Raccoon Story just won't end!

Before you read this scroll down and read the story about the raccoon and the nail gun. Then read the new story:


* Huntsville teacher kills raccoon with nail gun in parking lot
* Humane Society questions 'educational' raccoon killing

HUNTSVILLE, Ark. (AP) - Authorities in Madison County are working to find out who killed and skinned a large dog, then draped it over the gate of a Huntsville High School teacher.

Madison County Sheriff Phillip Morgan says the person who left the dead dog apparently believed the teacher had reported another teacher to the Humane Society for killing a raccoon with a nail gun prior to a class demonstration on how to skin an animal.

The dog was placed on the gate on Thanksgiving Day or on Friday.

Morgan says the culprit could at least face a harassment charge. He says the investigation is continuing.

Prosecutors say no charges will be brought against Jerick Hutchinson. The agriculture teacher killed the raccoon at school -- but out of view of students -- earlier this month. The principal has told Hutchinson not to kill any more animals on school grounds.



©2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,

Still waiting fro some former KAAY staff reflections on Christmas

Let me remind you the writer strike is still on. I am depending on former KAAY employees to send me their memories of Christmas at KAAy. The email address is :
ajlinds@yahoo.com.

Meanwhile, I hope you find the list of locations of visitors to this web site as interesting as I do.

If you are new to this site, don't miss the archives that contain hours of airchecks, jingles, music etc.

2
United States Washington, District of Columbia
3
United States Huntsville, Alabama
4
United States Tulsa, Oklahoma
5
France Paris, Ile-de-France
6
United States Suwanee, Georgia
7
United States Suwanee, Georgia
8
United States Little Rock, Arkansas
9
United States Carthage, Missouri
10
United States Van Buren, Arkansas
11
United States Fort Lauderdale, Florida
12
United States Martin, Tennessee
13
Canada Richmond Hill, Ontario
14
United States Hopkins, Minnesota
15
United States Loganville, Georgia
16
United States Bosque Farms, New Mexico
17
United States Saint Louis, Missouri
18
United States Ellabell, Georgia
19
United States Billings, Montana

A snapshot of the last few visitors to this blog

United States Mountain Home, Arkansas
6
United States Rockford, Illinois
7
Turkey Izmir
8
United States Martin, Tennessee
9
United States Rochester, Minnesota
10
United States Cabot, Arkansas
11
United States Two Harbors, Minnesota
12
United States Omaha, Nebraska
13
United States Bedford, Texas
14
United States Saint Louis, Missouri
15
United States Hopkins, Minnesota
16
United States Owens Cross Roads, Alabama
17
United States Martin, Tennessee
18
United States Bedford, Texas
19
United States Roswell, Georgia
20
Australia Brisbane, Queensland

Anyone Interested

I have an aircheck from KBOX and KLIF in the Kennedy assassination. Before I go to the work to encode it, I would like to know if anyone has an interest in these airchecks. Email me at ajlinds@yahoo.com.

Please come home for Christmas

About this time of the year I was always scrambling (regardless of what station I was working for) to find Tommy Riggs a/k/a Rock Robbins version of "Please Come Home For Christmas." (do a search in the upper left corner for "Tommy Riggs" and then click search this blog. Lots of Tommy material.) If any one has Tommy's version please email me. While I continue my search enjoy this:

Your Comments keep me going

Thanks for the ananomous comment on the "How long has it been since you heard a cigarette commercial" post.
Ananomous said: A Great 58 minutes!!
That encourages me to keep looking for great stuff.
I still need lots of comments on Beaker Street. (see post below)

Writer's strike goes on

Remembering what yesterday was, go to the top of the blog and type JFK into the search box and click on search this blog.

Beaker Street

A good friend of this blog is doing research on Beaker Street. I think it might be useful to him to maybe hear some personal stories of what Beaker Street meant to you.
We all are aware of the nationwide coverage, but it is very helpful to hear your personal story of where you were when you heard Beaker Street. Did it cause you to go into the radio business? (or stay out of the radio business) How much time did you spend listening to Beaker Street? Was Beaker Street common among your friends? Why was Beaker Street different from what you could hear locally? Did you call in to Beaker Street and how did that conversation go? Do you have any recordings or other Beaker Street material? Please don't just read this blog and click on. Take a few minutes to email me you comments at ajlinds@yahoo.com.

Clyde Clifford maintains a Beaker Street website at:

http://beakerstreet.com/

How long has it been since you heard a cigarette commercial?

