Named John after his father, he switched to his middle name, Warren, during high school. Now, John Warren Yates is best known as “Radioman,” as he covers Eatonton's day-to-day happenings of Eatonton.
For 48 years, Yates has remained active in local AM radio broadcasting, beginning in 1976 as an airwaves-obsessed 13-year-old who dropped in one day on “Happy Howard” Williamson at WXBQ 1520 in Eatonton.
“I had a dream one night of being on the radio, so the next day, I just went in to meet Happy Howard, and he started training me on the spot,” Yates recalled. “He was just happy to have some help. He took me in and showed me the ropes.”
Yates says Williamson quickly turned him into “a pretty good board operator,” claiming he typically needed only one demonstration to learn a new skill or radio technique. Before long, he says, he even began training others at WXBQ, which operated out of the storefront on Jefferson Avenue North that H&R Block now occupies.
Yates says he also took a broadcasting course taught by Patty Key Leverett at Putnam County High School, where he first met DJ Silas “SiMan Baby” Alexander, another young, aspiring radio man.
Alexander went on to fame and fortune in Atlanta as a disc jockey at major urban music stations and through national syndication until dying in 2022 from pancreatic cancer.
“That was a very sad day for me,” Yates said.
Others followed at the station, though.
“Jeffrey Jones, we called him ‘JJ Smooth.’ We had John ‘Boo’ Thomas, we called him ‘Big Boo.’ And then we had John Quinn, Pat Quinn, Sandra Walla, Terry Layson, Wanda Goff; we had quite a lineup, and I played every one of them,” Yates said.
Upon graduating from Putnam High — "June 4th, 1982,” he recalled, relishing the memory of receiving an award for good grades — he threw himself full force into the radio game.
It represented a remarkable transformation for a kid who couldn’t even speak until he was four years old.
“My parents were afraid I was never going to talk,” Yates said. “Then, when my tonsils and adenoids came out, God talked me into radio. And now you can’t stop me.”
Also, despite being an only child born to John Willis Yates and Dorothy Louise Inez Smith, Yates insists he never felt alone.
“Because I was always with the Lord Jesus Christ,” he said. “And still am,” he quickly adds.
Williamson sold the station in about 1980, so he left it to its own devices to remain on the air. Yates created WXPQ, his own low-powered station in his home, which was still broadcasting at 1520 on the AM dial. He employs the “talking house” technology that realtors sometimes use to get buyers to tune in from the driveway to learn more about a home for sale.
Though the signal typically extends just a few hundred feet to perhaps a mile, Yates insists that when conditions are “just right” through atmospheric skip, his music and words can occasionally be heard hundreds, even thousands, of miles away. He says he’s received messages from listeners as far away as California and Canada.
“But I have listeners all over Eatonton and Putnam County,” Yates proudly declared. “That’s who matters the most.”
Now known as “Lake Faith Radio 1520,” Yates’ station broadcasts music provided through Spotify’s online streaming service. It often features hits from the 1930s to the ‘90s and periodically offers specials for religious or ethnic music throughout the week.
“Here at the station, we play all music genres,” Yates said. “We’ve got you covered. And then on Sunday, we’ve got Bible fellowship church at 9 a.m., and at 10:50 a.m., we stream live the First Baptist Church of Eatonton’s morning worship service with Dr. Craig Williamson.”
Still, Yates gets most excited about discussing his personal touches with local news and weather updates. He often can be found around Eatonton with a microphone in hand at major community events, interviewing citizens and local political figures about their involvement or opinions.
However, he reserves his biggest enthusiasm for keeping listeners updated on local weather.
“When severe weather breaks out, we break in,” he declared.
And like any successful broadcaster, Yates counts several local businesses on his advertising roster, claiming a couple of local fast-food outlets, at least one major retailer, and an iconic Eatonton grocery store among his long-term supporters.
“Dance me a jig and take me to the pig. But don’t mess with the pig,” Yates recited in his best radio announcer voice without missing a beat. “We’re Piggly Wiggly, located here in downtown Eatonton on North Jefferson Avenue.”
Yates and Lake Faith Radio maintain an online presence on Facebook under his name, John Yates, where listeners and fans can learn more about what’s going on at the station, see news and community event updates, and contact Radioman directly.
“I’ve been a radioman for 48 years, and I’m turning 61 this year, but when someone says, ‘Radioman, when are you going to retire?’ I answer right back, ‘I’m not even thinking about it. It’s not in my vocabulary,’” Yates said. “As long as I’ve got the voice, I’ve got to use it for the radio.”