Buddy Starcher

1906-2001, Ripley, Jackson County

Within West Virginia, Buddy Starcher attained as much if not more popularity than any other single country artist. Starcher grew up in Nicholas County and first played on radio at WFBR Baltimore, MD, in 1928. He worked at WCHS Radio in Charleston three different times, for two or three years at each stint, and also at WMMN Fairmont, at WPDX Clarksburg, and at WSVA in Harrisonburg, VA. His radio work also included notable stays at KMA Shenandoah, IA; WCUA Philadelphia; and Miami, FL.

Compared with other artists, he recorded rather sparingly, but still had more than 100 songs on disc beginning with 14 sides on 4 Star in 1946 which yielded his first national hit and best known composition, “I’ll Still Write Your Name in the Sand.” In 1949, he moved on to Columbia where he did 10 numbers over a three-year period. He recorded for DeLuxe in 1954, and many numbers for Starday including the 1962 LP Buddy Starcher and His Mountain Guitar.

From 1960 until 1966, Starcher and his entourage had a morning TV show at WCHS-TV Charleston which had higher ratings than the Today show on NBC and is fondly remembered throughout much of the Mountain State and adjacent portions of Ohio. None other than Cab Calloway recorded Starcher’s song “History Repeats Itself.”