On Wednesday, University of Delaware radio station, WVUD(FM), will induct three new members into its Hall of Fame during a ceremony at 7 p.m. in the Bacchus Theatre in the Perkins Student Center.
The fifth class to be inducted, this year’s honorees are Julian (Pete) Booker, Neal Payne and Ron “Roadblock” Smith.
Booker, now president and CEO of Delmarva Broadcasting, was a student member of then WHEN/WDRB radio and served a key role in its eventual move from carrier current and AM radio to FM, according to Station Manager Steve Kramarck.
The late Neal Payne was one of the pioneers behind WVUD’s longtime Sunday night lineup of vintage music, according to a statement from WVUD. He created the still-airing “In a Mist” program for WXDR and WVUD and served as host until his untimely passing in 1993.
A mainstay in Newark, Del., Smith has been WVUD’s resident blues music expert and host for three and a half decades, Kramarck said. In addition to hosting on the radio, Smith is a skilled performer and a member of “early incarnations” of George Thorogood’s Delaware Destroyers, the statement said.
