Radio rednecks like to dish it out.

• Author: Overton, Sharon
• Position: Radio personalities John Boy Isley and Billy James

Radio is a cruel business, and there's no time meaner than the mornings. Just listen to Ken Carson, program director for WROQ in Greenville, S.C., explaining why the station decided not to renew the contracts of its morning drive-time team, a couple of local DJs named Mike and Scooter: "They sucked." Ouch. Guys like Carson would probably fire their grandmothers if ratings slipped. "If you can go on the air tomorrow and get me a 20 share," he says, "you're hired."

That's why, in February 1993, WROQ replaced the late, apparently unlamented Mike (Benson) and Scooter (Leslie) with two strangers (to Greenville, anyway) named John Boy and Billy. In the past seven years, "John Boy" Isley and Billy James have taken Charlotte's classic-rock station WRFX from seventh to first place on weekday mornings. In some demographic groups, they command an almost unheard of 37% share of the audience.

"We knew from listening to their show that the things they talked about, the type of humor they were involved in, would work well in our area," Carson says. And it has. Since John Boy and Billy signed on, WROQ has jumped from eighth to second place in the mornings in the Greenville/Spartanburg market. "It's been the most successful move that we've made."

WROQ isn't the only station to plug into the Queen City's notorious radio rednecks. As of July, The John Boy and Billy Big Show was syndicated in 12 markets across the Southeast, besides Charlotte. The duo reach about 2 million listeners in five states, WRFX General Manager Macon Moye says.

Over the 14 years that Isley, a Graham native, and James, from Gastonia, have worked together, first at Charlotte's WBCY and then WRFX, they've honed a redneck, anti-authoritarian, bad-boy attitude that touches the hearts of their fans. It begins with their unashamed Southern drawls and stops little short of open bigotry. They bash homosexuals, liberals and libbers, do-gooders and practically anyone else who doesn't chew tobacco, own a pickup or love auto racing. By being sexist, anti-intellectual and oh-so politically incorrect, they've tapped into a not-always-silent but frustrated majority of men looking for someone to say what they'll get in trouble for saying themselves. They've taken on the PTL Club, city bigwigs and anyone bold enough to proclaim Charlotte a "world-class" city.

Isley and James have little to lose if they flop. They're already pulling down big bucks from WRFX, their home station - an estimated $175,000 to...