KAAY Articles From Arkansas Democrat Gazette, From Greg Barman

Thank you, dear readers and visitors, for being so diligent in finding and sending in pieces of KAAY history!  One such friend of the blog is Greg Barman (thank you, Greg!), who found three articles and sent them along for your enjoyment.  The first describes KAAY's last day as a Top 40 station.  Many of you have read David B. Treadway's and Barry McCorkindale's recollections of that day...if not, type in "last day" in the upper left hand corner search box and check 'em out.

Nonetheless, onward.  The second article deals with ten years after and the third article is five years after the second, describing more history of our beloved KAAY.  I'll post them in three parts.  They are in .jpg, so you can possibly download them, but Greg sent them to me in .pdf format, as well, so they can be readily expanded, read and printed.  If anyone wants copies, please e-mail me at my address below.

Here are Greg's comments:

"Here are few articles from the Little Rock Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Online service on the final day of the Mighty 1090, and some reminiscences of the station as the years went by.

The first article is from April 4, 1985 with coverage of KAAY’s final day of rock’n’roll the day before. Not that big of an article, really, for the end of such a huge institution! Perhaps the paper had more coverage prior to this day, but this was the only article I could find on the D-G online service. This happened before the two newspapers merged in 1991, and there is no indication whether it came from Democrat or the Gazette.

The second article is by the D-G’s Mike Tyler on April 21, 1995, about ten years after the day the music died. More than half the article is about Beaker Street.

Finally the third article is from May 26, 2000, and it’s a longer set of memories written by the D-G’s John Brummett. He writes about the Kay-Why generation and how “it was a great time to be alive with a transistor radio cupped in your hand against your ear.” Brummett concludes that radio in 2000 was holding up okay in the world of new media.

I wonder what the paper would say now. Maybe the Democrat-Gazette is overdue for another KAAY reminiscence, don’t ya think ?

Greg Barman
Denver CO"


Herewith, the 1985 article:

Another Beaker Street Band

I haven't heard from these folks yet, but "Beaker Street" is booked through Gigmasters and are based out of Appleton, WI:

http://www.gigmasters.com/Classic-Rock-Band/Beaker-Street/

There's audio and video samples there, as well.

Nice to know Beaker Street and Clyde Clifford influenced so many artists.  Still lots of bands playing classic rock and roll, blues, jazz and other forms Clyde exposed us to!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Beaker Street Blues Band

I'd found this band's website during my many research forays and inquired as to how they came about the name:

"Yes I also listened to Clyde Clifford back in the day. As a young musician, I was certainly influenced by Clyde Clifford and Beaker Street. As I remember, it was mostly rock. Cream, Traffic, etc.

My band now plays all styles of blues.

Thanks for the interest and that would be great to pass our website on to your listeners. We will also have a Facebook page soon.

Thanks, Chuck"

The band's website link is:

http://www.beakerstreetbluesband.com/

Be sure to watch their short video!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

"This Is Thanksgiving, 1962"

Here is a great announcement from KAAY, 1962...this was posted on A.J.'s blog back on December 1, 2008, but the links are broken now, since no one is able to access his blog and maintain it.  If I'm not mistaken, I think the people on this clip are B. Bruce Jennings and George J. Jennings.  If I am mistaken, someone please set the record straight and we'll correct it here.

Our wish is that everyone have a safe and happy Thanksgiving...and, as to the audio clip, we have a lot to be thankful for....

Thanksgiving tribute 1962:  stream   |   download


Bud S, (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Jerry Sims, "Sonny Martin" At The Arkansas State Fair!

There is a new museum at the Arkansas State Fair, and Arkansas' all time favorite radio station is included. Here we are at the new exhibit, right there beside Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, some great looking girls, and Chuck Conners. What a thrill.

I have written about that really fun week on A.J.'s blog, but now we have some new recognition, for those old enough to remember it........ It was in 1966, and as I look back at the pictures of my little skinny self, it is no wonder I could not project a Tom Perryman voice out of that 14 1/2 in neck. Come to think of it, here 44 years later the neck has filled out nicely, thank you, and I still can't do that "K A A Y........Little Rock, Arkansas", like Tom. He was KAAY's identity.

