Fly Jock fans on cloud nine for 'Sky Show'

The live audience will give the Tom Joyner 'Sky Show' a Youngstown flavor.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- By the time Mike McClendon ties on his bleached-white apron Friday morning at Galaxy Seafood on Belmont Avenue, he'll already have had a full day.
McClendon and nine friends plan to line up around 2 a.m. Friday outside Edward W. Powers Auditorium, where the Tom Joyner "Sky Show" will unfold for a live audience of potentially more than 2,000 people and a nationwide radio audience of about 8 million. Joyner's show will be from 6 to 10 a.m.
McClendon's plans were set, but he had one question: Who will be Joyner's featured musical act?
A big plus
Told that James Brown has confirmed his appearance, "That's another plus," McClendon said, smiling broadly. "I'm there now. I know I am."
Joyner doesn't have Brown's household-name status yet. Some of McClendon's co-workers at Galaxy Seafood hadn't heard of the "Fly Jock," who earned that nickname years ago when he flew daily between Dallas and Chicago to host radio shows.
For those who know him, Joyner's first appearance here is cause for celebration.
Joyner's weekday morning drive-time radio show features classic and contemporary urban music, news reports, commentary on current events, contests and humor -- not the shock-jock kind -- by Joyner and sidekicks Sybil Wilkes, J. Anthony Brown, Myra J., Ms. Dupree and Tavis Smiley.
Joyner is also an activist who encourages voter registration and health awareness. Through his foundation, he awards college scholarships to students who attend historically black colleges and universities.
Show on the road
For the past six years, Joyner has taken his show on the road on select Fridays. The "Sky Show" is performed in about 30 markets each year. Joyner's show is syndicated through ABC Radio Networks to more than 100 markets nationwide.
WRBP-FM 101.9 of Youngstown, local sponsor of the "Sky Show," was the second radio station in the United States to pick up Joyner's program, says Tracey S.M. Winbush, WRBP general sales manager.
Admission to the "Sky Show" is always free, and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Winbush said she's heard of people in other cities who got in line two days before a "Sky Show."
Winbush was blown away by her first "Sky Show" experience. "I have never seen that many people at 6 o'clock in the morning, after standing in line for 12 hours, have so much energy," Winbush said.
Dee Stanford Brown, a commercial banker with Sky Bank in Youngstown, took a WRBP-sponsored trip last year to see the "Sky Show" in Columbus. "We hollered and screamed and had a great time," she said.
Noting that Joyner always has musical guests at Sky Shows, "It's like a free concert," she said. "You have the energy of a concert. The crowd was ... mixed gender and age groups and all races and everyone got along great. The camaraderie is almost like a family reunion."
Local fan
Angela Byrd, who works in Youngstown's Clerk of Courts office, has not only attended a "Sky Show," but also met Joyner at Sinbad's Soul Music Festival in the Virgin Islands. "He's very approachable, very friendly," Byrd said.
It's those traits that enable Joyner to "develop a rapport with the audience," Byrd said. "He's able to motivate the audience, even though it's an early morning show. He's very vibrant, and the audience is responsive to him."
Joyner and Wilkes will be mingling with the audience for most of the show, Winbush noted.
Joyner and his crew aren't being fed much information about Youngstown, Winbush said. All they know is what they have read in national publications. Winbush believes this show will be unique nonetheless.
"The people bring the flavor to the party," she said. "It may be vanilla in Chicago and chocolate in Youngstown, because the people bring the vibe."
A disappointment
Stanford Brown has experienced the agony as well as the ecstasy of getting into a "Sky Show." She was turned away in Cleveland after standing in line for three hours because the auditorium was full.
"People came not only from Cleveland, but Akron, Pittsburgh, Michigan," she said. " I didn't appreciate how widespread his fame had gotten."
First-timers such as McClendon should heed the advice of "Sky Show" veterans. Be prepared for anything while standing in line. "You better take lawn chairs, blankets, an umbrella," Stanford Brown said. She even tucked a sample-size bottle of mouthwash in her purse.
Once the show begins, "Whatever you do, don't let [Joyner] catch you sleeping," Winbush said.
shaulis@vindy.com