It's hard to imagine Corus Radio's Charles Adler as a country jock, but he says it happened. And it was at the old CFGM in Richmond Hill. During a chat with the B.C. based talk show host Thursday night, Alex Pierson somehow got into the subject of people's names. And that's when Adler revealed he once worked Sundays doing a show on the now defunct country station under the name "Billy Nelson."

Adler explained that Willie Nelson was just gaining popularity at the time and he thought he would riff on the famous moniker. He also recalled working with Don Valley, a.k.a Roger Klein, who ended up on CFTR in its Top 40 days.

I always love learning the genesis of the pseudonyms some radio people assume when they're on the air. For example, how did Rush Limbaugh ever become "Jeff Christie" during his jock days on KQV Pittsburgh? (In fact, I'd be more interested in how his parents thought "Rush" was a good REAL first name.)

Buffalo radio boasted some great fake names. Joey Reynolds is really Joey Pinto. Sandy Beach, my all time favourite on-air moniker, is Donald Pesola. Shane was Max Gibson. The great Frank Benny was actually Frank Biniak.  

And George Hamberger? Well, I'm pretty sure he was born with that one. Who would make that up? 

Although it's an old article from 2013 and centres on San Francisco radio, here's a great little piece on phony names and the real ones they replaced, featuring such greats as Charlie van Dyke and Bobby Ocean. If this stuff interests you, it's still worth a read all these years later.
 
Radio DJs played name game