The week was a great promotion, and caused lots of attention. So much in fact, that the fair officials said "never again". The boat was atop the entrance to the fair, and fans kept the entrance area blocked most of the time. I did my Sonny Martin Program from there, and did cut-ins on all the other programs around the clock. Because of the KAAY fans wanting to talk (or send up a stuffed animal or candy apple), fair officials moved our participation way back near the Hall of Industry in a concrete block "Fall Out Shelter" (remember those?) the next year. Tommy Riggs (Rock Robbins) got that assignment, camper toilet and all. Speaking of toilet, there lies an interesting "insider" story......The sailboat was equipped with a portable toilet large enough to handle long term occupancy. The monster was about 4 feet high. When a person (and there was only me) sat on the thing, head and shoulders would stick out the top opening of the boat. Folks along the midway would never know what was going on inside the boat, just a waving DJ sticking out the top.

Len Carl was the manager at the time. As others have written before, he was the boss, but also one of the guys. I never knew anyone at the station who was not having fun and willing to do whatever it took to promote the station.

The fair is over for 2010, and may even be in a new location by next year. The museum folks tell me that the new museum was well attended, and want to add video for next year. The sailboat adventure with an interview. I'm more than willing.

JerrySims....Sonny Martin 2

Harris Or Continental Transmitter For KAAY? Dave M. Elaborates...

I remember the long running technical discussions and internal debates that ultimately led to the decision to buy the Harris transmitter. The Harris 50kw transmitter model of the time used a hybrid solid state / vacuum tube technology, and it was generally felt that the Harris might not measure up to the RCA in terms of robustness and general audio quality. The Harris used a brand new method of modulating, something called Pulse Duration Modulation.

Continental also manufactured a line of high power shortwave transmitters that used a more "traditional" vacuum tube technology and modulation schemes. It was a difficult but necessary debate deciding how to invest a lot of money that would ultimately have to operate every hour of every day, flawlessly, for 20+ years. We debated this for months: Continental?, or Harris?. The decision was backdropped by the impressive performance history of the RCA transmitter - which had at that time been on the air for about 30 years.

Jim Loupas once told me that there were 13 of the RCA BTA-50F model variants built (I think the number is about correct), and the main reason they were being replaced with newer technology was the operating cost, and the fact that eventually, everything wears out no matter how well built it is. Some parts, including the 6600 pound modulation transformer could not be replaced if it ever failed. And the old RCA was also power-hungry when compared to newer transmitters. Translated: a new transmitter would bring lower overall operational cost.

When I finally left in January 1980, the decision had been all but made, and the wheels were turning to acquire the Harris. A spot had been made in the transmitter building that would allow the installation of the new Harris transmitter while the RCA remained on the air. I was gone by the time the Harris went on the air, so I can't speak to its performance or reliability - something that Hollis Duncan would be able to address.

In a couple of pictures on the website listed below you can see part of the Harris transmitter's front panel - it is the blue colored panel in the photos. (There are some neat pictures of Felix McDonald here in front of the Harris and RCA transmitters. bs)

http://www.imt.net/~jabender/mvi/citadel/ltlrock/index.htm

Here's a tech note penned by Curt Lutz, a Harris sales engineer and acquaintance, writing about how the new Harris transmitter worked - this might be a bit boring to the blog readers, but reading this points to a significantly new way of doing things that departed from the traditional "high level" RCA transmitter technology.

The Harris MW-50A AM Transmitter
Information provided by Curt Lutz

This transmitter employs Pulse Duration Modulation. One of the 4CX-1500 tubes serves as a driver for the 4CX-35000 Modulator tube. The other 4CX-1500 tube is the driver for the RF Output 4CX-35000 tube. The rest of this transmitter is totally solid state -- in fact, later versions of this MW-50 Transmitter replaced those two 4CX-1500 tubes with solid-state amplifiers, leaving only the two 4CX-35000 tubes.

