KAAY halloween Song For You

Where is everybody today? Hits are way down. I'll blame it on Halloween.

One of my favorite halloween songs:

KAAY Contests

I have written in the past about contests at KAAY. I don't think I have written enough since contests were an intrigal part of KAAY programming. I would really like to hear from you about contests and promotions you remember. Email me at ajlinds@yahoo.com. We usually had at least two contests going at the same time. There was a phone in contest each hour. Usual format called for an OPEN (the invitation to call in) the CONTEST itself, and the CLOSE. The contests usually tied to the season: Halloween, Thanksgving, etc. Then there was often a write-in contest. Something you rarely see today. We aways got good results from write in contests. Prises ranged from large items (see Car A Day) to small items (see transistor radios). I would really appreciate hearing your favorite contest or promotion.

New Comment

Hi,

my name is Given Campbell Arnoux, and I found your blog...thank you for putting it up, he was my grandfather as if you couldn't tell by my name. I am so happy to see someone else talking about him. He was very valuable to radio and has been all but forgotten but everyone except his family. My father was a tv pioneer and I worked in radio too for nearly a decade in and off. Keep up the good work

sincerely
Given

Stan Lewis of Stan's Record Shop has a big hit

He had several but Paula Records "Judy in Disguise" by John Fred and the Playboy Band hit in late 67 and road into 1968. I have never seen this video. If you pause the clapboard at the front maybe that will identify what it was made for. For previous posts about Stan's Record Shop, 728 Texas Street, Shreveport, LA, go to the searchbox upper left and enter "Stan's Record Shop" and click on search blog.

Day For Decision on XM

Monday afternoon in drive time, XM Radio 60s decade channel played the Johnny Sea version of Day For Decision. That's what I like about XM. They have a huge play list and play songs that the oldies stations don't play. Those of you new to this blog, go to the upper left hand corner and enter "Day for Decision" and then click on "search blog" . Be sure and scroll down for several posts. When Johnny Sea purchased the material he listed himself as the author.

More Billy Joel

There used to be a better video on You Tube but I guess it had to be removed. It had much better photos of the old stuff.

The song still brings back great memories even if the video is a little hokey:

Comments on KAAY & Monster Mash

From Guitarlizard re: Monster Mash:

I still remember when that song came out, I had to have it so my mom on one of her trips downtown to the dentist picked me up a copy of Monster Mash down at Woolworth's with the cartoon cover.
I still have the 45, a little worse for wear, but the cover has gone the way of all flesh....

Thanks for the comment. When I first started in radio at KBBA Benton AR we didn't get all the hits from the record companies or distributors, so I often had to buy records sometimes for my show on the weekends. One of the owners of the station would open all the records when they came in and often stash the good ones in his desk. Lavelle Langley was his name and he was a co-owner with Preston Bridges. Later, after I left, Preston bought him out and comtinued to build the station.
While I was still there, I remember skipping school one day so I could work at the station. Seems as all the air people were doing a remote and they needed someone at the station to run the board. It was a high school track meet. Yes folks, a high school track meet on the RADIO. I probably learned more there than I would have at school. Being a daytimer, KBBA would have to tape the high school football games and play them back Saturday morning. It wasn't too bad because the players could listen then. Filming high school games was just coming into use. Black and white, 16 MM film. My senior year at Mabelvale High School, we got a Bolex 16 MM camera and I took the film to RayChris Productions at channel 4 to get our film developed Friday night for the coach to use Sat. morning. He ran it forward, backward, freeze frame, every way possible. He would rant and pound the table and throw thimgs. Great invention filming football. He did coach a district co-champ team that year. In those days there were no playoff or final championship games. Friday night lights were black and white.

Link wrong for voting

The link didn't seem to work for voting for Johnathon Goins Van Buren Pointers for player of the week. So I'll try again:

http://www.fortsmithradiogroup.com/

KAAY Thanks for the Lyrics

Thanks to a reader for the lyrics and the translation:

Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto

ue o muite arukou
namida ga kobore naiyouni
omoidasu harunohi
hitoribotchi no yoru

ue o muite arukou
nijinda hosi o kazoete
omoidasu natsunohi
hitoribotchi no yoru

shiawase wa kumo no ueni
shiawase wa sora no ueni

ue o muite arukou
namida ga kobore naiyouni
nakinagara aruku
hitoribotchi no yoru

whistling

omoidasu akinohi
hitoribotchi no yoru

kanashimi wa hosino kageni
kanashimi wa tsukino kageni

ue o muite arukou
namida ga kobore naiyouni
nakinagara aruku
hitoribotchi no yoru

