Arriving on the local radio scene last October, “Dose” (real name Christopher Thorne) is a DJ and promotions director for The Vibe (100.1 FM, 610AM) billed as Today’s Best R&B and Classic Soul.
Dose is also a world traveler of sorts – he recently spent time in Panama and has been to several countries in Africa. He’s also syndicated several radio programs featuring various sorts of music worldwide, to African nations and elsewhere.
The nickname Dose came from an old Pepto-Bismol commercial…instead of a dose of that pink, chalky medicine, Thorne decided he could give people “a dose of my talent. One thing led to the next and I was DJ Dose.”
Dose (44) likes to soak up the sights, local culture and yes, the music when he hits the road. The Brooklyn-born DJ is typically on the air at The Vibe from 2-6pm weekdays, working from the Wheeler Broadcasting studios in southwest Roanoke County on Electric Road. The Vibe was fourth in the Fall 2013 Arbitron ratings behind three other Wheeler stations.
“I started D-Jaying as a hobby in ’84,” said Dose, who was living in Atlanta and going to college at the time. Then he created a mix show [dance music] for radio. Soon it was on to mix radio for a station on the Georgia State campus.
A commercial station in Atlanta (WVEE) hired him for weekend R&B/Hip-Hop work some time later. He fell into work in the “Quiet Storm,” slow jazz format in the ‘90’s. “Pillow talk type stuff,” notes Dose. It wasn’t his preferred format but it allowed him to stay in radio. The Quiet Storm work grew. “The rest is history.”
In 2001 he wound up at a Clearchannel broadcasting group in Hampton Roads, staying for the next decade. Dose was out after some downsizing in 2011 and eventually landed in Roanoke last October. Two internationally syndicated radio shows and DJ gigs at clubs kept him busy. (He’s recently had several D-Jaying gigs at The Park in downtown Roanoke, which is open again after a hiatus.) “You gotta have side gigs,” he insists.
Syndicated for the past four years, Dose can be heard in Denmark, France, South Africa, Kenya and Curacao. The Sol Kafe is “earthy R&B, a real laid back…soul-type show.” The other program is Dance Nation, featuring a pop-electronica dance music format. He often incorporates world music – perhaps something he heard while on the road.
The radio business and the music has changed over the past three decades and Dose thought about retiring from it at one point: “you have to wear so many different hats [now] and do so many different jobs. Sometimes it gets really challenging. It’s hectic in radio now.”
He decided to sign on with The Vibe and Wheeler again; his off-air role finds him setting up promotions and remotes for the station, as well as creating “compelling content.” He liked the last ratings book but of course would like to be number one. With Star Country, K92 and Q99 in the same building that’s tough for an R&B station, but “the vibe is cool. It’s really family.” Dose gives Wheeler President Leonard Wheeler major kudos for his business acumen, surviving in a radio world dominated by much larger broadcasting conglomerates.
Syndication companies helped get him in to international markets. He puts the shows together at a home studio and as a musician himself (keyboard) released his own album of electronic dance music last month. “I play by ear,” says Dose, who listens to a variety of music – and talk radio when he’s in the car. Classical and Caribbean music are often what he listens to away from The Vibe.
Current R&B artists like Ledisi, Maxwell, Usher, Trey Songz and Rico Love are among his favorites. He doesn’t see many of today’s artists holding up 20 years from now – maybe an Usher, Beyonce or John Legend. Meanwhile Dose will keep spinning what he likes on the air or in clubs – here or abroad. (see his Facebook page DJ Big_Dose or Twitter @DJBigDose for more information.)
By Gene Marrano