Well you can today. This is a great montage of commercials. (not necessarily from KAAY)
Remember the Studibaker Lark? Enjoy a great glempse of history with this:

http://kaay.podOmatic.com/entry/eg/2007-11-21T11_24_41-08_00

Raccoons Rule

Has the raccoon story made it to Little Rock TV? For those of you outside the state, which is by far the largest segment of readership to this blog, Little Rock is in the center of the state, the State Capitol, and some would believe the center of media. Northwest Arkansas is a completely different critter. For example, if you live in Fort Smith, you will probably be inclined to go to Tulsa to shop or be amused, rather than Little Rock. Part of this is the attitude toward NW Ar, by the Little Rock media and state government. Northwest AR has plenty of local media and the torrential signal from Little Rock doesn't reach there. All this to give you a local TV station's coverage of the raccoon story and to dispel the image of hicks in this part of the state.

Watch the video at: http://www.4029tv.com/news/14585917/detail.html

Urgent Request

Comments have been slow lately. Maybe it's the writer's strike. I have an urgent request of all former KAAY staffers. Please send me you memories of KAAY at Christmas time. My email address is ajlinds@yahoo.com.

Still on strike

The writers remain on strike so it in necessary to recycle old material.

It is really warm here in Alma, AR and Christmas seems far away, however, this picture seems appropriate.

This picture is from a Christmas in August promotion we ran at KAAY. The Santa in the dark sun glasses is Jim Pitcock with no fat padding. We thought this was such a great gag and had him ride around in a convertible with the top down. People were to put signs in their yard for Santa to see as he drove around. Prizes were awarded for the best signs. I forgot what the prizes were, but it was a great successful contest.

Not to early to be thinking about Christmas

I thought I had posted this earlier but as I found the audio, I heard some phasing and generally bad quality. Now I can't put my hands on the master tape. Still it will put any KAAY employees in the Christmas mood. (click on the link).

http://kaay.podOmatic.com/entry/eg/2007-11-19T12_10_34-08_00

More Thanksgiving

Enjoy:

http://www.grizzlypoint.com/tg/2006tdm1.html

Thanksgiving & KAAY

The holiday season was always great at KAAY. There were always plenty of contests and promotions with a Thanksgiving theme. Most WKRP fans identify the "flying turkeys episode" as their favorite. As most remember the last line of the show is from "The Big Guy" who says "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly". I have mentioned in previous posts that season one of WKRP is available from Netflix. If you rent it or purchase the DVD be sure and listen to the comments from Hugh Wilson, Herb & Gennifer. They only comment on a couple of episodes but it is well worth listening to. They briefly explain why some of the songs have been changed. How stupid it is on the artists part to demand such high royalties. After all only a brief section of the music was used and no one would purchase the DVD because of the music. In fact, if they were smart, an artist would pay them to have it included to renue interest in their song and maybe stimulate some music sales. Call me old fashioned, but artists still need exposure now more then ever with all the competition out there. The quality of the DVD is a little disappointing. After all it was shot on video tape instead of film as most of the MTM sitcoms were. The transfer to DVD should have been sharper than it is. But, hey, I guess we are lucky to get what we got. I noticed from the comments on the extra features part of the DVD, that the cast seemed to have developed the same comradity as a radio station. They mentioned that radio people were always coming up to them and saying we had someone just like Herb, or the big guy, or Les. Few said they had a Gennifer. Without getting too personal, I would say we had a least two maybe three Gennifers at KAAY. But that's another story, one I may never tell.

Russell W. wrote:
When writing, I often use the old-school abbreviations (Ark., Ala., Miss., et al) just because I like how it looks instead of the sterile AR, AL, MS.

BUT, since I like my outgoing mail to get to point B without delay, I put the two-letter kind on the envelope. Anything to help, I suppose.

My .02,
Russell in Savannah, GA/Ga. (where after dark the raccoons come out en masse outside the station)

The raccoon story is getting picked up all over now. I noticed AP has several versions of the story and often use the term he "dispatched" the raccoon with a nail gun.
Interesting use of a word that I usually attribute to a wire service. At least they avoided the obvious "he nailed the raccoon". Neal Boortz was the first national figure to take up the put down of Arkansas. Being from Georgia, where plenty of kooky things take place, he has a lot of room to talk. Wait, there is a writer strip on and I have written too much.

Welcome

International visitors:
Argentina Buenos Aires, Distrito Federal
Greece Thessalonki, Thessaloniki

The raccoons just won't go away

Well at least Arkansas may be off the hook. Today, Friday at 4 PM central time, ABC Radio News reported the nail gun-raccoon story. (Scroll down to read the whole story). Not only were they several days late but they credited the event to Huntsville ALABAMA. Thanks ABC for taking the spotlight off Arkansas. I doubt if the good citizens of Huntsville Alabama will appreciate this story attributed to them. Notice in the original AP story Arkansas is abbreviated "Ark" the old 3 letter abbreviation. Now I am wondering whose right AP or ABC? I know some of my readers are research inclined, so do me a favor. Since I am observing the writer's strike, do some research and email me the real story: ajlinds@yahoo.com.

