Deae Doc

Dear Doc,
I've been checking in from time to
time to see how things are going.
I wish you all the best, and my thoughts and prayers are heading
your way. I look forwards to when you can get back to posting again!
Best regards,
Dave Schmidt,
Manhattan KS

Thanks for report of the problem

Something has happened to the players on the side and I can not work on them know do to health issues. If you go way back in the archives,I am sure there are some players that will work.

Just a sample of the great comments you all have left!

I also want to add my condloences.
I will keep you in my prayers.
A bit of sad news to pass along.
Timeless Tracks, a program that airs on Sunday Nights, will air its
last program this Sunday night on
K-106.3. Tony Warner has been the host of this program for several years. The music featured is music from the late 50's-early 60's. That era of music is seldom heard on local radio anymore.
There will be a big party celebrating the end of the program
Sunday night from 6-11PM.

Update

Thanks for you prayers, they are working. I have finished radation. My Oncologist appointment next week will tell me where to go from here.

I am taking a vacation for the first time in 12 years. I have rented a motorhome and am taking my 95 year old mother and dog for some destinations close by Northwest Arkansas.

Doc Holiday a/k/a A.J. Lindsey

More More Citidel

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Citidel Comment":

A.J., just in Alabama alone, it looks like Citadel owns three AM and eight FM stations, eleven in all...many around the Birmingham, Northport, Tuscaloosa areas, as well as Reform, Greensboro and Coaling, AL.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_radio_stations_in_Alabama

That's a lot of equipment and stations packed into that market area...country, urban-adult contemporary, sports talk, sports, oldies, "hot AC", news/talk, the whole gauntlet.

If these stations go out, there'll be a lot of shift over to other stations...unless, they weren't so great to begin with...then, it would be up to someone if they were to buy them up and keep the format or change. Living in Mobile, AL, there's no opportunity to hear them...and, even with a Wineguard log periodic antenna (a super-duper TV/FM receiving antenna), it's hard to hear anything at that distance under normal conditions.

Likewise, with the AM stations, since many cut their power at night (we have one in Mobile that cuts to 10 watts!)...it'd be difficult, unless one had a HEAP of real estate for a rhombic antenna! At that point, these are fixed receiving antenna...it would take acres and acres to build several to point in all directions!

Needless to say, I hope an equitable solution can be found to keep these stations alive and people employed. Bud, Mobile, AL

Citidel Comment

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Citadel is the Current Owner of KAAY":

Wonder who's going to pick up Citadel, if anyone? Cumulus just pulled a radio stunt...playing TV show tunes for hours, before a format change...they'd called themselves, "TV 104!". My daughter and I would listen to Rick and Bubba in the mornings, on the way to my taking her to school- and we're disappointed, now, that we can't get these two fine, hilarious gentlemen and their show. Radio is an ever-changing business, R&B will be picked up on another local station somewhere down the line....

I'd thought of calling and writing for a QSL card from
TV 104", but now that they've gone all satellite-fed, there's no one there, and I doubt that anyone at Cumulus would give a rat's patoot or even know what a station verification (QSL) was...

Goodbye, WYOR:

"After three years of middling ratings as a Country station, Cumulus Broadcasting pulled the plug on the “Kicks 104.1″ format and began stunting with a loop of TV Themes at 5:00pm on Wednesday, March 18, 2009. The following afternoon at 1:04pm the station picked up the satellite-fed version of the “Jack-FM” format after a brief sign-on announcement."

Country format gone, a wierd Top 40 mix being played now...not enough interest on MY part to listen, not the "Top 40" I'm interested in....Bud, Mobile, AL

Citadel is the Current Owner of KAAY

Citadel braces for bankruptcy: The stock market has already spoken. Citadel stock is worth four cents -- and less than a dollar for long enough to be booted off the New York Stock Exchange. Because the market has already priced in for the worst case scenario, the situation for equity holders is no doubt a lost cause. The market is saying Citadel stock is worthless. The NYSE gave up on them

Where is John Scuderi?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Current KAAY Changes":

hey it's john scuderi - i did manage kaay sept 2006 thru december 2008 it was the best job i've ever had! Citadel turned me into a sales person, i was thankful not to be cut all together. But since I Love manageing christian radio I went to go work for Spirit 93.3fm kksp. contact me at radiobird7@gmail.com if you like to say hi.

Thanks for all your Prayers

Russell W. has left a new comment on your post "This blog may be shower for a while":

Godspeed, A.J. Prayers and thoughts from Georgia. Stay 50 kW strong.

--Russell Wells

Note on Timeless Tracks

vdog has left a new comment on your post "THANKS":

I also want to add my condloences.
I will keep you in my prayers.
A bit of sad news to pass along.
Timeless Tracks, a program that airs on Sunday Nights, will air its
last program this Sunday night on
K-106.3. Tony Warner has been the host of this program for several years. The music featured is music from the late 50's-early 60's. That era of music is seldom heard on local radio anymore.
There will be a big party celebrating the end of the program
Sunday night from 6-11PM.
..............................................................................
If you are a regular reader to this blog you know of Tony Warner's long running support of this blog and top 40 KAAY. Tony has done many feature programs on annaversery dates of KAAY. We have airchecks from one broadcast that featured many of the pervious jocks and and a rare voice appearance of of Pat Walsh.
Be sure and look up these cuts. Just do a search of this blog for "TImeless Tracks".
Thanks for the memories Tony and we all hope you will find a new home for "Timeless Tracks".

