Saturday, August 25, 2007

KAAY Funmobile, Follow Contest and more

From Dave Montgomery:

Don't know if you might remember me [ Dave Montgomery ] - I was at KAAY from appx 1969 through 1980, with a stint out for Army duty. My tenure at KAAY spanned the end of the LIN era and into the Multimedia era, and across the Seventh Street studios as well as the Cottondale Lane studios. I worked for Felix McDonald, the C.E. and I also did some weekend fill-in work on air using the name David Ray (another LIN corporate officer).
At one point, Felix and I came to your studios in Pine Bluff to put in a ground system for your new transmitter site.
Anyway, I can offer some behind the scenes perspective if you are interested in this kind of thing. I have one of the KAAY bumper stickers I will scan and send to you - do you remember Pat Walsh's "Follow" contest? It went something like this -
" This is ______ _______ on East Main street following a green Ford sedan, Arkansas license plate XXX 345. If the driver is listening and can wave and pull over in a safe location, we will award them $25, and if they have a KAAY bumper sticker anywhere on the outside of the vehicle, they will win $100."
Also, remember the "Funmobile"? The big blue remote broadcast trailer? We did hundreds of remote broadcasts from all over central Arkansas, including the annual Toys for Tots broadcast from Toy Hill at War Memorial Stadium. Sonny Martin (Matt White) did this for years, and was taken over by Bob Robbins (Bob Spears) after Sonny moved on.
If you are interested in any of these stories, let me know, and I will pass them along. Best regards, and am enjoying seeing the stories and history lessons.
Dave Montgomery
Huntsville, Alabama

2 comments:

Richard Robinson said...

Dave, thank you so much for these memories. Going to A.J.'s KAAY blog site is like Christmas every day. You never know what he's going to post next. This is indeed keeping the memories and history of KAAY alive. It's a treasure for all of us. From my recollections, the "Follow" contest script read like this:
"This is _______________, on East Main street, following a green Ford sedan, Arkansas license plate number XXX 345. If the driver is listening, and will pull over in a safe location, we'll award them ten dollars and ninety cents, or one hundred dollars, if they have a KAAY bumper strip on the exterior portion of their automobile!"

I do remember the "Funmobile" as well.

Thanks again, Dave (and A.J., as always).

Richard Robinson

vdog said...

I read your article and it was great. I would like one of the
bumper stickers if it is the one
with the sunshine, with KAAY written on top.
It is a shame what KAAY has turned
into now. I'm glad to have this
blog and the old audio to listen to.
Between '04 & '06 KAAY aired a program called Radio Yesterday.
It played the old songs as well as
old commercials, news pieces, &
jingles. When the former program
director left, the program sadly no
longer airs.