George Buck, station owner and jazz label owner, dies

Story by Inside Radio

GHB Broadcasting founder and owner George Buck, whose love of jazz brought him to both the radio and record businesses, has died. He was 84.

GHB Broadcasting, owner of 11 stations, was a creation in part to spread Buck’s love of jazz music.

Buck hosted the long-running “Jazzology” series for more than three decades.

He also owned and operated nine jazz record labels from his New Orleans base, as well as the Palm Court Jazz Café in the city’s French Quarter.

Elizabeth, NJ-born Buck broke into radio at WWOD, Lynchburg, VA (1390) while attending college. He went on to work in West Palm Beach, FL before buying his first stations in 1960 with the purchase of WCOS-FM&AM, Columbia, SC (97.5, 1400). In 1990 he formed GHB Broadcasting and expanded his footprint to a number of markets around the Southeast. At its peak the radio group owned 30 stations.

In 2012 the South Carolina Broadcasters Association inducted Buck into its Hall of Fame.

Buck died on December 11 of a heart attack.