(whistling)

-----------------------

Translation:

I look up when I walk so the tears won't fall
Remembering those happy spring days
But tonight I'm all alone

I look up when I walk, counting the stars with tearful eyes
Remembering those happy summer days
But tonight I'm all alone

Happiness lies beyond the clouds
Happiness lies above the sky

I look up when I walk so the tears won't fall
Though my heart is filled with sorrow
For tonight I'm all alone

whistling

Remembering those happy autumn days
But tonight I'm all alone

Sadness hides in the shadow of the stars
Sadness lurks in the shadow of the moon

I look up when I walk so the tears won't fall
Though my heart is filled with sorrow
For tonight I'm all alone



Posted by The Mighty Favog to KAAY 1090 at 11:24 PM

Black Oak Arkansas Appears

Black Oak Arkansas appears tonight in Fort Smith AR at a rib house. (far cry from Barton Coliseum)

Another Tommy Riggs Comment KAAY

My buddies and I saw Tommy as Rob Robbins in Star City in about 1967 or 1968 performing with a local group called "The Phantom VI", if memory serves. (the group later became "Precious Little"). Tommy had just released "Little Girl" on MY Records and sang that with the group. What a talent.

Rock Robbins and more from KAAY

Much has been written on this blog about Tommy Riggs a/k/a Rock Robbins, a/k/a Tom Payton. To see previous posts type Tommy RIggs in the search window, top left, and click on search this blog. I received the following comment that puts all the "Tommys" together:

ohn Bernays
Grew up in Benton & Hot Springs, AR- Played Lead Guitar with "ROCK ROBBINS" KAAY 1966
1 message
John Bernays Mon, Oct 22, 2007 at 5:34 AM
To: leerodgers@abc-sf.com
I listen to you-all most every morning, a old Farm Boy, (Dairy Farm!)
I get up with the Chicken's after all these years! (I was born after
WW2, learned to drive in a "Poppin' Johnny"John Deere Tractor & a 1949 Plymouth, Amateur
Radio Operator since 1958 (KD5MPM) and Used To Join in the 3830 KCs
"Art Bell" Ham Gang Bang, but got Shunned after a while.
I bet you remember Rock Robbins! I was 16 years old, had a New Gibson
ES-330-TD Guitar with a Bigsby Vibrato, & I won "Battle of the Bands"
beating out Robbin's Band's Guitarist, so he Hired me On The Spot.

Here is what Charlie told us about Stax: "It was me and "Rock Robbins"
of KAAY Little Rock who are credited for Jeanne & The Darlings
'"What's Gonna Happen To Me". Rock Robbins' real name was Tom Riggs
or Tommy sometimes. He also worked as a radio DJ as Tom Payton, hence
the usage on the record label. Tom and I had an agreement such as
Lennon and McCartney... we shared credits even though one or the other
created that particular song. He totally wrote that one. My
participation was because of our sharing. Memory fuzzy about session
date. Only learnt of it happening at a later time. Neither one of us
was present, as per recollection. Perhaps mid or late summer of 67.
Song was never specifically written for any artist that I know of. Tom
had that one in mind when I met him in early '60's... Tom, being
around North Little Rock for his teen years and sporadically
thereafter, could have met Jeanne & The Darlings anytime during mid
60's... I really don't know. Most likely while working at KAAY as
"Rock Robbins" in 66 or so. Neither one of us was present during the
session. Tommy Riggs died in July 2000.
Tommy Riggs (Tom Payton) is an Arkansan singer, piano and keyboard
player who had several bands while performing around the state in the
1960s and 1970s. He also was working as a radio DJ (as Tom Jones) at
the time, on KCLA, during 1968 through 69 &As Tom Payton on KXLR in
North Little Rock in 1964, and in 1966 at KAAY]]. During this period,
he promoted himself as Tom Payton and the Kingpins, Tom Payton with
The Playboys, and several other names. He recorded while he was Rock
Robbins from KAAY on the Little Rock label "MY Records" in 1966. Two
songs from the session were released on a 45 rpm record, "My Little
Girl" and "Good Lovin'"... The other songs and all tape masters are in
private hands. Promoting himself as Tommy Riggs, he performed around
the country From St. Louis to Las Vegas before settling down in
Nashville, Tennessee and frequently playing at the Stockyards Lounge.