The modulation scheme is a Harris patented system, using a 70-kHz oscillator to generate pulses (square waves), which are varied in width (or duration) by the audio input signal. These 70 kHz square waves are used to turn the modulator tube on and off at a 70 kHz rate, but with varying pulse widths. Since the final RF Amplifier and the modulator tube are in series, the final amplifier is actually turned on and off at that 70 kHz rate -- with the varying pulse width amplitude modulating the RF output of the transmitter. This type of modulator, since it is actually an electronic switch, is called "Class D" operation. Most transmitters of this vintage used conventional high-level modulation, and the modulator section often used more power from the AC mains than the RF section of the transmitter (after all, the RF output amplifier was operating as a class C amplifier at around 60 to 70% efficiency, while the audio modulator section would have been operating in class AB1 or AB2, perhaps at only about 30 to 35% efficiency). Since the two 4CX-35000 tubes are connected in series, and the modulator tube is operating in class D (switching mode), that high power modulator is even more efficient than the Class C output tube.

The output of the RF amplifier tube will contain the 70 kHz signal, so there is a special filter circuit in the output network of the transmitter to remove virtually all of that 70 kHz signal (otherwise this type of transmitter would create some sidebands about + & - 70 kHz from the carrier frequency), which would be extremely illegal, and would create a mess over most of a bandwidth of + or - about 75 to 80 kHz when the transmitter is modulated.

The newest Harris AM Transmitters of 10 KW and higher (up to 1 megawatt and more) are totally solid state and use a completely different modulation system called Digital AM Modulation. This scheme is another Harris Patented system, using a large quantity of plug-in modules, each one generates RF at a different modulation level; in order for this to function, any incoming audio (if analog) is broken down into digitized data, then used to drive the various modules at the varying levels needed to have an amplitude modulated output. It sounds pretty simple, in fact, each module has a toroid (coil) which is the load for that module; all those toroids are lined up and an iron pipe is run through these toroids so that the combined output of all the modules is coupled into this pipe. One end of the pipe is at ground, the other end is the RF output of the transmitter. There is an output network to match impedance of the pipe, which is probably only a few Ohms, to the required output impedance which is usually 50 Ohms, although sometimes high power transmitters are set up to provide 75 Ohms, once in a while even 300 Ohms, to drive an open wire type transmission line system. This type of AM transmitter has an overall efficiency (power line in versus RF out) of around 85 to 90%. That is better than most high power FM Transmitters, which can also be very efficient, as they do not waste any significant power in the modulation scheme because they do not have to vary the amplitude of the transmitter's output signal.

Thanks to Dave for this interesting information on the "heart" of KAAY.  We all grew up, loving that old RCA, didn't we?  Hopefully, we haven't bored you, dear reader and visitor.

Remember The Last Day?  David B. Treadway called to the transmitter site & asked Felix McDonald if the old RCA could be employed one last time.  Felix told him to wait a few minutes to let it warm up.  When the old RCA came on-line, everyone could tell the difference!

In later years, we have noticed that the transmitter power hasn't been like it used to; Jerry Sims/"Sonny Martin II" mentioned that when he came to Mobile, AL on business, he couldn't even hear the station.  I still occasionally tune there...about a week ago, they had a fair signal, but nothing like they used to.  Sometimes, the new technology isn't as good, even though it IS more efficient....

Where Is Jim Hankins/The 1st "Mike McCormick" Today?

The last I'd heard of Jim Hankins was that he was in Austin, Texas (President and CEO of MCC Radio Consulting), but the last e-mail I had isn't working.  It was he who had the intestinal fortitude to contact the authorities to get KAAY on the bandwagon, transmitting Voice of America (VOA) programming to Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.  This was when he realized the tremendous potential of KAAY's night time signal pattern, and the fact that not one of LIN Broadcasting's executives could be found to make the decision.  It almost cost him his job (and some say it later did), until the station got a commendation for its part in broadcasting to Cuba during this time of trouble.  We owe him a lot for making such great radio history.

I'd made a mis-spelling awhile back, and got corrected by someone, I don't know who, but it seemed "1st person".  I'd mis-spelled the last name, "McCormack" and immediately went back and spelled it correctly.  If that was you, Jim, would you care to make some comments?  Thanks in advance!

