WLS & John Rook

You may wonder why I am writing about John Rook and WLS. I found this site to be a great source of the "inside" workings of WLS at the time. There are also interesting mentions of ex-KAAY staffers, Mike McCormick, and Tom Bigby.

It's long but you'll enjoy:

http://www.johnrook.com/johnrookthebig89WLS.htm

FREE GAS!

Gasoline is the biggest issue in the U.S. today. I am surprised and how few radio stations have jumped on this promotional opportunity. I did see a national story, where a local FM gave away free gas for about a four hour period, $10 per customer. You can all predict the result. Traffic jams, tons of national publicity for a local promotion.

If you are in the radio business today, and your station is not making the most of this opportunity, shame!

To practice what I preach, I am having a contest on this blog. There is no winner yet.
So, I am adding your choice of the prize announced OR A $50 GAS CARD.

Here are the details of the contest and remember you can chose between the reel to reel or A $50 GAS CARD:http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2008/05/announcing-kaay-emperor-holiday.html

More More WKRP

You don't have to wait for WGN or others to air WKRP. The 1st season is available on DVD. Be advised a lot of music is cut or changed. It is also available from Netflix.

Read this blog and the 266 comments for a full explanation:

http://zvbxrpl.blogspot.com/2007/03/wkrp-dvd-not-ok.html

A Fun WKRP Page

Be sure and play the trivia game:

http://archer2000.tripod.com/wkrp/

WKRP

In the post below, WKRP on WGM was mentioned. I checked the schedule for this Sunday and didn't find anything. Maybe we should all contact WGN and ask for it. They obviously have the syndicated package. Maybe they were using it for some kind of fill before a ballgame. Let's all request that they add it to their regular schedule.

Comment on Louie Louie & WKRP

Well, I'll be! TWO mysterious songs revealed: one being "Louie, Louie" and the other, the closing jingle for WKRP! I'll bet the FBI, CIA, NSA and others are scrambling for another song to target, eh?

On a serious note, I just found WKRP being rebroadcast on WGN this past Sunday night at 6PM Central, two episodes back-to-back...unfortunately, that's when I'm at "paw paw's" house, and he doesn't get WGN, so I'll have to record it!

I liked that show from the beginning...and being the radio nut I am, it was all the funnier! Thanks for posting that link, A. J., as well as the full version of the opening song...keep 'em coming!

WABC featured on XM Radio Today

Sonic Sound Salutes 77 WABC NY
4:00 PM - 9:00 PM EDT

The All American Good Guys, Dan Ingram, Chuck Leonard, Herb Oscar Anderson. The all American Good Guy Super Hit Survey and the greates New York City 60s hits of all time!

Closing Jingle for WKRP

Watch all this stuff quick before it gets removed from You Tube:

The Full WKRP Jingle

I guess I never realized there was a second verse to the WKRP opening jingle. Here is a link to the You Tube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXHs8CaS2IU&feature=related

Every DJ relates to this jingle in a very personal way.

Pams Jingle Studio

Here's an interesting tour of whats been done with an old Pams Studio:

Pt 4 Lind Voth Interview

Again, many apologies for the really poor audio. If you can hang through it, the change in Lind and Margie's life, will be a real reward to you.

We talk about lack of early ratings, one of the first promotions, and what Lind's life after KAAY is like.

Exciting Site for Top 40 Radio Lovers

I was really excited to find this site:

http://www.1080wklo.com/wklosurveys.htm

Look at all the great surveys front and back. What a super collection. Also take a look at all the jingles available.

Many congratulations to whomever put that site together.

Another "My Hometown"

Today is another of my collection of "My Hometown" Jingles.
This is "My Hometown" for Radio London. If you have a "My Hometown" Jingle for another city please email me at ajlinds@yahoo.com.

Here's London:

Here is the Little Rock AR "My Hometown" Jingle http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2008/04/rerun-pams-jingle-my-hometown.html

In answer to one of the comments below: Yes, I believe Radio London was one of the pirate radios stations.

History of WLS

I post this for several reasons. First, I enjoyed it. Second, I was always blown away by the way people in and near Chicago embraced KAAY. With WLS and WCFL, you would think we wouldn't be noticed. It's always great to see KAAY listed along with some of the greats in radio. Notice in this video, the contribution of WLS to the Cuban Missile Crisis was Dick Bionti. Sorry, Dick didn't get a presidential citation for his efforts.

The Future of Satellite Radio

Many of you know I am a big fan of XM Radio. I have had and enjoyed the service almost from its beginning. I have great concerns about the merger since Sirius would be the surviving company.

Here is a very interesting article about the merger:

http://www.mainstreet.com/merge-ahead-what-xm-and-sirius-subscribers-need-know-about-their-satellite-radio?puc=msgoogle&cm_ven=MSGoogle

What is the future of AM Radio?

I have made a promise to myself from the starting of this blog, that I would not live in the past. As great as times were at KAAY, I look on NOW as the happiest time of my life.

I often write about current entertainment media. I found an interesting article about what radio would be like in 50 years.