The multi platinum selling Alternative Rock band Evanescence has its
origins in Little Rock.


Johnny Bernay (1923-2003) was born on October 17th, 1923 in Muskogee, Oklahoma,As a School Boy with Barney Kessel, My Father was an Accomplished Jazz and Boogey-Woogey Piano Player, and a capable Guitarist. Unfortunately, while in Los Angeles, he caught the dread "Valley Fever" which caused my Grandmother, Nedra E. Bernay, to Rush him home to Muskogee, where he was Fever-Ridden & Bed Fast over a Year. His Life was Ruined after that, and he Died in Prison, on Death Row, McAllister State Prison, on December 11th. 2003. I Learned to Love Jazz from My Father, but Inherited the Brain Fever, and was BED RIDDEN for a Year in 1955-56.
Barney Kessel (1923-2004) was born on October 17, 1923, in Muskogee, Oklahoma. By age 16, as a high school student, he was emulating Charlie Christian, playing his electric guitar with local blues bands and with the University of Oklahoma Dance Band.

In 1942 Barney Kessel made his way to Los Angeles and quickly established himself as a professional musician and a guitarist to be reckoned with. His first important job was with Chico Marx. He spent a year on the road with the Marx band and when he returned to Los Angeles he began pursuing a career in which he combined studio, radio and club work. During this time he was heard on recordings that featured Charlie Ventura, Roy Eldridge and Artie Shaw along with a string of radio appearances. It was also during this period that Barney Kessel appeared in the movie Jammin' The Blues.

In 1952 Barney Kessel joined the Norman Granz Philharmonic tour for one year, returning to Los Angeles again in 1953. Then, just ten years after arriving in Los Angles, he was at the top of his form, in high demand for studio and radio work, and ready to launch a recording career that would continue for almost 40 years.

Every guitarist who came up during the 1940's acknowledged the influence of Charlie Christian. But with Barney Kessel, this influence was the driving force that propelled his interest in the guitar. Barney Kessel has said that Charlie Christian was his idol and this enormous influence was most evident in Kessel's early recorded solos, especially those made with Charlie Ventura and Artie Shaw. It was not hard to imagine the hands of Charlie Christian playing these gems.

But, as with the other great guitarists, this influence became just one component of a broader and more individual Kessel style and technique. By the time Barney Kessel was making recordings under his own name in 1953 he was having as much influence on other guitarists as Christian had had on him. And, this influence continues today. In the Just Jazz Guitar Barney Kessel Tribute issue (September, 1997), Howard Alden says, "as far as I'm concerned, in the dictionary under Jazz Guitar there should simply be a picture of Barney Kessel".

Barney Kessel was truly everywhere as a musician. People who “had never heard of him” , heard him play. If you were a fan of Ricky Nelson in the 1950's and 1960's you heard Barney Kessel's guitar. If you listened to the popular radio shows in the 1950's you heard his guitar. When you saw a movie in the 1950's or 1960's you probably heard his guitar. In fact, he may have been one of the most recorded musicians in the history of recorded music.

I Need Your Help Again

A few weeks ago, I ask everyone who reads this blog to go to a web address and vote for Johnathan Goins Van Buren Pointers, for player of the week. He won with a large margin thanks to you all.

Now he is up for it again. Never seen the same player get it twice in one season.

So one more time please vote again:
Hey everyone!



Believe it or not Jonathan is up for player of the week again!! So… please go to www.fortsmithradiogroup.com and vote.

I was told that no player has ever been voted player of the week twice in one season. So…spread the word to go online and vote for Jonathan as he represents the Van Buren Pointers!! Thanks!

KAAY Studio Locations

From Sean:
I remember at least 2 of the KAAY studios - the one on 7th Street across from the State Capital (it was a couple of blocks from my dad's office at Meyer's Bakery) and of course 2400 Cottondale Lane. I remember the big move down to the river - I think either my mom worked there for a minute, or we were just helping out. My parents were friends with Pat Walsh, and I also remember C. David Hamilton too. For a LONG time, KAAY (and KLPQ/KQ94 eventually) was the only thing out there in Riverdale after the country club moved to what is now Pleasant Valley. Just on the other side of the railroad tracks - the Razorback Drive In. Those were the days.

