Gerald McBride’s memoir shows love for Inkster and Detroit
As a student in the 1970s at Detroit’s Mumford High, Gerald McBride wanted to be on the radio. Drawing strength from his mentors and faith he was able to do that and more, which his memoir details.
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- Detroit media professional Gerald McBride has released a memoir titled “God And The DJ.”
- McBride’s career includes roles as a radio host, producer, and filmmaker in the Detroit area.
- The book details his personal and professional journey, including interactions with local historical figures.
- McBride credits his faith for helping him overcome career setbacks and explore new ventures.
Before his nationally syndicated radio show was heard in markets across the country.
And long before he wrote, produced and directed a groundbreaking film set in Detroit.
Gerald McBride received regular visits from one of Detroit’s most well-known physicians, around the time McBride was settling into his role as a morning show host with WMXD Mix 92.3 FM. But McBride’s interactions with a renowned obstetrician and gynecologist had little, if anything, to do with Western medicine and health care.
“He would come in with cassette tapes containing recordings of songs and speeches made by (actor, orator, athlete, lawyer, singer, scholar, activist and linguist) Paul Robeson that he wanted edited for his collection and archives and we became friends,” McBride recalled about the quality time he spent with Dr. Charles H. Wright, who, in addition to delivering more than 7,000 babies in Detroit, founded the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, located at 315 E. Warren Ave. in Detroit’s Cultural Center Historic District.
“I knew Dr. Wright had delivered a lot of babies, but at the time, I had no idea what he meant to our city as a historian — until the Wright Museum (home to more than 35,000 artifacts and archival materials) opened its current location (on April 12, 1997). Then I was like: ‘Gah-lee, I was a friend of greatness.’ ”
As it turns out, the 68-year-old McBride has been associated with a host of history-makers throughout his life. And in the process, the proud 1975 graduate of Detroit’s Mumford High School has blazed his own unique trail as a multifaceted media professional, which McBride has chronicled in “God And The DJ,” a memoir recently released just in time for reading during Black History Month in February and beyond.
McBride’s story begins about 14 miles west of Detroit, in Inkster, which began to transform into a vibrant predominantly Black residential area during the Great Migration with help from automaker Henry Ford.
“Growing up in Inkster, we had a Black-owned radio station, WCHB, which was called the ‘Black Giant;’ a Black-owned grocery store, and Black-owned restaurants,” said McBride, who spoke during three consecutive days beginning Jan. 26.
“And the park that everyone knew in Inkster — Penn Park (now known as Tyrone Wheatley Park, in honor of the Inkster native who starred in football and track at the University of Michigan before being selected in the first round of the 1995 NFL draft by the New York Giants) — was right in our backyard (with swings, slides, merry-go-rounds, a baseball diamond, a football field and more). It was just amazing to live in that type of environment. And it was a place that I never wanted to leave.”
However, McBride would eventually leave his beloved Inkster with his family, when his father, Andrew McBride, an electrical engineer who was educated at the historic Tuskegee University, moved the family to a home in Detroit’s University District toward the end of 1969, after Andrew McBride landed a better job in Detroit.
Not surprisingly, Gerald McBride says he experienced some culture shock while attempting to fit in at his first Detroit school, the former Hampton Junior High (3901 Margareta Ave.). But life would get considerably better for Andrew and Marvine McBride’s youngest son, as Gerald McBride continued his education within the “baby blue brick walls” of Mumford High School.
At Mumford, McBride was able to round out his academic schedule with elective courses that stimulated his mind and creativity, like radio/TV, creative writing and drama, which was taught in the school auditorium by Mr. Bob Curran, who saw the potential McBride possessed and consistently instilled confidence in his student when he needed it the most.
The Mumford auditorium also was a space where McBride honed his public speaking skills and shaped his public persona when he served as emcee for Mumford’s legendary talent shows, whose list of past participants reads like a musical “Who’s Who,” including Grammy Award-winning artists like Earl Klugh, The Clark Sisters, The Winans and Fred Hammond.
“As I introduced The Winans, I realized that my tone and inflection were a direct result of the training I received from my radio broadcasting class taught by Ms. Ward, a stickler for proper pronunciation, articulation and diction,” says McBride, who also was dressed to impress while introducing the extraordinary talent show performers thanks to a wardrobe borrowed from his oldest brother Marvin and the tailoring skills of his sister-in-law Francine. “That education had more than prepared me for that moment and many more for decades to come.”
