Raccoon Story just won't end!

Before you read this scroll down and read the story about the raccoon and the nail gun. Then read the new story:


* Huntsville teacher kills raccoon with nail gun in parking lot
* Humane Society questions 'educational' raccoon killing

HUNTSVILLE, Ark. (AP) - Authorities in Madison County are working to find out who killed and skinned a large dog, then draped it over the gate of a Huntsville High School teacher.

Madison County Sheriff Phillip Morgan says the person who left the dead dog apparently believed the teacher had reported another teacher to the Humane Society for killing a raccoon with a nail gun prior to a class demonstration on how to skin an animal.

The dog was placed on the gate on Thanksgiving Day or on Friday.

Morgan says the culprit could at least face a harassment charge. He says the investigation is continuing.

Prosecutors say no charges will be brought against Jerick Hutchinson. The agriculture teacher killed the raccoon at school -- but out of view of students -- earlier this month. The principal has told Hutchinson not to kill any more animals on school grounds.



©2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,

Still waiting fro some former KAAY staff reflections on Christmas

Let me remind you the writer strike is still on. I am depending on former KAAY employees to send me their memories of Christmas at KAAy. The email address is :
ajlinds@yahoo.com.

Meanwhile, I hope you find the list of locations of visitors to this web site as interesting as I do.

If you are new to this site, don't miss the archives that contain hours of airchecks, jingles, music etc.

2
United States Washington, District of Columbia
3
United States Huntsville, Alabama
4
United States Tulsa, Oklahoma
5
France Paris, Ile-de-France
6
United States Suwanee, Georgia
7
United States Suwanee, Georgia
8
United States Little Rock, Arkansas
9
United States Carthage, Missouri
10
United States Van Buren, Arkansas
11
United States Fort Lauderdale, Florida
12
United States Martin, Tennessee
13
Canada Richmond Hill, Ontario
14
United States Hopkins, Minnesota
15
United States Loganville, Georgia
16
United States Bosque Farms, New Mexico
17
United States Saint Louis, Missouri
18
United States Ellabell, Georgia
19
United States Billings, Montana

A snapshot of the last few visitors to this blog

United States Mountain Home, Arkansas
6
United States Rockford, Illinois
7
Turkey Izmir
8
United States Martin, Tennessee
9
United States Rochester, Minnesota
10
United States Cabot, Arkansas
11
United States Two Harbors, Minnesota
12
United States Omaha, Nebraska
13
United States Bedford, Texas
14
United States Saint Louis, Missouri
15
United States Hopkins, Minnesota
16
United States Owens Cross Roads, Alabama
17
United States Martin, Tennessee
18
United States Bedford, Texas
19
United States Roswell, Georgia
20
Australia Brisbane, Queensland

Anyone Interested

I have an aircheck from KBOX and KLIF in the Kennedy assassination. Before I go to the work to encode it, I would like to know if anyone has an interest in these airchecks. Email me at ajlinds@yahoo.com.

Please come home for Christmas

About this time of the year I was always scrambling (regardless of what station I was working for) to find Tommy Riggs a/k/a Rock Robbins version of "Please Come Home For Christmas." (do a search in the upper left corner for "Tommy Riggs" and then click search this blog. Lots of Tommy material.) If any one has Tommy's version please email me. While I continue my search enjoy this:

Your Comments keep me going

Thanks for the ananomous comment on the "How long has it been since you heard a cigarette commercial" post.
Ananomous said: A Great 58 minutes!!
That encourages me to keep looking for great stuff.
I still need lots of comments on Beaker Street. (see post below)

Writer's strike goes on

Remembering what yesterday was, go to the top of the blog and type JFK into the search box and click on search this blog.

Beaker Street

A good friend of this blog is doing research on Beaker Street. I think it might be useful to him to maybe hear some personal stories of what Beaker Street meant to you.
We all are aware of the nationwide coverage, but it is very helpful to hear your personal story of where you were when you heard Beaker Street. Did it cause you to go into the radio business? (or stay out of the radio business) How much time did you spend listening to Beaker Street? Was Beaker Street common among your friends? Why was Beaker Street different from what you could hear locally? Did you call in to Beaker Street and how did that conversation go? Do you have any recordings or other Beaker Street material? Please don't just read this blog and click on. Take a few minutes to email me you comments at ajlinds@yahoo.com.

Clyde Clifford maintains a Beaker Street website at:

http://beakerstreet.com/

How long has it been since you heard a cigarette commercial?

Well you can today. This is a great montage of commercials. (not necessarily from KAAY)
Remember the Studibaker Lark? Enjoy a great glempse of history with this:

http://kaay.podOmatic.com/entry/eg/2007-11-21T11_24_41-08_00

Raccoons Rule

Has the raccoon story made it to Little Rock TV? For those of you outside the state, which is by far the largest segment of readership to this blog, Little Rock is in the center of the state, the State Capitol, and some would believe the center of media. Northwest Arkansas is a completely different critter. For example, if you live in Fort Smith, you will probably be inclined to go to Tulsa to shop or be amused, rather than Little Rock. Part of this is the attitude toward NW Ar, by the Little Rock media and state government. Northwest AR has plenty of local media and the torrential signal from Little Rock doesn't reach there. All this to give you a local TV station's coverage of the raccoon story and to dispel the image of hicks in this part of the state.

Watch the video at: http://www.4029tv.com/news/14585917/detail.html

Urgent Request

Comments have been slow lately. Maybe it's the writer's strike. I have an urgent request of all former KAAY staffers. Please send me you memories of KAAY at Christmas time. My email address is ajlinds@yahoo.com.

Still on strike

The writers remain on strike so it in necessary to recycle old material.

It is really warm here in Alma, AR and Christmas seems far away, however, this picture seems appropriate.

This picture is from a Christmas in August promotion we ran at KAAY. The Santa in the dark sun glasses is Jim Pitcock with no fat padding. We thought this was such a great gag and had him ride around in a convertible with the top down. People were to put signs in their yard for Santa to see as he drove around. Prizes were awarded for the best signs. I forgot what the prizes were, but it was a great successful contest.

Not to early to be thinking about Christmas

I thought I had posted this earlier but as I found the audio, I heard some phasing and generally bad quality. Now I can't put my hands on the master tape. Still it will put any KAAY employees in the Christmas mood. (click on the link).

http://kaay.podOmatic.com/entry/eg/2007-11-19T12_10_34-08_00

More Thanksgiving

Enjoy:

http://www.grizzlypoint.com/tg/2006tdm1.html

Thanksgiving & KAAY

The holiday season was always great at KAAY. There were always plenty of contests and promotions with a Thanksgiving theme. Most WKRP fans identify the "flying turkeys episode" as their favorite. As most remember the last line of the show is from "The Big Guy" who says "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly". I have mentioned in previous posts that season one of WKRP is available from Netflix. If you rent it or purchase the DVD be sure and listen to the comments from Hugh Wilson, Herb & Gennifer. They only comment on a couple of episodes but it is well worth listening to. They briefly explain why some of the songs have been changed. How stupid it is on the artists part to demand such high royalties. After all only a brief section of the music was used and no one would purchase the DVD because of the music. In fact, if they were smart, an artist would pay them to have it included to renue interest in their song and maybe stimulate some music sales. Call me old fashioned, but artists still need exposure now more then ever with all the competition out there. The quality of the DVD is a little disappointing. After all it was shot on video tape instead of film as most of the MTM sitcoms were. The transfer to DVD should have been sharper than it is. But, hey, I guess we are lucky to get what we got. I noticed from the comments on the extra features part of the DVD, that the cast seemed to have developed the same comradity as a radio station. They mentioned that radio people were always coming up to them and saying we had someone just like Herb, or the big guy, or Les. Few said they had a Gennifer. Without getting too personal, I would say we had a least two maybe three Gennifers at KAAY. But that's another story, one I may never tell.

Russell W. wrote:
When writing, I often use the old-school abbreviations (Ark., Ala., Miss., et al) just because I like how it looks instead of the sterile AR, AL, MS.

BUT, since I like my outgoing mail to get to point B without delay, I put the two-letter kind on the envelope. Anything to help, I suppose.

My .02,
Russell in Savannah, GA/Ga. (where after dark the raccoons come out en masse outside the station)

The raccoon story is getting picked up all over now. I noticed AP has several versions of the story and often use the term he "dispatched" the raccoon with a nail gun.
Interesting use of a word that I usually attribute to a wire service. At least they avoided the obvious "he nailed the raccoon". Neal Boortz was the first national figure to take up the put down of Arkansas. Being from Georgia, where plenty of kooky things take place, he has a lot of room to talk. Wait, there is a writer strip on and I have written too much.

