(This post was left in draft form on the blog several weeks ago. Rather than let it languish, I decided to go ahead and post it, in hopes that the originator could come forward and finish the great memories he/she started here. If not, this is still a wonderful memory of A.J. for all to enjoy...Bud S.)
I had the good fortune to meet with A.J. Lindsey, and even to work with him...but not in radio, unfortunately. Of course, I grew up with KAAY and "Doc Holiday," including the stint by A.J. in that on-air role. The first time I met him was when I lived in Pine Bluff, from 1978 until 1980. I was managing a movie theatre there (Flick Twin Cinema), and worked with KCLA, "Razorback Country," as it was known at the time. The general manager of the station was Ralph Taylor. A.J. was running a waterbed store near the theatre. The company I was working for, Commonwealth Theatres, had a contest between the theatre managers for the upcoming Academy Awards ceremonies. Being somewhat competitive, I enlisted the aid of several merchants, including A.J.'s Waterbeds. A.J., being a promotion minded individual, donated the grand prize, a complete waterbed outfit. He came and set it up in the lobby of the movie theatre, where customers could look at it. The contest involved the person filling out a ballot of the major Academy Awards. We got some promotional air time on the radio station.
Update on "the ground" about KCLA...
ReplyDeleteSadly KCLA (1400) as well as KOTN (1490), KZYP (99.3FM), and KPBQ (101.3) in Pine Bluff were acquired by MRS Ventures in the early 2000's along with some other stations in the Greenville MS area. All four of the above mentioned Pine Bluff radio stations are currently off the air and have been for the past few years. MRS apparently bit off more than they could chew financially, and there were other issues that I won't get into here. Clear Channel, Citadel, Cummulus, and other McBroadcasters weren't the only ones on a land rush following the 1996 Telcom Act "reforms".
The saddest fate was that of KOTN, they were running a country format off the bird in their final days and were alleged to have a transmitter failure. KOTN was donated to UAPB in 1993 and in 1995 was purchased back by the Buddy Dean family (they sold KOTN/KFXE in 1983) which owned/operated KOTN as a commercial station (news/talk format) until MRS got ahold of it.
The only local commercial radio remaining *based* in Pine Bluff is KTRN 104.5FM which runs mostly A/C off the bird and KCAT 1340 which is 24/7 urban gospel. KIPR 92.3 (ex KOTN-FM, KFXE) is still licensed to Pine Bluff and has a strong signal from the 1953 KATV Tower (at Jefferson) but its programming is broadcast from Citadel Radio's cluster in Little Rock.