WZZQ The Movie on Mississippi Public Broadcasting

[lhpartridge]

For many of us of a certain age who grew up in Jackson, being a part of the WZZQ 102.9FM listener community was a critical factor in becoming who we are. We never knew how truly unique it was until long after it was only a memory. Good friend and ZZQ lover Ann Ford has teamed up with Mississippi Public Broadcasting to create and air a documentary of the station, its history, and its personalities, many of whom are known to their fans by only one name--Wayne, Perez, Sergio, to name just a few.

When Ann floated the idea of doing the documentary to Mississippi Public Broadcasting, she found that her primary obstacle in realizing her vision, the licensing of the music, would be covered by the universal license held by MPB. She has traveled the country for interviews, sorted through piles of photos and other memorabilia donated by fans, and listened to countless hours of recordings from the era to create and convey a story whose only real down side is its brevity as a one hour program.

The screening last Friday night at MPB headquarters was booked solid nearly immediately, and the auditorium audience was shadowed by an overflow room, with total attendance approaching 500. It was followed by a lively Q-and-A session with Ann, Perez, Bill Elliot and Randall Pinkston, that while available on YouTube, unfortunately lacks the audio for most of the questions.

For those who missed the screening, the documentary is currently available on the MPB Online website or streaming on PBS Passport. Here is the link: WZZQ The Movie.

One factoid that I learned was that Bob Pittman, one of the founders of MTV was among the early WJDX staff before its reinvention as WZZQ.

Any memories?

I remember being at the Rutherford B. Hayes Memorial Picnic at Riverside Park and watching all the DJs as they ran the show, thinking how cool it would be to be able to hang out with them. As life would have it, I did end up hanging out with Wayne years later not too long before his death, and like Perez, I won't go into the details until I'm sure the statute of limitations has run out.