Tom Davis:

Veteran Radio Man Still Pioneering And Reinventing Himself

By Willie Hunter

He has been in the business of building, engineering, programming and managing broadcast radio stations for forty years.  And – after all of this time – Atlanta’s Tom Davis is pioneering and reinventing in many very interesting ways.  Mr. Davis has worked all over the USA while mentoring and motivating people to pursue professional careers in the radio broadcast medium,

Tom Davis background in radio is what is termed as ‘spectacular’.  His experience includes stints at such radio station markets as KKFI – FM Radio in Kansas City, KNON in Dallas, Texas and KABF in Little Rock, Arkansas.   And all during this time – Mr. Davis rubbed shoulders with, met and worked with many of the most famous stars of the music industry and famous personalities in many other areas of life as well. 

Perhaps Tom Davis is best known in the Atlanta area for the work he did from 1990 to 1998 at community radio station WRFG – FM (89.3) which is located in the Little Five Points area.  As station manager – Mr. Davis introduced a number of programs that captured a diverse and cross section of listeners around the city.  “World Party” was one of the programs exposing music from around the world.  Tom Davis was the first radio executive to program hip hop / rap music on a daily basis on broadcast radio in Atlanta.  These programs additions quickly gained the veteran radio executive recognition from around the USA. 

While station manager at WRFG  in 1998 – Tom Davis expanded the station’s reach internationally and conducted remote broadcasts from Europe, Africa, Jamaica and various other exotic locations. He also spearheaded the campaign to raise WRFG – FM’s power from 27,000 to 100,000 watts.  Some of the now powerful names he mentored at the station included Talib Shabazz, DJ Doc, Tasha Love, Lil Jon, DTP executive Chaka Zulu and many others.

Upon leaving the station – Tom Davis reinvented himself by starting one of the first internet radio stations in the USA.  The station is called Love Internet Radio (www.dr-love.com).  Love Radio has a very diverse format highlighting music, information and special events. The music format includes such genres as jazz, blues, rap / hip hop, R&B, gospel, rock and alternative.  Love Radio coordinates talent for major festivals through its Love Artists Network.  Love Radio develops promotional activities for organizations, festivals, events, etc.

Some of the large events that Love Radio helped to coordinate include The U.S. Social Forum, The Poor Peoples Annual March, M.L. King Festival, Hosea Feed The Hungry & Homeless, Union City Festival, Great Atlanta Blues & Music Fest, Sweet Auburn Spring Fest,  Southwest Community Festival, Reynoldstown Wheel Barrow Festival, and more. 

One of Tom Davis’ campaigns that is bringing positive results - is his efforts to bring live entertainment back to Historic Sweet Auburn Avenue.  Sweet Auburn was once dubbed ‘the richest Black street in America’. The street was once the center of Black cultural, social, religious, entertainment and business activities.  Nearly a year ago – Tom Davis began his campaign to bring back live entertainment to the Avenue – by starting the ‘Sunday Pal’s Blues Jam Session’ – where musicians from all over the Atlanta area come to perform. 

Mister Davis’ other significant effort was his involvement in the grand reopening of legendary Auburn Avenue night club ‘The Royal Peacock’  September 2010.  The famed night spot once hosted such names as Aretha Franklin, Jackie Wilson, James Brown, Billy Wright, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Little Richard, Al Green and many other names of the rhythm & blues era.

Looking at his background – we find that this internet radio pioneer and businessman is a native of Rockford, Illinois. His education includes Elkins Institute and the University of Minnesota where he studied radio announcing and television production.  Some of Tom Davis’ professional and civic activities included – The Christian Science Monitor Advisory Board, National Business League, Young Black Progrmmers Coalition, National Federation of Community Broadcasters, Philander Smith College Advisory Committee and more.

Dr. Love – as Tom Davis is often referred to – has a background in the military – including time spent during the Viet Nam era as a medic.  He is the receiver of such military honors as ‘The Purple Heart’ and more.  One of the things he is most proud of is his family heritage going back to slavery.  Tom Davis is able to trace his heritage back to his great - great grand father who escaped slavery by running away, swimming rivers, lakes, etc.  His ancestor ended up in the state of Alabama – where his (– great grandfather) ended up owing substantial land.  The ancestor also became a model citizen and pillar of the community.  The family still owns and they continue to live on the property.              

