New Songs

A new playlist has been added to the player down on the right.

If you have a song or artist you would like to hear again drop me an email:

ajlinds@yahoo.com

XM Radio & Random Thoughts

Today XM salutes :KFJZ Ft. Worth, TX The BIG 12-70 Hear the hits from the KFJZ BIG 30 Survey. As we remember Nightmare Theatre with Gungon on Ch. 11. The submarine races on Signal Hill, Leonard?s Department Store, cruise with us to Carlson?s Hamburgers, Kincaid?s & The Cherry Lane Drive-In Theatre. Local bands the Mods & The Barons.

Show starts at 3PM on channel 6.

As previously discussed Beaker Street was broadcast from the transmitter. That may not seem like a big deal to some, but the transmitter was at Wrightsville, AR, about 20 miles from Little Rock. It really wasn't IN Wrightsville. It was in the middle of pasture land. Very isolated. And possibly haunted.

The studio on the other hand, was in downtown Little Rock. Near the action.

I can't imagine trying to do a show in such an isolated situation. All the things we take for granted in a radio studio were only available if Clyde brought it in or set it up. Give Dale a lot of credit. It was his baby and he deserves all the credit.

Clyde Clifford Beaker Street Comment

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "More KAAY comments":

in 1966, my family had moved into the n.eastern part of louisiana. i was 12 yrs. old then. probably; when i was 13, i somehow got turned onto 'beaker street'. it seemed, thatat11p.m. on saturday night, as i lay on the top bunk-bed, that acertain magical atmosphere descended upon my world. frigid pink's version of house of the rising sun heralded a plethera of unfamiliar, but intriging/mystical sounds. a long=time friend, who lived in little rock at the time, and i {and certainly many others


] shall have lasting memories of the impressions that "the street" made upon us. and it was a bitchin' powerful station! on a clear night, it was a good companion on I=10 well into the florida panhandle. just thought i'd throw out a few memories. i'm quite sure that many of us were connected despite space, but not time... clyde's voice was probably, tome, much more spacey than the music. in my mind, a mental image of beaker street, would be; not unlike the cover of "ziggy stardust".
thanks clyde

Comment & story link

Hoo, boy....You've probably seen this, but I thought I'd send it on anyway:

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aid=103264.54928.115393

Keep up the good work, Doc!

"Safety-Courtesy-Responsiveness-Accuracy-Efficiency"...Service Is Our Passion!

For HIS glory,

Bud Stacey

More KAAY comments

I always place your comments under the post that you were commenting on, and often I will post your comments as an individual post just to make sure everyone reads it. I think that casual readers may not always look at the comments. We get so few comments that readers are not accustomed to reading the comments. The Arkansas TV news blogs will get 40 or more comments on a post. Granted they are often undesirable comments but at least there is a lot of action.

Thanks always for your comments:

AMEN! :-)

I read and hang on every word in this blog. I just don't comment that often because I don't have a whole lot to say ... I wasn't part of the station except as a listener at a very young age. What I love reading are the stories from other KAAY personalities who were part of the 'magic.'

PS - speaking of "Magic", I'm sorry to see the demise of Magic 105. Just surprised it took this long. I won't name names, but the same thing happened in Jonesboro by the same people -- when I was in college up there ('80s), KFIN was the 800-pound gorilla of radio, a big sound for a small market. Both K-FIN and Magic were monsters ... now look at 'em.

I truly hope Beaker Street lands on its feet elsewhere.

Again, I write more and I'll get depressed.....

I enjoy this blog, and would miss it if it were not here.

--Russell Wells
Savannah, Ga.

New to this blog?

Here is a link to most of the audio files that are available to you to listen to or download. http://kaay.podomatic.com/

There are a few other airchecks and various audio that are on several of my websites but you will just have to find those under older posts. Some day maybe I will organize them in one website and stop paying podomatic. I am running half capacity there so that may come about sooner than later.

