Hey, it's Kevin. Thanks for stopping by the blog today. A little down the last couple
of days on the internet the other day and saw the news item that, to me, an important
person in the history of country music had passed away the other day here in Nashville.
I believe the age of 58. His name is John Hager and you probably don't know him. He's
not a big star these days by discussion imagination. But if you know anything about the history
of country music, you would know John Hager probably is one half of the Hager twins from
He-Haw. John was preceded in his death by his twin brother, Jim, back in May of 08. And
58 years old. It's kind of sad to me. Again, I get it. I mean, with my age 47 and that
people of the history of country music are going to start passing away. And we've lost
a lot of the legends. We've lost the Whalen Jennings and we've lost the Conway Twitties
and we've lost the Tammy Winettes. And we're going to start losing more and more of them.
What's sad to me, though, is that He-Haw doesn't get the respect it deserves. I mean, let's
face it. You won't hear or I'd be shocked if you'd hear on your favorite country radio
station any information about the passing of John Hager. Maybe in a footnote. Maybe
in a national news kind of segment. But it's not a big deal. In all honesty, I don't believe
in my nearly 25 years on a country radio station. I ever played a Hager Brothers record. They
weren't big on the country. They had a couple of top 10 hits. It was more their impact and
their weekly performances on He-Haw that made them famous. And they were out playing fairs
and festivals a lot over the years. I met the Hager twins backstage with Randall Dobry
probably back in about 87 or 88. It was just a hi, how you doing? Quick hello. And then
I saw them a couple years ago at the annual country radio seminar just walking through
the convention center. Nobody really seemed to care. And I kind of felt bad about that.
They're an important part of the history and heritage of country music. I mean, when you've
got He-Haw and the Grand Ole Opry as cheesy as they may be to people, they play an important,
important role in where country music has come and how popular it's become. I mean, again,
for me, He-Haw was my first exposure to country music. If it weren't for He-Haw, I couldn't
have told you when I was ever going to be exposed to country radio. It wasn't a dial
option for me. I was a top 40 kid. I was a rock kid. I'm so thankful, though, for He-Haw
and the Grand Ole Opry and what it's meant for country radio. I posted a little blurb
online about the passing of John Hager and posted a YouTube clip. I think it was basically
a clip from one of the He-Haw episodes. And it's just funny to see the reaction I've
gotten from some people. Again, I know some people aren't going to be into it because
it's country and they're not in the country. One thing that I think that really fascinated
me was a noted country radio consultant, Joel Rabb, just sent a little note saying how you
kind of touched him, too, and that he had been watching He-Haw episodes on RFD, on the
satellite. And I just kind of chuckled because if you know Joel Rabb or anything about his
history, it might shock you that you think Joel Rabb was watching He-Haw episodes because
Joel Rabb, when he was a country radio program director before he became a top consultant
20 years ago, programmed radio stations in Pittsburgh and Cleveland and New York City.
Not exactly the hottest hotbeds of He-Haw, I'm sure, although I bet He-Haw and Pittsburgh
did pretty well. I don't know about Cleveland. Just kind of a sad day for me, like I said.
I hate the fact that we're going to be losing the legends, not only of country music, but
of rock and roll. I know it comes with the territory, it comes with age. It gets tough.
So we just want to pay a little tribute to John Hager and his brother Jim Hager and the
Hager twins and acknowledge just how important they are to the legacy of country music. Back
tomorrow, another episode, try to be a little bit more upbeat tomorrow by prom. Well, okay,
don't promise. Hopefully it will be.