Welcome

International visitors:
Argentina Buenos Aires, Distrito Federal
Greece Thessalonki, Thessaloniki

The raccoons just won't go away

Well at least Arkansas may be off the hook. Today, Friday at 4 PM central time, ABC Radio News reported the nail gun-raccoon story. (Scroll down to read the whole story). Not only were they several days late but they credited the event to Huntsville ALABAMA. Thanks ABC for taking the spotlight off Arkansas. I doubt if the good citizens of Huntsville Alabama will appreciate this story attributed to them. Notice in the original AP story Arkansas is abbreviated "Ark" the old 3 letter abbreviation. Now I am wondering whose right AP or ABC? I know some of my readers are research inclined, so do me a favor. Since I am observing the writer's strike, do some research and email me the real story: ajlinds@yahoo.com.

President Clinton 2000 comment on Coon Supper

And I thank-when Marion Berry ran for Congress after doing a stint in our administration in the Agriculture Department, Dale and David and I really felt that he was entitled to be in Congress, almost as a conciliation prize for having hosted us at the coon supper in Gillette all those years. Anybody who could get us to eat coon for 10 or 15 years in a row should be given a seat in Congress, just as a matter, of course. But I thank them so much.

Writer's Strike but not at KAAY

We never had any unions so never had that DJ can't touch the records that must be played by union engineers.

Maybe I will join the writer's union so I can have some time off.

Continuing the coon thread. Read below stories and comments.

Raccoons have always played a roll in Arkansas politics. Most notable is the Gillette Coon Supper. In an election year this event draws politicians from across the state to mingle and I'm not sure how they are killed but the cooking takes a couple of days.

Arkansas is full of festivals. KAAY always tried to participate in any way possible.
We entered a turtle in the Gould turtle derby, but totally missed the idea of the event. (locals wagering on the critters).

Here is a current list of some of the events in Arkansas:

Altus, Wiederkehr Weinfest
Bismark, Eagles Et Cetera Weekend Festival
Clarksville, Johnson County Peach Festival
Dermott, Crawfish Festival
Des Arc, Steamboat Festival
Fordyce on the Cotton Belt Festival
Gillette, Gillette Coon Supper
Gould, Turtle Derby Festival
Hazen, Prairie County Rice Festival
Heber Springs, Greers Ferry Lake Water Festival
Hope, Watermelon Festival
Lincoln, Arkansas Apple Festival
Malvern, Brickfest
Mount Ida, Quartz Crystal Festival
Murfreesboro, John Huddleston Day Diamond Festival
Paris, Arkansas Championship Grape Stomp and Cowie Wine Fest
Parkin, Riverboat Festival
Sheridan, Timberfest
Smackover, Oil Town Festival
Stuttgart, Wings Over the Prairie Festival
Tontitown, Grape Festival
Trumann: Trumann Wild Duck Festival
War Eagle, War Eagle Mill and Crafts Festival
Warren, Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival
Washington, Jonquil Festival
Weiner, Arkansas Rice Festival
Yellville, Turkey Trot Festival

There is even a website established to oppose the Coon Supper. Here is a segment from that website: (whoever did the site made many misspellings including the name of the town. Most have been corrected)

Every year The high School in Gillette, ARK plays host the annual Coon supper. Let's put a stop to this event! Each year 600-800 pounds of Raccoon meat are served at this event. This is considered a political event, every politician in Arkansas must attend this event and eat Raccoon meat.

"In most places, a politician has to kiss babies in order to succeed. Arkansas politicians have to eat raccoon.

The small east Arkansas town of Gillette doubles its population on the second weekend of every year as candidates and political junkies gather for its annual Coon Supper.

More than 60 years old, the event has become a required stop for anyone seeking or holding political office in Arkansas. Originally started as a fundraiser for high school athletics, it's now the ultimate meet-and-greet for the state's politicians"

And I found this positive comment:

I've been to the Coon Supper and its actually pretty tasty! Its a wonderful custom for a good cause...all of the top politicians in the state attend and a good time is had by all (except the raccoons of course). If you're against eating any and all animals, then I can understand why one might oppose this event. However, I think its difficult to argue that its okay to eat pigs, cows, chickens, turkeys, etc., yet not raccoons. What exactly about the event upsets you? People in Arkansas and other parts of the country have eaten raccoons for centuries. Just because its not so common in urban areas anymore is no reason to oppose the Gillette Coon Supper.

Comment

Comment of the raccoon story below:

He nail-gunned a raccoon to death as part of a school class???!!! What the F@#$ is wrong with people like this??? People who think that killing animals is fun or just no big deal are obviously missing a key component of humanity:empathy for other beings. No,I am not a crazy PETA type. I simply believe that people who have no feeling about killing animals fit the profile of a killer. Interesting how psycho-killers always start out killing animals...are these people so different?

A union writer would have pointed out:

A union writer would have pointed out the late Orval Faubus was from Huntsville, AR.
See story below.......

Writer's Strike Continues

SO, I am turning to the Associated Press for thoughtful writing:

HUNTSVILLE, Ark. (AP) - A Huntsville High School teacher killed a raccoon with a nail gun Friday after discovering the planned subject of a skinning demonstration was alive.

Superintendent Alvin Lievsay says a student's parent promised to bring in a raccoon for the exercise, but surprised agriculture teacher Jerick Hutchinson by bringing the animal in a live trap. Lievsay says Hutchinson took the animal outside to the back of his truck and shot it with the nail gun. Lievsay says no students witnessed the raccoon's death.

Hutchinson used the dead raccoon to demonstrate how to skin the animal and to examine the contents of its stomach. Lievsay says only one student asked not to attend the skinning.

Lievsay says school officials later talked with Hutchinson and told him animals would not be killed on school grounds. The superintendent says Hutchinson also would provide more detailed lesson plans in the future.

The superintendent added that Hutchinson does a good job, and that the students enjoy his classes.

Writer's Strike Affects KAAY Blog

Today instead of writing a new post, I felt it was appropriate to respect the writer's strike. So, today you get a re-run.

Actually, I was looking over the ever changing list of locations where people are viewing this blog from. It caused me to remember this may be the first time you have visited this site and you make not take the effort to catch up.

Today I would like to feature an old post that has an aircheck that is very special to me. It is a George J. Jennings newscast from 1965. It is significant because it features the old format created by Jim Hankins a/k/a Mike McCormick. In those days the five minute news was at :45 and the headlines at :15. Mike's theory was that we would be ahead of the competition that had newscasts at :55. Also, the term "Comex News" baffled listeners for years. Most thought we were saying "comics" news. Comex News was short for Communications Exchange. A big name for the news closet in the Channel 11 building.
George has passed on. The news was moved to the top of the hour, and Comex News was one of the first things I changed when I became program director.

I can still see George gesturing to the jock as the hotline rang during this newscast. I morn the loss of George, radio news with big voices, authority and NEWS.

Listen once again to the aircheck in this link:

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2006-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-06%3A00&updated-max=2007-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=50

1965 on KAAY One of my favorites

Stax Records did a great job of carrying on the Memphis sound legacy. One of my favorites was Rufus Thomas and "Walkin The Dog". It led to a dance. This video is from a British TV show. I'm not sure of the name of the show, but it was a live recording. Unusual because most of the US TV dance parties, just lip synced the songs.

Welcome

United Arab Emirates Dubai, Dubayy
and a few US sites:
Flossmoor, Illinois
Billings, Montana
Bald Knob, Arkansas

New old songs on the player on the right

There are 45 new old songs on the player on the right. I take requests. Let me know of a song or artist you haven't heard lately and I'll try and find it and play it for you.

Email me at ajlinds@yahoo.com

Radio Innovation?

Lee Abrams' blog introduces the all Led Zeppelin
channel: LED ZEPPELIN: we have launched a dedicated Led Zeppelin Channel. Not easy to put that one together as there are 3 managers, 1 lawyer, and a record company. I had to work phones overtime to get this one closed…and lost sleep along the way.
Despite all that—It’s done and will be very cool. On channel 59.

Do you remember the all girl radio stations, the all Elvis stations, the all Beatles station?

This is the time of the year when all Christmas music station's turn up. XM has four.