Dr. Love Another Auburn Avenue Pioneer

Following in the historical footsteps of Jessie B. Blayton, Sr., the founder of WERD-AM 860 on Auburn Avenue in 1949 comes yet another modern-day radio pioneer. He’s Auburn Avenue-based Tom Davis aka “Dr. Love”, the founder and owner of Love Internet Radio at www. dr-love.com. Internet radio is in its infancy. Davis, 55, ventured into the uncharted waters six years ago – far ahead of his competitors in the euphoric d.com. era.

“Tom’s been an educator for years, he’s trained a majority of the young disk jockey’s across the nation” opines Allen Johnson, owner of Music Specialists, a 30-year Miami-based veteran of the music industry who has successfully developed an array of entertainment companies. Love Radio is one of his clients. Dr. Love is one of his favorite friends. “He is the first man of color that I’ve ever met in my life who was able to create grants that created national public radio stations.”
Although an accomplished musician and trumpet player as a high school performer in Rockford, Illinois Davis was convinced as a collegian that the engineering side of the music business would make for a profitable future. Davis was one of the first blacks in the nation to acquire the skills to put together like an erector-set radio stations.

“I did everything from building the towers, to putting the transmission system in place to training the volunteers at numerous stations around the country,” Davis reveals. The stations he built include KNON in Dallas, KBAF in Little Rock and KFFI in Kansas City.

From 1990 to 1998 Davis helped WRFG in Atlanta move from a barely audible wattage to a 100-thousand watt powerhouse.

“One hundred thousand watts is the most you can have,” says Davis who served as the struggling public radio station’s general manager for nearly a decade. “I raised the funds. I put together the engineering package. I made them what they are today.”

“He put WRFG on the map and when he left it fell right off,” opines Johnson, a longtime Miami media friend of this reporter, of Davis’s radio prowess. “He brought national promoters; he brought the money they tried years to cultivate. When he got thru he had a score of grants written, the station grew up, and all the major announcers in town right now came through his system.”

Then Davis or “Dr. Love” as he is known to his friends and colleagues decided to break new ground by establishing an Internet radio station – a business concept that seemed far-fetched, if not improbable at the time.

“It’s the future,” Davis replies when asked what prompted him to launch his Internet station. “What the Internet offers is an opportunity for unsigned artists and unknown artists to get their music played and shared with a large international audience because the Internet and my audience are worldwide.” Davis says that while his station is yet to turn a profit, he can tell that his jazz, blues, gospel and Hip-Hop Love Radio format is steadily increasing in popularity. He says he regularly receives e-mails from as far away as Viet Nam, China, Japan, and London, North Korea and throughout the Caribbean.

“We probably have about ten thousand people on our e-mail list that we send our newsletter out to, and they respond,” he says.

Davis deliberately and purposefully located his enterprise on Auburn Avenue. When he first arrived in Atlanta he worked with what was then called the King Fest. “And, I was mystified by the whole Auburn Avenue story of it once being the richest street for blacks in America,” he recalls. “What drew me to Atlanta and convinced me to accept my job at WRFG was the legacy of Auburn Avenue. I intend to build on that. Broadcasting live from Auburn Avenue has a historical retrospect. And, it is something where people from all over the world can relate to because of Martin Luther King, because of industry like Atlanta Life Insurance Company and entertainment venues like the Royal Peacock.”

Davis may be best known for the 10 or more festivals he produces each year – ranging from the MLK Celebration to the Sweet Auburn Fest to the Reynolds town Wheelbarrow Summer Theatre Festival – that annually draw thousands of music lovers from throughout the Southeast.Davis’ next and, possibly most profiting, pioneering enterprise are set to go into effect early this year. He has contracted to feed his signal and programming to AM stations in smaller markets. In effect, Davis is about to syndicate Love Radio via the Internet.

“ If I can find 20 stations that will allow me to feed them a program at night, and then we can reach some kind of commercial agreement that will help me get my programming out much like satellite feeds or the Tom Joyner Morning Show,” he says enthusiastically. “We hope this concept and our format will thrust us into the forefront of Americana programming.”
Again, Dr. Love is ahead of the curve.