More on Mark Winston

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Mark Winston":

Mark was actually the afternoon drive jock and music director in 1977 and 1978 at KAAY. Mark produced most of the commercials for MidSouth Productions for the big regional concerts by the Doobie Brothers, REO Speedwagon, Queen, HeadEast, and many, many others. KAAY was known as "Sunshine Radio" playing Top 40 currents and oldies and was the number one station in Little Rock during that era. It was also referred to as the "Mighty 1090...K double A Y". During that time Little Rock and much of the US was still an AM radio market. The Program Director and AM drive DJ was "Dick Downes" from the big Top 40 station in Nashville. Mark was the first DJ in the country to announce the "silent" emergency ambulance arrival at Graceland in Memphis when Elvis was rushed to the hospital and he later announced his death. It was brought to Mark's attention by a listener who lived next to Graceland in Memphis and noticed the silent ambulance that had pulled into the Graceland circular drive. The 10 request lines were jammed with callers from all over the country wanting to learn more about the news. KAAY was known as the leader in news for the entire region. Mark was heard in 47 states and 13 foreign countries after the nightime pattern switched over. Mark was on the air every night Monday through Friday just before "Beaker" came on. On the walls of the newly constructed 3 story state of the art studios built on the mighty river running through Little Rock were pictures of all the great DJ's that had once graced the airwaves of KAAY. Amoung them were the legendary "Wolfman Jack" who made a special on-air guest appearance at the grand opening of the new studio facilities. To be on the air at KAAY was a memory I will never forget. Mark says, "to talk into the Electrovoice RE20 microphone that fed the Urei LA-4compressor/limiter then through the 31 band eq that was eque'd by the KAAY master audio engineers was incredibly inspiring to listen to through my KOSS Pro 4AA headphones. Just a hint of the really BIG sounding reverb unit made it even more of a DJ delight!
It was truly an on-air experience I will never forget and a wonderful stepping stone in my radio career".

THANKS

Thanks to so many of you for including me on your prayer lists. I understand I have been added to a list of Hams, Churches etc. For better coverage that KAAY today.

Here is just a sample of the notes I am getting:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "This blog may be shower for a while":

My prayers are with you! I grew up listening to KAAY at night here in Kansas City. It was a great station to listen to! I just discovered your blog and it brings back so many great memories. Take care and get better.

Jim in KC

This blog may be shower for a while

I have cancer and am receiving chemotheropy treatments. I covet your prayers.
Please continue to submit material and comments, It may be a little slower getting them up.

A.J. Lindsey

More KATV Tower

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Some Good News at KATV":

The last piece of the KATV tower was assembled last week. As of last Friday the new tower is up and running.

More Directionals

Lancer has left a new comment on your post "KAAY Nighttime Directional Pattern":

One thing the "figure 8" protects is KRLD 1080 Dallas. I figured that out back when I'd try to tune in the Rangers baseball games with my dad in Hot Springs. KRLD also augments their pattern to Little Rock. So we could hear it but it was tough. Too bad the games weren't on WBAP, they are omnidirectional 50kw.

If you want to look at a truly directional station, check out KFXR 1190 Dallas. They have a 12 tower array for their night pattern. It was joked that the signal could go down Elm in downtown Dallas, without hitting the curbs.

Neat article here that details how it was built - end of article says it is a different callsign now but it is currently shown as KFXR on the actual FCC site:

http://radiomagonline.com/mag/radio_worlds_largest_battery/

Comment on Directionals

HI AJ,
The Wrightsville water tower was within about a mile from the KAAY transmitter. The legs of the water tower had to be de-tuned (made electrically invisible) to keep the water tower from negatively effecting the KAAY night-time elongated figure "8" pattern. This was done by stringing a piece of wire along each leg of the water tower and then "tuning" them. There was so much power in the free air around the KAAY transmitter that almost anything that could conduct electricity (even sections of barbed wire fence) became part of the KAAY antenna.
/DM/

I Canceled my XM Subscription

With all the changes to XM and the decision to charge extra for listening on the internet, I called and canceled. Sonic salute to great top 40 stations is gone along with many of the D.J.'s I enjoyed on the decades channels. I think satellite radio is a dying medium. Thanks to the Sirius bunch the death will be much faster.

KAAY Nighttime Directional Pattern

This has always interested me on patterns after sunset...helps to know how a statio's propagation works and, if using a directional "loop" receiving antenna, wher and how to null out one station and receive another:

This has always interested me on patterns after sunset...helps to know how a statio's propagation works and, if using a directional "loop" receiving antenna, wher and how to null out one station and receive another: This has always interested me on patterns after sunset...helps to know how a statio's propagation works and, if using a directional "loop" receiving antenna, wher and how to null out one station and receive another:

http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/AM_DA_patterns/72206-7327.pdf
.............................................................................
Nighttime directional patterns are very hard to maintain for some stations. The more elaborate the pattern the more difficult. The F.C.C. used to be very strict about the patterns because they protected other stations. Sometime a new power line or water tower close to a tower could throw off a pattern and cause a lot of expense to bring it back. I believe the chief had to monthly run a check on the pattern to make sure it was in compliance.

