Rick
Collins
Born Richard Gonzalez, a native of Tampa and
Graduate of King High. The radio bug bit him at an early age
of 10 and he found himself DX’n the AM band for great stations
like WLS Chicago and WTIX New Orleans. Rick says "At 13 the FCC
drove up my parents driveway in East Tampa and took me off the
air. I ran 35 watts am and 1 watt fm, enough to cover into the
Downtown Tampa Federal building where the FCC had me on tape.
They didn’t confiscate anything, just made me disconnect
it."
In 1955, at age15 and with the help of his
good friend Daylon Rushing, a local radio icon, he got a job
at WPKM Tampa doing time and temperature. Other stations followed
included WTCX - St Pete, WBMJ - San Juan, WILZ - St Pete, and
WQPD - Lakeland.
Rick got out of radio September 30, 1976.
In 1999, he co-hosted a morning show with comedian G-David Howard
(Dr. Dick & G-David in the morning) at WTAN Clearwater. Collins
says "I will always have a passion for radio and I miss it terribly,
but for now I must tend to my electronics business in St Pete."
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