Thanks Sean for the note. I remember the studios where it all started in the Channel 11 building. (see earlier posts). Some great memories from that location. We used the Channel 11 staff for voices on commercials and Ear on Arkansas. Steve Stevens, Evelyn Ellman, George Moore, and many others were fun to visit with. B.G. Robertson was General Manager of Channel 11. One of his sons, Gary, had a great British accent, and as the British invasion progressed, we used Gary's voice more and more. Gary even did a part time jock show. I can't remember the name he used. Guys help me out. Email me the name.
A.J.

Another Instrumental

KAAY Instrumentals comment

This comment from guitarlizard:

The instrumnentals were "it" for me. Especially Johnny and The Hurricanes, Booker T and The MG's,Bill Black's Combo,Duane Eddy, Willie Mitchell and The Ventures. It seemed that most of the stations I listened to on that little white Philco tube set, WHB, KUDL (my locals) and KAAY would use this music as "bumper" music before breaks for the news etc. I still wake up in the morning hearing (in my head) Ace Cannon doing TUFF or Sleepwalk by Santo and Johnny. I'm still partial to instrumentals, although the production levels and styles have changed, stuff by The Hellecasters, Ray Flacke and Joe Satriani are interesting to listen to, but nothing compares to 40 Miles of Bad Road by Duane Eddy!!!

KAAY Remembers

This blog has turned into a kinda what I am listening to thing. When I don't hear from you my mind wanders or I listen to the radio.

This song popped up. What is interesting is the video that a kid produced. It has a real professional look. Take a look at the item "About this video". You will find some comments from the kid that did this plus the lyrics so you can sing along.

The Day The Ratings Book Arrived at KAAY

WAKE UP!

As I write this it is 9:30 AM Tuesday morning and there has not been one visitor to this blog. As a friend to take a look at this blog. Help me get the numbers up.

NUMBERS...Those of you in the broadcast business knoq you live and die by the ratings.

In my days at KAAY, Pulse was the major rating service. Hooper was still around but not doing much. We all knew the approximate date it should arrive but never the exact date. If we ordered the book, we could get some advance numbers. The arrival was a big event, usually in the manager's office. He would get first peek. Then he would pass out copies to the department heads so we could start pouring over the numbers. There was usually something for everyone. Brother Hal and the black station were always tough to beat.

Pat Walsh was a rating fanatic. He had a huge file of rating books. While he was still alive and getting ready to move to an apartment, I helped him find a home for the rating books. (3 huge boxes). I found a guy in Arizona with an interest in them.
We paid the freight, and shipped them to him with the promise he would copy them and pass them on to someone else with an interest in them.

Too bad he had the bad experience of turning over historical documents (Ear on Arkansas master tapes) to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Rating books serve the purpose of keeping jocks honest. When someone would start bragging to Pat about how good they were, he would reach down to the files and pull out a book and set the straight.

The Beatles & KAAY

Like most top 40 stations, KAAY was quick to jump on The Beatles bandwagon. I think at one time The Beatles had five songs on the silver dollar survey at one time. I always sort of resented the British invasion, not because of the sound, but because it displaced so many American artists. Talking with many of the American artists of the time, they seemed lost, not knowing what to write and record.

There was the full color Beatles book that I have written about before. I liked early Beatles much more that what they became.

So why am I writing about The Beatles. Hits are down on this blog and I'm trying to build it back up.

Here is one of my favorites:

KAAY Never played it but......

I was listening to the 50s channel on XM and was reminded of this song by Eddie Fisher. The song paints a picture of teens of the 50s. (I for example never understood what dungarees were) (They were always jeans to me) You never ever wore brand new BLUE jeans to school. Moms just never understood why jeans had to be faded. Now you can buy them that way. And foreign countries will buy our old worn out jeans.

Relive this moment in time:

Before The Beatles there were records like this

We played this and never knew what the lyrics were:

International Visitors always welcome

Korea, Republic of

KAAY & Monster Mash new at the same time

KAAY and Monster Mash both were new in 1962. Since then Monster Mash is a prenenial hit. I tried to find some kind of statistical data about how many times it has been played but couldn't find it. Here's the background info:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Monster Mash" is a 1962 novelty song and the best-known song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. Pickett was an aspiring actor who sang with a band called The Cordials at night while going to auditions during the day. One night, while performing with his band, Pickett did a monologue in imitation of horror movie actor Boris Karloff while covering The Diamonds' "Little Darlin'". The audience loved it and co band member, Lenny Capizzi encouraged Pickett to do more with the Karloff imitation.