Jim Hankins was the first "Mike McCormick" in 1962, if I remember correctly....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Greg Fadick On Tape Machines

I thoroughly enjoyed David B.’s post on magnetic tape and Dave M.’s comments on carts. Thought you might like a few pictures of the “evolution” of the tape machines we used.

First, is the machine a lot of us cut our teeth on, the Magnacorder PT-6. My first station (KCLA) actually used these not only for recording, but also for playback of commercials and promos on the air, which was a challenge as the machines took about 2 1/2 turns of the reels to come up to speed, making it necessary to hit the switch for the spot several seconds before you wanted the audio to start.

Next is the workhorse of KAAY, the Ampex 351. The transport controls on these used some pretty large relays, which meant they made a rather satisfying “ca-chunk” sound when you hit Play. Incredible machines, as evidenced by the fact that they were introduced in around 1950 and still in use at KAAY and a lot of other stations in the late 70’s and even into the 80’s.

Finally, the Ampex AG-440. Starting in the early 70’s, this is what we considered to be the Rolls Royce of tape machines. There’s a lot of fond memories of material David B. and I produced on one of these in the old KLAZ production room.

Hope you enjoy.

Greg

I Got My Copy! Arkansas Airwaves

I was on the RadioInfo message boards the other day, when I saw a post by Michael Hibblen, answering my question about Ray Poindexter's "Arkansas Airwaves":

If anyone wants to own their own copy (like I did!), here is the link that Michael provided:

http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?mtype=B&keyword=Ray+Poindexter+%22arkansas+airwaves%22&hs.x=0&hs.y=0&hs=Submit

The one listed at ABC Books is no longer there...that's the one I got- and it's a signed copy!  Needless to say, my copy shown above is in great shape, only a slight tear to the inner mylar cover, but you have to look to see it.  I've started devouring it, to be sure!

There is only slight mention of KAAY in the latter part of the book, but so far, the early history of radio in Arkansas seems well covered.  I am enjoying this book.

Michael Hibblen, thank you so much for letting me know where to find this book!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

The Last Radio Yesterday, Part 3

Alas, it is said that all good things must end --- and so it did with Radio Yesterday.  Barry mentioned to me that he'd seen the end of the relationship between him and the KAAY "suits".  This was the last hurrah.  By January 2007, he handed the reins off and left KAAY.  As Dave M. mentioned before about "last one out, turn out the lights", Barry Mac turned the Top 40 lights out on KAAY.  We can thank him for keeping the memories going for as long as he did!

And, he's not through yet!  Later, he had a program called Tin Pan Alley, aired elsewhere, which, maybe later we can get a history of.  Nonetheless, he is still graciously sharing little audio tidbits, which consist of ads, soundbites, etc., for us to enjoy.

As with many of The Greats, Barry strikes me as a selfless, humble man, willing to share those great memories with us all.  I feel privileged to have met and talked with the man.  He, like the other Greats, had a profound effect on many of us through his work --- both behind the scenes and behind the mic --- and still does through his contributions.

Thank you, Barry Mac!  Herewith, the last part of The Last Radio Yesterday:

The final "Radio Yesterday", Part 3:   stream   |   download


My great thanks also go to Dave S. for his handiwork and selfless, tireless contributions in audio and video work for this blog; I need to learn more about computers- and, without him, much of this blog would not be possible!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Carts And Playback Deck

Per eagle-eyed Dave M.: "Here's an audio tape cartridge, and a 3-deck cartridge tape player - some of the radio tools David B referred to in his recent post."

Yep, another glimpse into the studio...these are where all those commercials come from!

Thank you, Dave!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Tape It To The Limit

I saw that History Channel piece on the Library of Congress's efforts to preserve historic recordings and convert them to digital media. It got me to thinking (danger, Will Robinson!) about our "preservation" methods at KAAY: quarter-inch reel-to-reel magnetic tape. Yep, that would be the stuff that they don't even MAKE anymore. In this iPod Age, it's as prehistoric as stone tablets, but we didn't give it much thought.

