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Popular Culture Review
Surely, the most popular feature of Johnson’s program is “Dear Crooner,” in
which he receives letters from listeners describing their relationship problems.
Each day, Johnson features a different letter, which he pre-selects. The premise of
“Dear Crooner” is that audience members, after hearing the anonymous writer’s
concern, can offer advice, or at the very least, dedicate a song to the petitioner that
seems to answer their problem. More often than not, the hsteners weigh in with
strong opinions. A 31-year-old married man and his wife have two Uttle girls, but
the couple has been separated for a year. He has asked for a divorce: “She said,
‘Oh, no. You ain’t going nowhere.’ I told her, look, I got somebody else....So now,
she’s trying to get everything together...but it’s too late!” What to do? A caller
responds that what’s done is done, and it’s time to move on: “Look here. I don’t
understand why anybody would want anybody that don’t want them.”
Johnson acknowledges that race is central to a great many of the hstener calls
to KKDA-AM, and says that reflects a desire for community. “The thing that I
don’t think people realize we’ve lost: Integration killed a camaraderie [between
African-Americans]. The [white] schools still stand....For instance, my high school
in Gladewater [Texas] is still there, but Weldon High School, the Black school that
I cherished and that I looked forward to going to is done....When you play ‘The
Horse’ by Cliff Noble or you play ‘Grazin’ in the Grass’ by Hugh Masakela it takes
you back to Saturday night [when Texas Black high schools used to play their
football games], and all of the camaraderie” (W. Johnson, personal communication,
Nov. 13, 1999).
So, Johnson’s show in general, and the “Dear Crooner” segment” in particular
forms a daily “event” whereby the KKDA-AM audience can gather, observe, and
participate. Aware that his audience craves an arena in which to vent personal
frustrations as well as share social concerns which, if not defined by race may be
affected by race, Johnson sets the stage for a process his hsteners crave.
Stage Two: Mental Rehearsal
In Bandura’s model, the second stage of the social learning theory model is
important for setting the stage for eventual behavior modification. This retention
stage allows for a period of mental rehearsal where events can be “stored in memory”
for future reference (Tan, p. 247). And one good measure of KKDA’s effectiveness
in this stage is the c ommitment of long-term hsteners to his show. While audiences
for most popular music formats often “outgrow” them as hsteners age or take on
new hfe priorities, many KKDA-AM callers are regulars who have been calhng
for years. One such caller is businessman Steve Washington, who has been hstening
to the station for more than 25 years. “If there was a word I could use to describe
Wilhs’ impact upon the entire city, he would be the ‘king of information.’ He would
be the doorway, he would be the guy that opens the gate,” Washington stated.