Love Is On The Air
Elder Joseph Wilson Shares His Faith With KOPN Listeners
By Jessica Perkins
Photos By L.G. Patterson
Elder Joseph Wilson remembers the telephone call as though it were yesterday.
Just as he’s done every Saturday morning for the past quarter of a century, Wilson was playing gospel music for listeners tuned in to his live show on 89.5 KOPN, “Serenade of Love.” Though he was accustomed to receiving phone calls from appreciative listeners during his 6 to 9 a.m. spot, this particular call was different.
“Hey, man, I’m calling from over here in Cambodia!” Wilson heard when he picked up the phone.
The radio announcer was stunned by his faraway caller. “Are you serious? You’re calling from Cambodia? What time is it there?”
It was nighttime. “Your music is good to go to bed to,” the caller said. He’d been streaming the show live over the Internet, and the sounds of American gospel music – the strong vocal melodies, the soothing rhythms, the soul-quenching lyrics – had pleased him so much that he was inspired to call.
Wilson’s reaction today is much like his reaction years ago: “Amazing,” he says, shaking his head. “It was exciting to know that the program I’ve done for all these years reached someone. That day, I was almost lost for words … live. I am so humbled by this, that people would take the time to listen at the end of their day.”
Wilson, otherwise known as the Digital Butler, doesn’t have an on-air partner with whom to banter. Though he makes a bit of small talk, his three-hour spot is not a talk show, and most of his time is spent choosing music for his listeners to enjoy. Yet Wilson’s show is very much a dialogue, one between him, the gospel artists he plays and anyone tuned in to “Serenade of Love.”
One of the announcer’s catchphrases is, “The message is in the music.” It’s true, he says. “Music is the universal language. It’s not only the tempo of the music, it’s the lyrics.” After listening to songs he’s played, “I’ve had people say to me, ‘I changed my mind about something.‘ You can’t buy that kind of stuff. That’s what I get out of it.”
The message people seem to need most? “A lot of people need to know that they can make it, because everybody’s going through stuff,” Wilson says. So the Saturday after New Year’s, Wilson told his listeners, “No matter what you’re going through, in 2010, you win. You’re a winner.” Then he played Calvin B. Rhone’s classic gospel song “I’m A Winner.”
Wilson’s love affair with gospel music began in Atlanta where he was born and raised in a churchgoing family of seven. As far back as Wilson can remember, his father sang in the church’s gospel choir.
During the summers, young Wilson would visit his grandparents in southern Georgia. Before the rest of the house awoke for church on Sunday mornings, his grandfather always switched on the radio to a gospel station.
“It would fill the house,” Wilson says. “That good music early in the morning on Sunday was powerful. As a young kid, you’re such a sponge. Just spending time with my granddad, those memories are cherished now. That’s where I started the love.”
That fondness only grew, staying with Wilson as an adult living in Columbia. Then 26 years ago, he met Dorothy Sims, his “Serenade of Love” predecessor, at church. He discovered her involvement with KOPN and had a revelation. “I’d like to do that,” he told her. And so he began reading basic announcements at the station, moving up until he inherited the show.
“I was a little nervous,” he says about his first time on the radio. “I was so excited about what I was about to do, seeing how it was all put together behind the scenes. It was a little overwhelming, but a challenge.” Because “Serenade of Love” is live, “If you sneeze, everybody can hear it. I think that’s part of the longevity of the show – that live component. That was probably what was so intriguing to me.”
Much has happened since Wilson’s first day as a volunteer at KOPN. He has developed into a savvy radio personality, garnering nominations for distinctions such as the Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the National Radio Angel contest. Merdean Gales of the Bobby Jones Gospel television and radio show dubbed him Columbia’s Platinum Announcer. And Wilson’s personal music collection has grown to a staggering library of more than 3,000 CDs including jazz, blues, pop, rock ‘n’ roll, classical and other genres.
“I have to listen to different music to see where the nation is going, musically,” he says. “But my mainstay in music is gospel.”
Much to Wilson’s delight, gospel is now being embraced on a larger scale, because many different genres, including hip-hop, are incorporating some aspects of gospel music and vice versa. He says the genre has transitioned from traditional gospel music to more contemporary throughout the year – “from a hymnal to a more modern feel.”
Yet, Wilson says, some of the values of traditional gospel music are coming full circle, gradually creeping back into the mainstream. These values are the kind that people learn from their parents. “I try to think that my show is getting people to come back and re-embrace their values,” he says. “They don’t shed it out, it just gets buried.”
In that, Wilson has experienced success. Pastors and community members sometimes call him during “Serenade of Love” to thank him for setting the tone for their weekend, or to tell him that he put on a great show that helped them personally. One kind woman from Alaska even remembered Wilson’s upcoming birthday and called to wish him well on his special day.
“I really, really, really appreciate having listeners from places we know not of,” Wilson says. They have given the radio announcer a sense that whether people are down the road from one another or living in far-flung places, they can still be connected in one moment.
This global connectedness brings a new meaning to the word “community” and Wilson knows this better than anyone: “The community is listening.”
After 25 years, Wilson still hasn’t grown tired of that feeling.
The Digital Butler’s Mix
Joseph Wilson shares some of his favorites.
Albums
Fred Hammond, “Somethin’ ‘Bout Love”
The Canton Spirituals, “Greatest Hits”
Calvin Bernard Rhone, “I’m A Winner”
Rance Allen, “Closest Friend”
Songs
Israel Houghton, “If Not For Your Grace” from the album “A Deeper Level”
Crissy Collins, “Hold On” from the album “Faith In Progress” Crystal Aikin, “Love Him” from the album “Crystal Aikin”
Clint Brown, “I’m Forgiven” from the album “Fall Like Rain”
Tune in to “Serenade of Love” from 6 to 9 a.m. every Saturday on 89.5 KOPN-FM.