Most of us kept a reel or two of spots that we were proud of. My man Phil North undoubtedly had packing crates full of seven-inch reels--later, cassettes and now CDs or flash drives. He was (is!) fanatically prolific; of all of us, he was the one who had the most work of the sort you'd want to keep.

It needs to be pointed out that most radio production was mundane--and little has changed in that regard over the last forty years. Car dealers still want to yell at you and restaurants still insist on listing every last menu item in sixty seconds. The majority of what we produced was ordinary. Temporary. Fleeting and disposable. I don't consider it worthy of preservation, but I MIGHT be a little close to the forest to be objective!

Tape was expendable in our time; we treated it shabbily. We cut it with razorblades and jammed it back together with Scotch Formula 41 splicing tape. We hung great loops of it from the pegboard over the right front Ampex. Pat Walsh bought it for us by the case and never once groused about the way we used twice as much as other stations because we recorded at fifteen inches per second instead of seven-and-a-half. In addition to WAY better audio quality, 15 IPS gave us more room to work. If there was some annoying little snort between words--or even WITHIN a word--we could reach in there and cut it out. The production room floor was littered with 1/16" or 1/32" bits of tape that had been removed with surgical precision.

About the only nod we gave to long-term storage was to file away the reels of tape that contained that day's production. Even then, the tapes that were stored contained a multitude of splices--meaning that they were eventually going to break at those points. But that was okay: Pat was ALWAYS going to buy us some more.

As failure-prone as reel-to-reel tape could be, the endless-loop tape cartridge ("cart" as it was universally known) was a thing that WAS going to fail. It WAS going to crap out on the air, at the worst possible moment. But the cart was how we played back commercials and promos--it beat the very h*ll out of cueing up spots on a bank of reel-to-reel machines.

The tape path in a cart was both its advantage and its Achilles Heel. The tape would unwind from the center of a small reel, pass over the playback head and wind back around the outside of the reel. Sooner or later, the tape was going to break or jam or decide to spill out and wind itself around the drive mechanism of the reproducer. Sometimes, we'd have to break the plastic shell of a cart just so we could yank a few dozen feet of tape out of the guts of the playback machine. Fortunately, we could go get the master tape which contained the spot that had just self-destructed and record it onto a fresh cart. (I have seen Phil North take a cart with broken tape into the production room, re-splice it and put it back together in the space of one 3:30 record while he was on the air, but most of us mortals couldn't move that fast.)

Although most of what we did just went up the towers and out through the Universe in a straight line, Divine Providence saw fit to seed our coverage area with some wonderful folks who liked to RECORD what they were picking up out of thin air. Now, as much as fifty years later, we can hear what we did Back When--and say "Man, I can't BELIEVE we got away with that stuff!"

So, here's a huge THANKS to everyone out there under the skywave, hundreds of miles away, who preserved bits of KAAY. Those bits have all wound up as 1s and 0s in the digital realm, but they are true and faithful reproductions of what we radiated as analog all those years ago. God bless you Collectors, and keep your bits rolling in!

Gratefully Yours,

David B. Treadway
Doc Holiday VII
The Last PD

Ann-Margret Awarded Patriot Of The Year Award, Mobile, AL

Ann-Margret, actress, singer, performer, USO cheerleader to troops overseas, especially during the Vietnam era, is being honored in Mobile, AL today at Fort Whiting.  She is being awarded the Patriot of The Year.  Not only that, she is the Grand Marshal for the Veteran's Day parade in downtown Mobile.

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/11/actress_ann-margret_honored_as.html

Nothing to do with KAAY, however, engineer Dave Montgomery (and others) come to mind, who served in Vietnam.  Dave, did you ever take in a show where Ann-Margret performed?

Dave replied: "No, did not see Ann-Margret, but I DID see Bob Hope's USO Show at Tan-Son-Nhut Air Base, his last Vietnam tour, Christmas 1972. Got one of the worst sunburns I ever had, but it was worth it.