McBride also takes special pride in describing a powerful moment that took place outside of those Mumford walls during his high school days, when he was selected to be a “Soul Teen Reporter” representing Mumford on the WJLB airwaves, which, at that time, could be heard at 1400-AM on the radio dial.
The experience brought McBride together with a Detroit radio legend, who would later become nationally known — Donnie Simpson. During that time, the legend sprung a surprise that McBride has never forgotten.
“One day when I was at the station, Donnie Simpson announced to his many listeners that he was about to play “Reasons” by Minnie Riperton, featuring Detroit’s own Reginald McBride — my brother — on bass guitar,” Gerald McBride recalled about the kind gesture made by Simpson, who during that period entertained his Detroit fans as “The Love Bug” from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
“That particular moment may have lasted all of 10 minutes, but it was life-changing to be in Donnie Simpson’s presence as he played music and made commercials. And I decided that there was nothing I would rather do with my life than to be on the radio.”
McBride explains that the hands-on training and experiences he had as a Mumford Mustang, which were later bolstered when McBride graduated from then-Specs Howard’s School of Broadcast Arts in Southfield, where he was guided by another legend — the late Dick Kernen, a longtime Specs Howard’s executive and a Michigan Broadcasting Hall of Fame inductee — provided a more than solid background as he pursued a career behind the mic.
But, McBride says, for him to continue that journey for more than 45 years has required additional support of a different and higher kind, which explains the title he chose for his memoir — ”God And The DJ.”
“I’ve had a lot of twists and turns and ups and downs in my life, and I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” said McBride, who was fired the first day of his first professional radio job in Flint when his nerves kicked in, causing his arm to hit the arm of a turntable across a 45 record, sending a screeching noise across the airwaves.
“But my conversations with God have been a source of immense strength to me several times when I was weakened by fear, defeat and failure.”
McBride, ultimately, was given a second chance at his first radio job in Flint, which Kernen helped him to obtain.
But through the pages of his memoir and in conversations about his book, McBride is not afraid to speak candidly about other challenging periods during his career.
Some of the rough patches include having to leave an on-air position at WLBS-FM in Mount Clemens — where McBride had an opportunity to sharpen his production and voice-over skills — when the station switched from an urban format to New Wave/Punk Rock around the early- to mid-1980s; losing a morning show job at Detroit’s WGPR — the first Black-owned FM radio station in Michigan — when a humorous skit about Pope John II’s upcoming trip to Detroit in 1987 was “not understood” by WGPR’s management; and, after landing a morning show co-host position at WMXD Mix 92.3 FM in 1990 — by far the best paying radio job that McBride had ever held up to that moment — he soon had to deal with going on the air with pain in his heart following a divorce, which limited the time he had to spend with his children, Jaz and Brandy.
By leaning heavily on his faith, McBride says that not only has he been able to overcome the most difficult setbacks he has suffered during his career, but that he also has been given the strength and confidence to try new things that he never imagined when he was a student at Mumford and Specs Howard.
As a result, McBride started a company that is now called Voice Over Productions (VOP), a full-service studio production company that he runs with his daughter, Brandy Mitchell.
VOP’s work has included producing radio and TV commercials promoting a host of iconic entertainers, including Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker, The Temptations, Kevin Hart and Chris Tucker just to name a few. There is also the syndicated “Old School House Party” radio show hosted by McBride, which can be heard on WMXD Mix 92.3 FM and other markets nationwide. And “Black Ice: The Rhythm,” a film written, produced and directed by McBride, which premiered in metro Detroit during 2024 and tells the story of an underdog Black youth hockey team in Detroit that beats the odds in a human way.
“I believe you have to put action with your faith. And at 68, I still find myself stepping out on faith, persevering and exploring new things,” said McBride, who has dedicated his memoir (available at geraldmcbride.com) to his wife, Karen, who he married in 1997.
“I first gave thought to writing the book when my dear cousin, Donna Kay, asked me to write a few lines in a family album. And as I was thinking about it, I began to realize that I have been a part of a lot of history.
“And before we got started with the book, the publishing company asked me who I see myself writing it for, and I thought of a single mother with a couple of children who may listen to me on the radio and may need some encouragement to be an entrepreneur or explore other dreams. But I would say to anyone, if God puts something on your heart and mind, pursue your passion.
“Never put a period in your life where you can place a comma. I want to do the same — I’m not retiring, I’m refiring.”
Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and a lifelong lover of Detroit culture in its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott’s stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/. Please help us grow great community-focused journalism by becoming a subscriber.
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