Enjoy and if you have airchecks and recordings that might be of interest to post here email me at : ajlnds@yahoo.com.

Correction to the post below

vdog sent this correction:
There is a correction on the Beaker
Street change. It turns out Beaker Street will no longer air on MAGIC 105. They are currently playing all Beatles music for a week while the new station prepares for its changes. Check out the Beaker Street website for further updates.

Beaker Street Change

There will soon be a big change in Little Rock Radio Mar.3rd. MAGIC 105 will be leaving the airwaves on that day. Almost every radio station up and down the dial has changed over the years. MAGIC 105 has remained constant until Mar.3rd. I assume the last program to air on MAGIC 105 will be
Beaker Street. I guess Clyde Clifford will sign it off just as he did KAAY.
THe reason I'M putting this on the
blog is that old school KAAY is still widely talked about. The once popular FM stations that have changed, are really not talked about much.
The change that will take place on
105.1 is that the Wolf will move its classic country format to that
frequency. Long time program director Tom Wood will have his own radio station called TOM 106.7.
It will play a wide variety of music from the 60's & 70's.

KAAY & THE ELEGENTLY APPOINTED BLUE GOOSE

The original Blue Goose was at 8th and Izard across the street from KTHV.KAAY, at that time was located on the 2nd floor of the Channel 11 building. Howard Watson, known as Ken Knight on KAAY started referring to the "elegantly appointed Blue Goose". He built on this illusion for the listeners by describing the LR elite arriving for the floor show.Night after night to 40 states and 19 foreign countries he painted a vivid picture of a great night club with floor shows and all the trappings. Of course locals knew there were only two tables in the Blue Goose and those were usually taken by George Moore or other KTHV celebrities. The bar-b-que was great and the beer coldest in town.One evening a couple appeared at the door looking quite bewildered and lost. Come to find out they were from Wisconsin and had called trying to make reservations for the floor show. Or course the Blue Goose owner and help were completely oblivious to all that was going on. By proping open the control room door and looking out the windowed stairway, "the weird beard" could see all that was going on and verbally fantasize even more.

(Yes, this is a repost. I have never done this before, but I like this story and the original was full of typos. Those of you new to this blog need to understand this is in the early days of KAAY prior to the Beaker Street era. Since we were in the same building as Channel 11, we enjoyed their friendship without being connected through employment. George Moore, Steve Stephens, Evelyn Ellman, were some of the KTHV employees at the time KAAY started.) Please leave a comment if you would like to recall some of the KTHV people from that, or latter times.

WKNR Saluted today on XM Radio

WKNR Detroit, MI Keener 13 Hear the hits from the Keener 13 Music Guide. 15 year old Stevie Wonder stops by the studios. We broadcast from Edgewater Amusement Park where you ride all the rides for a dollar fifty. ($1.50) Local bands the MC 5, The Rationals & Ted Nugent. Listen as we cruise Hunter House Hamburgers, Ted?s Drive In, and Elias Brothers Big Boy.

Don't have an XM Radio. It's on the web at www.xmradio.com

Ray Stevens on KAAY through the 60s & 70s

Ray Stevens was one of those Dj favorites for always producing novelty hits and a few
normal songs. This video is interesting because it becomes more of a tribute to Ray, with album covers and photos of a lot of his hits. Also, read the notes about when and who wrote this particular song:

Thanks for you comments

In case you don't read the comments, I wanted you to see this one because of the link at the end.

Hi - Grear blog. I used to listen to KAAY and Beaker Street through the static up in Minnesota. In fact, I just wrote about that today, and a friend pointed me this way. You may want to take a look: http://echoesinthewind.blogspot.com/2008/02/remembering-walks-on-beaker-street.html
Rock on!

My Hometown Jingle

I have previously written about and posted some of the "city" songs or jingles. Pams "My Hometown" were very popular. When KAAY came along in 1962 all the good songs had been taken by other stations in the market. We settled for the "Big K Twist". (a recording of that is in a previous post).