Treadway Comment

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Big Surprise for David Brian Treadway":

This is a really good aircheck - very much appreciated!

Bruce M
Houston, TX

Digital TV

Gazmik has left a new comment on your post "Sirius?XM Comment":

I can understand the change to digital TV. The broadcast signal has been the same for over half a century with modifications for color and stereo sound. And it does take a lot of bandwidth.

But the thing that I don't like is that in fringe reception areas, you could watch a snowy picture. But, if you don't get a good digital signal, it's choppy, or nothing.

I used to have a rather large TV antenna and a rotor and it was always fun to DX TV. Especially in the rare times when there was skip on the TV broadcast band. How well would that work with an iffy digital signal?
..................................................................................
The digital TV switch is a good example of the government rarely doing anything right.
It all started from the FCC's desire to auction off the analog frequencies. They brought in billions at the expense of the public having to convert.

I guess the next step should be to put the government in charge of Sirius/XM.

Stay on the Subject

I try to keep this blog about KAAY. And as you well know I do drift off the subject and many of you help.

Today is one of those off the subject days. I am happy to introduce the new Bob Dylan.
It's my 3 year old grandson, Davis Jim and his first attempt at the harmonica.

Sirius?XM Comment

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Sirius/XM Item":

I always thought that "creating a need, then filling it" was a boo-boo way of doing business...not everyone would buy into the satellite, subscription-only radio. Folks who would enjoy it were those who travelled a lot (truck drivers, etc.), but, even at that, it was the radio version of cabel TV: "100 Channels and there's nothing on!". Nonetheless, in some cases, it beat twiddling the knob, constantly looking for a favored format, but I didn't think it'd last. Maybe something will happen, but, their audience was small and specialized to begin with.

Waiting to see what happens to HDTV, HD radio and other technologies being forced upon us...already, one local TV station is saying they're NOT pulling the analog plug 2/17/09....Bud, Mobile, AL

Comment on Bo RIder Aircheck

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Bo Rider Aircheck":

I agree, A.J., sounded pretty homogenized, absolutely nothing like the raw, comedic, but professional version of KAAY in it's heyday.

Maybe that's a kinda disfunctional way of describing the station, but when there was fun to be heard, it was there...when some serious music came along, so be it...and, when the news came on or a community event was being advertised, you could be sure they got the idea across! I have never heard another station like KAAY in it's heyday and probably not hear another one again.

In a related vein, I listened to KMOX, St. Louis, MO this past weekend, when they were commenting on a hockey game; that was about the closest to home-town as I've heard in a while. On the weekends, there's little nationwide syndicated programming, so sometimes, local flavor can be had...but, I'm not a sports nut, so....

Keep the audio coming!!! Bud, Mobile, AL

Comment

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Where are programmers who care?":

I've been in radio for 30 years now and the decline is amazing.

Big Surprise for David Brian Treadway

Hello AJ & all,

I did more digging into my old tape collection and came up with this brief aircheck of David Brian Treadway on KAAY. It was on Sunday afternoon July 10 1977. I was in-between jobs and took a vacation with a drive from Chicago to the West Coast and back. I hooked up a cassette recorder to the car radio and airchecked stations along the route. On the way back to Chicago I drove thru Arkansas and captured some KAAY (and a smattering of other stations). It sounded like KAAY was pared down to the very basics on the weekends, no jingles and I don't remember any other fancy voiceovers or ID's, just the jock, songs and spots. You'll hear that KAAY was heavily pushing an upcoming Doobie Brothers concert with advance tickets going for just 6 bucks! That's pretty hard to imagine now.

Enjoy the aircheck, and I'm always eager to hear from other aircheck traders.

Greg Barman
Denver, CO.
gbarman02@msn.com
......................................................................................
David is a regular reader and contributor to this blog so here it is everybody...enjoy and many thanks Greg.

AUDIO

Bo Rider Aircheck

Hi AJ,

I enjoy reading your blog on KAAY. I have contacted you a couple times in the recent past. If you recall, I just moved to Little Rock from Wisconsin in August 2007.

I used to DX as much as possible when I was getting into radio, and I thought you might enjoy this cut. It's a short aircheck of KAAY from March 13, 1981. It was taped in my room in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin when I was 18. I was a teenage Top 40 rock jock who was being influenced by KAAY and WLS. I always thought I missed the "golden age" of Top 40 by about 10-15 years. The old AM giants were on the downslide in 1981.

The jock is Bo Rider - and the liner is "Where the Music Is." I notice he says the calls as "KAY-Double-A-WHY." I think I read on your blog that was frowned upon at one time since the listener interpreted as "KWAY".

Oh well, it's a nice piece of Americana. Feel free to use it on your site, maybe someone else will enjoy hearing it.

Regards,

Bob Schultz
Little Rock, AR
................................................................................
Obviously the program director was not concerned about the "double A" business. Also notice he is introducing one hour of uninterrupted music. Might as well been an FM station.
Here is the link to the air check:

AUDIO

More on contests

Lancer has left a new comment on your post "More on Contests":

Dialing in for contests on a rotary phone was brutal. I nearly dialed my fingers off as a kid trying to win prizes.