President Clinton 2000 comment on Coon Supper

And I thank-when Marion Berry ran for Congress after doing a stint in our administration in the Agriculture Department, Dale and David and I really felt that he was entitled to be in Congress, almost as a conciliation prize for having hosted us at the coon supper in Gillette all those years. Anybody who could get us to eat coon for 10 or 15 years in a row should be given a seat in Congress, just as a matter, of course. But I thank them so much.

Writer's Strike but not at KAAY

We never had any unions so never had that DJ can't touch the records that must be played by union engineers.

Maybe I will join the writer's union so I can have some time off.

Continuing the coon thread. Read below stories and comments.

Raccoons have always played a roll in Arkansas politics. Most notable is the Gillette Coon Supper. In an election year this event draws politicians from across the state to mingle and I'm not sure how they are killed but the cooking takes a couple of days.

Arkansas is full of festivals. KAAY always tried to participate in any way possible.
We entered a turtle in the Gould turtle derby, but totally missed the idea of the event. (locals wagering on the critters).

Here is a current list of some of the events in Arkansas:

Altus, Wiederkehr Weinfest
Bismark, Eagles Et Cetera Weekend Festival
Clarksville, Johnson County Peach Festival
Dermott, Crawfish Festival
Des Arc, Steamboat Festival
Fordyce on the Cotton Belt Festival
Gillette, Gillette Coon Supper
Gould, Turtle Derby Festival
Hazen, Prairie County Rice Festival
Heber Springs, Greers Ferry Lake Water Festival
Hope, Watermelon Festival
Lincoln, Arkansas Apple Festival
Malvern, Brickfest
Mount Ida, Quartz Crystal Festival
Murfreesboro, John Huddleston Day Diamond Festival
Paris, Arkansas Championship Grape Stomp and Cowie Wine Fest
Parkin, Riverboat Festival
Sheridan, Timberfest
Smackover, Oil Town Festival
Stuttgart, Wings Over the Prairie Festival
Tontitown, Grape Festival
Trumann: Trumann Wild Duck Festival
War Eagle, War Eagle Mill and Crafts Festival
Warren, Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival
Washington, Jonquil Festival
Weiner, Arkansas Rice Festival
Yellville, Turkey Trot Festival

There is even a website established to oppose the Coon Supper. Here is a segment from that website: (whoever did the site made many misspellings including the name of the town. Most have been corrected)

Every year The high School in Gillette, ARK plays host the annual Coon supper. Let's put a stop to this event! Each year 600-800 pounds of Raccoon meat are served at this event. This is considered a political event, every politician in Arkansas must attend this event and eat Raccoon meat.

"In most places, a politician has to kiss babies in order to succeed. Arkansas politicians have to eat raccoon.

The small east Arkansas town of Gillette doubles its population on the second weekend of every year as candidates and political junkies gather for its annual Coon Supper.

More than 60 years old, the event has become a required stop for anyone seeking or holding political office in Arkansas. Originally started as a fundraiser for high school athletics, it's now the ultimate meet-and-greet for the state's politicians"

And I found this positive comment:

I've been to the Coon Supper and its actually pretty tasty! Its a wonderful custom for a good cause...all of the top politicians in the state attend and a good time is had by all (except the raccoons of course). If you're against eating any and all animals, then I can understand why one might oppose this event. However, I think its difficult to argue that its okay to eat pigs, cows, chickens, turkeys, etc., yet not raccoons. What exactly about the event upsets you? People in Arkansas and other parts of the country have eaten raccoons for centuries. Just because its not so common in urban areas anymore is no reason to oppose the Gillette Coon Supper.

Comment

Comment of the raccoon story below:

He nail-gunned a raccoon to death as part of a school class???!!! What the F@#$ is wrong with people like this??? People who think that killing animals is fun or just no big deal are obviously missing a key component of humanity:empathy for other beings. No,I am not a crazy PETA type. I simply believe that people who have no feeling about killing animals fit the profile of a killer. Interesting how psycho-killers always start out killing animals...are these people so different?

A union writer would have pointed out:

A union writer would have pointed out the late Orval Faubus was from Huntsville, AR.
See story below.......

Writer's Strike Continues

SO, I am turning to the Associated Press for thoughtful writing:

HUNTSVILLE, Ark. (AP) - A Huntsville High School teacher killed a raccoon with a nail gun Friday after discovering the planned subject of a skinning demonstration was alive.

