"Hello, Youngster!" (That's a little inside joke between David B. and I! bs)
"I have been in touch with Matt D. White, who was the last Sonny Martin at KAAY from about 1968-77 (dates very approximate, memory completely fuzzed). I know that he has viewed the KAAY Blog and he's promised to contribute when he has time. Perhaps he will see this and get on the stick, hee!
Sonny (as I have always known and referred to him) is now seriously involved with the Pot O' Gold Restaurant at Lindsey's Rainbow Resort in Heber Springs AR. In his abundant spare time, he drives to Searcy every weekday and does 6:00 AM til Noon on KWCK, 99.9 FM under the air name of (wait for it!) Sonny Martin. How he finds the time for all of this in one day is beyond me, but he can still be heard on the air and online at http://www.kwck999.com/.
I remember him best from the morning show with the late George J. Jennings at KAAY. Their Razorback/Longhorn feuds were legendary. Whenever things got slow, George would dis the Hogs and hold forth about how EVERYTHING was better in Texas. The phones would light up like a Christmas tree!
Once in the summer of 1971, Sonny made the mistake of leaving his hairbrush in the KAAY Funmobile. I was out on a remote and looking for a little something extra to give away, so I forged his initials on the back of the brush with a magic marker and offered it to the next listener who showed up. Two girls immediately began pounding on the door and you'd have thought I'd just given them fifty bucks! I had to explain to the next dozen visitors that it had gone quickly.
Years later, the Funmobile was parked in a huge field some miles south of Little Rock for a big music festival headlined by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. We were all doing our shows live from the event that day and it was well after dark when Sonny showed up demanding my belt and KAAY buckle. Yes, he had been there all day. A fan had admired Sonny's buckle, so naturally he had given it to her--belt and all. He was due onstage in introduce the Dirt Band in a couple of minutes and his jeans were in danger of going south. Reluctantly, I gave him my belt and, of course, never saw it again! But that's how we did it Back In The Day: everything for the station, all glory to the call letters.
As with everyone else at KAAY during my times there, Sonny was a true pro and a pleasure to work with. I hope he lives to be a thousand."
Thank you, David! I'd e-mailed Matt but have yet to hear from him; we all know how busy life can be!. We all hope he'll check in here and give us a few lines about his history with KAAY!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
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