More on Contests

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

"Doc", my wife used to work at a hospital here in Mobile, as the Chief Operator/Insurance Biller, so she had access to many phone lines all day long. This hospital was caty-corner across the street from long-time Top 40 station WABB AM/FM. She would listen to the station all day long and start hitting line after line after line, trying to win the stuff they offered. And, BOY! did she ever rake it in! It got to the point that she won so much, they had to limit what someone could win each month. Needless to say, she would win stuff in her mom's name, her two sister's names, etc. They KNEW the voice, but the other women members would go & pick the prizes up, so things could be kept "straight"! And, these were the days before Caller I.D.

Nowadays, there are still stations here in Mobile, AL announcing that, if you have won in the last 30 days, you cannot claim a prize....

Sirius/XM Item

Hi AJ,

From the Glenn Reynolds www.instapundit.com website this morning, quoting a story in the New York Times:

//

A POSSIBLE SIRIUS XM BANKRUPTCY: I’m not surprised. The service is decent (I have XM) but the companies took on way too much debt. I remember my dad looking at the stocks a few years ago and saying that Sirius’s only viable business plan was to be bought by XM, and XM’s only viable business plan was to hope for some kind of miracle. ** Posted at 10:15 am by Glenn Reynolds

//

I suspect in the current

More KAAY Programming Principles

I've written before about contests. Take a look at previous posts by typing "contests" in the upper left window and search this blog.

In the KAAY top 40 days, contests were a year round day to day programming function.
Often the sales department was called on to find and trade out the prizes.

There were major contests and phone-in smaller contests. There were registrations at sponsors, mail- in and of course phone.

These contests were run regardless of the rating period. Even in those days the rating services would put an asterick on your rating if they felt you ran a contest that artificially inflated your rating.

These contests were in addition the the numerous record "name it and claim it" features.

Even in those days there were professional contest players. This resulted in limitations on how often you could win.

Contests were fun for the listener and the jocks. Everyone enjoyed them except possibly the sales department.

What do you see happening in radio today in the contest area.

Where do we go from here?, comment

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Where do we go from here?":

Yup, I get where you're going...we need MORE "American Grafitti" experiences! Kinda how more folks had memorable experiences while listening to the "Mighty 1090".

Well, I usually have fun semi-reliving those days...I'll put a CD on with the audio we've collected at work, turn it up and work in the office or the warehouse...the LATER, the BETTER, since, when I listened, it was usually mid-to-late evenings at work. All those nights, diving 'way out of the way, as well, so I could listen longer...but, hey, I could pop the CD into a player and drive around late at night, but I tend to fall asleep early, being past 50! Plus, gasoline isn't 30-35 cents, any more....

"Doc", I hope you continue to recuperate and get well SOON! And, I'm awaiting the opportunity to hear the audio you still have, if and when you are able to get it changed over...don't tease us!!!

Thank you for all you do, and for this blog as well. Bud, Mobile, AL

Where are programmers who care?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Clear Channel More Thoughts":

This is why I listen to Larry Lujack and Big Ron O'Brien airchecks on my ipod in my car.

The days of sounding like stations care are long gone - the on-air production is not tight, the live jocks have nothing to say, you hear the same 300 songs over and over, etc.

I know these people still care, but it sure doesn't sound like it. Sorry, but John Tesh isn't the end-all-be-all. It's unfortunate that deregulation killed any development of local talent. It all ended years ago.

Oh well, back to Ol' Uncle Lar...
.................................................................................
Much of radio and television today are owned by corporations whose sole goal is finding a cash cow. It could be nursing homes or whatever but they are not broadcasters at heart. Clear Channel may have started as broadcasters but the bean counters soon came in control. Nothing wrong with making money. The goal of KAAY was to make money. The station did have some principles and a desire to create the best programming around. When KAAY first went on the air, which we have extensively documented here, there were three other top 40 radio stations in the market. Even though KAAY had the wattage advantage, it still had to compete with 3 other stations that had been praying top 40 for years. Ratings were a battleground with a large segment of the audience going to Brother Hal a folksy combination of a morning personality and country music. The Black station had a lock on a large segment of the audience. KAAY's entry into the market did not bring over night success.

Where do we go from here?

Good day, "Doc"! Well, I was thinking last night...I've exhausted my research and audio files for anything to do with KAAY/Beaker Street. I've always tried to keep it connected to the station and not drift off the subject too much. I was wondering, can you give me any hints of what you'd like contributed in the future?

As I continue to research, I continue to come upon the same material, hence my occasional e-mail contribution relating to similar radio or comments on general radio practices. I hope this hasn't been too laborious for you to trudge through!

Any ideas, so I can contribute, are welcome! I'd like to see the KAAY blogspot continue to grow!

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

Proud Dad Of A USCG Son!

For HIS glory,

Bud Stacey
.................................................................................
My on going illness has greatly limited my work on this blog. I too was thinking where do we go for material. First, I have a ton of reel to reel tape that I cannot
convert to digital at this point.

Also, we have to move the discussion and the blog away from a bash Clear Channel site. There are plenty of those.

I would like to examine some of the principles that made KAAY great. As you read comments on this blog many times it points to the music. If a consultant looked at KAAY he would say it would never work. The blocks of religious and farm programming and at least 7 minutes of news every hour would never work for a top 40 station.

Many of the comments come from "sky wave" listeners. Remember KAAY had to be a commercial success based on local ratings and sales.