Not to be outdone I am introducing a Christmas music blog. You will be able to request songs or artists and I will find them and add them to the 45 songs already to listen to .
Here is the link:
http://christmasmusicfromhome.blogspot.com/

Welcome

Cote D'Ivoire

Welcome

Korea, Republic of Seoul, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi
and El Dorado Arkansas....For those of you who don't know it's pronounced EL-Doe-Raid-Oh.

I'll always remember when Federal Express first came to El Dorado. They bought radio commercials produced obviously by their ad agency telling the good folks how happy they were to be in "El Do Rod Oh". The home folk were not impressed.

Razorback Comment

G Hammons left this comment:

YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ABOUT HOG SPIRIT. OF COURSE RAZORBACKS ARE STILL KING IN ARKANSAS, BUT I SEE LESS PASSION ALSO IN THIS NEW ERA. --- I REMEMBER THE STICKERS, SIGNS, PEP RALLIES AND THE LIKE OF THE 1960S ALSO.

I THINK THE PROLIFERATION OF TV GAMES HAS LED SO MANY TO HAVE FAVORITE "NATIONAL (NONREGIONAL) TEAMS" AND ARE A BIT LESS PASSIONATE WITH THEIR HOME/LOCAL TEAMS. WITNESS HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS GOING OUT OF STATE OR ACROSS COUNTRY. "BACK IN THE DAY" NEVER WOULD YOU SEE THE POOR OR EVEN AVERAGE TEAMS ON TV, BUT YOU WOULD EVEN HAVE TO WAIT TIL SUNDAY TO GET ALOT OF SCORES (AND NEVER SEE HIGHLIGHTS). NOW I CAN WATCH THE LESS THAN STELLAR TEAMS (INDIANA, IOWA STATE, VANDERBILT, WASHINGTON STATE, SYRACUSE, ETC.) PLAY AT LEAST 3 TIMES IF NOT MORE. IN 1969 I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THEY HAD FOOTBALL TEAMS (UNSEEN , UNHEARD AND UNPUBLICIZED IN PLACES LIKE ARKANSAS. AND LESS FOLKS LISTEN TO RADIO GAMES, NO DOUBT.

UNFORTUNATE AND IRONIC RESULT OF ALL THE MEDIA (ESPN, CABLE, SATELLITE) AND MORE

Your right G. At the time, of course, I lived in Little Rock. Arkansas State had a following and for those of you new to this blog, do a little search in the upper left box about the time KAAY delayed the Razorbacks to broadcast an A.State game and why.
Now I live in Alma. A stones throw from the home of the Razorbacks. I am not sure anyone here has even heard of Arkansas State. Even this close, there is not the excitement of a Razorback game day as in the 60s.

New KAAY Songs

New old songs. 45 in all, have been added to the player on the far right. Click on the little arrow to play. Email me you comments at ajlinds@yahoo.com.

WKRP Fans Note:

The first season of WKRP is available in three DVD discs on Netflix.
Because of music rights clearance difficulties, some of the music has been changed.

The second Mama Carlson Dead at 87

'WKRP's' 'Mama Carlson' dead at 87
Carol Bruce played Mama Carlson on "WKRP in Cincinnati"

Bruce was nominated for Tony in mid-'60s

Actress appeared in dozens of TV shows over the years

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Actress Carol Bruce, perhaps best known for her role as Mama Carlson on television's "WKRP in Cincinnati," has died. She was 87.


Carol Bruce appears in an undated photo provided by her family.

Bruce died October 9 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in suburban Woodland Hills, spokeswoman Jaime Larkin said in a news release.

Bruce began her entertainment career as a Montreal nightclub singer and went on to captivate Broadway audiences with her sultry voice in the 1940 musical comedy "Louisiana Purchase."

She appeared in the films "This Woman Is Mine," "Keep 'em Flying" and "Behind the Eight Ball" between 1941 and 1942, then returned to the stage, where she was praised for her Broadway performances in the 1946 revival of "Showboat."

She was nominated for a Tony Award for her role in the Broadway show "Do I Hear a Waltz?" in 1965.

In 1979, she took over the role that Sylvia Sidney had originated on "WKRP in Cincinnati" a year earlier as Mama Carlson, the tough-talking owner of a radio station managed by her son Arthur, played by Gordon Jump. Bruce kept the recurring role until the series ended in 1982.

The actress, born Shirley Levy, had guest spots in dozens of other TV shows, including "Doogie Howser, M.D.," "Diff'rent Strokes" and "Knots Landing."

Saturdays were a sum of a week of Razorback promotions on KAAY

(That's my grandson, Davis. Visit his blog at: www.davisjim.blogspot.com
I have often written about Razorback fever on KAAY. Somehow, I don't see the excitement that existed in the 60s. Perhaps the increase in TV coverage and the increase in seating at Reynolds Razorback whatever the names is stadium. The Razorback program was built on a statewide radio network that every station in town could carry the game for a very low fee. Later, Frank discovered the media gravy train. I don't know of any station that did more for the promotion of the Razorbacks. Bumper stickers, store signs,pep rallies, records, jingles, contests, and the jocks 24 hour cheerleading. Sonny and George long running Arkansas vs Texas sthick was almost overplayed. George would tell you privately, his Texas feelings were only there because it made good radio. When I was there, a large group from the station would party to Fayetteville, party at Maxine's Tap Room, party at the stadium and all the way home. Pat Walsh was the head hog party provider. He could never get into a stadium today prepared the way he was in those days. He had a portable bar, portable TV, cushions, drop clothes (to cover a couple of rows of seats in case of rain). Going with Pat to a game was an experience even if we lost.

Welcome

Sleepy Eye, Minnesota

Some notes on Sleepy Eye:

Many watchers of the "Little House on the Prairie" TV series will also recognize Sleepy Eye as an important trade post for the citizens of Walnut Grove. In fact, the first telephone line to reach Walnut Grove from Minneapolis was called the "Sleepy Eye Line" in one episode.
Every August the residents of Sleepy Eye host the annual "Corn Days" event, where free buttered corn is provided, as well as live music, a flea market, and various other events.
Ralph John Fritz, a longtime Twin Cities sportscaster, is from Sleepy Eye.
Residents of Sleepy Eye made headlines in the early 1990's by trying to ban MTV in the town.

Welcome Visitors

Australia Perth, Western Australia

How would you like to have the #1 record the week JFK was shot?

Note: Dale died last month.

Dale Houston

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Learn more about citing Wikipedia •

Dale Houston (April 23, 1940 – September 27, 2007) was an American singer who, along with his performing partner, Grace Broussard, rocketed to the top of the Billboard chart with two rock and roll hits - gold records with more than 1 million copies sold - I'm Leaving It Up to You (No. 1) and Stop and Think It Over (No. 8) in 1963 and 1964, respectively. In his later years, Houston was reunited on stage with Broussard.

Early years

Houston was born to Claude Houston and the former Essie Walters in Seminary, a small town in Covington County in southern Mississippi. He was delivered by a midwife on the family's kitchen table. The Houstons thereafter moved to nearby Collins, the seat of Covington County, where the senior Houston surrendered to the Christian ministry. Young Dale began piano lessons when he was a sixth grader, but the family stopped his training after three months because of financial difficulties. Thereafter, Dale was self-taught: his musical skills were enhanced by playing and singing in church.

At the age of eighteen, Houston recorded "Lonely Man," which reached No. 75 nationally. In 1960, while he was performing in Baton Rouge, record executive Sam Montel caught Houston's act in a local bar. Montel declared Houston "a pretty good writer" and signed him to compose exclusively for his label. Houston then wrote and recorded "Lonely Room," "Bird With A Broken Wing," and "That's What I Like About Us," none of which was particularly successful.

Partnership with Grace Broussard

In 1963, Houston was working in a bar in Ferriday, a well-known small town in Concordia Parish, Louisiana along the Mississippi River. Montel approached Houston about teaming up with a female singer, Grace Broussard (born 1939) of Prairieville in Ascension Parish near Baton Rouge. The two met and practiced on Montel's home piano for four hours. When Houston began to play an old Don and Dewey song from the mid-1950s, "I'm Leaving It Up To You," Montel was awakened and declared that it would be "a hit!" Montel was vindicated when in November 1963, I'm Leaving It Up To You reached No. 1, where it remained for two weeks.^[1]

In the autumn of 1963, Houston and Broussard toured with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. He appeared on Clark's American Bandstand program. The Clark caravan, which also included Brian Hyland and Bobby Vee, was standing on a street corner in Dallas waving at Kennedy on that fateful November 22. The limousine was two blocks away from the caravan when the president was killed, and Texas Governor John B. Connally was seriously wounded. ("I'm Leaving It Up To You" was also No. 1 when Kennedy was assassinated.) Six days later, Houston spent Thanksgiving Day at Clark's home.

