Vaughn Harper (March 1, 1945 – July 9, 2016) was an American broadcast announcer and DJ.

Early life

Harper played high school basketball at

Boys High School Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

in Brooklyn and was an All American standout rebounder that played in the NIT tournament with his alma mater

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. After spending a brief stint with the CBA which garnered him a try-out with the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

, he was selected in the sixth round of the NBA draft as their #57 pick. Harper was not chosen by the team.

Orangeman

Harper played on the Orangemen squad as a starter from 1966 to 1968, as a sophomore he started in all but three games for Syracuse in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

East Region tourney. Despite playing in only three varsity campaigns he is 10th on the Orangemen's all-time rebounding chart. As a senior, Harper led the Orangemen in scoring, averaging 13.5 points per game for his career. In 1967 the starting five, George Hicker, Rick Dean, Steve Ludd, Ritchie Cornwall and Harper were 19–2 and ranked 8th in the nation before losing four of the last five games of the season. In a game against Colgate, Harper pulled down 23 rebounds. Because of his leaping ability, and the lack of height on the team, Harper jumped center for most of his Syracuse career. With a 130 I.Q. he took off his sophomore year to put more time to art prep, Upon graduation, he was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 6th round of the 1968 draft, but failed to make the team due to an injury during training camp to his knee.

Radio

As one of the deejays mentored by

Frankie Crocker Frankie "Hollywood" Crocker (December 18, 1937 – October 21, 2000) was an American disc jockey who helped grow WBLS, the black music radio station in New York. Early soul radio According to popeducation.org, Crocker began his career in Buffalo ...

WBLS WBLS (107.5 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary formatted FM radio station, licensed to New York City. It is currently owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared services agreement, along with sister stations ...

, Harper entered radio in 1976. In May 1983, WBLS hired Champaine, a woman deejay, and together Harper and Champaine developed a

quiet storm Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album ''A Quiet Storm''. The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Lin ...

late night format patterned after the successful show which had been introduced by WHUR jock

Melvin Lindsey Melvin Lindsey (July 8, 1955March 26, 1992) was an American radio and television personality in the Washington, D.C. area. He is widely known for originating the "Quiet Storm" late-night music programming format. Lindsey began his broadcast care ...

in 1976. Others took to the format but WBLS had greater reach and more listenership. The Harper/Champaine quiet storm program became a staple that lasted thru station changeovers and garnered a following in the New York Market. With a deep, mellifluous voice, listeners said Harper sounded romantic, eliciting a peaceful respite at the end of the day. While at

he also, with Ken 'Spider' Webb, lent his basketball talents to the station team, the WBLS-Sureshots, which played local teams for charity. Rival stations WBLS and WRKS both competed together and their games packed out

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

''twice''. In 1979 along with his co-horts Ken Webb, Johnny Allen, and

, WBLS reached #1 in the Billboard Radio rankings as rated by

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

. In 1993 Harper suffered a stroke and spent years effecting a comeback. In his absence, Champaine hosted Quiet Storm II on WBLS. Harper left WBLS for

WWRL WWRL (1600 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York City. WWRL airs an all-news radio format as an affiliate of the Black Information Network (BIN). The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. By day, WWRL broadcasts at 25,000 wat ...

in 1997. Reading live ads upon returning to radio in 1998 had improved his delivery to his pre-stroke professionalism and at

WBGO WBGO (88.3 FM broadcasting, FM, "Jazz 88") is a Public broadcasting, public radio station licensed to Newark, New Jersey. Studios and offices are located on Park Place in downtown Newark, and its transmitter is located at 4 Times Square in Manh ...

-FM he felt the energy returning to his program. ''Listeners will get a certain energy from me'' he promised.Bob grant loses slot; Cuts at BLS reported, NY Daily News 11/26/2008 pg. 76 In 2008, Harper lent his voice to

Grand Theft Auto IV ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', and the ...

, as himself, a DJ on one of the in-game radio stations, The Vibe 98.8. Harper rejoined WBLS and continued as a radio host until 2008.

Death

Harper died on July 9, 2016, at the age of 71 in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Vaughn 1945 births 2016 deaths African-American journalists African-American radio personalities American DJs Syracuse Orange men's basketball players Journalists from New York City Detroit Pistons draft picks Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Radio personalities from New York City Radio and television announcers American radio DJs American men's basketball players 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people

Early life

Orangeman

Radio

Death

See also

References