Invented "Song of the Day" contestAll The Excess! broke the story, and still seems to be the only industry trade site to care enough to bring you the news of the untimely passing of radio innovator Woody Stamina. We came back in the midst of the holiday break to prepare this tribute article, especially for our readers who depend on us for our complete coverage of everything radio.
Stamina died on Thanksgiving morning at St. Judith Hospital in Ellis Falls, New York. He had been admitted only hours earlier, family members said, and seemed to be in good health previously. He was 61.
Cause of death was attributed to acute priapism, a rare condition in which blood flow is diverted away from the brain and other major organs for an extended period of time.
Stamina rose to prominence in the radio industry in the early eighties when, as PD of Top 40 KMYS (Mystical 103)/Bakersfield, he began giving away a small cash prize when a particular song was played. What began as the "Mystical Monday Money Song" grew into the blockbuster promotional concept we now know as "Song of the Day," widely imitated in North America and later, the world.
Haz Mercedes, former national PD of The Gatsby Group, the chain that owned KMYS, quickly adopted Stamina's contest company wide. "It's too bad he never made a cent off that revolutionary idea," Mercedes told us. "There won't be another Woody. He stuck out...a giant among men. The man broke ground in this business," he eulogized.
"Woody Stamina gave me my start," said Dirk Newkirk of Spots That Linger, the syndicated TV commercial company that focused on Song of the Day ads for stations everywhere. "They go in threes, you know. Is the guy who invented the Birthday Game gonna die next?"
Stamina is survived by two sisters and his life partner, C. Alice Greaver, who says funeral services have not yet been set.