Pickett and Capizzi composed "Monster Mash" and recorded it with Gary Paxton, Leon Russell, Johnny McCrae and Rickie Page, credited as "The Cryptkickers". This song was partially inspired by Paxton's earlier novelty hit "Alley Oop", as well as by the Mashed Potato dance craze of the era.

The song is narrated by a mad scientist whose monster, late one evening, rises from a slab to perform a new dance. The dance becomes a hit when the scientist throws a party for other monsters. The producers came up with several low-budget, but effective sound effects for the recording. For example, the sound of a coffin opening was imitated by a rusty nail being pulled out of a board. The sound of a cauldron bubbling was actually water being bubbled through a straw and the chains rattling were simply chains being dropped on a tile floor. Pickett also impersonated the horror actor Bela Lugosi as Dracula when he said, "What ever happened to my Transylvania Twist?"

On October 20, 1962, eight weeks after it was recorded, "Monster Mash" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart just in time for Halloween. It has been a perennial holiday favorite ever since. The single was re-released twice, the first re-release was in 1970, and the second re-release resulted in the single peaking at #10 in early-May, 1973. The song remains a staple on oldies radio.

Now here it is just in time for Halloween:

Welcome to KAAY

A satelite visitor from South Africa and
Canada Winnipeg, Manitoba

More Instrumental talk of 1963

From a previous post you read how important I think instrumentals are. It's a shame there is not a lot of instrumentals today.

From 1963 how many of you remember Alley Cat by Bent Fabric?

Here it is:

Welcome another KAAY international visitor!

United Kingdom Surbiton, Surrey

Counter Now Working

I'm flying blind today because of this message from the service I use to count visitors to this blog:

The statistics for visitors from the last 656 minutes are not yet available

KAAY & Trade Outs

The pay may not have been great but the perks were outstanding. In those days (60s-70s)there were regional airlines that liked to trade tickets for advertising. Central Airlines comes to mind along with Frontier and Trans Texas. Central was great because it flew in to Fayetteville. It had several other Arkansas stops and connections in St Louis and I think even Chicago. Also, hotels were easy to find trades with in any city. You could listen to a radio station and often tell where there staff had been traveling. Wind Jammer Cruises were also big on trades. Movie theaters often gave passes or traded for ticket giveaways.

When I moved to Pine Bluff to manage KCLA, one of the great perks was a permanent family pass to any of the Commonwealth Theaters.

When you get out of the broadcast business the perks and backstage passes are sometimes what you miss the most.

Welcome International Visitors

Norway Trondheim, Sor-Trondelag Netherlands

Aalsmeer, Noord-Holland

KAAY & A trivia Quiz

Read the post below then go to this link and take the trivia quiz.

I expect you to get all ten correct, I did. But only because of doing the post below.

Here's the link for the quiz:

http://www.funtrivia.com/trivia-quiz/Music/Only-Instrumentals-179188.html

KAAY & Instrumental Hits

I'm back! My video project is over, presented, and wild applause.

Back to blogging business. Seems like in the "good old days" there were lots of instrumental hits. DJ's loved instrumentals. You could use them for theme songs. Any of you jocks old enough to remember having a theme song? I remember one of my favorite D.J.'s was Bud Connell when he was at KXLR. He used Ray Coniff's S'Wonderful for a theme song. He would usually talk up to the cymbal crash then a big finish. Instrumentals were great for talking over, running up to the news, the end of your show, etc.

The instrumental I have for you today is one of those mysteries. It is a mystery to me why we played it. It made it up to number 6 in the top 100 songs for 1963. At least is was different. What were some of the instrumentals you remember? Email me at
ajlnds@yahoo.com

Washington Square - Village Stompers

Some assorted KAAY Spots

Thanks to Barry McCorkindale for some assorted promos and spots from apparently the master production tapes.

One in particular I would like to point out to all you old enough to remember Bud Campbell. He appears on one of the promos.

You'll also hear the voices of Wayne Moss, George J. Jennings, and Barry Wood.

I'm nearing the end of my video project so I hope to get back to more blogging.

Thanks again Barry.

Keep the material coming folks.

A.J.
Here is the audio file:
http://kaay.podOmatic.com/entry/eg/2007-10-11T13_25_02-07_00

Your Help Needed

I will be working on a big video project this week and I need your contributions to this blog to keep some fresh posts going.

Previous employees I particularly would like to hear from you about what "life lessons did you learn from KAAY.

New visitors to this blog, please email me where you were when you first heard KAAY.

My email address is ajlinds@yahoo.com.

