Everyone here knows Kim Mitchell, a recording artist who became the long time afternoon drive jock for Q107. But how many singers went from radio to music? Some of them had pretty amazing success, while others shone brightly for a few years and then their stars faded. But for a while, they went from playing the hits to making them.
 
----------
 
Here are a few I can think of:
 
BB King

His stellar career, with his beloved guitar Lucille, included a stop at WDIA Memphis, the first radio station in North America to format for a totally Black audience. King worked there as a DJ, and his nickname of “Blues Boy” eventually lead to his celebrated initials, B.B. (His real first name was Riley.)


 
Sly Stone

Worked as a DJ for KSOL in San Francisco, before producing records for groups like The Beau Brummels (Laugh, Laugh) and playing on others. He eventually formed his own band, Sly & The Family Stone, one of the first fully integrated groups of its kind.
 
Jim Lowe
 
While working for WCBS in New York in 1956, he recorded the classic “Green Door.” Most of his career was spent behind a mic, with other gigs at WNEW and WNBC. I’ve often wondered about his huge hit. Some stations had rules that they wouldn’t play a song by someone who worked for them, fearing they would be accused of giving the record preferential treatment. But other stations in the market wouldn’t play it because they’d be giving one of the competition’s announcers free publicity. So I wondered who played this tune in The Big Apple?
 
Keith Hampshire
 
He started at pirate station “Radio Caroline” off the coast of England, before arriving in Canada, working in Calgary, and eventually joining CKFH Toronto for a short stint in the early 70s. (His bio says he turned down a similar offer from CHUM.) He then embarked on a string of big hits, including “The First Cut Is The Deepest” and “Daytime, Night Time.” He also leant his talents to dozens of commercial jingles and that’s his voice on the anthemic “OK Blue Jays.”
 
Rick Dees
 
A definite one-off, Dees was a star at WMPS-AM, Memphis when he recorded the novelty tune "Disco Duck." While it became #1 on Billboard for a week in 1976, it was barely heard in his home city. He couldn’t get his own station to play it because of a perceived conflict of interest and other stations in the city wouldn’t touch it because it promoted a competitor. By the time it topped the charts, it wound up costing him his job.
               
Tom Clay
 
He had a hit with a hybrid version of “What The World Needs Now Is Love", and worked a variety of markets, most notably Detroit (including CKLW) and Los Angeles.
 
Tom Shannon
 
The Buffalo native co-wrote the tune “Wild Weekend,” which became his theme song on air at WKBW and other stations, and a major Top 10 hit by the Rockin’ Rebels. You can hear the original – complete with the words – here.
 
Honourable Mentions:
 
Duff Roman
 
He never recorded a song, but his label, Roman Records, was responsible for a slew of early Can Con (before there was such a term) with artists like David Clayton-Thomas (later the lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears) and Levon & The Hawks, who would eventually become The Band.


 
Garry Ferrier
 
The CHUM DJ and promotions man hit the charts with a Beatles-inspired Christmas classic called “Ringo Deer.” (‘He’s with Santa Claus this year…’) A big hit, at least locally.
 
----------
 
That’s my list, but there are probably more.