The rise of Super Wolfe
Documentary explores R&B radio legend
For the African-American community in West Tennessee, James Wolfe — aka “Super Wolfe” — was more than a local radio legend.
He was a role model for AfricanAmericans in a community that did not have many outside the home and church.
“Back in 1972, during a convention I participated in, they said the new form of education is going to be impacted through radio,” Wolfe said.
One admirer was Greg Hammond, owner of SBL Media LLC, and when it came to whom he would base his first documentary on, Wolfe immediately sprang to mind.
“If you are from West Tennessee, you are familiar with KIX 96,” Hammond said.
Hammond, who was born and raised in Jackson, had his documentary, “Made in Marianna: The Legend of Super Wolfe,” screened at Jackson State Community College on Thursday.
The documentary begins from Wolfe’s birth in Marianna, Arkansas, and shows his rise from working as a janitor at his first radio station to eventually owning five radio stations in the area.
Wolfe got his start in radio at WJAK in 1968 — but his goal was to one day own a radio station.
Wolfe, along with a group of investors, applied to buy a radio station in Henderson known as KIX 96, and the station debuted in 1984. In its first month, the R&B station had 29 percent of the market share in the area.
Wolfe sold three of his radio stations for $3.3 million in 2000, because after analyzing the market, he felt it was the right time to sell his stations.
Wolfe’s impact in the community did not end there, he later became a city councilman and remains a community activist, particularly on education, crime and drug issues.
“It’s amazing I’m still on this earth,” Wolfe said. “I was supposed to have been a statistic, but I always like to tell everyone I’m one of the special miracles that God allowed to continue on this earth.”