Tom Campbell (radio personality)

Tom Campbell (nicknamed Tall Tom Campbell, fl. late 20th century) is an American radio announcer and commercial voiceover talent.

After serving in the United States Air Force, Campbell was hired for his first radio job, at KEEL in Shreveport, La., by Al Hart, who would later become a newscaster and radio personality in San Francisco.

Campbell subsequently worked in Minneapolis, Minnesota and at WONE in Dayton, Ohio before his move to KYA 1260 AM San Francisco in 1967. He was known to loan his personal phonograph, record collection and even his car to individual listeners under the caveat that they simply return them, which they apparently did. His home and car phone numbers were publicly listed in the white and yellow pages of most Bay Area phone books, and he would receive calls from listeners at home.

Some of his devoted listeners and regular callers included "The Queen of Darkness" and "The Queen of Lightness" of Oakland, "The Mad Bomber" of Berkeley, and "The Wizard" of San Francisco.

On September 9, 1968, Campbell pulled a notable publicity stunt on KYA, claiming that a listener to another program, the Sunday-night phone-in program known as "The Action Line," had disparaged Campbell's accessibility to his fans. Campbell opened his program that evening with a phone call, during which he booked a one-way ticket to New York. Later in the program, he noted that he had been offered jobs in both New York and Chicago, and that if his listeners felt the same way about him, he would simply leave San Francisco and take a job elsewhere.

Phone calls, telegrams and petitions reportedly flooded into the station, and Campbell kept himself off the air until all of the "votes" for or against him were counted. In the end, it was announced that sufficient pro-Campbell votes had been received, and he triumphantly returned to the broadcast booth the next night.

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