After graduating Chaffey High School in Ontario, he got a job doing the all-night shift for KYMS in Santa Ana, California.

Upon returning from Vietnam, Wagner moved to Illinois and worked at several radio stations there including WTAO, WJKL, WROC, and WYFE.

In 1979, while working at the progressive rock radio station WJKL in Elgin, he interviewed musician Muddy Waters[2] and became a fan of the musical genre of American blues.

[5] During his 2012 summer pledge drive, Wagner successfully led an on-air revolt to bring back the Saturday show.

It attracted tens of thousands of attendees over Labor Day weekend on the campus of California State University in Long Beach.

As emcee, Wagner worked with most of the prominent American blues artists of those years, including Buddy Guy, Etta James, and John Lee Hooker.