Superintendent Alvin Lievsay says a student's parent promised to bring in a raccoon for the exercise, but surprised agriculture teacher Jerick Hutchinson by bringing the animal in a live trap. Lievsay says Hutchinson took the animal outside to the back of his truck and shot it with the nail gun. Lievsay says no students witnessed the raccoon's death.

Hutchinson used the dead raccoon to demonstrate how to skin the animal and to examine the contents of its stomach. Lievsay says only one student asked not to attend the skinning.

Lievsay says school officials later talked with Hutchinson and told him animals would not be killed on school grounds. The superintendent says Hutchinson also would provide more detailed lesson plans in the future.

The superintendent added that Hutchinson does a good job, and that the students enjoy his classes.

Writer's Strike Affects KAAY Blog

Today instead of writing a new post, I felt it was appropriate to respect the writer's strike. So, today you get a re-run.

Actually, I was looking over the ever changing list of locations where people are viewing this blog from. It caused me to remember this may be the first time you have visited this site and you make not take the effort to catch up.

Today I would like to feature an old post that has an aircheck that is very special to me. It is a George J. Jennings newscast from 1965. It is significant because it features the old format created by Jim Hankins a/k/a Mike McCormick. In those days the five minute news was at :45 and the headlines at :15. Mike's theory was that we would be ahead of the competition that had newscasts at :55. Also, the term "Comex News" baffled listeners for years. Most thought we were saying "comics" news. Comex News was short for Communications Exchange. A big name for the news closet in the Channel 11 building.
George has passed on. The news was moved to the top of the hour, and Comex News was one of the first things I changed when I became program director.

I can still see George gesturing to the jock as the hotline rang during this newscast. I morn the loss of George, radio news with big voices, authority and NEWS.

Listen once again to the aircheck in this link:

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2006-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-06%3A00&updated-max=2007-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=50

1965 on KAAY One of my favorites

Stax Records did a great job of carrying on the Memphis sound legacy. One of my favorites was Rufus Thomas and "Walkin The Dog". It led to a dance. This video is from a British TV show. I'm not sure of the name of the show, but it was a live recording. Unusual because most of the US TV dance parties, just lip synced the songs.

Welcome

United Arab Emirates Dubai, Dubayy
and a few US sites:
Flossmoor, Illinois
Billings, Montana
Bald Knob, Arkansas

New old songs on the player on the right

There are 45 new old songs on the player on the right. I take requests. Let me know of a song or artist you haven't heard lately and I'll try and find it and play it for you.

Email me at ajlinds@yahoo.com

Radio Innovation?

Lee Abrams' blog introduces the all Led Zeppelin
channel: LED ZEPPELIN: we have launched a dedicated Led Zeppelin Channel. Not easy to put that one together as there are 3 managers, 1 lawyer, and a record company. I had to work phones overtime to get this one closed…and lost sleep along the way.
Despite all that—It’s done and will be very cool. On channel 59.

Do you remember the all girl radio stations, the all Elvis stations, the all Beatles station?

This is the time of the year when all Christmas music station's turn up. XM has four.

Not to be outdone I am introducing a Christmas music blog. You will be able to request songs or artists and I will find them and add them to the 45 songs already to listen to .
Here is the link:
http://christmasmusicfromhome.blogspot.com/

Welcome

Cote D'Ivoire

Welcome

Korea, Republic of Seoul, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi
and El Dorado Arkansas....For those of you who don't know it's pronounced EL-Doe-Raid-Oh.

I'll always remember when Federal Express first came to El Dorado. They bought radio commercials produced obviously by their ad agency telling the good folks how happy they were to be in "El Do Rod Oh". The home folk were not impressed.

Razorback Comment

G Hammons left this comment:

YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ABOUT HOG SPIRIT. OF COURSE RAZORBACKS ARE STILL KING IN ARKANSAS, BUT I SEE LESS PASSION ALSO IN THIS NEW ERA. --- I REMEMBER THE STICKERS, SIGNS, PEP RALLIES AND THE LIKE OF THE 1960S ALSO.

I THINK THE PROLIFERATION OF TV GAMES HAS LED SO MANY TO HAVE FAVORITE "NATIONAL (NONREGIONAL) TEAMS" AND ARE A BIT LESS PASSIONATE WITH THEIR HOME/LOCAL TEAMS. WITNESS HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS GOING OUT OF STATE OR ACROSS COUNTRY. "BACK IN THE DAY" NEVER WOULD YOU SEE THE POOR OR EVEN AVERAGE TEAMS ON TV, BUT YOU WOULD EVEN HAVE TO WAIT TIL SUNDAY TO GET ALOT OF SCORES (AND NEVER SEE HIGHLIGHTS). NOW I CAN WATCH THE LESS THAN STELLAR TEAMS (INDIANA, IOWA STATE, VANDERBILT, WASHINGTON STATE, SYRACUSE, ETC.) PLAY AT LEAST 3 TIMES IF NOT MORE. IN 1969 I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THEY HAD FOOTBALL TEAMS (UNSEEN , UNHEARD AND UNPUBLICIZED IN PLACES LIKE ARKANSAS. AND LESS FOLKS LISTEN TO RADIO GAMES, NO DOUBT.