Dale and Grace then produced Stop And Think It Over, which went to No. 8 in 1964. However, the popularity of The Beatles, combined with personal problems between the two performers, caused the duo to separate in 1965.

Not from KAAY, but one of my favorites

Jim Stagg passed away on Tuesday, one of the guys I came
rushing home 
from high school to listen to on KYW, Cleveland back in the
mid 
sixties. Cleveland's in the groove again, on the Stagg
line. 
Cleveland's on the move again, on the Stagg line. And
here's your 
million dollar music man to start the show.....
Obituaries |Jimmy Pearson Staggs: 1935 - 2007

Longtime Chicago radio deejay

By Trevor Jensen | Tribune staff reporter
November 8, 2007

Jimmy Pearson Staggs was known as Jim Stagg to teenagers
tuned in to 
WCFL-AM during afternoons in the 1960s and 1970s. A disc
jockey who 
toured with the Beatles in the mid-1960s, bringing
listeners hourly 
updates on the Fab Four, Mr. Staggs signed off in 1975 as
AM rock 
radio was dying out and started a chain of record stores in
the 
northern suburbs.

Mr. Staggs, 72, died Tuesday, Nov. 6, at his Lake Forest
home of 
complications from esophageal cancer, said his daughter
Kara Drumke.

At WCFL, Chicago's longtime "Voice of Labor," later known
as "Super 
CFL" during its battles with WLS for teen listeners, Mr.
Staggs held 
down afternoons with the "Stagg Line" and "Stagg Starbeat."

WCFL program director Ken Draper recruited Mr. Staggs and
several 
other disc jockeys from KYW in Cleveland to Chicago in the
mid-1960s, 
said Jerry G. Bishop, who was also among Draper's hires. At
both 
stations, Mr. Staggs was often the one who lined up the
play list, 
Bishop said.

"He was the music guy. He picked the music," Bishop said.
"He was 
pretty connected to the record guys."

Bishop and Mr. Staggs were among about a dozen reporters
who traveled 
on the Beatles' private plane during the band's 1964 U.S.
tour. The 
reporters had tags connecting them to the tour and
sometimes found 
themselves running through screaming hordes of teenage
girls right 
along with the beloved Liverpudlians, Bishop said.

"There was amazing hysteria," Bishop said. "[But] I had no
idea it 
was history, and he didn't either."

During the Beatles' 1965 tour, Mr. Staggs broadcast hourly
updates to 
a rapt WCFL audience. This tour was much more heavily
covered, and 
Mr. Staggs and other media were relegated to a second
plane, his 
daughter said.

Mr. Staggs had a rich voice and a relatively straight
delivery for 
the era, Bishop said. "Jim was more of a workmanlike guy,
not a 
performer," Bishop said.

After leaving radio in 1975, Mr. Staggs opened a record
store called 
"Record City," which eventually became a chain with
locations in Lake 
Zurich, Skokie, Glenview and Northbrook, with another
outlet in 
Orlando, Fla. The last Record City closed two years ago,
Drumke said.

Mr. Staggs also got into real estate, working with Keller
Williams 
Realty in Libertyville, and started a business that
chronicled 
people's lives through video montages and interviews.

A graduate of the University of Alabama, Mr. Staggs worked
in radio 
in Birmingham, Ala., Philadelphia, San Francisco and
Milwaukee before 
landing at KYW.

Mr. Staggs is also survived by his wife, Valene; a son,
Patrick; two 
more daughters, Lisa Henderson and Dina Jaske; a sister,
JoAnn Terry; 
and five grandchildren.

Visitation is set for 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, and 3 to 5 p.m.
Saturday, 
at N.H. Scott & Hanekamp Funeral Home, 1240 Waukegan Rd.,
Glenview. A 
5 p.m. service will follow the visitation on Saturday.

_______________________________________________

Welcome International Visitor:

Italy

Appiano, Trentino-Alto Adige

El Salvador

San Salvador

New Feature Added

Over on the right is an "On the Air" box. Click on the arrow for some music. I will be changing the playlist from time to time. Enjoy!

KAAY & Jingles

I've talked several times about jingles. I listen to jingles as often as I do music. I love jingles. Radio station jingles, commercial jingles, any jingle. I have included many of the KAAY jingles on this blog. My favorite jingles came from Pams. I hope to someday to try and put together all the KAAY jingles. I also especially liked the beer and soft drink jingles. Jingles must be out of favor today. I don't hear them as much for radio station IDs or even commercials. Where are those great beer and soft drink jingles? I do notice XM radio uses jingles well. They have taken some of the best from the past and had them resung with XM Radio in the place of call letters. The 60s channel on Friday afternoon features a great top 40 station from the past and their jingles. Here is a link to a PAMS page. Pick out a decade and enjoy. http://www.pams.com/pams/sampler.html
It was a great feeling to be out in the public and have folks sing the logo (KAAY, Tune ten ninety) back at you.

Welcome International Visitors:

China

Nanjing, Jiangsu

		India	Bangalore, Karnataka
		India

Bombay, Maharashtra

Music of 1964

The Beatles really dominated the music of 1964. However, there was still some great music from Motown, Roy Orbison, Beachboys, etc. Then there was music like Jan & Dean and Dead Man's Curve. I play that for you today primarily for the picture of the 1963 Corvette. I drove a Red 63 Corvette Sting Ray. When I left KAAY bound for Decatur, Il and WAND (A TV station that LIN Broadcasting had purchased and Len Carl was the manager) I moved in the Corvette. I remember getting a speeding ticket once a month in Illinois. Fortunately they didn't report it on my Arkansas driver's license. The car just looked like it was speeding setting still. The 63 had some real inovations for it's day. There were seat belts and FM on the radio.

Remember this epic:

More International

China
Shanghai

Welcome International Visitor:

Canada

Medicine Hat, Alberta

I'm Constantly learning from this blog

We had a visitor to this blog from Alma Kansas. I had never heard of Alma Kansas and was interested because I live in Alma AR. In researching, it is about the same size as Alma AR. We however have a significant industry. Allen Canning Company produces Popeye spinish here.
Thus the chamber claims this to be the spinish capitol of the world. Not sure of the documentation for this claim.

I never tire of reading this kind of story

Thanks to http://www.hibblenradio.com/preradio.html
for your comments on KAAY and your link to this blog.

It's aways fun to read of the countless number of folks who entered the broadcast business after being inspired by KAAY.

Remember we were learning too. We had no consultants, music research, computers, or the aids that make broadcasting easier today.

I hope today it is still possible for someone to start at a small hometown station and work their way up.

Please continue to share your stories with me at ajlinds@yahoo.com. It is a great pleasure to share them with readers of this blog.

I Heard it This Morning

I heard it this morning for the first time in a long time. You may think I spend all my time listening to XM Radio. The best thing about XM is depth in chart selections on the decades channels. Naturally, I listen most to the 60s channel and I am always rewarded with songs that never made it in the top ten and are ignored today by music research done for the oldies stations. KAAY never heard of music research. Our research was totally listner feedback. We even paid a kid to answer the phones at night. He kept a log of every song requested and gave it to the music director.
It seems like today's oldies stations have such a tight playlist and repeat it over and over. I never seem to tire from the XM Decades channels. The song in point today is "Let's Think About Livin by Bob Luman. The song is interesting from a couple of aspects. First the lyrics comment on the tragedy songs of the day and second, Bob's life was tragicly short.

Bob Luman (Robert Glynn Luman, 15 April 1937 - December 27, 1978) was an American country and rockabilly singer born in Blackjack, Texas, a church community south of Tyler in Smith County, Texas.

The smooth baritone was best-known in non-country circles for his crossover hit, "Let's Think About Living," a novelty song that hit #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #9 on the Billboard country chart in 1960.

Luman was, however, well-known in the country music world. His 1972 hit, "Lonely Women Make Good Lovers," became his biggest country hit, hitting #4 on the country chart.(Steve Wariner, who had earlier been a member of Luman's band, later covered the song in the 1984, and he, too, took it to #4 on the country charts.)

Luman's other country hits included "Ain't Got Time To Be Unhappy" (1968), "When You Say Love" (1972), "Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)" (1973), "Still Loving You" (1974), "Proud Of You Baby" (1975), and "The Pay Phone" (1977).

Luman died of pneumonia in 1978, at the age of 41.

