Dale Bumpers was governor of Arkansas and.........

The newscasts in these air checks also bring back some memories. This aircheck is from 6-11-72.

http://kaay.podomatic.com/entry/et/2007-05-12T07_41_04-07_00

Missed One

I think I missed one in the Last Day of KAAY series. So here it is:

http://kaay.podomatic.com/entry/et/2007-04-20T07_10_16-07_00

Marvin Vines & Sonny Martin on KAAY

From 11/2/71 this aircheck has a longer segment of Marvin Vines. We often forget KAAY had a 30 minute farm program from 5:30-6:00 AM. Also a 15 minute segment at noon. Religious programs 5-5:30 AM AND 6:00-8:00 PM in the evening. There was also a hour 11:00 -Midnight for Stan's Record shop. This was unheard of for a top 40 station. These paid programs paid the overhead, so that the rest of spot sales were profit.

Enjoy the aircheck:

http://www.podomatic.com/podcast/tell/kaay?p=1

KAAY Commercials

No airchecks just commercials. Not presented here as examples of great commercials but a look back in history. Can you imagine the ticket price for a James Brown show? Jerry Sims hawks the virtues of channel 11's color and local line up. Don't miss the movie spots. Remember the Broadway Drive-In Theater.

http://kaay.podOmatic.com/entry/eg/2007-05-09T12_28_26-07_00

The First Mike McCormick on KAAY

We've been listening to the 2nd Mike McCormick but who was the first. I've written extensively about Jim Hankins the first McCormick and the first program director who put together the staff and sound of KAAY. Please go up to the "search" box for this blog and enter "Hankins" scroll down and read the earlier posts. Here is a short aircheck. Listen to the enormous reverb. George Jennings and I do produced record intros.

http://kaay.podOmatic.com/entry/eg/2007-05-09T11_12_21-07_00

Phil North aircheck from KAAY

Does anyone know the date for this aircheck

http://kaay.podOmatic.com/entry/eg/2007-05-08T14_09_41-07_00

Part 2 of KAAY Aircheck

The way blogs are posted causes airchecks that are broken into parts to be backward. This is part 2. You might want to scroll down and start with part 1 then come back to:


http://kaay.podomatic.com/entry/et/2007-05-05T09_56_19-07_00

KAAY aircheck 4-1-67

Posts below have been featuring some of the last day of KAAY broadcast. This clip is from that show but it is an actual aircheck from 4-1-67 with Barry Wood a/k/a Mike McCormick. You'll notice his voice is much younger:

http://kaay.podomatic.com/entry/et/2007-05-05T09_44_58-07_00

More last day Harper Valley PTA

How fast did KAAY start playing Harper Valley PTA?

Listen and find out:
http://kaay.podomatic.com/entry/et/2007-05-05T09_36_28-07_00
More facts about the record:
Jeannie C. Riley (born Jeanne Carolyn Stephenson on October 19, 1945) is a Country Music singer. She is best known for her 1968 Country and Pop hit "Harper Valley PTA". She became the first woman to have a single become a Country and Pop #1 hit at the same time. Following the success of the song, she had more success on the Country charts.

KAAY News Item

Hear what former GOVERNOR of AR, Bill Clinton had to say about FORMER coach Eddie Sutton going to Kentucky:

http://http://kaay.podOmatic.com/entry/2007-05-05T09_23_56-07_00

Last Day of KAAY as Sonny tells where the name Beaker St. Came from

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but I lost my transfer cable. To continue with the Last Day of KAAY broadcast Sonny Martin a/k/a Matt White is talking with Mike McCormick a/k/a/ Barry "woody" Wood and tells how the name for "Beaker Street" originated.

http://kaay.podOmatic.com/entry/eg/2007-05-04T13_11_45-07_00

Marvin Vines Grandson Andy

I received a comment to post on the blog entry about Marvin Vines as follows:

Andy Vines has left a new comment on your post "Marvin Vines KAAY's Farm Service Director":

Marvin Vines was my grandfather. Thanks for the post as well as the sound check from 1971 where his voice is heard briefly at the beginning. I had not heard his voice in almost 30 years. I appreciate your work on this blog and in keeping the memory of the great KAAY alive.