Enjoy:
http://radio.about.com/od/opinionpieces/a/aa060208a.htm

"Stan's Record Shop, 728 Texas St. Shreveport La"

I ran into a radio station owner from Joplin Missouri and being introduced someone identified me as being formerly from KAAY. The first words out of the guy's mouth was,
"Stan's Record Shop, 728 Texas Street, Shreveport, Louisiana". That's been over 40 year's ago.

When I first started at KAAY, on the 8 -midnight shift, I got to do Stan's Record Shop.
Stan paid for the hour so we played what Stan wanted. A legal way to get your records played. We had a box that Stan would send up of what he wanted played. He would run a special of several records put together in a package. Most of the songs were not on the KAAY play list but again, he was paying for the entire hour so....

Here is a link to a previous post:

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2006/09/stans-record-shop.html

And, here is a link to another bio on Stan Lewis:

http://music.yahoo.com/ar-24011248-bio--Stan-Lewis

Lind Voth Pt 3

You would think two radio guys could get the audio right. I was using a wireless mike for Lin but I didn't have any earphones with me to monitor the recording. Apparently his motor home where we recorded this, had some systems that interfered with the wireless mike. I have edited out most the noise. In this video you will learn how the call letters "KAAY" were selected. You'll hear about the original staff, staying in the Grady Manning Hotel, dogs and all. George Jennings would have had a cat. I'm sure they stayed at the Grady Manning because they probably got a good trade out. Hotel script was easy to get in those days. I've written about trade outs before. You might want to read : http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/search?q=trade+outs

Now today's episode part 3:

WKLO spotlited on XM Radio

Some of the original KAAY crew had WAKY connections. Today, though, XM is featuring WKLO their main competitor in Louisville.

Pt 2 of Lind Carl Interview

The famous editorial featuring a somber reading of the lyric to "Louie Louie" is discussed along with a show promoter.

Lind Carl Interview comment

A.J., this is so cool! I'm looking forward to the next interview...keep up the good work and book more KAAY personalities! Wow, this is history preserved! Thank you!

Pt 2 of the interview will be posted later today.

Lind Carl a/k/a Lind Voth Interview Pt 1

Over this past weekend, Lind Voth, the second manager of KAAY was in town (Alma) and I had the pleasure of visiting with him and Margie. I videoed an interview and will be posting it in parts. Today, we talk about PI's. A concept that is still around. Cable TV and smaller boradcast TV stations use this concept to this day. We also talk about editorials.

Big Contest now going on

I have a scavenger hunt going on with a great prize. Please review this post:

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2008/05/announcing-kaay-emperor-holiday.html

KOMA history mentions KAAY

This is from a history of "KOMA in Oklahoma". Thanks for including KAAY and putting us with the "legendary" stations mentioned. Great company!

KOMA (along with handful of other legendary stations including 890 WLS, Chicago; 1090 KAAY, Little Rock; 1060 WNOE, New Orleans; 770 WABC, New York; 800 CKLW, Windsor/Detroit; and 1100 WKYC, Cleveland) could be heard on car radios, in homes, and everywhere a kid could tune in. Often teens in New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, and other western states would eagerly await sunset when the mighty 1520 would come booming through with the newest hits of the day. They would sit in their cars on hilltops, turn it up at parties, or fall asleep with the radio next to their beds as they listened to Chuck Berry, the Supremes, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and the Beatles. Soldiers in Viet Nam even reported tuning in KOMA to give them a little feeling of being back home.

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day greetings from all of us at KAAY 1090 blog....well us is me. Radio people seem to like to refer to themselves as "us" or "we". Anyway it makes it sound bigger.

I was extremely fortunate to have a visit here in Alma AR from Lin Voth a/k/a Lin Carl and his wife Margie. Lin was the second manager of KAAY and I have written about Lin several times. In preparation for the video, which I hope to post in the following days, do a search of this blog by typing Lin Carl in the box in the upper left and click on search this blog.

I am very anxious for you to see the section of the video, where Lind talks about what they are doing now.

In our conversation we were remarking how many of the ex-KAAY folks are still married. An amazing number in a business that is not known for long marriages.

Comment on "Last Hour of Beaker Street"

Thanks very much for posting the last hour of Beaker Street. I tried to record those melancholy last hours of the "real" KAAY, with marginal results. Its nice to hear it again, but it certainly brings back a sense of sadness that was felt then, when a part of our past was disappearing.

KAAY Beaker Street 6-28-70

KAAY & Pams Sonovox Jingle

One of my most favorite jingles from KAAY was the Pams Sonovox jingle.
Here is a link to it: http://www.members.cox.net/lindse/kaay.mp3

I found this interesting comment on another blog:

Yep, the Sonovox was all over those classic PAMS jingles of the Sixties, and it was also used as the voice of the train in Disney's Dumbo. I'm sure there are other examples but they don't come to mind right now. Oh, one more. If you're into old-time radio, we run into another talking train in the Bromoseltzer ads on Inner Sanctum, and that's a Sonovox interfaced with a sound effects record. I always thought the Sonovox sound was pretty cool, and it didn't seem to mumble as much as the vocoders did back in the day. Hahahahahaha!

