A Community Icon Passes...

[Jim Price]

People throughout central PA awakened on Monday to learn the sad and shocking news of the passing of popular Altoona area radio broadcaster Steve Kelsey. Steve suffered a stroke on Friday and was life-flighted to Pittsburgh. He succumbed late Sunday afternoon. He was 56.

Steve was the morning voice on Froggy 98 since 1991, and was known to his Froggy listeners as "Frogman." Before Froggy, Steve played rock on the AM side of the radio dial, hosting the popular "All Night Album Rock" program on WFBG-AM 1290. He and this program influenced a whole generation of local rock fans, inspiring some to pick up instruments and become musicians, and others to follow in his footsteps into the realm of professional radio.

It was sometime in 1976 when I started hearing word from friends at Altoona Area High School that somebody on WFBG-AM 1290 was playing "underground rock" on the overnights Friday and Saturday nights. I tuned in and discovered Steve Kelsey and the fledgling stages of his popular "All Night Album Rock" program. I fast became a devoted listener, and my weekends were soon planned around my being in front of a radio between midnight and 5 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. I began to call the show to participate in "Battle of the Bands" and the "Instant Request" contest, and through those phone calls, got to first know Steve Kelsey as a friend. Little did I realize that he would be the first professional contact in my future radio career.

As I neared graduation from high school and was looking at career options, I often asked Steve questions about the radio business, and he would answer me openly and honestly, telling me that it would be tough to get my foot in the door, and that I would probably work part-time for a while and have to live at home. Despite Steve's warnings, I still chose radio as a career. Then seven months after graduating Penn State in 1983, I got a call from Steve, asking how quickly I could show up at WFBG with a resume and aircheck. He hired me on for my first professional radio job, working part-time weekends on WFBG-FM 98. Steve would become my boss and mentor for most of my early career in "The Swamp," and became a good friend as well.

Like many people on Monday morning, I too am reeling from Steve's unexpected passing over the weekend. He was a friend, mentor, and Altoona area institution. You instantly recognized his voice when you heard it on the air, during his morning stint as the "Frogman" on Froggy 98, radio commercials and more. Heck, I will miss his Saturday weather forecasts on WVAM 1430, when he would pick an obscure Pittsburgh Pirate player as his weather forecaster name!

Steve was a huge influence on me as I developed as a broadcaster, and he set a great example of what to be; not just on the air, but in life. What you got on the air from Steve, you got off the air as well. He was a bright personality on and away from the studio. You rarely ever saw him without a smile. And he became involved in his community and was a positive force.

Many also knew him from the many teen dances he hosted through the years, at places like the Ashville Firehall, Garver YMCA in Roaring Spring and more. Young people met their future soulmates at these dances, and Steve was then hired to deejay their wedding receptions. He endeared himself not just to radio listening audiences, but the community and region. As I listened to the special memorial tribute to him Monday morning on Froggy 98, I heard listeners phone in from all over - Bedford, Houtzdale, State College, Clearfield, Huntingdon, even as far away as Pittsburgh. He was an area institution and icon.

I am forever thankful to Steve for his impact on my life. My career and the direction of my life never would have happened had it not been for Steve, his "All Night Album Rock" show and their impact on me as a teenager, and his support and mentoring along the way. His loss leaves a huge void in my life, the Altoona area community and local broadcasting landscape.

I plan to pay tribute to Steve Kelsey on next Sunday's "Homegrown Rocker" program (Nov. 24). Steve played local music on "All Night Album Rock" back in the day, sowing the seeds for what I do now with the "Homegrown Rocker." I'll be recording remarks and memories of Steve from the local music community through this week, and compiling them into an on-air tribute next Sunday.

Thank you for your friendship and impact on my life, Blade. Your memories will never fade...

[PanzerFaust]

Very Well said JP.....

[bassist_25]

I was at Kelsey's viewing this past evening, and the line throughout the funeral home was evidence of the wide-reaching impact he had on so many people. R.I.P.