Like Scott mentioned last month, I have retired from Toppy and have turned the site over to Senor Fybush. Toppy turned eight last year, and like a good Dick Van Patten dramedy, eight is enough for me. Before I disappear, however, I do want to take a second to thank everyone who helped the site during my tenure, whether with contributions or ideas or whatever. I’ve made a lot of friends from the site, and it’s been great fun. Thanks also to Lou, Scott, Blaine, Jeff and Bill for being wonderful co-conspirators.

I have several boxes of tapes in my home office that I need to get through and discard, so this won’t be the last time you see my name around here…it’s just next time, it’ll be as a contributor and not a JWRTP*.

Thanks again, friends. It’s been a ride.

* Jerk Who Runs The Place

Ah, alliteration…the mark of the true radio nerd.

Toppy will be taking the rest of the year off as we get rested and ready for a big 2010.

Happy Holiday-Of-Your-Choice and we’ll see you next week!

As you may have caught on Sunday, we are welcoming a new name to the Toppy fold: welcome Bill Harms, who has become the sixth Tophour editor and will be posting his wares on Sundays. Here’s Mr. Bill in his own words:

I am a radio nut! Although I have not made a career of broadcasting, I have always loved radio. I am an avid DXer, especially any broadcast station on any band.

On a more personal level, I am a middle aged Grandpa who has been married to the same sweet woman for over 30 years. She more than tolerates my radio obsession, and has accompanied me on many of my forays to visit radio stations and record TOH IDs.

Including DX catches, I have over 5000 unique radio station recordings. Of course, not all of them are TOHs or good quality. Right now, I am concentrating on parts of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia which have not been covered. Additionally, I have recorded TOHs from other parts of the country and even some foreign stuff, including Korean stations with TOH IDs and call letters.

I am looking forward to participating in this project and hope to have lots of fun.

On another note, we will be reopening the site to contributions in the near future. Stay tuned for an announcement on that later in the week.

Welcome, Bill!