UNFORTUNATE AND IRONIC RESULT OF ALL THE MEDIA (ESPN, CABLE, SATELLITE) AND MORE

Your right G. At the time, of course, I lived in Little Rock. Arkansas State had a following and for those of you new to this blog, do a little search in the upper left box about the time KAAY delayed the Razorbacks to broadcast an A.State game and why.
Now I live in Alma. A stones throw from the home of the Razorbacks. I am not sure anyone here has even heard of Arkansas State. Even this close, there is not the excitement of a Razorback game day as in the 60s.

New KAAY Songs

New old songs. 45 in all, have been added to the player on the far right. Click on the little arrow to play. Email me you comments at ajlinds@yahoo.com.

WKRP Fans Note:

The first season of WKRP is available in three DVD discs on Netflix.
Because of music rights clearance difficulties, some of the music has been changed.

The second Mama Carlson Dead at 87

'WKRP's' 'Mama Carlson' dead at 87
Carol Bruce played Mama Carlson on "WKRP in Cincinnati"

Bruce was nominated for Tony in mid-'60s

Actress appeared in dozens of TV shows over the years

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Actress Carol Bruce, perhaps best known for her role as Mama Carlson on television's "WKRP in Cincinnati," has died. She was 87.


Carol Bruce appears in an undated photo provided by her family.

Bruce died October 9 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in suburban Woodland Hills, spokeswoman Jaime Larkin said in a news release.

Bruce began her entertainment career as a Montreal nightclub singer and went on to captivate Broadway audiences with her sultry voice in the 1940 musical comedy "Louisiana Purchase."

She appeared in the films "This Woman Is Mine," "Keep 'em Flying" and "Behind the Eight Ball" between 1941 and 1942, then returned to the stage, where she was praised for her Broadway performances in the 1946 revival of "Showboat."

She was nominated for a Tony Award for her role in the Broadway show "Do I Hear a Waltz?" in 1965.

In 1979, she took over the role that Sylvia Sidney had originated on "WKRP in Cincinnati" a year earlier as Mama Carlson, the tough-talking owner of a radio station managed by her son Arthur, played by Gordon Jump. Bruce kept the recurring role until the series ended in 1982.

The actress, born Shirley Levy, had guest spots in dozens of other TV shows, including "Doogie Howser, M.D.," "Diff'rent Strokes" and "Knots Landing."

Saturdays were a sum of a week of Razorback promotions on KAAY

(That's my grandson, Davis. Visit his blog at: www.davisjim.blogspot.com
I have often written about Razorback fever on KAAY. Somehow, I don't see the excitement that existed in the 60s. Perhaps the increase in TV coverage and the increase in seating at Reynolds Razorback whatever the names is stadium. The Razorback program was built on a statewide radio network that every station in town could carry the game for a very low fee. Later, Frank discovered the media gravy train. I don't know of any station that did more for the promotion of the Razorbacks. Bumper stickers, store signs,pep rallies, records, jingles, contests, and the jocks 24 hour cheerleading. Sonny and George long running Arkansas vs Texas sthick was almost overplayed. George would tell you privately, his Texas feelings were only there because it made good radio. When I was there, a large group from the station would party to Fayetteville, party at Maxine's Tap Room, party at the stadium and all the way home. Pat Walsh was the head hog party provider. He could never get into a stadium today prepared the way he was in those days. He had a portable bar, portable TV, cushions, drop clothes (to cover a couple of rows of seats in case of rain). Going with Pat to a game was an experience even if we lost.

Welcome

Sleepy Eye, Minnesota

Some notes on Sleepy Eye:

Many watchers of the "Little House on the Prairie" TV series will also recognize Sleepy Eye as an important trade post for the citizens of Walnut Grove. In fact, the first telephone line to reach Walnut Grove from Minneapolis was called the "Sleepy Eye Line" in one episode.
Every August the residents of Sleepy Eye host the annual "Corn Days" event, where free buttered corn is provided, as well as live music, a flea market, and various other events.
Ralph John Fritz, a longtime Twin Cities sportscaster, is from Sleepy Eye.
Residents of Sleepy Eye made headlines in the early 1990's by trying to ban MTV in the town.

Welcome Visitors

Australia Perth, Western Australia

How would you like to have the #1 record the week JFK was shot?

Note: Dale died last month.