I am teaching a computer class on creating a slide show. For a demonstration, I used the KVLC "My Hometown" jingle. Those of you from Little Rock will enjoy the line, "fabulous Central High". I don't have the exact date, but by that comment, it must be early to mid 50s.



Please leave your comments. How to do that is described below.

Your comments needed to keep me going

It takes less than 15 seconds to leave a comment. Even a one word amen would be appreciated. See the word "comment" at the end of this post in the lower right. Just click on the word "comment" type in a word and scroll down and put the dot in "Anonymous". Do that word verification business if it appears and click "Publish".

That's it.

Crossovers, Grammy Awards, Tina Turner and other thoughts

Seems like the entire time I was in top 40 there were always country songs that crossed over into top 40. And that was a good thing. Some songs were pure country that found their way into rock and roll. (i.e. "Hillbilly Heaven" For an interesting audio clip type in "Hillbilly Heaven" in the upper left search box and search this blog.) Now days, country is so successful on its own there seems to be no need to crossover. Country stations are often number one in many markets. For an interesting contrast watch CMA and the Grammy Awards shows. Then there is one of my all time favorites Tina Turner. Did you see her on the Grammies? She proves you can be over 60
and still be on top. How about Tina crossing over into country? I can just imagine that.

Black Oak Arkansas

BOA has been discussed on this blog several times. If you haven't read it, type in Black Oak Arkansas in the upper left search box and search this blog.

Dave Montgomery sent the lyrics:
Here are the lyrics to “Jim Dandy…”




Jim Dandy
LaVern Baker & the Gliders, 1956
Black Oak Arkanses - 1974
Lyrics by -
Lincoln Chase

Peaked #17 on December 29,1956
#4990 for the Top5000 of the Rock Era (55-94)
Black Oak
Arkansas Peaked #25 on February 16,1974

-0-

Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

I was sitting on a mountain top.
30,000 feet to drop.
Tied me on a runaway horse
Uh huh, that's right, of course.
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

One day, I met a girl named Sue.
She was feeling kind of blue.
I'm Dandy, the kind of guy
Who can't stand to see a little girl cry.
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

I was riding on a submarine
Got a message from my mermaid queen.
She was hanging on a fishing line.
Mr. Dandy didn't waste no time!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

Once upon a time, I went to
Maine .
Got a ticket on a DC plane.
Mr. Dandy didn't need no chute!
I was high and ready to boot!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!


Source: http://ntl.matrix.com.br/pfilho/html/lyrics/j/jim_dandy.txt

And here is the video:

I still have the 45 in my portable disco box. It still sounds the best coming off vinyl through my Klipsch speakers.

XM's 60s on 6 salutes WLCY

WLCY Tampa, FL Radio 138 Hear the hits from the WLCY Fun Fifty Survey. See which WLCY Swingin? Gentlemen is locked inside the Frugal Fun Cage. Listen to hear your WLCY Fun Club Card Number. Come to Clearwater & hang out at Pier 60, cruise the Steak & Shake, Crystal?s Hamburgers, Gas at the ESSO station is only 25 cents a gallon!

Here is the song to go with the post below.

Some of life's lessons I learned from this song:
1. Don't let your ponytail get caught in your motorcycle spokes
2. "Dude" is not a new word
3. "Sweet sweet Connie" is not unique to Little Rock

Mention of Little Rock in Grand Funk Railroad's "We are an American Band"

OK, I know this is a bit off-track, but Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re an American Band” was played a LOT on KAAY. Here’s a web link to a commentrary by Don Brewer, Grand Funk drummer, explaining some of the lyrics in the song, including the verse about “sweet sweet Connie” - - for those of you who may be curious about the mention of Little Rock in the song - Be sure to scroll down to the “comments” section about Connie and KAAY. My memory is dim about this point, but I believe KAAY was one of the major local promoters of the Grand Funk concert that may have eventually inspired the Connie lyric.



http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1756



The gold record picture with Sonny Martin reminded me of “We’re an American Band”. According to the website, the song was pressed using “gold” colored vinyl as part of the marketing of the song. Gold colored vinyl was more pure than black vinyl, more expensive, but the record company (Capital) decided this was a good move for publicity. Later, other records were pressed using colored vinyl as a promotional tool.