1969 Hit but could it happen today?

"Oh Happy Day" is a 1967 gospel music arrangement of an 18th century hymn. Recorded by the Edwin Hawkins Singers it became an international hit in 1969, making US #4 and UK #2 on the pop charts. It has since become a gospel music standard.


Origins

Edwin Hawkins’ funk style arrangement of the hymn "Oh Happy Day" has a long pedigree: It began as a hymn written in the mid-18th century ("Oh happy day that fixed my choice") by English clergyman Phillip Doddridge (based on Acts 8:35) set to an earlier melody (1704) by J. A. Freylinghausen. By the mid-19th century it had been given a new melody by Edward F. Rimbault and was commonly used for baptismal or confirmation ceremonies in the UK and USA. The 20th century saw its adaptation from 3/4 to 4/4 time and this new arrangement by Hawkins, which contains the repeated refrain only (all of the original verses being omitted).

The Edwin Hawkins Singers

The Edwin Hawkins Singers began as The Northern California State Youth Choir founded in 1967 by Hawkins and Betty Watson, its members aged 17–25. As was common in gospel circles they produced and distributed their own LP: Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord, recorded live in church. "Oh Happy Day", featuring Dorothy Morrison as lead vocalist, was picked up by a local DJ and subsequently released commercially. Aretha Franklin had already brought strong gospel stylings to the pop charts with songs such as "Think" (1968), but a hymn had never “crossed over” before. "Oh Happy Day" soared into the US Top 5, winning a Grammy and massive sales worldwide.

Legacy and influence

Hawkins' arrangement quickly became a “standard” and has been recorded by hundreds of artists. It was included on the RIAA Songs of the Century list.

Hawkins is still active and is now an elder statesman for the Contemporary Gospel style which "Oh Happy Day" helped found.

This song served as an inspiration for the Nick Cave song "Deanna" (1988), which appears on Tender Prey and B-Sides & Rarities.

The song has appeared in many movies, but notably Whoopi Goldberg's Sister Act 2. The song also appears in Big Momma's House and Nutty Professor 2:The Klumps. In the United Kingdom, it was played by Bruno Brookes on BBC Radio 1 in the early hours of April 10, 1992 to herald the Conservative Party's fourth consecutive election victory.

Other versions

In addition to the Hawkins Singers, the song has been recorded by a number of other artists, most notably Joan Baez, who included the song on her 1971 album Carry It On, and later her 1976 live album From Every Stage.


* Recorded live 1967, Ephesian Church of God in Christ, Berkeley, California.

Independently released on the LP Let us go into the house of the Lord (1968). Commercially released as a 7" single on Pavilion Records April 1969, then on Buddah Records LP Oh Happy Day 1969.

Awards

* 1970 Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance

Another International visitor

Canada Montreal, Quebec

Welcome International Visitor

Netherlands Boxtel, Noord-Brabant

Hi Records

Yesterday's spotlight was on a record on the "Hi" label. (see post below) Hi was one of the Memphis labels that had a distinctive sound that made a great contribution to rock and roll. When you think of Memphis, Sun Records is usually the first to come to mind, but there was Hi, Stax, and others. I found an interesting sight about Hi Records. Take a look and don't miss the juke box to play a few of the hits.
http://hirecords.com/history.html

Also take a look at:

http://www.staxmuseum.com/

KAAY halloween Song For You

Where is everybody today? Hits are way down. I'll blame it on Halloween.

One of my favorite halloween songs:

KAAY Contests

I have written in the past about contests at KAAY. I don't think I have written enough since contests were an intrigal part of KAAY programming. I would really like to hear from you about contests and promotions you remember. Email me at ajlinds@yahoo.com. We usually had at least two contests going at the same time. There was a phone in contest each hour. Usual format called for an OPEN (the invitation to call in) the CONTEST itself, and the CLOSE. The contests usually tied to the season: Halloween, Thanksgving, etc. Then there was often a write-in contest. Something you rarely see today. We aways got good results from write in contests. Prises ranged from large items (see Car A Day) to small items (see transistor radios). I would really appreciate hearing your favorite contest or promotion.

New Comment

Hi,

my name is Given Campbell Arnoux, and I found your blog...thank you for putting it up, he was my grandfather as if you couldn't tell by my name. I am so happy to see someone else talking about him. He was very valuable to radio and has been all but forgotten but everyone except his family. My father was a tv pioneer and I worked in radio too for nearly a decade in and off. Keep up the good work

sincerely
Given

Stan Lewis of Stan's Record Shop has a big hit

He had several but Paula Records "Judy in Disguise" by John Fred and the Playboy Band hit in late 67 and road into 1968. I have never seen this video. If you pause the clapboard at the front maybe that will identify what it was made for. For previous posts about Stan's Record Shop, 728 Texas Street, Shreveport, LA, go to the searchbox upper left and enter "Stan's Record Shop" and click on search blog.

Day For Decision on XM

Monday afternoon in drive time, XM Radio 60s decade channel played the Johnny Sea version of Day For Decision. That's what I like about XM. They have a huge play list and play songs that the oldies stations don't play. Those of you new to this blog, go to the upper left hand corner and enter "Day for Decision" and then click on "search blog" . Be sure and scroll down for several posts. When Johnny Sea purchased the material he listed himself as the author.

More Billy Joel

There used to be a better video on You Tube but I guess it had to be removed. It had much better photos of the old stuff.

The song still brings back great memories even if the video is a little hokey:

Comments on KAAY & Monster Mash

From Guitarlizard re: Monster Mash:

I still remember when that song came out, I had to have it so my mom on one of her trips downtown to the dentist picked me up a copy of Monster Mash down at Woolworth's with the cartoon cover.
I still have the 45, a little worse for wear, but the cover has gone the way of all flesh....

Thanks for the comment. When I first started in radio at KBBA Benton AR we didn't get all the hits from the record companies or distributors, so I often had to buy records sometimes for my show on the weekends. One of the owners of the station would open all the records when they came in and often stash the good ones in his desk. Lavelle Langley was his name and he was a co-owner with Preston Bridges. Later, after I left, Preston bought him out and comtinued to build the station.
While I was still there, I remember skipping school one day so I could work at the station. Seems as all the air people were doing a remote and they needed someone at the station to run the board. It was a high school track meet. Yes folks, a high school track meet on the RADIO. I probably learned more there than I would have at school. Being a daytimer, KBBA would have to tape the high school football games and play them back Saturday morning. It wasn't too bad because the players could listen then. Filming high school games was just coming into use. Black and white, 16 MM film. My senior year at Mabelvale High School, we got a Bolex 16 MM camera and I took the film to RayChris Productions at channel 4 to get our film developed Friday night for the coach to use Sat. morning. He ran it forward, backward, freeze frame, every way possible. He would rant and pound the table and throw thimgs. Great invention filming football. He did coach a district co-champ team that year. In those days there were no playoff or final championship games. Friday night lights were black and white.

Link wrong for voting

The link didn't seem to work for voting for Johnathon Goins Van Buren Pointers for player of the week. So I'll try again:

http://www.fortsmithradiogroup.com/

KAAY Thanks for the Lyrics

Thanks to a reader for the lyrics and the translation:

Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto

ue o muite arukou
namida ga kobore naiyouni
omoidasu harunohi
hitoribotchi no yoru

ue o muite arukou
nijinda hosi o kazoete
omoidasu natsunohi
hitoribotchi no yoru

shiawase wa kumo no ueni
shiawase wa sora no ueni

ue o muite arukou
namida ga kobore naiyouni
nakinagara aruku
hitoribotchi no yoru

whistling

omoidasu akinohi
hitoribotchi no yoru

kanashimi wa hosino kageni
kanashimi wa tsukino kageni

ue o muite arukou
namida ga kobore naiyouni
nakinagara aruku
hitoribotchi no yoru

(whistling)

-----------------------

Translation:

I look up when I walk so the tears won't fall
Remembering those happy spring days
But tonight I'm all alone

I look up when I walk, counting the stars with tearful eyes
Remembering those happy summer days
But tonight I'm all alone

Happiness lies beyond the clouds
Happiness lies above the sky

I look up when I walk so the tears won't fall
Though my heart is filled with sorrow
For tonight I'm all alone

whistling

Remembering those happy autumn days
But tonight I'm all alone

Sadness hides in the shadow of the stars
Sadness lurks in the shadow of the moon

I look up when I walk so the tears won't fall
Though my heart is filled with sorrow
For tonight I'm all alone



Posted by The Mighty Favog to KAAY 1090 at 11:24 PM

Black Oak Arkansas Appears

Black Oak Arkansas appears tonight in Fort Smith AR at a rib house. (far cry from Barton Coliseum)

Another Tommy Riggs Comment KAAY

My buddies and I saw Tommy as Rob Robbins in Star City in about 1967 or 1968 performing with a local group called "The Phantom VI", if memory serves. (the group later became "Precious Little"). Tommy had just released "Little Girl" on MY Records and sang that with the group. What a talent.

