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Radio's Randy And Dave Keep Tanking And Laughing

Tribune photo by JASON BEHNKEN

Randy Price, left, and Dave McKay recently were named the Country Music Association's major market broadcast personalities of the year, and WQYK (99.5 FM) was named major market station of the year.

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By WALT BELCHER

wbelcher@tampatrib.com

Published: November 30, 2008

TAMPA - There's a running gag on WQYK radio about how bad the Randy and Dave Show is.

Every major country music star who records a promotion for the duo is reminded to say, "Randy and Dave, you guys still suck."

Longtime fans repeat the phrase, too.

"They love to trash us," says Dave McKay, who likes the edgy, self-deprecating tone.

"Maybe they think it's true," jokes Randy Price.

But it's not.

Price and McKay recently were named the Country Music Association's major market broadcast personalities of the year, and WQYK (99.5 FM) was named major market station of the year.

The Randy and Dave Show, from 3 to 6 p.m., is often ranked among the top three in the Arbitron radio ratings (in adults 25-54) for the Tampa area, according to station operations manager Mike Culotta.

McKay says WQYK, as one of the top country music stations in the United States, gets access to all the major recording artists.

"But our fans come first," he adds.

McKay says the congratulatory e-mails, text messages and phone calls "blew up" after they appeared on the Nov. 12 ABC telecast of the CMA Awards.

"I started hearing from people from my childhood," McKay says. "And my high school, where I was in the bottom of the graduating class, invited me to speak to the 2009 graduating class."

"Obviously, they've lowered their standards," Price quips. "But seriously, our fans are loyal. I had an 82-year-old woman call me after she had seen me on the awards show."

"And he said, 'No, the baby's not mine,'" interrupts McKay.

"No," corrects Price. "She and her 86-year-old husband have been listening to me for 26 years and they were delighted that we won."

This kind of banter is part of what makes the show popular.

"Randy is meat and potatoes and I am sushi," says McKay, 46, whose roots are in rock 'n' roll and Southern rock.

Price, 58, is a family man with grandchildren. He lives the quiet life in Land O' Lakes.

McKay is single and lives in downtown St. Petersburg. "He's always prepping for the show," Culotta says. "Whatever Dave does during his entire day could be material that he might use. Randy is able to cut it off when he leaves."

Both men say they had doubts about working together when the late WQYK operations manager Tom Rivers first put them together 12 years ago.

Rivers, who died in 2004 from bronchial asthma at age 38, saw the potential in having the respected, straight-arrow country guy Price being needled by the brash, wise guy McKay.

"It was a shotgun wedding," Price says.

"Guns, I don't remember any guns. Maybe a BB gun," says McKay.

At first, the old-school country listeners were put off with the matchup. And that's when McKay decided to play off the "you suck" (and worse) comments that were coming in.

"People would call up, call me a troublemaker and say they would never listen again," McKay says. "But they would keep listening to see what I was going to say next."

"Now we've found our way," says Price. "I play good cop and he plays bad cop. We don't plan anything because it comes intuitively now."

They also are active in the community - from numerous personal appearances at major concerts and local nightclubs like the Dallas Bull to fundraising efforts such as their annual Toys for Tots Christmas drive.

"We couldn't do any of it without the whole support team at WQYK who make Randy and Dave look good," Price adds. "We have a management that lets us loose to do our thing and trusts us not to burn the place down."

McKay says he was wearing one of Rivers' suits when he accepted the CMA award.

"As Tom lost and gained weight over the years, he would give away his tailor-made suits to the staff," he says. "I wore one and Culotta wore one. We didn't plan it. We just wanted to pay a personal tribute to Tom who didn't get to see us win."

For information about The Randy and Dave Show, go to www.wqyk.com.

Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (813 259-7654.

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