Listeners and fans from Los Angeles to New York jammed Radio One & 105.9 KISS FM phone lines for three hours Sunday morning when The Hardest Working Woman In Gospel – Vickie Winans – debuted her latest labor of love, the “Sunday Morning Praise with Vickie Winans” radio show, on 105.9 KISS FM in the Motor City.
Winans rose at 3 a.m., got dressed and camera-ready and made it to the station by 5 a.m. to kick-off her first Sunday as a Radio One on-air personality. As she entered the studio, Winans was taken aback by the wall-to-wall flowers, gift baskets and balloons from Pastors, music industry friends and colleagues congratulating her on her new venture. While on the air, Winans played the latest radio hits, read Facebook and Twitter messages in between her tear-jerking ministry and her hilarious stories! “You know I’m old, Winans laughed, “anytime the hospital I was born in had screen doors on it!” The phone lines were fully lit up for the entire three-hour show as emotional listeners and fans called in with tears eyes or joy on their lips. One fan tweeted, “I couldn’t turn away even during the commercial breaks cause I didn’t wanna miss nothing! Too much of a good time.” Another fan tweeted that, “This west coast girl will be up every Sunday to listen to Miss Winans inspire her listeners.”
Radio One Detroit colleague, Mildred Gaddis, the Queen of week day talk on WCHB News Talk 1200, spent the entire morning in the studio with Winans and sent her a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Winans’ nephew, Tim Bowman Jr., who sang the jazzy scat on Winans’ smash hit “How I Got Over,” also stopped by the station to share some laughs with his aunt. They also played the current duet single from Tim’s forthcoming CD, “He Will, “which is quickly climbing the national gospel radio airplay chart.
Listeners not only heard Winans over the radio and via internet, they also watched her and Radio One/KISS FM staff put the show together on a webcast which can still be viewed at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16634850 . At 8:45 a.m. Winans called for a “praise break” as she introduced her producer son Mario Winans’ pulsating “How I Got Over” “Overcomers Remix” to close out the show. “At that point, everything went bonkers,” Winans laughs. “People all over the country were up and dancing while getting ready for church.” In the weeks to come, Winans will broadcast the show live from whatever city she’s traveling in on Sunday mornings so there’s much more fun in store. “I have never tuned into your station before but this morning from 3AM-6AM nothing but death could keep me from it,” a new fan of the show tweeted to Radio One Detroit program director Armando Rivera. “Vickie Winans was just SUPER! Keep her, because God and she will take it to the top: #1! Radio One, you done GOOD!”