Rock Robbins and more from KAAY

Much has been written on this blog about Tommy Riggs a/k/a Rock Robbins, a/k/a Tom Payton. To see previous posts type Tommy RIggs in the search window, top left, and click on search this blog. I received the following comment that puts all the "Tommys" together:

ohn Bernays
Grew up in Benton & Hot Springs, AR- Played Lead Guitar with "ROCK ROBBINS" KAAY 1966
1 message
John Bernays Mon, Oct 22, 2007 at 5:34 AM
To: leerodgers@abc-sf.com
I listen to you-all most every morning, a old Farm Boy, (Dairy Farm!)
I get up with the Chicken's after all these years! (I was born after
WW2, learned to drive in a "Poppin' Johnny"John Deere Tractor & a 1949 Plymouth, Amateur
Radio Operator since 1958 (KD5MPM) and Used To Join in the 3830 KCs
"Art Bell" Ham Gang Bang, but got Shunned after a while.
I bet you remember Rock Robbins! I was 16 years old, had a New Gibson
ES-330-TD Guitar with a Bigsby Vibrato, & I won "Battle of the Bands"
beating out Robbin's Band's Guitarist, so he Hired me On The Spot.

Here is what Charlie told us about Stax: "It was me and "Rock Robbins"
of KAAY Little Rock who are credited for Jeanne & The Darlings
'"What's Gonna Happen To Me". Rock Robbins' real name was Tom Riggs
or Tommy sometimes. He also worked as a radio DJ as Tom Payton, hence
the usage on the record label. Tom and I had an agreement such as
Lennon and McCartney... we shared credits even though one or the other
created that particular song. He totally wrote that one. My
participation was because of our sharing. Memory fuzzy about session
date. Only learnt of it happening at a later time. Neither one of us
was present, as per recollection. Perhaps mid or late summer of 67.
Song was never specifically written for any artist that I know of. Tom
had that one in mind when I met him in early '60's... Tom, being
around North Little Rock for his teen years and sporadically
thereafter, could have met Jeanne & The Darlings anytime during mid
60's... I really don't know. Most likely while working at KAAY as
"Rock Robbins" in 66 or so. Neither one of us was present during the
session. Tommy Riggs died in July 2000.
Tommy Riggs (Tom Payton) is an Arkansan singer, piano and keyboard
player who had several bands while performing around the state in the
1960s and 1970s. He also was working as a radio DJ (as Tom Jones) at
the time, on KCLA, during 1968 through 69 &As Tom Payton on KXLR in
North Little Rock in 1964, and in 1966 at KAAY]]. During this period,
he promoted himself as Tom Payton and the Kingpins, Tom Payton with
The Playboys, and several other names. He recorded while he was Rock
Robbins from KAAY on the Little Rock label "MY Records" in 1966. Two
songs from the session were released on a 45 rpm record, "My Little
Girl" and "Good Lovin'"... The other songs and all tape masters are in
private hands. Promoting himself as Tommy Riggs, he performed around
the country From St. Louis to Las Vegas before settling down in
Nashville, Tennessee and frequently playing at the Stockyards Lounge.

The multi platinum selling Alternative Rock band Evanescence has its
origins in Little Rock.


Johnny Bernay (1923-2003) was born on October 17th, 1923 in Muskogee, Oklahoma,As a School Boy with Barney Kessel, My Father was an Accomplished Jazz and Boogey-Woogey Piano Player, and a capable Guitarist. Unfortunately, while in Los Angeles, he caught the dread "Valley Fever" which caused my Grandmother, Nedra E. Bernay, to Rush him home to Muskogee, where he was Fever-Ridden & Bed Fast over a Year. His Life was Ruined after that, and he Died in Prison, on Death Row, McAllister State Prison, on December 11th. 2003. I Learned to Love Jazz from My Father, but Inherited the Brain Fever, and was BED RIDDEN for a Year in 1955-56.
Barney Kessel (1923-2004) was born on October 17, 1923, in Muskogee, Oklahoma. By age 16, as a high school student, he was emulating Charlie Christian, playing his electric guitar with local blues bands and with the University of Oklahoma Dance Band.

In 1942 Barney Kessel made his way to Los Angeles and quickly established himself as a professional musician and a guitarist to be reckoned with. His first important job was with Chico Marx. He spent a year on the road with the Marx band and when he returned to Los Angeles he began pursuing a career in which he combined studio, radio and club work. During this time he was heard on recordings that featured Charlie Ventura, Roy Eldridge and Artie Shaw along with a string of radio appearances. It was also during this period that Barney Kessel appeared in the movie Jammin' The Blues.

In 1952 Barney Kessel joined the Norman Granz Philharmonic tour for one year, returning to Los Angeles again in 1953. Then, just ten years after arriving in Los Angles, he was at the top of his form, in high demand for studio and radio work, and ready to launch a recording career that would continue for almost 40 years.

Every guitarist who came up during the 1940's acknowledged the influence of Charlie Christian. But with Barney Kessel, this influence was the driving force that propelled his interest in the guitar. Barney Kessel has said that Charlie Christian was his idol and this enormous influence was most evident in Kessel's early recorded solos, especially those made with Charlie Ventura and Artie Shaw. It was not hard to imagine the hands of Charlie Christian playing these gems.

But, as with the other great guitarists, this influence became just one component of a broader and more individual Kessel style and technique. By the time Barney Kessel was making recordings under his own name in 1953 he was having as much influence on other guitarists as Christian had had on him. And, this influence continues today. In the Just Jazz Guitar Barney Kessel Tribute issue (September, 1997), Howard Alden says, "as far as I'm concerned, in the dictionary under Jazz Guitar there should simply be a picture of Barney Kessel".

Barney Kessel was truly everywhere as a musician. People who “had never heard of him” , heard him play. If you were a fan of Ricky Nelson in the 1950's and 1960's you heard Barney Kessel's guitar. If you listened to the popular radio shows in the 1950's you heard his guitar. When you saw a movie in the 1950's or 1960's you probably heard his guitar. In fact, he may have been one of the most recorded musicians in the history of recorded music.

I Need Your Help Again

A few weeks ago, I ask everyone who reads this blog to go to a web address and vote for Johnathan Goins Van Buren Pointers, for player of the week. He won with a large margin thanks to you all.

Now he is up for it again. Never seen the same player get it twice in one season.

So one more time please vote again:
Hey everyone!



Believe it or not Jonathan is up for player of the week again!! So… please go to www.fortsmithradiogroup.com and vote.

I was told that no player has ever been voted player of the week twice in one season. So…spread the word to go online and vote for Jonathan as he represents the Van Buren Pointers!! Thanks!

KAAY Studio Locations

From Sean:
I remember at least 2 of the KAAY studios - the one on 7th Street across from the State Capital (it was a couple of blocks from my dad's office at Meyer's Bakery) and of course 2400 Cottondale Lane. I remember the big move down to the river - I think either my mom worked there for a minute, or we were just helping out. My parents were friends with Pat Walsh, and I also remember C. David Hamilton too. For a LONG time, KAAY (and KLPQ/KQ94 eventually) was the only thing out there in Riverdale after the country club moved to what is now Pleasant Valley. Just on the other side of the railroad tracks - the Razorback Drive In. Those were the days.

Thanks Sean for the note. I remember the studios where it all started in the Channel 11 building. (see earlier posts). Some great memories from that location. We used the Channel 11 staff for voices on commercials and Ear on Arkansas. Steve Stevens, Evelyn Ellman, George Moore, and many others were fun to visit with. B.G. Robertson was General Manager of Channel 11. One of his sons, Gary, had a great British accent, and as the British invasion progressed, we used Gary's voice more and more. Gary even did a part time jock show. I can't remember the name he used. Guys help me out. Email me the name.
A.J.