We will look at these principles and how they apply to today's radio in days ahead.

More Clear Channel

Lancer has left a new comment on your post "Clear Channel More Thoughts":

I live in Dallas but regularly tune in KJIM 1500 in Sherman, TX for the same reason. Out of all the powerhouses in Dallas-Fort Worth, I go to the 1,000 watt rimshot station 60 miles away, go figure. I just like the local community sound of it. Sherman is a small town near the Texas & Oklahoma state line.

The DFW dial is full of "in your face" overmodulated trash, but that station is a nice exception.

Clear Channel More Thoughts

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "More Clear Channel":

It seems more and more to me that Clear Channel is a monopoly...didn't the courts bust up AT&T years ago, because it was a monopoly? Is it possible that Clear Channel is approaching that same state? Or, are there still enough on-air alternatives to keep them from being busted up, too?

I didn't agree with the F.C.C's decision to let Clear Channel buy up all these stations years ago...plus, give them so much power as to squeeze out smaller LPFM (low-power FM) and LPAM (low-power AM) stations with rules and license fees outside the normal person's budget. It's as if Clear Channel was telling the F.C.C what to do, instead of the other way around! But, as we all know, money talks and...you know the rest....

It's no wonder that, even before mega-corporate radio, pirate radio stations have been in existance. When Low-Power stations' licenses were budgeted out of reach, the howling really picked up! Needless to say, where some of these pirates used to operate is now the upper end of the AM broadcast band (formerly known as the "expanded AM band") and are operating in shortwave and some in the FM broadcast band as well. Many rail against mega-corporate radio and Clear Channel, in particular.

Will the mega-bubble of Clear Channel burst one day? In a way, I wish it would, making local radio come back to the communities it really serves, instead of listening to news from somewhere hundreds or even thousands of miles away. I STILL dial around the AM band, listening for local "mom-n-pop" stations outside the Clear Channel bubble. It's refreshing when I can hear one (if at all, any more) and NOT have to liten to "cookie cutter radio".

Bud Stacey, Mobile, AL

More Clear Channel

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Clear Channel Comment":

"One of them is KKPT (The Point 94.1). All their DJ's are on live and are local people."

Not quite true.....there is plenty of voice tracking / pre-recording going on - especially on the weekends. Beaker Street is always live. True, the DJs are all local.

Clear Channel Comment

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Clear Channel":

Part of the reason that Clear Channel and Citadel are making cuts is that they are going to more nationally syndicated shows.
This leaves the local person who has worked at a particular station for a number of years without a job.
There is two stations in Little Rock that are still locally owned and are located at 2400 Cottondale Lane. One of them is KKPT (The Point 94.1). All their DJ's are on live and are local people.
The only syndicated program is Flashback on Sunday mornings.
Most importantly, Sunday evenings from 7-midnight is Beaker Street.

Comment from a long ago KOTN Post

Brent Johnson has left a new comment on your post "KOTN":

I grew up in Pine Bluff in the 50's and 60's it was probably the best town in Arkansas to have been living in as a young person growing up. I always listened to KOTN (long before FM). I knew Steve Warren well as I graduated high school with him (60's DJ). I can still remember calling him and requesting "GO NOW" by the Moody Blues in 1965 for my girl friend and I. I live in Kansas now an I attended the Kansas State Fair in 1987 a DJ from my past was there, he was working for FM 105.3 in Wichita. I recognized him right off it was "Mike Miller/Mother Miller" very few were as good as Mike. I have no idea where he is now. I knew Mr. Buddy Dean and his family he was a fine man and was a plus to radio and radio broadcasting. Those days were the best days of my life thus far @ 61 years and KOTN and Pine Bluff was the greatest.

Clear Channel

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Current KAAY Changes":

I read an announcement in the paper
this morning that Clear Channel is cutting 1,850 jobs around the country. Clear Channel is the largest media market in the country.
They own radio stations in Little Rock, Fort Smith & Fayetteville.
They didn't comment on which jobs in Arkansas were cut.

Comment on Ray Lincoln KAAY

poppop09 has left a new comment on your post "Ray Lincoln KAAY":

ray was one of my best friends and was my sons godfather. i miss him alot.

tom gallagher
kaay (1977-1979)

Comment on KAAY Remembered

poppop09 has left a new comment on your post "KAAY Remembered":

glad u listened to kaay way back when. it was a kick working there.

tom gallagher

Dub Murry a//k/a Doc Holiday

David Lewis has left a new comment on your post "Greatest Aircheck Ever Revised":

You mention Dub Murry as the real name of the first Doc Holiday in Little Rock. Here in Nashville at WKDA, we had Robert Murray DJ'ing as Doc Holiday in '64 - '65. The similarity in real names leads me to believe Dub Murry and Robert Murray are the same Doc Holiday, though I haven't heard anything about him since 1969.
...........................................................................

I'm sure you are right David, since most of the original KAAY crew came from Nashville.
The Lin Station in Nashville at the time was WMAK. It makes perfect since to take a great jock from the competition and get him out of the market. The last I know of Dub he was selling cars in Texas. Any better updates would be appreciated.

I have been sick

I've been sick for the past several days. I hope to be back to posting soon.
Thanks for your prayers.

A.J.

