Charlie Lake

From Tom Taylor's NOW column...

Charley Lake calls it a career (for now), and it’s been a solid one for the major-market programmer – stops at KOOL Phoenix (94.5), WJMK Chicago (104.3), WRNO New Orleans (99.5) and WLVQ Columbus (96.3). In 2007, he relocated from Phoenix to Philly as the PD at Greater Media’s classic rock WMGK (102.9). Now the company gives him a nice valedictory lap, with positives from Chairman/CEO Peter Smyth, Philadelphia manager John Fullam and corporate programmer Buzz Knight. Charley’s retiring from WMGK at the end of January. No successor announced yet.

I worked for Charlie at WJMK. In fact, he's the only person in my career who ever fired me. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise, but it hasn't changed my opinion of Charley. He was brought in as a hatchet man at WJMK. That's who the corporate cats are praising in this piece. A hatchet man. He didn't just fire me and John Landecker and Leslie Keiling. He fired the entire staff less than a year later.

If you'd like to read a story about him, check out "Records Truly Is My Middle Name". There's a fascinating little tale about a program director who went completely apeshit over the on-air playing of the National Anthem. Landecker, who has seen it all, calls it the most unprofessional thing he has ever encountered.