Another Instrumental

KAAY Instrumentals comment

This comment from guitarlizard:

The instrumnentals were "it" for me. Especially Johnny and The Hurricanes, Booker T and The MG's,Bill Black's Combo,Duane Eddy, Willie Mitchell and The Ventures. It seemed that most of the stations I listened to on that little white Philco tube set, WHB, KUDL (my locals) and KAAY would use this music as "bumper" music before breaks for the news etc. I still wake up in the morning hearing (in my head) Ace Cannon doing TUFF or Sleepwalk by Santo and Johnny. I'm still partial to instrumentals, although the production levels and styles have changed, stuff by The Hellecasters, Ray Flacke and Joe Satriani are interesting to listen to, but nothing compares to 40 Miles of Bad Road by Duane Eddy!!!

KAAY Remembers

This blog has turned into a kinda what I am listening to thing. When I don't hear from you my mind wanders or I listen to the radio.

This song popped up. What is interesting is the video that a kid produced. It has a real professional look. Take a look at the item "About this video". You will find some comments from the kid that did this plus the lyrics so you can sing along.

The Day The Ratings Book Arrived at KAAY

WAKE UP!

As I write this it is 9:30 AM Tuesday morning and there has not been one visitor to this blog. As a friend to take a look at this blog. Help me get the numbers up.

NUMBERS...Those of you in the broadcast business knoq you live and die by the ratings.

In my days at KAAY, Pulse was the major rating service. Hooper was still around but not doing much. We all knew the approximate date it should arrive but never the exact date. If we ordered the book, we could get some advance numbers. The arrival was a big event, usually in the manager's office. He would get first peek. Then he would pass out copies to the department heads so we could start pouring over the numbers. There was usually something for everyone. Brother Hal and the black station were always tough to beat.

Pat Walsh was a rating fanatic. He had a huge file of rating books. While he was still alive and getting ready to move to an apartment, I helped him find a home for the rating books. (3 huge boxes). I found a guy in Arizona with an interest in them.
We paid the freight, and shipped them to him with the promise he would copy them and pass them on to someone else with an interest in them.

Too bad he had the bad experience of turning over historical documents (Ear on Arkansas master tapes) to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Rating books serve the purpose of keeping jocks honest. When someone would start bragging to Pat about how good they were, he would reach down to the files and pull out a book and set the straight.

The Beatles & KAAY

Like most top 40 stations, KAAY was quick to jump on The Beatles bandwagon. I think at one time The Beatles had five songs on the silver dollar survey at one time. I always sort of resented the British invasion, not because of the sound, but because it displaced so many American artists. Talking with many of the American artists of the time, they seemed lost, not knowing what to write and record.

There was the full color Beatles book that I have written about before. I liked early Beatles much more that what they became.

So why am I writing about The Beatles. Hits are down on this blog and I'm trying to build it back up.

Here is one of my favorites:

KAAY Never played it but......

I was listening to the 50s channel on XM and was reminded of this song by Eddie Fisher. The song paints a picture of teens of the 50s. (I for example never understood what dungarees were) (They were always jeans to me) You never ever wore brand new BLUE jeans to school. Moms just never understood why jeans had to be faded. Now you can buy them that way. And foreign countries will buy our old worn out jeans.

Relive this moment in time:

Before The Beatles there were records like this

We played this and never knew what the lyrics were:

International Visitors always welcome

Korea, Republic of

KAAY & Monster Mash new at the same time

KAAY and Monster Mash both were new in 1962. Since then Monster Mash is a prenenial hit. I tried to find some kind of statistical data about how many times it has been played but couldn't find it. Here's the background info:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Monster Mash" is a 1962 novelty song and the best-known song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. Pickett was an aspiring actor who sang with a band called The Cordials at night while going to auditions during the day. One night, while performing with his band, Pickett did a monologue in imitation of horror movie actor Boris Karloff while covering The Diamonds' "Little Darlin'". The audience loved it and co band member, Lenny Capizzi encouraged Pickett to do more with the Karloff imitation.

Pickett and Capizzi composed "Monster Mash" and recorded it with Gary Paxton, Leon Russell, Johnny McCrae and Rickie Page, credited as "The Cryptkickers". This song was partially inspired by Paxton's earlier novelty hit "Alley Oop", as well as by the Mashed Potato dance craze of the era.

The song is narrated by a mad scientist whose monster, late one evening, rises from a slab to perform a new dance. The dance becomes a hit when the scientist throws a party for other monsters. The producers came up with several low-budget, but effective sound effects for the recording. For example, the sound of a coffin opening was imitated by a rusty nail being pulled out of a board. The sound of a cauldron bubbling was actually water being bubbled through a straw and the chains rattling were simply chains being dropped on a tile floor. Pickett also impersonated the horror actor Bela Lugosi as Dracula when he said, "What ever happened to my Transylvania Twist?"

On October 20, 1962, eight weeks after it was recorded, "Monster Mash" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart just in time for Halloween. It has been a perennial holiday favorite ever since. The single was re-released twice, the first re-release was in 1970, and the second re-release resulted in the single peaking at #10 in early-May, 1973. The song remains a staple on oldies radio.

Now here it is just in time for Halloween:

Welcome to KAAY

A satelite visitor from South Africa and
Canada Winnipeg, Manitoba

More Instrumental talk of 1963

From a previous post you read how important I think instrumentals are. It's a shame there is not a lot of instrumentals today.

From 1963 how many of you remember Alley Cat by Bent Fabric?

Here it is:

Welcome another KAAY international visitor!

United Kingdom Surbiton, Surrey

Counter Now Working

I'm flying blind today because of this message from the service I use to count visitors to this blog:

The statistics for visitors from the last 656 minutes are not yet available

KAAY & Trade Outs

The pay may not have been great but the perks were outstanding. In those days (60s-70s)there were regional airlines that liked to trade tickets for advertising. Central Airlines comes to mind along with Frontier and Trans Texas. Central was great because it flew in to Fayetteville. It had several other Arkansas stops and connections in St Louis and I think even Chicago. Also, hotels were easy to find trades with in any city. You could listen to a radio station and often tell where there staff had been traveling. Wind Jammer Cruises were also big on trades. Movie theaters often gave passes or traded for ticket giveaways.

When I moved to Pine Bluff to manage KCLA, one of the great perks was a permanent family pass to any of the Commonwealth Theaters.

When you get out of the broadcast business the perks and backstage passes are sometimes what you miss the most.

Welcome International Visitors

Norway Trondheim, Sor-Trondelag Netherlands

Aalsmeer, Noord-Holland

KAAY & A trivia Quiz

Read the post below then go to this link and take the trivia quiz.

I expect you to get all ten correct, I did. But only because of doing the post below.

Here's the link for the quiz:

http://www.funtrivia.com/trivia-quiz/Music/Only-Instrumentals-179188.html

KAAY & Instrumental Hits

I'm back! My video project is over, presented, and wild applause.

Back to blogging business. Seems like in the "good old days" there were lots of instrumental hits. DJ's loved instrumentals. You could use them for theme songs. Any of you jocks old enough to remember having a theme song? I remember one of my favorite D.J.'s was Bud Connell when he was at KXLR. He used Ray Coniff's S'Wonderful for a theme song. He would usually talk up to the cymbal crash then a big finish. Instrumentals were great for talking over, running up to the news, the end of your show, etc.

The instrumental I have for you today is one of those mysteries. It is a mystery to me why we played it. It made it up to number 6 in the top 100 songs for 1963. At least is was different. What were some of the instrumentals you remember? Email me at
ajlnds@yahoo.com

Washington Square - Village Stompers

Some assorted KAAY Spots

Thanks to Barry McCorkindale for some assorted promos and spots from apparently the master production tapes.

One in particular I would like to point out to all you old enough to remember Bud Campbell. He appears on one of the promos.

You'll also hear the voices of Wayne Moss, George J. Jennings, and Barry Wood.

I'm nearing the end of my video project so I hope to get back to more blogging.

Thanks again Barry.

Keep the material coming folks.

A.J.
Here is the audio file:
http://kaay.podOmatic.com/entry/eg/2007-10-11T13_25_02-07_00

Your Help Needed

I will be working on a big video project this week and I need your contributions to this blog to keep some fresh posts going.

Previous employees I particularly would like to hear from you about what "life lessons did you learn from KAAY.

New visitors to this blog, please email me where you were when you first heard KAAY.

My email address is ajlinds@yahoo.com.

Your participation will keep this blog fresh this week.

Thanks,

A.J.

AM Radio KAAY

I don't keep up with current music too much. I do occasionally scan MTV to see what the kids are up to. I have become a big You Tube fan as you can tell.