Current KAAY Changes

From a reader:

The Citadel Corp., also the current owner of KAAY has made cuts. People have
either lost their jobs or been demoted. I don't know if you know this person or not,
longtime salesman Tom Longfellow, primarily at KARN was given a forced retirement.
Also, longtime traffic reporter Mike Willingham, also mainly at KARN, lost his job too.
John Scuderi is no longer managing KAAY, he is now working sales at the Citadel
stations.
................................................................................
I was surprised to see that Tom Longfellow was still working. I have known Tom for all these years. What a great broadcaster he is. I hope someone will write a profile on him for the blog.

More Beaker St.

A.J., I found these guys on the web:

http://beakerstreetbluesband.com/index.htm

I've also inquired about their association with Beaker Street and got a reply from Chuck:

"I also listened to Clyde Clifford on Beaker Street back in the 60's when I started out playing rock n' roll. Got exposed to a lot of good music.

Chuck"

I wrote back and told him about the KAAY blogspot. Hopefully, he & the guys will check in and visit and contribute! The more, the merrier, I say!

Have a great weekend...HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

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

Proud Dad Of A USCG Son!

For HIS glory,

Bud Stacey,

Beaker Theater Comment

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Beaker Theater":

A.J., if Randy will contact me, I have several links to FREE old-time radio shows I can send him in the meantime (same ones I sent you)to whet his appetite: melvin.stacey@cummins.com

Bud, Mobile, AL

Beaker Theater

Hi
I googled Beaker Theater and your link came up as possibly having recordings?
I'd love to get a copy if you do.
Randy Wood
Grew up in Iowa
50 years old
Remembering the Good Old Days
Let me know
Take it easy

Randy
..............................................................................
Some of the Beaker Street airchecks on this blog contain Beaker Theater episodes.
Beaker Theater came from George J.Jenning's collection of old time radio shows.
George was News Director and later Program Director/AM Drive team member.
George also provided the material for "The Breakfast Serial". For Breaker Theater he used a lot of BBC or South African material to try and make it different from "Breakfast Serial". He would cut 30 minute shows into 4 or 5 minute segments and make them serialized.

I have some of the original tapes and I have several Beaker Street airchecks that are still on reel to reel. I hope to have some time to transfer these to digital.

Very Early KAAY Clip

I was just listening to the early clip you posted. It really is very early. The song "Someday" hit the charts on September 22, 1962. I'm guessing the clip could have been from the first couple of weeks of KAAY. The song was by Bobby Vee and The Crickets. That song is a prime example of why somebody like me would listen to KAAY. I don't believe WJJD and WLS, our two big rockers in Chicago, ever gave that song much air play, yet KAAY played the heck out of it. After all, it was Buddy Holly's Crickets.

Sincerely,

Ron Henselman W9FT Melrose Park, IL

Ray Lincoln KAAY

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Were You at KAAY when Ray Lincolm did Mornings?":

A.J., I decided, "why not go to KBMR's website and see if I can find Bill Hickok?" and there he was, top of the list of personalities! Here's his bio:

http://www.kbmr.com/pages/bhickok.html

Bud, Mobile, AL

Phil North KAAY

Jay Marks has left a new comment on your post "Whatever Happened to KAAY's Phil North?":

As I recall Phil North a k a Phil Rowe left KAAY around 1972 for WHBQ in Memphis. He later worked at KNUS in Dallas, 13Q (WKTQ) in Pittsburgh, WRKO in Boston and KILT in Houston.

Last I heard he had a recording studio in Houston.

Can Someone Help with a date for Frank Woods

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Broadway Drive-In and more great commercials on KA...":

Well, A.J., you never know what you'll find sometimes...I just happened to pick up the log sheets I had when I was a kid and was looking them over and just happened to turn over a sheet- on the back, I had several scribbled references, one was, "Frank Woods, KAAY, Little Rock, AR 72203" and another was, "Lord Have Mercy On My Soul, Black Oak Arkansas", and "Beaker Street. P.O. Box 1971, Little Rock, AR". I did a search on Frank Woods and found one reference to him reading COMEX News here on the blog...what was the time frame when he was there, please? Thanks! Bud, Mobile, AL

KAAY Rob Robbins Early Clip

Here is a very early KAAY clip of Rob Robbins a/k/a Tom Campbell one of the original jocks that signed on KAAY. Notice lots of requests. From 8-11 PM it was heavy request time. Notice the phone number starting with a prefix name "Franklin". Also notice that Tom and a produced promo use K "double A" Y. This indicates a very early date in the history of KAAY. The jingle package heard on this clip was only used for a short period of time.

Here is the clip:

LINK

Beaker Street ......

Thanks to Bud Stacy for this link to an article on Beaker Street:

LINK

Greatest Aircheck Ever Revised

Thanks to Ron for continuing to improve "The Greatest Aircheck Ever".

If you saved the first one posted here you might want to change to this one:

LINK
Ron identifies the date as Sunday evening, September 2, 1962 which I believe to be completely accurate. I now think that the voice on the two recorded production elements is Dub Murry a/k/a the first Doc Holiday. I would sure like to here from some of the guys who were there to help identify/verify the voices. Based on the time of day of the recording, I would assume the voice reading the names is Tom Campbell, aka the first Rob Robbins.


