I used to spend time down in far southern Virginia with some friends of mine, right on the border in Danville.
Danville is a big radio town. Back in the day, there was WDVA, which stood for “Danville, Virginia.” There was also WBTM, which stood for “World’s Best Tobacco Market.” Danville is also a big tobacco town! WDVA was famous for their live remotes from the Country T-Bird Music Hall.
WDVA played both kinds of music, Country and Western! WBTM was a pop station. As I'm sure is true of a great many country towns in the South, there are lots of tomato sandwiches and hot dogs eaten in Danville. The people of Danville have their own unique dialog and accent. For example, “Hey Richid, (one of my friends is named Richard) I’m have a git togetha . Why don’t you breeng a cupala yo music buddies ova an play sum.”
Translated, this means, “Bring your music friends over and play for free.” And we did, a few times!
There was a show called the “Trading Post.” That’s when you call in with your yard sale stuff and sell it via telephone on the radio. “I’ve got a real nice couch and some foldin cheas. I’ll take 99 dollas or best offer. Gimme a call and we’ll talk about e-eit.”
Driving down the road one day, we had a good laugh. Some guy called in and said, “Hey Honey, I’ve got a Pon ee ACK foe foe O fo sayal.. It’s got a steeyuk shif and low mahls. Gimme a call and weall talk price.” Translated, this means, “Hey Honey, I’ve got a Pontiac 440 with a manual transmission. Give me a call and we’ll discuss the price.” I dont think the hostess of the program was from around there, though, and she had no idea what he was saying. We all had a real good laugh hearing the two of them go back and forth, getting more and more frustrated.
Just remembering this guy talk makes me want a tomato sandwich! Anyhow, the accent in Danville is nowhere near as bad as what I heard occasionally in West Virginia. Talk about some unintelligible Boomhauer-speak! But that's a different story...