Dale Houston

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Learn more about citing Wikipedia •

Dale Houston (April 23, 1940 – September 27, 2007) was an American singer who, along with his performing partner, Grace Broussard, rocketed to the top of the Billboard chart with two rock and roll hits - gold records with more than 1 million copies sold - I'm Leaving It Up to You (No. 1) and Stop and Think It Over (No. 8) in 1963 and 1964, respectively. In his later years, Houston was reunited on stage with Broussard.

Early years

Houston was born to Claude Houston and the former Essie Walters in Seminary, a small town in Covington County in southern Mississippi. He was delivered by a midwife on the family's kitchen table. The Houstons thereafter moved to nearby Collins, the seat of Covington County, where the senior Houston surrendered to the Christian ministry. Young Dale began piano lessons when he was a sixth grader, but the family stopped his training after three months because of financial difficulties. Thereafter, Dale was self-taught: his musical skills were enhanced by playing and singing in church.

At the age of eighteen, Houston recorded "Lonely Man," which reached No. 75 nationally. In 1960, while he was performing in Baton Rouge, record executive Sam Montel caught Houston's act in a local bar. Montel declared Houston "a pretty good writer" and signed him to compose exclusively for his label. Houston then wrote and recorded "Lonely Room," "Bird With A Broken Wing," and "That's What I Like About Us," none of which was particularly successful.

Partnership with Grace Broussard

In 1963, Houston was working in a bar in Ferriday, a well-known small town in Concordia Parish, Louisiana along the Mississippi River. Montel approached Houston about teaming up with a female singer, Grace Broussard (born 1939) of Prairieville in Ascension Parish near Baton Rouge. The two met and practiced on Montel's home piano for four hours. When Houston began to play an old Don and Dewey song from the mid-1950s, "I'm Leaving It Up To You," Montel was awakened and declared that it would be "a hit!" Montel was vindicated when in November 1963, I'm Leaving It Up To You reached No. 1, where it remained for two weeks.^[1]

In the autumn of 1963, Houston and Broussard toured with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. He appeared on Clark's American Bandstand program. The Clark caravan, which also included Brian Hyland and Bobby Vee, was standing on a street corner in Dallas waving at Kennedy on that fateful November 22. The limousine was two blocks away from the caravan when the president was killed, and Texas Governor John B. Connally was seriously wounded. ("I'm Leaving It Up To You" was also No. 1 when Kennedy was assassinated.) Six days later, Houston spent Thanksgiving Day at Clark's home.

Dale and Grace then produced Stop And Think It Over, which went to No. 8 in 1964. However, the popularity of The Beatles, combined with personal problems between the two performers, caused the duo to separate in 1965.

Not from KAAY, but one of my favorites

Jim Stagg passed away on Tuesday, one of the guys I came
rushing home 
from high school to listen to on KYW, Cleveland back in the
mid 
sixties. Cleveland's in the groove again, on the Stagg
line. 
Cleveland's on the move again, on the Stagg line. And
here's your 
million dollar music man to start the show.....
Obituaries |Jimmy Pearson Staggs: 1935 - 2007

Longtime Chicago radio deejay

By Trevor Jensen | Tribune staff reporter
November 8, 2007

Jimmy Pearson Staggs was known as Jim Stagg to teenagers
tuned in to 
WCFL-AM during afternoons in the 1960s and 1970s. A disc
jockey who 
toured with the Beatles in the mid-1960s, bringing
listeners hourly 
updates on the Fab Four, Mr. Staggs signed off in 1975 as
AM rock 
radio was dying out and started a chain of record stores in
the 
northern suburbs.

Mr. Staggs, 72, died Tuesday, Nov. 6, at his Lake Forest
home of 
complications from esophageal cancer, said his daughter
Kara Drumke.

At WCFL, Chicago's longtime "Voice of Labor," later known
as "Super 
CFL" during its battles with WLS for teen listeners, Mr.
Staggs held 
down afternoons with the "Stagg Line" and "Stagg Starbeat."

WCFL program director Ken Draper recruited Mr. Staggs and
several 
other disc jockeys from KYW in Cleveland to Chicago in the
mid-1960s, 
said Jerry G. Bishop, who was also among Draper's hires. At
both 
stations, Mr. Staggs was often the one who lined up the
play list, 
Bishop said.

"He was the music guy. He picked the music," Bishop said.
"He was 
pretty connected to the record guys."

Bishop and Mr. Staggs were among about a dozen reporters
who traveled 
on the Beatles' private plane during the band's 1964 U.S.
tour. The 
reporters had tags connecting them to the tour and
sometimes found 
themselves running through screaming hordes of teenage
girls right 
along with the beloved Liverpudlians, Bishop said.

"There was amazing hysteria," Bishop said. "[But] I had no
idea it 
was history, and he didn't either."