Here is Ron's comments on the revision:

Hello A.J.,

My friend Andy Nemec, KB9ALN, informed me there was a heterodyne in my KTHS recording. It is around 5000 Hz. That is the frequency at which my ears ring, so I couldn't hear it. He removed the tone with a notch filter. I am sending the modified file to you. I decided to see if I could hear the tone by using the graphic equalizer in Cool Edit Pro. When I increase the 5 KHz range up to 18 decibels, I hear it plenty loud. Nobody, including my wife Linda, told me the tone was there when I asked them to listen to the file. I wonder if her hearing loss is greater than I previously thought. Let me know what you think about the tone being removed on the attached file. I think it is an improvement.

Sincerely,

Ron

Comment

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Read Ron's Comment added to Post Below":

RON ALL THE WAY!!!! GREATEST RADIO PERSONA W/O BEING A PRO

DA GYPSY

Message to : Jim Hankins, Wayne Moss, Tom Bigby, or Jack Grady

Take a listen to this clip:

CLIP

Please help me identify the voices on this clip.

Email me at ajlinds@yahoo.com

Thanks so much.

A.J.

Comment

Hello, A.J.!

Read yesterday's posting on the KAAY "blog". Very interesting, and
brought back some memories.

Ron Henselman, W9FT, is an old friend of about 32 years. One of the
first hams I became close with, and we still keep in touch. We share
the love of AM radio in its heyday, ham radio, BCB DX, and record
collecting.

I started DXing BCB back around 1963. KAAY was one of my faves; the
sound of that booming echo in the night made the hair on my arms
stand up. I still have my QSL card; it was one of my first. We may
never have that sound again.

I tuned in so many hundreds of stations I can hardly remember details.
I managed to hear about 42 states and a bunch of provinces, and some
south-of-the-border stations in the first couple of years. I remember
hearing Radio Costa Rica on 625 KHz during a WTMJ (620 KHz, Milwaukee)
power reduction one night. One thrill was getting a QSL letter from the
CE of a tiny station, WHOT 1330, in Youngstown, OH, in response to a DX
report. I heard them when they were doing a XMTR check one morning and
power had been reduced to a few watts. On occasion I hear WJJL 1440 in
Niagara Falls (daytime power 500 watts) at night, when they lower their
power to about 15 watts. I sent two reception letters to them and even
spoke to the DJ and the CE, and they never sent a QSL. Now they stream,
so the chances for a QSL are nil.

The "warm glow" of my old Hammarlund HQ-105 at night back in the mid-60s
was a sensation I'll probably never have again, but it stays with me.
Drove my parents nuts, sitting up half the night listening to static and
lightning crashes. ;-)

In my senior year of HS (1967) I built an FM BCB transmitter from Radio-
TV Experimenter magazine and souped it up a bit. ;-) I had an RG-8 fed
stick on my roof so I had a range of half mile. I taped my shows, and
out on the street my friends couldn't figure out how they were hearing
me.

What a treasure radio used to be. The serials of the early '50s that I
remember as a kid; the screaming disk jockeys of the 60s. Thank goodness
for guys like Dick Biondi, who does his show on 94.7 FM evenings from 7
to 11 (they just changed the call-sign back to WLS so they could use the
old 1960s vintage PAMS jingles again!) He keeps radio alive like no one
else can. A living legend and a good friend. He's 76 now and I hope he
lives forever.

Have a great 2009!

Mike Wolstein WB9QHL
Park Ridge (Chicago) IL

KTHS KAAY Jerry Sims

A.J.,

First of all, congratulations on the big day on the blog! I appreciate your efforts every day, and I know that kind of encouragement helps keep you going.

I had experience with KTHS Radio back when I was about 15 or 16 years old. I wrote briefly on this about a year ago, but I thought I might fill in some blanks about it since there is some interest in pre-KAAY -KTHS.

I had a real desire to be on the radio at a very young age. I did not have any contacts in the business to even talk to about my plans. There was a radio announcer in our church (Park Hill Baptist-North Little Rock) that my Dad knew. I was aware of him only because of hearing that great voice doing narration of programs at church. He was Earl Davis on KTHS. My Dad introduced me and I immediately began to throw questions at him about radio, which prompted an invitation to visit the station, which I did a a regular basis. He had a program (I believe it was 10:30pm to Midnight) called "Razorback Round-Up".

I was amazed at the coverage that his program had. Callers from all over the mid-west, usually. He even had a fan club! He was "Pappy Davis" on his program. He did his show from a booth just off the control room (later the KAAY News room). He had his own engineer (Eddie Graham, at least part of the time), that played records and commercials for him. There was just a light over his mic that let him know when his mic was open.

Other than his country music program, they did a "good music" format they called Sonorama. They even had a newsman that prepared a fifteen minute 10 pm News for them. There was a window in the control room that gave you a view of the KTHV 11 television studio downstairs. I later was the "KTHV Weather Man" in that same studio, but the biggest kick came as I watched the radio operation then, and certainly later as Sonny Martin on KAAY. TV was fun.....Radio was exciting!

I wondered as a teenager then, how could a radio station in Little Rock be popular across a good portion of the country, when people in Little Rock did not know they existed. Well, it did exist in some more "adult" minds.

There were several of my friends, that I later worked with at KTHV, who had worked for KTHS before their television days. Among those were George Moore and Bob Hicks.

