Playing those oldies but goodies - by Travis Lee - 05/05/2004

The time is 1962. A gallon of gas costs 30 cents, a loaf of bread 23 cents, “Lawrence of Arabia” is a box office hit — and Virgil Ruppenthal begins working as a DJ for the radio, something that he has carried on until this day.

In February 1962, Ruppenthal started with WCST-AM which was owned by Kenny Robertson, Dale Brooks, Tom Butcher and Gary Daniels. The station originally played rock ’n’ roll, then later changed to country music when the station adopted FM in 1965.

Today, Ruppenthal is on the sister FM station, WDHC, which is owned by Emmett Capper and Capper Broadcasting.

In addition to his radio work, Ruppenthal has owned and operated Ruppenthal’s Music Service since 1957, a jukebox business owned by his uncle, also Virgil Ruppenthal.

“My love for music started when I spent time with my uncle,” Ruppenthal said. “Later on in high school, I would sit at home and record songs from the radio.”

Ruppenthal said that he looks up to Sammy Moss, a former DJ at WCST, whose band — Sammy Moss and the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys — was known throughout the area.

“Sammy was a great inspiration to me as a disc jockey,” Ruppenthal said.

Musical ties

Several times a year, Ruppenthal and his wife Betty, also known as B.J., travel to Nashville to collect music from major record companies like MCA, RCA, WB and Sony. They stay with Tommy Dee and his wife Margaret, a couple they met years ago through a record company owned by Dee.

Back in 1959, Tommy Dee (Donaldson) wrote “Three Stars,” a tribute to the plane crash in Iowa that claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, J.P. Richardson, (The Big Bopper) and Richie Valens.

Dee wrote the song just days after the crash and approached Crest Records with a demo record. It reached number 11 on the charts by May 4, 1959.

A retired school teacher, Ruppenthal was a member of the Berkeley Springs Volunteer Fire Department for 20 years and handled the booking for the country music artists who played the annual carnival. This triggered close ties with various performers.

Ruppenthal’s music connections have also been deepened by visiting area carnivals and major record companies, and by getting back stage passes to the Grand Ole Opry as a reporter to various magazines.

He reports for New Music Weekly, Indie World, Inside Country and Music Row by sending each a Top 30 chart of the independent music played from week to week. He has also written for Cash Box.

Ruppenthal said it is difficult for a small station to purchase all of the new albums. As music director for over 30 years, he can go to the major record companies and collect the music for free.

As the station’s music director, he picks the national and independent music for the station, including music that may not be played by other stations.

“There used to be a chart of the top 50 songs that I used to line up and play every week as part of being music director,” Ruppenthal said.

Ruppenthal belongs to the Academy of Country Music and votes for the Country Music Awards each year.

In 1991, he received the Independent Music Director of the Year Award from Indie Bullet Magazine.

“I’ve made a lot of close ties,” he said.

Among those he’s met are Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, John Conlee, Hank Snow, Dickey Lee, Pam Tillis, Ralph Emery, Bill Monroe, Johnny Rodriguez, Roy Drusky, Connie Smith, Joe Stampley, Grandpa Jones, Mark Collie, Chely Wright, Kitty Wells, Little Jimmie Dickens and Jim Ed Brown. My wife and I are personal friends with Ronnie McDowell, Big Al Downing, Bill Anderson, Ken Mellons and Clinton Gregory.

Morning show

From 6 a.m. to noon on Saturday mornings, Ruppenthal plays all “old country music, except for a current song at the top of each hour.

“My favorite decades are the 1950s to 1970s,” he said. “I like a lot of artists, but my favorite would have to be Jim Reeves, Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton and Carl Smith.”

In addition to playing older music, Ruppenthal does telephone interviews with various artists and occasionally live interviews.

Apart from the radio station, Ruppenthal is a DJ at weddings, and private parties, playing country music and 1950s and 1960s rock ’n’ roll.

“It all depends on the crowd I’m playing for. I’ll find out ahead of time what they want to hear and I’ll bring it,” he said.     

Ruppenthal feels country music has gone downhill over the years, particularly because of the rock beat added to the music today.

“It’s not that I don’t like the new country, but they’ve taken a lot of the pure traditional country out of the music. However, I noticed in the past year or so that more of the traditional country has come back,” Ruppenthal said.

While he has always been an avid listener of country, he does not play any instruments, though he did sing for a church group several years ago at First United Methodist Church.

Aims for 50

“My father wanted me to play the trombone. I played it for six weeks and gave it up. I guess it wasn’t my calling,” Ruppenthal said.

He has been a radio DJ for 42 years and wants to continue doing it as long as he can.

“I told my wife I’d like to get 50 years in. I’m hoping that will be possible,” he said.