Brooke Chamberlain
Brooke (Frank Edmondson) started his radio career in 1965 at Tampa’s WALT. He acquired his air name from Fort “Brooke” (an early name for Tampa), and the high school he attended, Chamberlain. In early 1966 he joined Lakeland’s WONN for a brief stay before moving on to WJCM in Sebring and then WIRK in West Palm Beach.
By this time he had set his sights on a career in the music business and, in the summer of 1966, released his own record, “Now That Summer Is Here.” The next couple of years he wrote songs for Tampa area garage bands, including The Rovin’ Flames, The U.S. Male, and The Four Letter Words, and co-published the hit “Love Can Make You Happy” by Mercy in 1969.
After a three-year stint serving Uncle Sam in Belgium and Germany, he returned to the radio business and, in 1971, was named “Air Personality of the Year” by Billboard magazine. He became the host and producer of the first syndicated contemporary Christian radio program, “A Joyful Noise,” and also national promotion director and assistant A&R director for Myrrh Records, a Christian record label.
Brooke was later known as Paul Baker, the operations manager and program director of KKHT 100.7 FM in Houston, TX where he held down morning drive. The writer of numerous magazine articles and author of several books (including “Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music” and “Paul Baker’s Topical Index of Contemporary Christian Music”) retired fromm KKHT in 2011.
Station History
1966 - 1966 WONN (On Air Personality)
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