WOMC's `Matinee Mindy" Markowitz knows all and gossips all. ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS PHOTOS BY DANIEL LIPPITT M indy Markowitz can name every oldie's song title and artist from the late '50s to the early '70s. After 12 years at WOMC (104.3 FM) and its long-time "good-time oldies" format, she should. While many listeners may be fa- miliar with Markowitz's raspy voice and kibb- itzy banter with afternoon on-air personality , Tom Ryan, soap opera diehards are more like- 1 iy to know her as "Matinee Mindy," a role she takes on at 5:40 p.m. every Tuesday when she delivers the "Soap Opera Update" and at 5:20 p.m. weekdays for her "Entertainment This Af- ternoon" reports. Markowitz produces the "Tom Ryan Show," which airs Monday through Friday from 2-6 p.m. during the afternoon drive. At the 190,000 watt radio station, the strongest FM signal in Michigan, Markowitz and Ryan used to have the morning drive time slot prior to Dick Pun tan's arrival at WOMC in April. "People love to hear all the scoops about the soaps," says Markowitz, who's been doing the "Soap Opera Update" for nine years. "At one time, we stopped doing the soap spot, and the response was astounding. We received literal- ly hundreds of calls from people wondering why we took it off and wanted us to put it back on. Of all the features that Tom [Ryan] has dis- continued in his 12 years on the air, nothing generated as much attention as this. So, we brought it back." Markowitz tapes three to five serials a day, with the ABC soaps as her primary focus due to listener demand. But every now and then, she says, she'll dish the dirt on "The Young and the Restless" and "Days of Our Lives." And, re- gardless of the show or network, when a soap actor or actress comes to Detroit, she'll do an on-air interview. Markowitz, who just bought a home in Southfield, became the day- time diva when she took over for for- mer on-air Ryan sidekick Liz Somerville. "Sometimes Liz would give wrong information and I would tell her," says Markowitz, 36, who started watching soaps when she was in her 20s. "I used to read a lot of daytime TV magazines-and watch the soaps, and I knew when something wasn't accurate. I started taking the spot over for her, and it just escalated." For sure, Markowitz's road to suc- cess reads more like a fairytale than a soap opera. After graduating from up the radio ladder, and for the past six-and-a- Southfield-Lathrup High School in 1978, half years, she has been producing the 'Tom Ryan Markowitz went to Oakland Community College Show." The show came in at number one for and earned an associate's degree as a medical WOMC's demographics, adults ages 25-54, in the secretary. But while working in her trained pro- latest monthly Trend ratings report. fession at a doctor's office, her aspirations shift- "I consider myself very lucky," she says. "It's ed. so nice to come to work every day to a job that "My cousin had been working at another ra- you love." dio station and it seemed like so much fun that I Single and very family oriented, Markowitz went through the phone book and called every has personal goals along with professional. "I radio station in Detroit and asked if they need- would love to be married and have nine children," ed any help," she recalls. "One of them was 4e laughs. "Well, maybe not nine, but at least WOMC, and, coincidentally, they had two open- four. I love my nieces and nephews and would ings. One was a receptionist and the other was love to have kids of my own." sales assistant. I came in and brought my resume "I 1 e working with Tom, and as long as he's and had the interview, expecting if I was hired here, wouldn't leave [the job]," Markowitz says. for anything, it would be for the receptionist job, "If I did anything different, maybe I would try TV, since I had no experience in communications. To but only in this area. I am too close with my par- my surprise, they offered me the sales position." ents and family to ever want to move away." 0 Over the years, Markowitz worked her way Above: "Matinee Mindy" Markowitz dishes the dirt on soaps every Tuesday at 5:40 p.m. and offers "Entertainment This Afternoon" with daily tidbits at 5:20 p.m. on WOMC (104.3 FM). Left: Mindy Markowitz and Tom Ryan have been serving up "Goodtime Oldies" on the "Tom Ryan Show," which airs on WOMC from 2-6 p.m. Monday through Friday.