dave stone - Inducted 1999

"Pappy" Dave Stone (born Dave Pinkstone, November 11, 1919 Post, TX) established the nation's first fulltime Country music station.. Stone began in radio in 1946 at KSEL, Lubbock TX as a bookkeeper and traffic manager and became a Country D J a year later as host of the Western Roundup show. He put KDAV, Lubbock, TX on the air in September 1953 and programmed it with only Country music, a revolutionary idea in a time when most stations' programming were block programmed with various types of programming. He remained on the air until his retirement. KDAV gave Buddy Holly his first radio exposure on its "Sunday Party", a live local show, and Stone later introduced him to Bill Haley, who would help Holly get his first recording contract. Waylon Jennings and Roger Miller were both disc jockeys on KDAV. In 1955 he booked Elvis Presley and paid a reputed $75 for one of his first headlining appearances. Stone later established KPEP, San Angelo TX and KZIP, Amarillo, TX also fulltime Country music stations. In 1957 he established KPIK, Colorado Springs, CO the first fulltime Country station in the market. He retired in 1999. Pappy Dave Stone was inducted into the Country Music D J Hall of Fame in 1999. Stone died on February 18, 2004.