“Uh oh, guess what day it is. Guess what daay it is! Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike what day is it Mike?” Regular listeners of KWVH’s Wake Up Club on Wednesdays will recognize this bit that host John Mc-Gimsey loves to play for his audience. “Johnny Mac,” as he is known on the air, is all about sending his listeners off to work on the upbeat, playing popular hits from the ‘60s through the ‘90s that send out a sunny vibe.
In person, he is effervescent, a self-described “ham” who has been described as “being born with a microphone in his hand.” The North Carolina native will have you in stitches as he relates how he ditched his accent to keep from sounding like Jethro from the television program “The Beverly Hillbillies.” In his early years he gravitated to study Journalism and Theatre, later performing in community theatre productions and hosting a rush hour radio show in Raleigh on WFNK, artfully known as “WeFunk.”
Fast forward and Johnny Mac is an Apple Inc. guy who retired from the computer company three years ago. His favorite work there, he said, was authoring “My Path,” an employee career pathway that took seven years to develop. The tech side of the job rubbed off and he began producing radio programs for KWVH. Today he produces, as well as co-hosts, “The Empowered Community” with Dee Rambeau on Friday mornings from 7 to 9 a.m.
Besides being referred to as a “ham,” he has often been described as the “most positive person” around. His outlook is reflected on his show where he likes to point out what’s “good in people and not what’s bad.” Anyone who meets him can readily see his high spirited, good-natured optimism. When the Wednesdays in your life arrive, he’s just the guy you want to get you over “hump day.”
