Vic Knight

Vic Knight led a big band known as one of the finest in Florida. He was adored by countless music fans, and both loved and respected by musicians. 

His band played for society balls and charity galas, parties at clubs like the Gulf Stream Golf Club and the Country Club of Florida, and public events he promoted on the radio station he owned, WDBF AM-1420 in Delray Beach. 

When he died of cancer in 2000, hundreds of mourners attended services at Spanish River Church in Boca Raton. Afterward, Ted led his father's big band for a reception at Delray Dunes Golf and Country Club. The cocktails and hors d'oeuvres flowed freely, and Vic was there in spirit, smiling and digging the sound. 

 Early years

Vic was born in 1928 in St. Petersburg, a sixth-generation Florida native. He was the grandson of Marion S. Knight, a state senator for whom Knight's Key was named.  

Vic's father, Texas H. Knight, moved the family to Indianapolis after World War II. There Vic attended Howe High School, where he played second trumpet in the school band. It took an entire semester for the teacher to discover that Vic was playing by ear, able to fake the second part after hearing the lead. The teacher made the student learn to read music, which certainly came in handy later. It was also in high school that Vic met his lifelong sweetheart, Patty. 

Vic went on to study music at the Jordan Conservatory at Butler University, and he and Patty were married not long after. It was during college that Vic began leading dance bands. After graduation, he went to work at WXLW Radio. Click images to enlarge. 

He was a popular announcer but his bands were just as popular as his radio show. Willing to work Sunday mornings for extra money, he would often get to the station just in time, still dressed in his suit from having played a prom in some Indiana town the night before. 

He established an agency called Knight Artists and combined the best local musicians in various bands with names like the Quintones and the Squires. 

Vic did many remote broadcasts for WXLW. The station boasted a mobile studio aboard a luxurious custom trailer called the Traveler, state of the art in 1960. Picture windows let people watch their favorite announcers spin the records.  

He was a local star whose presence at a remote could attract fans eager to see the exciting young announcer and bandleader in person. Vic loved radio remotes, a holdover from the live big band broadcasts of the 1940s. 

Touring record artists all passed through Indianapolis because of its location in the heartland, and many would stop at WXLW to meet the announcers who played their records. At left, Vic with June Christy, vocalist with Stan Kenton and one of Vic's favorites. 

With a gift for gab, Vic perfected the rambling personalized first-person radio spots that sponsors love. He was promoted to sales director and moved his family into a big house in the suburbs, complete with pool table, garage workshop, and a baby grand piano. But he tired of working for someone else and longed for a radio station he could call his own. 

Back to Florida

In 1965 he sat the family down for a meeting. It seemed there were two stations for sale, one in upstate New York and one in Delray Beach, Florida. Which one would Patty and the kids prefer? It wasn't hard to decide in favor of sun and sand. With the help of two Indianapolis partners, Vic purchased WDBF and moved with his family to Delray Beach.  

Remote broadcasts were an important selling tool. The musical format always included his beloved big bands. His own program, “Seven Decades of Sounds,” attracted devoted fans fascinated by his musical taste and his knowledge of trivia. Later he syndicated the program, mailing tapes of the show to stations in Indiana and other states. 

In 1973 he recruited his son Ted to write ad copy while still a music student at nearby Florida Atlantic University. Ted joined the station full time in 1976 and spent 20 years working with his father as announcer, copywriter and program director. 

Vic briefly expanded when he and his partners bought WGGG in Gainesville and WNDB/WDNJ in Daytona Beach. He sold them off after realizing how much he preferred working closer to home. 

New bands

In 1980, at the request of promoters needing a band to play for star vocalist Helen O'Connell at the West Palm Beach Auditorium, Vic founded the WDBF All-Star Big Band. The band became a hit not only in Florida but in Indiana, where the returning favorite son was a sure draw at Indianapolis venues like the Indiana Roof Ballroom. 

Over the years Vic's bands played for many charity balls. He backed stars like Bob Hope and Garry Moore, who liked his music so much that he brought Vic's band up to play for parties in Hilton Head, South Carolina more than once. 

Patty and Vic

In 1997, Patty and Vic made many new friends when they moved to Delray Dunes, a golf community west of Boynton Beach. At right, Vic dances with Patty at the Dunes while Ted leads the band. 

About a year later, Vic sold the radio station. His retirement was an active one, both as a successful day trader and as a writer. Selling the station gave him time to complete the book he'd been working on. 

He had long enjoyed giving humorous talks on Florida history, and adapted his talks to write Vic Knight's Florida. When the book was accepted for publication by Pelican Press, it was one of the proudest days of his life. His second published book was called Florida Scams. 

The last chapter

Vic had just renewed his interest in golf when his cancer was diagnosed. Although surgery was successful, the effects of chemotherapy and radiation proved to be too much to take.  

He was survived by Patty, his children and grandchildren, and by his sister, Mary Lou Ricker. Patty died in 2002, also of cancer. 

On 2/9/02, the late Vic Knight was honored at a ceremony in West Palm Beach and was inducted into The Big Band Hall of Fame.