Your participation will keep this blog fresh this week.

Thanks,

A.J.

AM Radio KAAY

I don't keep up with current music too much. I do occasionally scan MTV to see what the kids are up to. I have become a big You Tube fan as you can tell.

While browsing You Tube I hit this interesting song from a year ago and was quite surprised to find a song about AM radio. The part about DISCO I couldn't go along with. Disco was very good to me. I made a lot of money playing clubs and doing portable disco. New Year's eve was my biggest money maker of the year. Unfortunately there was only one a year. Wedding entertainment was also great because it was very short, usually only a couple of hours. Country clubs were the worst because there was always someone with a pocketfull of cash to pay for another hour, and another hour, and other hour.

KAAY Spot for the Ike & Tina Turner Review

Recently I posted an aircheck that had a spot for the "Ike & Tina Turner Review" that was in Little Rock. Tina Turner is one of my favorites. What an example of someone who gets better with age.

Welcome UK visitor!

United Kingdom London, Lambeth

KAAY Coments

Thanks Paul for the comments:

Hello A.J.,

The song "Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)" was a hit when I was nine years old in the fall of 1974. This was the first time I've actually seen the lyrics. That song was busy, lol, although I believe the guy who did the Federal Express spots could have easily tackled it....

Political season. As a traffic/billing manager, I learned to hate political spots. I know you did some GM and PD work, so I can assume you messed with this stuff directly as well. For the record, I vote Democratic (although I'm very bothered by the lack of spine my party displays lately). In the billing end however, I didn't care about one's political stripes. What I cared about was if the politician paid (our policy was 100% cash up front), and more importantly, did he/she have their tape ready to air. I cannot tell you how many times some politician would spend a boatload of money for an ad campaign that started immediately, only to not have tape. We could not (and would not) return any money to these people (typically they had no billing address anyway). In other words, some of these people didn't spend their money wisely, and several were not yet in office. That year, I developed an additional criteria for someone to elect. That was, if a candidate couldn't spend their money wisely in a simple radio ad campaign, I knew they wouldn't spend money wisely as an elected official, and I did not vote for them. About 50% of the candidates, regardless of party, pulled this kind of nonsense.

Last Friday, Melba Beals spoke at Principia College in Elsah, IL. Beals was part of the "Little Rock Nine," during the desegregation of Central High School 50 years ago. KAAY signed on five years after this. Do you think KAAY played a role in the breaking down of racial barriers in the 1960's and 1970's? It may be a lot to ask of you, but I just wondered how you felt. St. Louis was (and is) a racially divided city.

Did KAAY ever play in basketball tournaments in the northwestern part of the state? I would suspect it was a difficult drive to get there if you did. I have never been to Little Rock. My visits have been in the northeast (Pocahontas), north central (Mountain View), and U.S. 71 north from Texarkana to the Missouri line. Mostly my visits were in Fayetteville/Springdale. My experience with the area, and the media there lead me to think that northwest Arkansas could almost be an enclave unto itself. Until 1999, there wasn't a safe four-lane road to get there from the capital (and 71 doesn't count), and the media itself wasn't connected to the rest of the state (outside of AETN). The cable system there had more television stations from Springfield, Joplin and Tulsa than Ft. Smith, and no Little Rock stations. The newspapers were better, however. But it seemed as if Fayetteville residents didn't pay attention to regions outside of Washington or Benton Counties, and residents in places as close as Harrison didn't follow what happened in Fayetteville. What are your thoughts?

As far as the Razorback games, I remember practically EVERY radio station in NW Arkansas carried the sportscasts, at least in the 1980's. That suprised me--I guess there weren't any market exclusive agreements back then. It also appeared that each station was able to sell the event on their own as well. In my area, Missouri and Illinois games are carried on one or two stations in the market, even back then.

As far as September 11 goes, I haven't forgotten. I don't think anyone alive and awake would ever forget that, regardless of their political stripes. I also despise that damn "Have You Forgotten" record that was released afterword. I was doing data entry work at Harrah's Casino that week. It was my last week of working there. I was stuck in traffic that morning, for no real reason. I called the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT), just to find out why the road was unnecesarily jammed. There wasn't any real reason for it. The woman said "it could be worse, I just heard that two planes flew into the World Trade Center." I thought she was joking. Nope. As I made the rounds, all the monitors switched to CNN, showing what happened. Twenty minutes later, the Pentagon was hit, and I watched that. From that point on, there wasn't a whole lot of work to get done. Three hours later, a large number of people show up. Passengers from flights to Las Vegas diverted to Lambert Airport as all the planes were grounded. These passengers had no place to stay and were looking for hotel rooms.