Great air-check on the Baby Elephant Walk/phone book trick. I remember we were at KXLR and were looking at trying to be competitive with the Sleeping Giant that was waking up. Later we both ended up there with them. My (our) lucky day!

Jerry Sims...aka Sonny Martin
....................................................................................
Thanks for the great memories Jerry. I remember Earl "Pappy" Davis. I never worked with him but he must have hung around the KTHV studios and The Blue Goose. He was full and overflowing with fun. Just a great guy to be around. It was also great to be in the same building with KTHV and not actually be connected ownership wise. We were always asking some of their talent to do voice work. When we started Ear On Arkansas, we needed lots of extra voices. Gary Robertson was the son of B.G. Robertson the manager of KTHV. We discovered Gary could

sustain a great British accent. As the British invasion took place we put Gary on the air doing his British stick.
I cannot remember his air name...help me out here.

KTHS To KAAY

Yesterday, A HOLIDAY, this blog scored one of the highest number of hits ever. Thanks again Ron for the "Greatest Aircheck Ever" (scroll down and see the post and listen to the aircheck). Normally, weekends and holidays are very slow, but Ron's teaser campaign helped bet great hits. I was also astounded with the KTHS listener. Since this is a KAAY blog we tend to forget there was a small contengent of KTHS listeners who must have been upset at the change. KTHS was a CBS radio affiliate with block programing. Tommy Trent did a country show. The only programing that made the change to KAAY was Marvin Vines and his farm reports at 5:30 AM and at noon. I have written several times about Marvin Vines. Just do a search in the upper left box and search this blog.

KTHS to KAAY Comment

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Here IT is .....The Greatest Aircheck of All TIme":

Great catch of radio history, Ron! Would we all be so fortunate. But, then again, if we were, we wouldn't have this much-anticipated teaser! Thank you so much, Ron, for sharing this with us! And here's hoping we can find more KAAY recordings for 2009! Bud, Mobile, AL

I Was There

Len Carl has left a new comment on your post "Here IT is .....The Greatest Aircheck of All TIme":

Many fond memories. Thanks for sharing this. It was a great day and I was there.

Len Carl
.............................................................................
Thanks Len, can you identify the voices on the "greatest aircheck of all time"?

KTHS Remembered

Amazing Grace has left a new comment on your post "Here IT is .....The Greatest Aircheck of All TIme":

I always wondered what happened to my favorite radio station, KTHS. I listened from 1951 to 1954 to the late night jazz program hosted by Jonny Holliday. I went on a trip to Canada in August-September of 1954 and when I returned home, the program and station no longer existed. I've often wondered what happened to Jonny. He and his program are the reason for my lifelong love of jazz from the age of 14. Thanks for clearing up a mystery.

Read Ron's Comment added to Post Below

Here IT is .....The Greatest Aircheck of All TIme

I can't seem to get any of the blogspot mp3 players to work this morning, so I am just giving you the link which should play on everyone's computer. You can and should save this aircheck.

Why is this the greatest? I have always looked for this. Even KAAY apparently did not save any of the Labor Day Weekend change from KTHS to KAAY. I have written about this several times on this blog. This was the most unique call letter and format change I have ever heard. Playing Baby Elephant Walk over and over was not so unique. Lots of stations played a record over and over. Reading the Little Rock phone book was. As the clip starts you hear some of the phone book reading. All of the air people, took turns at 24 hour shifts over the weekend. This clip is very early in the weekend. I know this because of the produced "YAAK" bit. YAAK is, of course, KAAY backward. After about the first day, KAAY was introduced with production elements.

As you can hear this was recorded off the skywave which really gives authenticity to the recording. What are the odds of someone recording this? What are the odds of getting a recording so early in the change.

Several years ago, I tried to get George J. Jennings who was news director on the original staff to recreate the event but he never did.

I can not thank Ron Henselman W9FT Melrose Park, IL for this recording. It was on reel to reel and the tape oxide was deteriating. He worked hours on restoring this great aircheck.

Please leave comments to thank him for all his work and his willingness to share this with everyone.

Here it is:
LINK

...............................................................................
Here are some comments regarding the recording from Ron:

Hello A.J.,

I had just turned fifteen eight weeks before I made the recording. You heard the whole event, so maybe your description of the transition is more accurate than what I remember. I think I made the recording seven hours before the official change of call letters. It was around 10:00 or 11:00 at night when I made that recording. I'm pretty sure I listened on the hour to verify they were still using KTHS as the call letters. This was a big deal if one was a radio DX'er. They announced "Tune in at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning for a big surprise. If you can't hear the mighty ten ninety during daylight hours, then tune in tomorrow night to hear the surprise." I listened to the station until about 1:00 AM, but then I had to go to bed. I couldn't hear anything the next morning, so I had to wait until close to sundown. They were already doing regular programming as KAAY when I was able to receive the station via skywave the next evening. I liked top forty music at that time, so my ear was glued to the radio for most of that evening. The tape I used was recycled. It was labeled, "Paul Grove Sunway Vitamins Show 1955 WCKY." I recorded over the existing material. Tape was too expensive for a kid to buy, so I was very lucky when Gary Wegners's father Wally gave us a bunch of used tape he found. Acetate tape was probably all that was available when that tape was manufactured. Some of the tape my sister bought in 1959 was made from different material, and it survived much better.

Sincerely,

Ron Henselman