Randall "Randy" Atcher was an American country musician. Atcher was born in Tiptop, Kentucky, the fifth in a family of eight. Soon after his birth his family moved to North Dakota, and then back to Kentucky when he was twelve. As a high schooler, Atcher played guitar and mandolin on WHAS radio in Louisville. He intended to continue his education at Western Kentucky State College, but a flood at the family home quashed the plan. In 1938, he left Louisville for Chicago and put a band together there. He won slots performing on WJJD and WBBM and became a local star; he also recorded occasionally with his older brother, Bob Atcher. During World War II he spent nearly four years in the Army Air Forces, and married his wife Daphne, an Australian. Upon his discharge he returned to WHAS, performing on their Old Kentucky Barn Dance, and signed a contract with MGM Records. WHAS expanded into a television division in 1950, and the next year Atcher formed a new band, the Red River Ramblers, who performed on the WHAS children's showT-Bar-V Ranch every weekday at 4PM. Randy, the star of the show, and his sidekick, Cactus, sang songs, performed skits, and gave parenting tips. In 1953, White Castle began advertising its hamburgers through the show, the first of several companies who contracted product placement. The show ran until 1970, when it was abruptly cancelled. The Red River Ramblers, who included George Workman on bass, Shorty Chesser on guitar, Bernie Smith on guitar and banjo, Sleepy Marlin on fiddle, and Tiny Thomale on piano, also performed on the Hayloft HoedownTV show and live at local state fairs and events. Atcher’s fame diminished after the show was cancelled but he remained a popular entertainer in Louisville. Atcher died on October 9, 2002, at Hospice & Palliative Care of Louisville's inpatient unit at Norton Audubon Hospital. Archival footage of him was featured during the 2018 WHAS Crusade for Children telethon. Days later, on his podcast, Jim Cornette's Drive-Thru, wrestling personality Jim Cornette, who as a child was a fan of Atcher, thought he was still alive only to be told later by his podcast co-host Brian Last he died years ago.