During the Beatles' 1965 tour, Mr. Staggs broadcast hourly
updates to 
a rapt WCFL audience. This tour was much more heavily
covered, and 
Mr. Staggs and other media were relegated to a second
plane, his 
daughter said.

Mr. Staggs had a rich voice and a relatively straight
delivery for 
the era, Bishop said. "Jim was more of a workmanlike guy,
not a 
performer," Bishop said.

After leaving radio in 1975, Mr. Staggs opened a record
store called 
"Record City," which eventually became a chain with
locations in Lake 
Zurich, Skokie, Glenview and Northbrook, with another
outlet in 
Orlando, Fla. The last Record City closed two years ago,
Drumke said.

Mr. Staggs also got into real estate, working with Keller
Williams 
Realty in Libertyville, and started a business that
chronicled 
people's lives through video montages and interviews.

A graduate of the University of Alabama, Mr. Staggs worked
in radio 
in Birmingham, Ala., Philadelphia, San Francisco and
Milwaukee before 
landing at KYW.

Mr. Staggs is also survived by his wife, Valene; a son,
Patrick; two 
more daughters, Lisa Henderson and Dina Jaske; a sister,
JoAnn Terry; 
and five grandchildren.

Visitation is set for 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, and 3 to 5 p.m.
Saturday, 
at N.H. Scott & Hanekamp Funeral Home, 1240 Waukegan Rd.,
Glenview. A 
5 p.m. service will follow the visitation on Saturday.

_______________________________________________

Welcome International Visitor:

Italy

Appiano, Trentino-Alto Adige

El Salvador

San Salvador

New Feature Added

Over on the right is an "On the Air" box. Click on the arrow for some music. I will be changing the playlist from time to time. Enjoy!

KAAY & Jingles

I've talked several times about jingles. I listen to jingles as often as I do music. I love jingles. Radio station jingles, commercial jingles, any jingle. I have included many of the KAAY jingles on this blog. My favorite jingles came from Pams. I hope to someday to try and put together all the KAAY jingles. I also especially liked the beer and soft drink jingles. Jingles must be out of favor today. I don't hear them as much for radio station IDs or even commercials. Where are those great beer and soft drink jingles? I do notice XM radio uses jingles well. They have taken some of the best from the past and had them resung with XM Radio in the place of call letters. The 60s channel on Friday afternoon features a great top 40 station from the past and their jingles. Here is a link to a PAMS page. Pick out a decade and enjoy. http://www.pams.com/pams/sampler.html
It was a great feeling to be out in the public and have folks sing the logo (KAAY, Tune ten ninety) back at you.

Welcome International Visitors:

China

Nanjing, Jiangsu

		India	Bangalore, Karnataka
		India

Bombay, Maharashtra

Music of 1964

The Beatles really dominated the music of 1964. However, there was still some great music from Motown, Roy Orbison, Beachboys, etc. Then there was music like Jan & Dean and Dead Man's Curve. I play that for you today primarily for the picture of the 1963 Corvette. I drove a Red 63 Corvette Sting Ray. When I left KAAY bound for Decatur, Il and WAND (A TV station that LIN Broadcasting had purchased and Len Carl was the manager) I moved in the Corvette. I remember getting a speeding ticket once a month in Illinois. Fortunately they didn't report it on my Arkansas driver's license. The car just looked like it was speeding setting still. The 63 had some real inovations for it's day. There were seat belts and FM on the radio.

Remember this epic:

More International

China
Shanghai

Welcome International Visitor:

Canada

Medicine Hat, Alberta

I'm Constantly learning from this blog

We had a visitor to this blog from Alma Kansas. I had never heard of Alma Kansas and was interested because I live in Alma AR. In researching, it is about the same size as Alma AR. We however have a significant industry. Allen Canning Company produces Popeye spinish here.
Thus the chamber claims this to be the spinish capitol of the world. Not sure of the documentation for this claim.

I never tire of reading this kind of story

Thanks to http://www.hibblenradio.com/preradio.html
for your comments on KAAY and your link to this blog.

It's aways fun to read of the countless number of folks who entered the broadcast business after being inspired by KAAY.

Remember we were learning too. We had no consultants, music research, computers, or the aids that make broadcasting easier today.

I hope today it is still possible for someone to start at a small hometown station and work their way up.

Please continue to share your stories with me at ajlinds@yahoo.com. It is a great pleasure to share them with readers of this blog.