-0-



Regards,



Dave Montgomery

Right on track Dave. I have tried to find some kind of list of concerts at Barton but to no avail. I couldn't even find a list of Elvis live concert dates. (I was looking for the date of the Elvis concert in Pine Bluff.) You would think that with all there is on the web, concert dates would be significant.

There is a project for some computer buff.

More T-Bones Video

From the TV show Shivaree 2/12/66

Link below on the T-Bones Song doesn't work

Thanks for letting me know that the link below doesn't work. I found the same commercial on You Tube. Here's a link that will work:

Link to Previous KAAY article

Below in previous posts an article is discussed and a copy of text without photo.
Here is a link to the article that has the Clyde Clifford photo:

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/20/icon_article.asp?articleID=19

Help find this missing person

MISSING PERSON


JOHN GLASGOW
Missing since January 28, 2008
Car found at Mather’s Lodge in Petit Jean Arkansas State Park on January 29, 2008

Age: 45 (born 10/1/1962)
Height: 6’0
Weight: 180
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Residence: Little Rock, Arkansas
*Last seen wearing green Marmot down jacket and khaki pants

IF YOU IDENTIFY SOMEONE MEETING THIS DESCRIPTION, PLEASE CONTACT LOCAL OR STATE AUTHORITIES

TV commercials on the KAAY blog?

Well there is a reason. The song "Not Matter What Shape" by the T-Bones was the music track for an Alka Seltzer commercial. It became a hit. D.J.s loved it because it was an instrumental. In this collection of TV commercials you will see some cigarette commercials which, of course was banned on radio and television in the 60s. The Marboro Country spot ends with that great magnificant seven music that everyone used in spot production.

IF you tried this previously and it was out of bandwidth, try again...it's working now

Patrioitism not quite dead in the public schools. Take a look:

http://www.trdaniel.com/Battle%20Hymn/index.htm

Where have all the flowers gone?

If you scroll down you will find a post about the barracks at Ft. Chaffee burning. My son wrote a thoughtful post on his son's blog.

Take a look:

http://www.davisjim.blogspot.com/

60s on 6 XM Radio Salute

Today, XM's 60s on 6 salutes WING Dayton Ohio.

Several of you have commented as to why XM has not saluted KAAY. I have asked the same question and what I have heard is they have some problems using call letters that are still on the air. Probably have to get permission. I did not hear that directly from XM but it wouldn't hurt for those of you that would be interested to contact XM by email and request KAAY.

Here's the email form:

http://www.xmradio.com/help/emailus.xmc?ch=6

How to suceed in radio!

When I look back at starting at KAAY as a 8-12Midnight D.J., then to morning drive, program director, Emperor, salesman, on to TV sales and Miss Teenage America, all in just a few years. I wonder if those starting in radio today have the same opportunities. As I pondered this, I ran across an article from XM's Lee Abram which gives a thoughtful analysis of today's broadcast opportunities. Go to:
http://leeabrams.blogspot.com/2008/02/more-on-information-is-new-rock-n.html

KAAY Article

Thanks to Bud for finding the article that was for sale on Amazon about KAAY.
I'm not trying to hurt their business but why pay $6 for something available free.

Article Excerpt
FOR A FEW MAGIC YEARS, for music fans throughout a figure-eight centered in Little Rock and stretching from Canada to Cuba, one radio station was king of the nighttime airwaves: KAAY-AM, The Mighty 1090.

