Bruce Williams

Years ago I used to love staying up late and listening to radio. In the late 60s and early 70s I followed the Atlanta Braves over the radio. There was no local station that carried them so I picked them up on stations out of Bainbridge, Ga or, on rare occasion, the originating station out of Atlanta, WSB-AM on a skip. Of course the signal in both cases was staticky (is that a word?) at times and went in and out. Luckily baseball did the same so you rarely missed much. My favorite time was when they played on the west coast and the games didn't start until 10:05 pm so I listened way into the night even when I had to get up early for school the next morning.

By 1973 I was working at a radio station in Tallahassee that aired the Braves games and could listen while at work most of the time, even the late games. If this happened I had to work late to get the whole game in as well as the CBS Radio Mystery Theater that had a large listenership. Believe me people would call if it didn't start at 10:06 pm as it was supposed to.

Later on I was working a lot at night and there were a few programs I really enjoyed listening to. These were talk shows that aired anywhere from 7 pm to 5am and the hosts were excellent. NBC had a series of programs grouped under the Talknet banner. Bruce Williams and Sally Jesse Raphael aired back to back as best as I can recall. Larry King was on Mutual overnights from 12 or 1 am to 5 am. I actually preferred Larry King and Sally Jesse Raphael on the radio as opposed to the TV broadcasts when they did more of an advice oriented program.

Sally Jesse Raphael

Larry King

Bruce Williams (finally got around to the topic of my blog) was the absolute king of the talk shows. He dispensed financial advice in a folksy, down home manner and made even the most boring of topics enjoyable to listen to. He would listen to what the caller had going on and tell them where they were wrong or what to do to correct their situation. He didn't mind telling someone they were crazy to get involved in a a get rich quick scheme.

Bruce Williams

Bruce shared the airwaves for 35 years dispensing advice. Before Rush. Before Sean. Before practically anybody of note on the radio there was Bruce Williams. As recently as 1999 he was heard on about 400 radio stations from coast to coast and in later years still had 80 or so stations that carried him five nights a week. Some stations even rebroadcast his programs overnight...he was that popular.

Originally broadcasting out of New Jersey he moved full time to Florida some years back and continued broadcasting his program from a converted upstairs bedroom in his home in New Port Richey with his wife and pets close by.

Although he is no longer on the air live his web site, brucewilliams.com, is still active today and you can listen to archived shows from January 1st, 2010 to the final show on March 5th, 2010.