By Alexis Papalia/republished from TribLive
Multiple generations of Pittsburghers — from baby boomers to millennials and beyond — grew up with radio station WAMO as the background soundtrack to their lives. Now, ex-WAMO on-air personality Tashee “TeeJay” Johnson is bringing the station’s history to the screen with the documentary “WAMO: The Sound of the Steel City.”
The film will bring together a stable of on-air voices and Black Pittsburgh creatives to discuss the influence the city’s only urban music radio station has had locally and beyond.
“Pittsburgh has always been … not necessarily New York or Los Angeles or Chicago, but we held a lot of power in the Hill,” Johnson said in an interview, discussing the importance of Pittsburgh as a media market for urban artists.
The radio station began as WHOD in Homestead in 1948, changing hands and formats several times while still staying on the cutting edge of music. Legendary “Daddio of the Raddio” Porky Chedwick found success there as the first white disc jockey in the area to play Black artists.
WHOD changed its call sign to WAMO in 1956.
“WAMO stands for the rivers that we have,” Johnson said. “Allegheny, Monongahela, as well as the Ohio.”
Through the years, the radio station pioneered the playing of genres like rhythm and blues, soul and hip-hop. Johnson noted that last year marked 50 years of hip-hop and that part of his motivation for making this documentary is acknowledging WAMO’s part in the genre’s history.
“A lot of things going around about hip-hop and our culture, I noticed there was nothing that I’ve seen that fully represented what WAMO was and the impact it had on the city as well as the nation.”
Johnson worked at WAMO from 1994 until its sale and reformatting in 2009. He and ex-wife Allegra Battle — who started as a morning news anchor at the radio station — had a daughter together while they were both working at WAMO. Battle is also credited as a writer for the film.
Johnson is also a filmmaker, so putting together a project like “Sound of the Steel City” was an ideal fit.
“I was like, there’s a space for it, and I would love to be the one to bring that. … I want to tell, not necessarily my story, because my story is interwoven into that, but the story of WAMO.”
In his time working at the station, Johnson had the opportunity to meet enduring stars including Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg. He pointed to the big names as a sign of the station’s — and Pittsburgh’s — power in the industry.
“When Aaliyah came through — and Aaliyah was a sweetheart, I met her, hung out and got a picture and everything — we had an issue with her camp, and so we refused to play her song. And because we didn’t play her song, her song didn’t go to No. 1,” Johnson said.
“If you were anybody, you had to come through Pittsburgh,” he added. And WAMO was the consistent voice of urban music to present those musicians to the city.
“WAMO: Sound of the Steel City” is set to be released next February, Johnson said. Currently, they’re in the phase of raising funds to produce the film, though there is already a trailer.
The documentary includes on-air voices and Pittsburgh community members, as well as archival footage from throughout the years of WAMO’s heyday. It covers the years up to 2009, when the station was sold, though WAMO has returned to its previous format in the intervening years — minus the same reach the station had at its peak.
“Right now, we’re just on the campaign of trying to raise money and let people know about it,” Johnson said. “People are excited about the project.”
They’ll also be collecting stories from listeners in the Pittsburgh area.
“Whether it was when you came to a Juneteenth or a time you won tickets, each person has their individual story as to how they relate to WAMO,” he said.
To learn more about the project, visit teejayvision.com.
