Garner Ted Armstrong

There has been some discussion on other boards (Radio-Info, for instance) and amongst ourselves about the religious blocks of programming on KAAY. To be sure, there was good money in this programming. KAAY had an interesting mix of programming, what with the latest Top 40 rock-n-roll, religious, news and agricultural programming.

One such discussion was on AgTalk:

"Seeing those call letters, WLS brings back memories of my youth. Back in the 60's I used to listen to them (pre FM days) along with WDGY (Twin Cities), KOMA (Oklahoma City), KAAY (Little Rock) and others. It was WDGY during the days and WLS, KOMA, KAAY at night out on the tractor. It seems that WLS usually had some Ad's for Gran(t) Spalding Dodge. These Ads were always exciting for a young farm boy who had hopes of some day owning a fast car. KAAY out of Little Rock always puzzled me a bit. They would have that nasty Rock and Roll on for certain time slots only to be followed by Garner "Ted" Armstrong with the "Good News of the World Tommorrow". Apparently being in the Bible Belt forced this eclectic programming.Edited by tedbear 1/24/2007 09:40"

http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=13866&mid=93708

There was also some loose discussion on a Google Group:

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.radio.broadcasting/tree/browse_frm/month/2000-05?_done=%2Fgroup%2Falt.radio.broadcasting%2Fbrowse_frm%2Fmonth%2F2000-05%3F&

Still another on A.J.'s blogspot, from Paul, a reader:

"When KAAY would reach into St. Louis through skywave, I usually heard religious programming (typically Garner Ted Armstrong), which I didn't care for, but now understand kept the bills paid. Then at 8 PM, heard "Greetings QSL'ers, this is KAAY Little Rock" kicking off the hour with music."

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html

And the list goes on. Jonnie King mentioned in another post that the time bought by Garner Ted Armstrong was very sufficent for his and Clyde Clifford's salaries!

Needless to say, KAAY had programming that, I personally, found no were else. Sure, other powerhouse stations had interesting programming and I've logged them in my list, but its always KAAY that has stuck in my mind.

Whoops, almost forgot- thanks to Dave S. for this reminder: Airchexx also had some posts regarding Garner Ted Armstrong:

"Allen Dean Petray says:
August 18, 2006 at 1:31 pm
I grew up with the Friendly Giant in Malvern in the late 60’s and early 70’s–the station’s salad days. My lasting memory is the eclectic programming: from Top 40 music to Marvin Vines’ farm report, to the World Tomorrow and Life Line, each ultra-conservative mouthpieces for Garner Ted Armstrong and H.L. Hunt, to the psychedelic album cuts of Beaker Street. There never was, nor will ever be another AM station like it–classic Southern radio."

And:

"Rev. Jesse L. Spurgin says:
June 21, 2007 at 9:35 pm
I grew up in Nebraska in the early ’60’s. I’d start my evening listening to Buddy Carr’s carpool party. I was a huge fan of Rob Robbins and would listen for his “rockin’ robin” intro. There will never be another station like KAAY. Everybody from Garner Ted Armstrong to the Lundstroms ran their religious shows and could come on anytime at night. Thanks for the memories. Rev. Jess."

http://airchexx.com/contributors/pat-walsh/the-kaay-collection

I've also gotten some responses from folks on Airchexx that, hopefully, will garner us another interview or two...let's hope!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)