Pt 2 of Beaker Street Final Hour

Help! Earl Pappy Davis

I received this from a reader:

Doc ,

I remember so well listening to Pappy Davis on KTHS when I lived in
Little Rock in High School .

I would be interested to hear from you with any information concerning
him and his show .
Are there any photos or Earl or possibly tapes of the show ?

Will appreciate any information you can provide .

Thanks ,

Bob Hill
Houston , Texas

Bob,
Sorry I have nothing about Earl "Pappy" Davis other than a great memory of such a FUN filled individual and a great voice. I never worked directly with Pappy but was around him several times. He was always having fun.

I hope a reader to this blog can help out with a photo or even a recording of Pappy.

A.J.

KAAY Beaker Street Final Hour Pt. 1

This is the Final Hour of Beaker Street 4/3/85 Part 1. I hope to have the second part tomorrow.

KAAY Razorback Air Mattress Sold!

This very rare collectable item that you saw in a previous post has sold. Here is a link to view the sale: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290234308264
I was worried because there didn't seem to be much interest in the item. However, at the end it did move nicely. I am anxious to find out from the buyer if their interest is in KAAY, or the Razorbacks or both.

Remember, the scavenger hunt goes on with a nice prize. Scroll down and read the post about it. I know some of you are looking but so far no one has turned up the winning entry. Considering these promos ran 24 hours a day and there were hundreds of episodes. In fact, when Mark Century stopped producing them, we made our own for a while. There is a clue, if someone can find what happened to the Mark Century masters and turn up more than one, we will have to sweeten the prize.

WSGN featured on XM Radio

Sonic Sound Salutes- This week: WSGN of Birmingham, AL
4:00 PM - 9:00 PM EDT

60's on 6 "Sonic Sound Salutes" continue as we re-create great 60's radio stations across America. Terry " Motormouth" Young transforms the 60's on 6 into these great stations every Friday, with their original jingles, DJs, and local happenings. This week we'll feature WSGN of Birmingham, AL.

Comment on "A Video Worth Watching"

A.J., I am sitting at work and saw this...I have gotten and forwarded this e-mail before...and it still affects me to tears. When my son (and his best friend) went to boot camp in June 2007, I wrote him (and his best friend) letters every week. They were, most times, 6 to 10 or more pages long. He later told us, after he got home, that he had maybe 2 minutes a day to try and read his mail, that one letter would take literally a week to read! I made sure that certain Scriptures were referenced and written out, as an encouragement to them both.

He and his best friend (now a shipmate) both told me that those letters kept them going the whole time they were in boot. The whole company (started as 160 plus, whittled down to just over 80, due to washouts) shared letters with each other, cried with each other and ministered to one another in the few moments before lights-out every evening.

What's amazing to me is, my son and his shipmate went to boot between their junior and senior years of HIGH SCHOOL and has served as a Reservist while in his senior year, as well as taking a college course! My son was the youngest in his company, just three years over his 17th birthday when he went in...his nickname was "Target" because he was the youngest on base. He just experienced his one-year anniversary this June 3rd in the USCG.

(Some folks don't know it, but the only difference between Marine and Coast Guard boot camp is the combat training....)

In the business I'm in, I serve several military branches, selling and supplying them goods; the USCG and USAF are two of my better customers. Whenever one of them comes on my counter, I make it a point to shake their hands and thank them for the job they do.

A.J., thank you for what YOU do...keep 'em coming, we ALL need reminders, every day. God bless you and our military!

Bud, Mobile, AL

Comment to the 1 days of KAAY post

We did something very similar when we changed format of (KAAY's sister FM station) KEZQ to "album rock" from "easy listening". We played Baby Elephant Walk alternating with Queen's "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions". One long time listener called the LR police to go "check things" at the radio station because things didn't "sound right". /DM/

A video worth watching

1st Days of KAAY

A comment to this blog remembers the first days of KAAY:

Hello, AJ:

I check your KAAY blog from time to time and enjoy
looking back. When I was a kid growing up in Hot
Springs I remember very well the day KTHS changed
formarts, when I heard all the DJ's read the Little Rock
phone directory and play 'Baby Elephant Walk' by
Lawrence Welk over and over and over, but intro the
song each time as being somethng else. They're read
a little then play the song, read some more, but always
go back to the song. After all these years I've always
remembered it and wondered why other stations haven't
used this as a way to gain streek talk and awareness.

Best,

Jay

Power Outage in Alma

The power was out 15 hours in Alma yesterday. This is the excuse for lack of postings to the blog.

Life is returning to normal today and perhaps I can get some new airchecks up soon. I would like to remind you of the blog I am trying to get started about Arkansas radio people. I have asked for some simple written bios on radio folks not just KAAY but ALL
personalities.

How about someone writing about Gary Weir, a/k/a Bozo?

Or anyone. Don't wait for someone else to do it. It doesn't need to be long. Others can add to it. Email me at ajlinds@yahoo.com.

A.J.