KAAY Fun Moblile

Hi AJ -



Speaking of the FunMobile (pronounced Fun Mo -beel), there were two of them during my time at KAAY. They were used extensively during the Christmas shopping season, and the FunMobile was the focal point of the US Marine’s Toys for Tots drive each year.



The first FunMobile was a rehabilitated travel trailer, painted blue, with large yellow KAAY signs on the roof. It started life at WAKY in Louisville , and was sent to Little Rock when KAAY was still part of LIN Broadcasting.



It had a large glass window in the back, and the DJ booth was built onto the rear window so that people could come up to watch the DJ through the windows on three sides. There was a small audio mixer and two turntables, one on either side of the DJ. There was also an intercom so the DJ could talk to people outside. Inside the other end of the FunMobile had a small table arranged like a diner’s booth and visitors usually sat there when the DJ was busy. The finishing touch was a set of loudspeakers mounted outside on the roof that loudly played KAAY music to anyone nearby.



Visitors to the FunMobile could watch the DJ work, making announcements and talking on the air, selecting the next record. Lucky visitors could make requests on the spot and hear their favorite record played on the air.



The blue FunMobile trailer was retired in the mid-‘70’s and replaced with a more modern motor home / studio. This one was painted bright yellow and had the KAAY “Sunshine” logos. It was equipped with a UHF link that transmitted signals from the remote location back to the studio, and could be seen all over Arkansas at a variety of events. We drove it to Greer’s Ferry Lake and parked on a mountain top while the DJ’s broadcast from a party boat that roamed the lake. It went to the Arkansas Prison Rodeo. It broadcast from all corners of Central Arkansas , and its bright yellow color made it visible from miles away.



Both FunMobiles, the blue one and the newer yellow one, were fixtures at Toy Hill ( War Memorial Park in Little Rock ) at Christmas, collecting toys with the Marines. The FunMobile was as much a part of the personality of KAAY in the ‘70’s as were the radio personalities themselves. Every DJ at KAAY ended up at some point spending time in the FunMobile. It could be blazing hot in the summer and ice cold in the winter, but it was broadcasting in its most public sense. A listener could walk right up and talk to the DJ, get an autograph or prize or bumper sticker, and go home listening to his new friend on the radio.



After I left KAAY in search of my career, I heard that the bright yellow FunMobile was enroute to a remote broadcast one day, had an engine fire, and burned to the ground.



People loved the FunMobile. DJ’s would make all sorts of contests on the spot to draw a crowd. Usually the DJ would take some T-shirts and a stack of albums to the remote site. Then he would announce something like this:



- The first car with a KAAY bumper sticker on the outside will win two KAAY T-shirts

or

- The first 2 girls in a bikini will win two albums of their choice

or

- The first 2 girls driving a convertible will win two movie tickets

or

- The first person to show up - - - well you get the picture



The FunMobile was a great place to meet girls! Guys would cruise by or just hang out just to check out the girls that would show up. Little did they know that the girls were really there to meet the DJ and get some free loot! An on the spot romance was possible but rare.





Regards, merry Christmas



Dave Montgomery