I Heard it This Morning

I heard it this morning for the first time in a long time. You may think I spend all my time listening to XM Radio. The best thing about XM is depth in chart selections on the decades channels. Naturally, I listen most to the 60s channel and I am always rewarded with songs that never made it in the top ten and are ignored today by music research done for the oldies stations. KAAY never heard of music research. Our research was totally listner feedback. We even paid a kid to answer the phones at night. He kept a log of every song requested and gave it to the music director.
It seems like today's oldies stations have such a tight playlist and repeat it over and over. I never seem to tire from the XM Decades channels. The song in point today is "Let's Think About Livin by Bob Luman. The song is interesting from a couple of aspects. First the lyrics comment on the tragedy songs of the day and second, Bob's life was tragicly short.

Bob Luman (Robert Glynn Luman, 15 April 1937 - December 27, 1978) was an American country and rockabilly singer born in Blackjack, Texas, a church community south of Tyler in Smith County, Texas.

The smooth baritone was best-known in non-country circles for his crossover hit, "Let's Think About Living," a novelty song that hit #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #9 on the Billboard country chart in 1960.

Luman was, however, well-known in the country music world. His 1972 hit, "Lonely Women Make Good Lovers," became his biggest country hit, hitting #4 on the country chart.(Steve Wariner, who had earlier been a member of Luman's band, later covered the song in the 1984, and he, too, took it to #4 on the country charts.)

Luman's other country hits included "Ain't Got Time To Be Unhappy" (1968), "When You Say Love" (1972), "Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)" (1973), "Still Loving You" (1974), "Proud Of You Baby" (1975), and "The Pay Phone" (1977).

Luman died of pneumonia in 1978, at the age of 41.

1969 Hit but could it happen today?

"Oh Happy Day" is a 1967 gospel music arrangement of an 18th century hymn. Recorded by the Edwin Hawkins Singers it became an international hit in 1969, making US #4 and UK #2 on the pop charts. It has since become a gospel music standard.


Origins

Edwin Hawkins’ funk style arrangement of the hymn "Oh Happy Day" has a long pedigree: It began as a hymn written in the mid-18th century ("Oh happy day that fixed my choice") by English clergyman Phillip Doddridge (based on Acts 8:35) set to an earlier melody (1704) by J. A. Freylinghausen. By the mid-19th century it had been given a new melody by Edward F. Rimbault and was commonly used for baptismal or confirmation ceremonies in the UK and USA. The 20th century saw its adaptation from 3/4 to 4/4 time and this new arrangement by Hawkins, which contains the repeated refrain only (all of the original verses being omitted).

The Edwin Hawkins Singers

The Edwin Hawkins Singers began as The Northern California State Youth Choir founded in 1967 by Hawkins and Betty Watson, its members aged 17–25. As was common in gospel circles they produced and distributed their own LP: Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord, recorded live in church. "Oh Happy Day", featuring Dorothy Morrison as lead vocalist, was picked up by a local DJ and subsequently released commercially. Aretha Franklin had already brought strong gospel stylings to the pop charts with songs such as "Think" (1968), but a hymn had never “crossed over” before. "Oh Happy Day" soared into the US Top 5, winning a Grammy and massive sales worldwide.

Legacy and influence

Hawkins' arrangement quickly became a “standard” and has been recorded by hundreds of artists. It was included on the RIAA Songs of the Century list.

Hawkins is still active and is now an elder statesman for the Contemporary Gospel style which "Oh Happy Day" helped found.

This song served as an inspiration for the Nick Cave song "Deanna" (1988), which appears on Tender Prey and B-Sides & Rarities.

The song has appeared in many movies, but notably Whoopi Goldberg's Sister Act 2. The song also appears in Big Momma's House and Nutty Professor 2:The Klumps. In the United Kingdom, it was played by Bruno Brookes on BBC Radio 1 in the early hours of April 10, 1992 to herald the Conservative Party's fourth consecutive election victory.

Other versions

In addition to the Hawkins Singers, the song has been recorded by a number of other artists, most notably Joan Baez, who included the song on her 1971 album Carry It On, and later her 1976 live album From Every Stage.


* Recorded live 1967, Ephesian Church of God in Christ, Berkeley, California.

Independently released on the LP Let us go into the house of the Lord (1968). Commercially released as a 7" single on Pavilion Records April 1969, then on Buddah Records LP Oh Happy Day 1969.

Awards

* 1970 Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance

Another International visitor

Canada Montreal, Quebec

Welcome International Visitor

Netherlands Boxtel, Noord-Brabant

Hi Records

Yesterday's spotlight was on a record on the "Hi" label. (see post below) Hi was one of the Memphis labels that had a distinctive sound that made a great contribution to rock and roll. When you think of Memphis, Sun Records is usually the first to come to mind, but there was Hi, Stax, and others. I found an interesting sight about Hi Records. Take a look and don't miss the juke box to play a few of the hits.
http://hirecords.com/history.html

Also take a look at:

http://www.staxmuseum.com/