Rarely does even such a shocking event have such an effect on a market.
But the death of WWCD/101.1-102.5 “CD101” program director and afternoon drive host Andy “Andyman” Davis has sent shockwaves throughout the Columbus market…and beyond.
As we reported earlier, “Andyman” died while on vacation with his family in Michigan, a drowning victim.
The Columbus Dispatch has an extensive article looking into the reaction to his death…with original “CD101” general manager Gary Richards noting that Davis’ persistence eventually won him a job at the station in 1991…and the rest, says Richards, is “radio history”.
And sports reporter Michael Arace has another side of Andyman… the super hockey fan, and arena voice for the Columbus Chill minor league hockey team.
The NHL team that eventually called Columbus home, the Blue Jackets, has their own nod to Davis here, noting that he broadcast his CD101 program often from Blue Jackets games when the team came to town.
And in Arace’s Dispatch piece, former Chill public relations director Brent Maurer credits Andyman for helping bring that major league team to Central Ohio:
“People forget, though, what he meant to the NHL cause. When the first arena referendum came up, he was one of us street-corner preachers, speaking the gospel. At a time when we couldn’t even have playoff games at the Fairgrounds because the circus was booked, he imagined a time when major-league hockey could thrive – a time when you wouldn’t have to go to Cleveland to see a big concert. He was the first media personality to start building the bandwagon.”
Of course, CD101 is the Blue Jackets’ FM flagship station, a distinction that will follow them to the new frequency of 102.5.
A whole host of people are sad because “Andyman” Davis won’t be able to follow both the station and the hockey team into the new era.
Davis was known far and wide in the radio and music communities for his tireless support of the alternative rock music his station featured.
But this item wouldn’t be complete without mention of Davis’ extensive charity work. From the Dispatch article by Tim Feran and Amy Saunders:
Davis started his annual fundraiser, the Andyman-a-Thon, in 1992 as a way to give back to the community and to allow the rest of the station’s staff to spend time at home during the holiday.
Every subsequent Christmas season, he spent 48 hours on the air and received pledges to play song requests. The event, which expanded to include live rock and auctions, raised tens of thousands of dollars every year for children’s charities.
The CD101 website has word of a public remembrance of its fallen host and program director, Thursday night at 6 PM at Columbus’ LC Pavilion…it’s been moved from the associated Newport Music Hall.
And since his death, we’ve seen even Cleveland area media outlets note the passing, with the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Michael Norman weighing in with this article we found on cleveland.com:
Stories about Davis were among the most-searched news stories online Monday, according to Google’s tracking service, Google Hot Trends. It was also the top story on cleveland.com Monday, with more than 18,000 page views.
Simply put, “Andyman” wasn’t just another Columbus disk jockey, and that’s becoming clear after his death…
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