DAVE
STONE “Pappy” Dave
Stone (born Dave Pinkstone, November 11, 1919 Post,
TX) established the nation’s first fulltime Country
music station.. Stone began in radio in 1946 at KSEL,
Lubbock TX as a bookkeeper and traffic manager and
became a Country D J a year later as host of the Western
Roundup show. He put KDAV, Lubbock, TX on the air in
September 1953 and programmed it with only Country
music, a revolutionary idea in a time when most stations’ programming
were block programmed with various types of programming.
He remained on the air until his retirement. KDAV gave
Buddy Holly his first radio exposure on its “Sunday
Party”, a live local show, and Stone later introduced
him to Bill Haley, who would help Holly get his first
recording contract. Waylon Jennings and Roger Miller
were both disc jockeys on KDAV. In 1955 he booked Elvis
Presley and paid a reputed $75 for one of his first
headlining appearances. Stone later established KPEP,
San Angelo TX and KZIP, Amarillo, TX also fulltime
Country music stations. In 1957 he established KPIK,
Colorado Springs, CO the first fulltime Country station
in the market. He retired in 1999. Pappy Dave Stone
was inducted into the Country Music D J Hall of Fame
in 1999. Stone died on February 18, 2004.