As the afternoon progressed, there was talk about price gouging and long lines at area gas stations. When I left work, I sat in a long line, but thankfully the price at the station was unchanged.

There were hardly any patrons at the casino that week. That Friday, my town hosted their annual Italian Fest. It was my last day of working at Harrah's, and I decided to take a long and more scenic drive home. There are marinas along the Mississippi river, and there are several scenic routes that take you to them, exiting from Missouri 94 from St. Charles to West Alton, MO. After the drive, I went to the Italian Fest. It was probably the first time anyone went out and did anything besides watch television that week.

If there was anything I remember the most, it was how quiet everything was. It was like that for months. It was as if everything slowed down. For me it was like that until March of 2002. I've never seen anything like it.

What makes me sad about events like September 11 is the realization that our country will spend decades of lives, resources and treasure into a war that will not end. I had hoped that the Cold War's end would have opened up new opportunities to do something different with said lives, resources and treasure. Now I don't think that's likely. I also don't care for the marketing of fear these days, and the concept of "The New Normal." Bullshit. The Germans and Japanese occupied land and were truly a threat to the world, as were the Soviets later. The people responsible for September 11 aren't remotely as smart or brilliant as that, and probably could be disrupted and de-fanged if the will was there, and in a much shorter time than decades.

There are three songs that remind me of that time, and none have anything to do with September 11. One is the annoyng Sugar Ray song "When It's Over." I think it was the official song of the L.A. Lakers, who won the NBA title that year. I hate the phoned-in voice of the lead singer, and everything about it reminds me of how frivolous that summer was, with Gary Condit, the shark attacks, etc. The second song is "H.O.V.A." by Jay-Z. That was one of the first songs I heard as I turned on my radio and drove home from work on the 11'th. I have no idea what the song is about, but I can safely assume it involves some kind of illegal activity. The third song is "Run" from George Strait. It was a hit in the late fall/early winter of that year. I've been a George Strait fan for years, and I think that may be one of the best songs he's ever done. At his best, Strait can brilliantly paint a picture of the characters he's singing about (another example is "I Can Still Make Cheyenne"). I'm partial to musicians who write their own material, but its amazing how people like Strait, Aretha Franklin, and Frank Sinatra can make songs written by others their own.

By the way, I was one of the voters in favor of the unscoped airchecks. It would be great to hear the different eras of this station. The sound quality of the aircheck you posted from 2/2/1972 was excellent. That recording was part of my drive to the Clayton (MO) Art Fair on the 8'th of September.

I also get my music mostly from the internet now. Terrestrial radio holds little or no interest to me. To me, its as relevant as the railroad. As an former employee of the radio business, I cannot tell you how much it pains me to say that. But you know, radio left me, I didn't leave it. These days, I listen to old radio station airchecks, my CD's and .mp3's. I also record streams from the web and commute to work (and listen to them at work). My favorite stations are not from this country. One is BBC Radio 2, a great station matched with personalities and music. Another is a dedicated internet stream of J-Wave (JOAV) in Tokyo, Japan. J-Wave is a mix of American hits, Jazz, and Japanese pop. Another is Radio Union in Lima, Peru. Union plays different styles of Peruvian music, including Chicha and Huayno. Huaynos sound a lot like Bluegrass to me.

According to the Broadcasting Yearbook from 1968 (a local University has several old issues of the yearbook), KAAY was trying to obtain an FM signal. Were you aware of this? If so, do you know what happened to it? I know in 1982, KAAY was simulcasting an FM signal (whoever was on 94.1 MHz at the time) overnight.

This e-mail went on longer than expected. I hope things are going well in your part of the world.

Best Wishes

Paul Harner

A KAAY One Hit Wonder

Where do you get your music?

One thing that I think is happening with the poll (on the right) is that most of you must be (ah hemmmm)older. So help me out and get teenagers to vote also. I know this is the case because no one has selected Ipods or mp3 players. This blog is getting lots of hits but very few of your are voting. Thanks to those of you who have voted and left comments about your vote. I have all of the devices (except for Sirius), and like Richard, would have to think what I use most. Perhaps the question should be: "what is your favorite way to get music?". If you care to answer it that way just leave a comment. Everyone who is in the entertainment business should be polling the public constantly on this question.

