Dan Johnson

Wisconsin born Dan Johnson came to Tampa Bay in the mid 1950s and got his start in radio working at some of the top stations in town. He starred at WFLA radio before buying the 570 frequency and naming it WFSO (570AM).

The station was a middle of the road station until Chuck Alton talked Dan into playing rock and roll. The rest is history. ‘The Swinging Ceasir’ started the rock sounds in 1969, and in 1970 Johnson changed the station format to hard rock and roll.

Johnson was a pioneer in hard rock, he would also have station hosted concerts featuring then unknown stars like Ozzie Osborn’s Black Sabbath.

Johnson sold the station in 1978 to a group from California that featured Michael Spears, Bill Bungeroth, and Paul Bilzerian. That was birth of WPLP, Pinellas’ first talk station.

Johnson was nicknamed ‘The Grand Hipster’ by Tedd Webb. Dan was always on the cutting edge and introduced the first music video TV to Tampa Bay in the form of V32.

Dan and his wife Jo moved to Georgia after selling V32, he is running another TV station now.

Politics was always a passion for Dan, who served as Mayor of St Pete Beach for a while in the 1990s.

First ballot Tampa Bay Radio Hall of Fame.