universal and other artists that are particular favorites in certain regions of the country?

WBL: Absolutely. For example, Lee Williams and the Spirital QC's of quartet gospel are just universal.

CH: Really?

WBL: Uh huh. Same with Shirley Caesar and Albertina Walker who are traditional?type gospel artists. There's like a movement going on right now; what people want to get rid of is the word gospel in our industry and not so much music people as much as broadcasters. It appalled me because when I was asked about it, they were asking if they could enlist my support, and I told them absolutely not. And, the reason why is, we all know the gospel means, the good news.

CH: Right.

We're going to be just what we are. I was told we couldn't do what we're currently doing, just eight, nine, ten years ago; "You're gonna throw your money away." As far as I'm concerned, the scripture says that which comes to kill, steal and destroy and he prowls around like a serpent, looking for someone to devour. Well, for me, that is only a scheme of this new age society to take away something that glorifies God.

What I found out from running radio stations is the so-called gospel time period on Sunday morning, was always kind of a throw-away time. You have broadcasters who can make money off this time period, but they can hire somebody who didn't have the same expertise as the people they had on the air Monday through Saturday. They would pay them minimum wage. Generally, what you got was an inferior presentation on most stations across the country. I don't care if it was in New York, or in Chicago or if you're talking about down in Jackson, Mississippi or in Meridian, wherever. No matter how big or how small, you didn't get the person who had the best skills.

CH: But times have changed?

WBL: Yeah. God has blessed me to get involved and do what I do. Now I hear people all across the country almost copying what we do. But, as you know, that's another form of flattery. If the level of professionalism happens through God using me as an example, well then I am so thankful He chose me to be the one to step out there and say, alright, follow this.

CH: We just witnessed the remarkable unprecedented success of Kirk Franklin's latest album, topping both the R&B and the gospel charts on Billboard. We've seen others go platinum like Yolanda Adams and Mary Mary and the like. Do you foresee gospel continuing to integrate and crossover on mainstream radio or is it a small phenomenon?

WBL: I think it's a small phenomenon. We in the gospel world, want to think that everybody in the second world is gonna open their minds, open their hearts and play this music. And, remember now, when you're talking about Kirk, you're talking about his current CD, The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin.

CH: That's right.

WBL: And, you may notice there's a lot of different stuff on there, meaning, different approaches to what he does. Now, if you think back to 1994, what did he first do? He did the song, Why We Sing. It was like a choir song. Correct?

CH: Pure church music.

WBL: And, it took three years, 'til 1997, for that record to hit platinum. So, all that time it was selling, a little bit at a time. There's always going to be a door open for people like Kirk because he came along, he had so-called CHR rhythmic radio stations playing Stomp. They weren't paying any attention to the lyrics or anything else. As a matter of fact, it used to offend me, because I would hear some radio people who just happened to be Caucasian goin', "Ah man, listen to that Kirk Franklin just kickin'… I mean, man he's just so cool." But, the point I'm trying to make is I don't think gospel music has to follow the beats, rifts, of rap, hip-hop, R&B.

For example, look at Yolanda Adams with songs like, Open My Heart & In the Midst of it All; which is a great song - it touches your soul. Because all of us can think back to when we were in the midst of all kinds of stuff when God brought us out. But if you look around the country, you see people jumping on that curve.

CH: In closing, Brother Love, if you don't mind, share with me what are your top one or two objectives, when you do Gospel Track? As you dedicate your time and energy to this music, what do you try to achieve in the course of your syndicated show? Is it about putting across professionalism? Is it about bringing souls to Christ? What' behind the music and small talk?

WBL: Every week when I do the program three things are important. One, that I show God how much I thank him for what He's done for me. You know, five years ago, I had kidney cancer and wasn't expected to make it. So, I'm five years and three months cancer free. So, every time I do this show, it's about my praise to God, thanking Him for all He's done in my life. The second thing I try to do is uplift people out there listening to us. Then the third objective is to win souls to Christ. I don't think professionalism at all, other than in the technology and things we use. If you listen to the program at all, you'll notice if I get to talking about something and the Holy Spirit hits me, it becomes praise and worship. It brings me to the point of tears, you don't hear the mic go away to another song; you hear me cry.

You hear me give God glory and I'm not ashamed. Now, professionals in the business would say, "oh, you don't need to show all that emotion." But, I think I do. And, let me show you why real quick, and I hope this makes your story when you edit this, because I know you can't get it all. I would give my testimony after the surgery and when they were keeping me under observation for five years; I was under observation up until just a few months ago. Every year, with CAT Scans, blood tests. I had all my doctors come on my show, like within six months of the surgery. Between 50 and 100 people contacted me because they had a husband, a daughter, a son, a mother, a loved one, a cousin, a father, who had also been diagnosed with kidney cancer. Now, let me show you how good God is, man…(weeping)

CH: Take your time…

WBL: Hallelujah, God! I just bless this holy day that people contacted me because they said, "Mr. Love, we don't know if your doctors can help or not. But our doctors said, give up on your father, mother or 16-year old daughter. Could you give us the name of your oncologist, your surgeons, your urologist? Let us call them because we'd be willing to fly to Los Angeles to bring our loved ones. If there's any chance, we want to do that, because your testimony has encouraged us." God used me as a tiny instrument and He still does. People contact me all the time about being been diagnosed with some form of cancer. And, they'll say, would you pray with me? And I tell them, I don't have something special but I can tell you I do have faith. God has used me, reaching five and a half million people here in America to spread that message.

And, you see when I just talk about it, man, I can't help myself because my tears are tears of joy. My little guy was only four years old when all this happened. I said to God, "If it's in Your will, let me live to see him grow up. He needs a man in his life. I can teach him what his mother will never be able to teach him. We don't need another black male child without a father. So Lord, if it's your will, please, heal my body." And, he did. That's why I testify. That's why I'm out here preaching all over the country. My message is one of faith and healing; he's giving me a faith and healing ministry. I'm not saying I can heal nobody, God can. But, he has me out here telling people and they can look at me as an example of good physical health. That's what this CD is for me; it's my expression of love to and for Jesus Christ as well as to my audience. They went through it with me. We got thousands of letters saying we're praying for you and your family, Walt, get better Walt, trust God, Walt, we're listening for you, we haven't heard you on the air, but we know you'll be back. In our society, man, most people don't care about nobody.

CH: True…true.

WBL: But people showed me the love of Jesus Christ. That's the big difference between Gospel Traxx and The Countdown.

For More Information On Walt Baby Love, Visit www.waltbabylove.com.