2008 flashback: profile of ‘Southside’ Steve Rickman as indefatigable pitchman

On April 24, for instance, he hit Tin Roof Cantina at noon, drove up to the Wal-Mart in Buford to give away drag racing tickets from 4 to 6 p.m., then raced down to Macon for a Hooters swimsuit competition at 8.

“He’s like a perpetual presidential campaigner without the campaign,” mused Eric Von Haessler, his co-host on the Regular Guys.

Wearing his signature ponytail, $500 Mark Nason boots and tight BKE jeans, Rickman remains a proud self-proclaimed “redneck” with his own catch-phrase: “Yeah... come on!” He plays up that schtick on air, where his co-hosts Von Haessler and Larry Wachs will tease him about his ignorance of political events, his man crush on John Travolta and his Casanova mentality.

But off air, he’s a disciplined businessman who embraces the station’s advertisers and provides tireless rapport at promotions with customers, no matter how inebriated they may be.

After a recent Hooters swimsuit competition, fans clustered around him.

“You’re my idol!” said Will Worthan, a mechanic from Hiram. “I’m 23 and I want to be like you.”

Worthan was tickled just being in Rickman‘s orbit: “I don’t look good in a ponytail, so I have this faux hawk instead.”

Gary Lewis, general manager at Rock 100.5, has been in the radio business for more than 20 years and has never seen anyone quite as tenacious as Rickman. “He’s the marathon man,” Lewis said. " He never shortchanges anybody. He’s as fresh and focused on the fifth event as the first one."

Many radio folks are more comfortable behind the studio mike than in front of actual people. At promotions, some will sit behind a table, eat dinner and keep their lips zipped, giving stuff away by taking names from a box or using a “prize” wheel.

But Rickman hobnobs nonstop, conjuring up interactive games for Rock 100.5 T-shirts. At a recent Saturday night at Eastside Station bar and restaurant in Snellville, several patrons chewed gum and sucked ice, then tried to blow bubbles. (“Who can blow real well?” he asked slyly.)

He later came up with a slightly off-color take on musical chairs. Ten single guys sat on chairs, while comely ladies strutted around them until the DJ stopped the music. The gals then scrambled to straddle the guys. Last gal to find a lap eliminated both.

“A lot of radio folks don’t like sales guys, but I think like one,” Rickman said. “I totally get it. I strengthen the bond with the client.”

Glen Hale, Eastside’s owner and DJ, watched Rickman with admiration. “He’s edgy but doesn’t go over the line,” he said.

Indeed, at the Hooters swimsuit competition in Douglasville, Rickman kept it surprisingly PG-13, uttering no words the FCC might censor. With low-key charm and command of the stage, he admonished drunks placing drinks on the 50-foot runway but also kept the crowd excited as he described each Hooters gal’s likes and dislikes with the mildest of innuendo.

“Her favorite film is ‘Striptease.’ ” Whooo!

“She loves anything dipped in chocolate!” Whooo!

“She likes fast cars and big, big trucks!” Whooo!

Rickman even got the crowd to heartily cheer Douglasville’s “finest,” the cops.

Blue-collar types relate to him. Police officers sometimes pull over his Mustang late at night, not to check him for alcohol but to bust his chops and get pictures taken or ask for a shirt. “I haven’t gotten a speeding ticket in Georgia,” he said.

Rickman said his hard work has helped pad his wallet. “It has doubled, tripled my pay,” if not more, he said.

During 12 years at 96rock when he was paid no more than $65,000 a year, he’d pocket up to $190,000 extra from promotions and endorsements. Now at Rock 100.5, he has just as many opportunities for appearance dough, a higher base salary and an upgraded position on the show itself, where he gets more respect and more to do.

Dan Jason, a professional event DJ who has worked with Rickman for seven years on the Hooters gigs, wonders how long the long-time bachelor will keep going. (Rickman has boasted of sleeping with 389 women.)

“At some point, he’s going to have to settle down,” Jason said. “He has talked about wanting a family.”

Rickman copped to that, saying he might cut back his breakneck pace only if he got hitched and had a kid.

But regardless, he said, the ponytail stays.

“SOUTHSIDE” STEVE RICKMAN AT A GLANCE

Born: Atlanta

Graduated: M.D. Collins High School, College Park. Attended Georgia State University.

Age: 43 “But I look 33.”

Origin of his catchphrase “Yeah... come on!”: “I started saying it when I was a ramp lead [directing planes at the gates] at Atlantic Southeast Airlines in 1986. Then everyone else started saying it. It stuck with me.”

Radio jobs: Album 88.5 (1990-1993), 96rock (1994-2006), Eagle 106.7 (2007), Rock 100.5 (2008-present).

-I also heard that former WXIA-TV meteorologist Flip Spiceland’s gig doing PR at the Facility Group, which began in early March, has ended, following some trouble at the local real estate company unrelated to him.. I emailed Flip and am awaiting a response.