Launched in July 1962, KAAY was the state's only 50,000-watt station.

"KAAY was an unusual radio station," said station announcer and engineer Clyde Clifford. KAAY--with Clifford, station manager Pat Walsh and a host of others--is credited with hipping many an ear beyond the state's borders to the new sounds of the '60s.

"It was a powerhouse station in a smaller market ... We literally got bushel baskets of [fan] mail," said Clifford, who was host of the station's groundbreaking progressive-rock Sunday night program "Beaker Street."

By the time KAAY arrived, radio had already faced down the threat of that upstart broadcast medium, television. But the parents of many of those Beaker Street fans could remember a day when broadcast was strictly an agricultural word to describe the scattering of seed.

It is difficult to imagine the sense of wonder Arkansawyers had in hearing their first radio broadcasts. In an era when cell phones also take snapshots for us, the very extent of current technology seems to make us increasingly hard to impress, much less amaze.

The state's own broadcasting history can he traced to 1922, when commercial licenses--which then had to be renewed every three months--were granted to stations WOK in Pine Bluff and WSV in Little Rock.

The elite with radio receivers prior to this time could sometimes pick up out-of-state stations, but broadcasting was still very much an emerging field. Few had sets; fewer still had stations.

But through the years, the radio craze spread. Entrepreneurs started stations across Arkansas. Station KTHS ("Kum To Hot Springs") set up in the rebuilt Arlington Hotel in late 1924. In August 1928, KTHS officially notified Arkansas Sen. Joe T. Robinson of his nomination for Democratic vice-presidential candidate.

The Hot Springs station also was the launching pad of comedic radio stars Lum and Abner and country music's first female million-seller, Patsy "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" Montana of Jessieville, among many others. KTHS was additionally a stated inspiration for song-writer Henry Glover, the Hot Springs-born producer and musician who wrote...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.

NW Arkansas in Superbowl Dark

The Fox affiliate for N.W. Arkansas was off the air and feeds to Dish and Direct TV were also lost. Only Cox Cable had the Fox feed of the entire Superbowl. Is it a comspiracy? First Channel 7 in Little Rock now Fox in N.W. Arkansas. Who will be next. I guess Fox didn't sell enough local spots to make sure they could air them.

At KAAY, Felix McDonald kept the 50,000 watt transmitter at Redfield on the air, and Eddie Graham was originally the studio engineer and production man. He later moved to the sales department. Full story on Eddie and Felix by entering their names in the upper left hand corner search box. Their is no substitute for good engineering, good equipment, and a good emergency game plan. We had a huge propane tank, (see previous posts), a honking generator, and a fallout shelter studio at the transmitter. Now days how many of your local radio stations have emergency power or transmission capacity? In an ice storm here in the Fort Smith area several years ago, 18 signals were off the air, two were on the air but programming was tracked from another city. Only one station was locally live with weather info. All the T.V. stations were on with aluxiliary power. As most T.V. stations go wall to wall local weather coverage it seems that TV is taking over radio's job as local weather provider. Well, except for Fox TV in N.W. Arkansas.

Video of Pams Jingle session

KAAY & Record Promotion

This is a picture of Matt White and Dave Montgomery with another gold record award. There is also a mysterious hand in the lower right holding some kind of an award cup. The picture was taken in front of the KAAY studios when they were on 7th street across from the State Capitol. This is from 1974 and the name of the record seems to have escaped everyone's memory. I enlarged the picture trying to get a clue and I think it's a Columbia record. For those of you outside the "business", record companies often awarding stations a gold record plaque when the station had helped break a new record or contributed to it's reaching a million in sales. Obviously, record promoters were in and out of KAAY all the time pushing their latest. They always had plenty of giveaway records. Dave supplied this photo and I tied a little enhancing since the original was fading. We would be interested in hearing from anyone who can remember names of records, or KAAY's participation in making the hits. Email me at: ajlinds@yahoo.com.