While browsing You Tube I hit this interesting song from a year ago and was quite surprised to find a song about AM radio. The part about DISCO I couldn't go along with. Disco was very good to me. I made a lot of money playing clubs and doing portable disco. New Year's eve was my biggest money maker of the year. Unfortunately there was only one a year. Wedding entertainment was also great because it was very short, usually only a couple of hours. Country clubs were the worst because there was always someone with a pocketfull of cash to pay for another hour, and another hour, and other hour.

KAAY Spot for the Ike & Tina Turner Review

Recently I posted an aircheck that had a spot for the "Ike & Tina Turner Review" that was in Little Rock. Tina Turner is one of my favorites. What an example of someone who gets better with age.

Welcome UK visitor!

United Kingdom London, Lambeth

KAAY Coments

Thanks Paul for the comments:

Hello A.J.,

The song "Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)" was a hit when I was nine years old in the fall of 1974. This was the first time I've actually seen the lyrics. That song was busy, lol, although I believe the guy who did the Federal Express spots could have easily tackled it....

Political season. As a traffic/billing manager, I learned to hate political spots. I know you did some GM and PD work, so I can assume you messed with this stuff directly as well. For the record, I vote Democratic (although I'm very bothered by the lack of spine my party displays lately). In the billing end however, I didn't care about one's political stripes. What I cared about was if the politician paid (our policy was 100% cash up front), and more importantly, did he/she have their tape ready to air. I cannot tell you how many times some politician would spend a boatload of money for an ad campaign that started immediately, only to not have tape. We could not (and would not) return any money to these people (typically they had no billing address anyway). In other words, some of these people didn't spend their money wisely, and several were not yet in office. That year, I developed an additional criteria for someone to elect. That was, if a candidate couldn't spend their money wisely in a simple radio ad campaign, I knew they wouldn't spend money wisely as an elected official, and I did not vote for them. About 50% of the candidates, regardless of party, pulled this kind of nonsense.

Last Friday, Melba Beals spoke at Principia College in Elsah, IL. Beals was part of the "Little Rock Nine," during the desegregation of Central High School 50 years ago. KAAY signed on five years after this. Do you think KAAY played a role in the breaking down of racial barriers in the 1960's and 1970's? It may be a lot to ask of you, but I just wondered how you felt. St. Louis was (and is) a racially divided city.

Did KAAY ever play in basketball tournaments in the northwestern part of the state? I would suspect it was a difficult drive to get there if you did. I have never been to Little Rock. My visits have been in the northeast (Pocahontas), north central (Mountain View), and U.S. 71 north from Texarkana to the Missouri line. Mostly my visits were in Fayetteville/Springdale. My experience with the area, and the media there lead me to think that northwest Arkansas could almost be an enclave unto itself. Until 1999, there wasn't a safe four-lane road to get there from the capital (and 71 doesn't count), and the media itself wasn't connected to the rest of the state (outside of AETN). The cable system there had more television stations from Springfield, Joplin and Tulsa than Ft. Smith, and no Little Rock stations. The newspapers were better, however. But it seemed as if Fayetteville residents didn't pay attention to regions outside of Washington or Benton Counties, and residents in places as close as Harrison didn't follow what happened in Fayetteville. What are your thoughts?

As far as the Razorback games, I remember practically EVERY radio station in NW Arkansas carried the sportscasts, at least in the 1980's. That suprised me--I guess there weren't any market exclusive agreements back then. It also appeared that each station was able to sell the event on their own as well. In my area, Missouri and Illinois games are carried on one or two stations in the market, even back then.

As far as September 11 goes, I haven't forgotten. I don't think anyone alive and awake would ever forget that, regardless of their political stripes. I also despise that damn "Have You Forgotten" record that was released afterword. I was doing data entry work at Harrah's Casino that week. It was my last week of working there. I was stuck in traffic that morning, for no real reason. I called the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT), just to find out why the road was unnecesarily jammed. There wasn't any real reason for it. The woman said "it could be worse, I just heard that two planes flew into the World Trade Center." I thought she was joking. Nope. As I made the rounds, all the monitors switched to CNN, showing what happened. Twenty minutes later, the Pentagon was hit, and I watched that. From that point on, there wasn't a whole lot of work to get done. Three hours later, a large number of people show up. Passengers from flights to Las Vegas diverted to Lambert Airport as all the planes were grounded. These passengers had no place to stay and were looking for hotel rooms.

As the afternoon progressed, there was talk about price gouging and long lines at area gas stations. When I left work, I sat in a long line, but thankfully the price at the station was unchanged.

There were hardly any patrons at the casino that week. That Friday, my town hosted their annual Italian Fest. It was my last day of working at Harrah's, and I decided to take a long and more scenic drive home. There are marinas along the Mississippi river, and there are several scenic routes that take you to them, exiting from Missouri 94 from St. Charles to West Alton, MO. After the drive, I went to the Italian Fest. It was probably the first time anyone went out and did anything besides watch television that week.

If there was anything I remember the most, it was how quiet everything was. It was like that for months. It was as if everything slowed down. For me it was like that until March of 2002. I've never seen anything like it.

What makes me sad about events like September 11 is the realization that our country will spend decades of lives, resources and treasure into a war that will not end. I had hoped that the Cold War's end would have opened up new opportunities to do something different with said lives, resources and treasure. Now I don't think that's likely. I also don't care for the marketing of fear these days, and the concept of "The New Normal." Bullshit. The Germans and Japanese occupied land and were truly a threat to the world, as were the Soviets later. The people responsible for September 11 aren't remotely as smart or brilliant as that, and probably could be disrupted and de-fanged if the will was there, and in a much shorter time than decades.

There are three songs that remind me of that time, and none have anything to do with September 11. One is the annoyng Sugar Ray song "When It's Over." I think it was the official song of the L.A. Lakers, who won the NBA title that year. I hate the phoned-in voice of the lead singer, and everything about it reminds me of how frivolous that summer was, with Gary Condit, the shark attacks, etc. The second song is "H.O.V.A." by Jay-Z. That was one of the first songs I heard as I turned on my radio and drove home from work on the 11'th. I have no idea what the song is about, but I can safely assume it involves some kind of illegal activity. The third song is "Run" from George Strait. It was a hit in the late fall/early winter of that year. I've been a George Strait fan for years, and I think that may be one of the best songs he's ever done. At his best, Strait can brilliantly paint a picture of the characters he's singing about (another example is "I Can Still Make Cheyenne"). I'm partial to musicians who write their own material, but its amazing how people like Strait, Aretha Franklin, and Frank Sinatra can make songs written by others their own.

By the way, I was one of the voters in favor of the unscoped airchecks. It would be great to hear the different eras of this station. The sound quality of the aircheck you posted from 2/2/1972 was excellent. That recording was part of my drive to the Clayton (MO) Art Fair on the 8'th of September.

I also get my music mostly from the internet now. Terrestrial radio holds little or no interest to me. To me, its as relevant as the railroad. As an former employee of the radio business, I cannot tell you how much it pains me to say that. But you know, radio left me, I didn't leave it. These days, I listen to old radio station airchecks, my CD's and .mp3's. I also record streams from the web and commute to work (and listen to them at work). My favorite stations are not from this country. One is BBC Radio 2, a great station matched with personalities and music. Another is a dedicated internet stream of J-Wave (JOAV) in Tokyo, Japan. J-Wave is a mix of American hits, Jazz, and Japanese pop. Another is Radio Union in Lima, Peru. Union plays different styles of Peruvian music, including Chicha and Huayno. Huaynos sound a lot like Bluegrass to me.

According to the Broadcasting Yearbook from 1968 (a local University has several old issues of the yearbook), KAAY was trying to obtain an FM signal. Were you aware of this? If so, do you know what happened to it? I know in 1982, KAAY was simulcasting an FM signal (whoever was on 94.1 MHz at the time) overnight.

This e-mail went on longer than expected. I hope things are going well in your part of the world.

Best Wishes

Paul Harner

A KAAY One Hit Wonder

Where do you get your music?

One thing that I think is happening with the poll (on the right) is that most of you must be (ah hemmmm)older. So help me out and get teenagers to vote also. I know this is the case because no one has selected Ipods or mp3 players. This blog is getting lots of hits but very few of your are voting. Thanks to those of you who have voted and left comments about your vote. I have all of the devices (except for Sirius), and like Richard, would have to think what I use most. Perhaps the question should be: "what is your favorite way to get music?". If you care to answer it that way just leave a comment. Everyone who is in the entertainment business should be polling the public constantly on this question.