Lyrics for Post Below

Words and music: N. Dolph, P. DiFranco en J. Levine (Reunion) / trad.; arr.: Max van de Kamp


B.B. Bumble and the Stingers;
Martha Hooper; Ray Charles Singers
Lonnie Mac & Twangin’ Eddie;
Here’s my ring: we’re goin’ steady.
Take it easy; take me higher;
Liar, liar, house on fire;
Loco-motion; Poco Pashion;
Deeper Purple; Satisfaction;
Baby, baby; gotta, gotta; gimme, gimme; gettin’ hotter;
Sammy’s cookin’; Lesley’s Gorey;
Ritchie Valens; End of story.
Mahavishnu; Fujiyama;
Karma Sutra; Rahma Lama;
Richard Perry; Spector;
Barry Righteous; Archies; Nillson, Harry;
Shimmy, shimmy, coco-bop
And Fats is back and finger-poppin’;
Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!
Gotta turn it up louder, so my DJ told me! (Whoop! Whoop!)
Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me! (Life is a rock; life is a rock.)
At the end of my rainbow lies a golden oldie.

FM/AM; hits are clickin’
While the clock is tock-a-tickin’;
Friends and Romans: salutations;
Brenda and the Tabulations;
Carly Simon; I behold her;
Rolling Stoning; centerfolder;
Johnny Cash and Johnny Rivers;
Can’t stop now - I’ve got the shivers;
Mungo Jerry;
Peter-peter, Paul and Paul and Mary-mary;
Dr. John; the nightly tripper;
Doris Day and Jack the Ripper;
Gotta go soon; gotta swelter;
Leon Russel; Gimme Shelter;
Miracles in smokey places;
Slide guitars and Fender basses;
Mushroom omelet; Bonnie Bramlett;
Wilson Pickett;
Stomp it – kick it;
Life is a rock, but the radio-
Life is a rock, but the radio… Whoooo!
(Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!)
(Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!)

Arthur Janov; Primal Scream;
Hawkins, Jay and Dale and Ronnie;
Kookla, Fran, and Norman Okla;
Denver, John, and Osmond, Donnie;
JJ Cale and ZZ Top and LL Bean and DD Dinah;
David Bowie, Steely Dan, and Sing me proud;
Oh, CC Rider;
Edgar Winter; Joanie Summers;
Ides of March and Johnny Thunder;
Eric Clapton; pedal wah-wah; Steven Foster;
Do-da, do-da;
Good Vibrations; Help Me Rhonda;
Surfer Girl and Little Honda;
Tighter, tighter; Honey, honey;
Sugar, Sugar; Yummy, yummy;
CBS and Warner Brothers,
RCA and all the others;
Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!
Gotta turn it up louder, so my DJ told me! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me! (Life is a rock.)
At the end of my rainbow lies a golden oldie.
Listen! Remember! They’re playin’ our song.
Rocket; socket; Alan Freed me;
Murray Kaufman tried to lead me;
Fish and swim and Boston monkey;
Make it bad and play it FUNKY!

Freddie King and Albert King and BB King and frolicking…
Get it on; **************** lordy; Yellin’ hearty!

There’s a perfect **********; words of Randy Newman;
One, two, three; so ********** please, I need a breather!

Tito Fuente; *********** Cuba ********;
*************************** brass!

Whoooo!
California; ******; Atlanta;
New York City; Transylvania;
*************************;
*************** and ***; oh, yea-a-a-a-ah, YEAH!

Great snapshot of the KAAY top 40 era

My oldest daughter really liked this song. I think it is one of those special records that DJs like. (DJ's also like any song that says to "turn it up louder") Have I posted the lyrics to this?

Anyway hope you enjoy the great visual addition to this song.

Welcome International Visitor:

France Onnaing, Nord-Pas-de-Calais

Politics & KAAY

Don't let political bickering hide the fact this is a great nation.

Broadcast loves political season. It seems to get longer and longer. First, running for office generates lots of news. Second, it generates lots of money. Before congress caught on, radio stations would have a seperate rate card for politicians. Just as they had a rate card for beer, soft drinks etc. Then congress passed a self-serving law that politicians should pay the lowest rate on the station. All they had to do to qualify for the lowest rate, was to appear in person somewhere in the commercial. As I worked in sales for a while, I discovered that even though political ads were easy money, retailers seemed to cut back or divert money from their regular ad budgets. Some perfered to set out the election, feeling that their advertising impact was deluted by all the political spots.

Vote early and often!