Andy's email address did not show, so I would like to repond to him here and you all can read it also: Andy,

Great to hear from you. I worked with Marvin, your grandfather, for several years as the second Doc Holiday. I always looked forward to going to work early in the morning, knowing Marvin would already be there, having made the coffee, written his program and on the air.

Of course I never understood what he was talking about, but he knew the farm business forward and backward, and all I was interested in was rock and roll. He adapted to the change from KTHS to KAAY and supported us like we were all old neighbors.

I always wished I could have seen him speak to one of the meetings he was always going to.

Pat Walsh always held Marvin in such high regard and gave the rest of us so much grief.

I do have more material on Marvin and will be posting it in the future.

Thanks again for your comments. We must pass the past on to future generations.

A.J.

For those of you who don't understand what we are talking about just go to the top and do a search on this blog for "Marvin Vines".

More, More, More of Sonny & Woody

Continued discussion of promotions, contests, basketball.

Be sure player is set to a file named " "


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Even More Last Day of KAAY

Woody and Sonny talk about memorable promotions.


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How Matt White a/k/a Sonny Martin came to KAAY.

Continuing on the Last Day broadcast, Barry Wood a/k/a Mike McCormick talks with Matt White about an Ear On Arkansas episode and how he came to KAAY.


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Barry Wood a/k/a Mike McCormick on Last Day

I believe Barry Wood was the second Mike McCormick. He came to KAAY part time since hewas in the Air Force at the Little Rock Air Force Base. As I remember he worked on ICBMs or neculear missles or something scarey. I always worried that he would push "The Button" at the air force thinking he was at KAAY and playing "Eve Of Distruction". Barry was the most conciencous jock we had. He made an aircheck almost everyday and would listen to see how he could improve. To hear Woody on the last day be sure the green bar is moved to "Woody.



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Magnolia from KAAY's Ear On Arkansas

This comes from the last day of KAAY broadcast. Barry Wood a/k/a Mike McCormick will introduce the bit from Ear on Arkansas. More on the "Last Day" broadcast as you scroll down but I must make a comment about Mary Smart. Mary was a copy writer at KAAY. I had worked with her at a previous station and we never got along. Mary was much older and I was a teenager. I hated her copy and we clashed constantly. However, to do Ear On Arkansas we pulled in all the voices we could find in the building. Mary had a very soft, very southern voice. Howard Watson A/K/A Ken Knight created the character Magnolia as a recurring part. This continued after Howard left and we even got Tommy Riggs to do a jingle into which you will hear on the clip.

To show you what a small world it is, Mary is buried a half mile from my house in Alma.

In the window change the green bar selection to "Magnolia"


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Last Day of KAAY

The last day KAAY was a top 40 radio station many of the prior DJs got together for a last broadcast. I don't know if the station sold the time to competitors or gave them the time, but several stations had announcements urging listeners to join them. One of those was Brother Hal from KLRA. This is very significant, in that Brother Hal usually led the local ratings. He was there before KAAY and as it ended the rock format. While I was at KAAY, I remember a big day of celebration when the Pulse survey showed I had beaten Brother Hal in a 15 minute segment. As the years past, I think there were several "books" where KAAY beat Brother Hal. He was always a thorn in our side. Brother Hal (Hal Weber) has passed away, but will always live in my memory. Here is a clip from the last day with Bro. Hal:


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Sorry for lack of posts!

I have been wrapping up some projects and starting a new one, so my time has been limited for blogging.

I have discovered a number of tapes of the last day of KAAY as a rocker. I have just started to listen but there are some real jewels I will be sharing in a few days.

The submissions from those of you out there in radioland has dropped to nothing. Remember if you have reel to reels, 8 tracks, cassettes whatever of old KAAY material contact me and I will be happy to transfer them to digital and return your tapes. I can play any speed and even old broadcast cartidges. I know some of you must have made off with a few, dig them out and send them to me and I will transfer them.

Jennings Ark. Gazette-Democrat news story

Sorry for the delay in posting this. The Arkansas Democrat Gazette does not allow internet access to their paper without having a subscription. I had to rely on a friend to send the actual clipping. Click on the image to enlarge.