/DM/"

Ann-Margret is in this video (just for a second or two- looks like she's standing behind Santa Claus one time!) of Bob Hope's last USO show, 1972- sent along by Dave M.:

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/bob-hopes-final-vietnam-christmas-tour/ef2489a1564acc38d947ef2489a1564acc38d947-311251961065?q=Bob%20Hope%201972%20USO%20Show&FROM=LKVR5&GT1=LKVR5&FORM=LKVR4

Kudos to Ann-Margret for all her efforts in cheering up our servicemen!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Veteran's Day (U.S.), Remembrance Day (Canada)

Let us spend a few moments today to honor those who went before us, ensuring our freedom.  And, because KAAY's signal was so far-reaching to the north, in honor to Canadian veterans, as well.

(This post is in rememberance of my wife's great-uncle, Reginald Martin, whose body is still unrecoverable where he lay buried in a minefield, in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea; may he be recovered and come home soon.)

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

History Channel, Library of Congress and Media Storage

On "Modern Marvels" (originally aired on June 10, 2010, aired again last night, November 9, 2010) was a very interesting show regarding our Library of Congress, entitled, "The Real National Treasure".  My wife and I were engrossed in how many forms of media were preserved for all of us to view.  Here is an original link to the History Channel:

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/history-channel-features-the-library-of-congress-on-modern-marvels_100378827.html

One thing we mentioned here on the blog was that of compact disc (CD) degradation.  The Library of Congress does very extensive testing on CDs (as well as other forms of storage) from all manufacturers and has found that discs made my the same manufacturers can degrade at different rates- one will be pristine for years, another will totally degrade within a matter of months.  Why?  Manufacturers will research how to save money by changing composition and content of the disc itself, without alerting the consumer...so don't bet on ANY CDs being of any quality.

Since we began this blog, we've used jump drives/thumb drives/whatever you call them to store pictures and audio.  So far, I've not noticed any degradation, and I don't store them with any bowling balls!

I haven't had time (yet) to watch the videos, but The History Channel provides some for us to view:

http://www.history.com/topics/library-of-congress

They'd also mentioned that one can view many, many things directly on the Library of Congress website:

http://www.loc.gov/index.html

Music, literature, pictures, maps, it's all there...who knows what treasure you'll find there!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

The Last Radio Yesterday, Part 2

After a short station break, you'll notice that Barry was airing this show during his birthday weekend!  That's what I call dedication.... By the way, his birthday (recently touted) is on October 6, and the show aired on the 7th of 2006.

More memorable, interesting music ensues...Carol King has always been one of my favorites.  And more historical KAAY audio tidbits are sprinkled throughout the show, bringing back great memories.

Some of this music came during my formative years, forever sealing the genre in my soul.  May "our" music always enliven the electromagnetic aura around us!

Enjoy!

The final "Radio Yesterday", Part 2:   stream   |   download


Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

The Last Radio Yesterday, Part 1

KAAY had many, many things going for it, for example, the program "Radio Yesterday", programmed by Barry Mac, aired for a period of time after KAAY "went Christian".  If you remember, Barry had run the board from 6 PM until the station was turned over to the new programming at midnight on what we called here "The Last Day", April 3, 1985:

http://mighty1090kaay.blogspot.com/2010/04/last-day-last-hour-part-1-barry.html

Barry stayed behind, working with the new owners of KAAY, when, one day, prompted by Felix McDonald, he went to the transmitter site and found loads and loads of tapes.  If my memory serves me properly, Barry told me that the find was a stimulus for a "retro" show, which he ran for quite some time.  Some thought that playing rock & roll on a Christian station would evoke some wrath from the listenership, but the show was well received, actually gaining listeners!

Here is Part 1 of the last Radio Yesterday.  If you hear some advertisements that seem familiar, you're correct:  Barry is instrumental in supplying this blog with these little tidbits of radio history:

The final "Radio Yesterday", Part 1:   stream   |   download


Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Another Mention Of Wayne Moss

Awhile before he passed away, A. J. Lindsey ("Doc Holiday"/"Emperor Holiday") asked me if I remembered Wayne Moss ever having worked in Mobile, AL.  That e-mail triggered me into checking- I think I'd remembered that Wayne Moss had a "history" in 440 Satisfaction:

http://www.440int.com/440sat.html

which chronicles radio history, people and stations; no longer there, I wonder if maybe the entry had been deleted for some reason?  Was it ever there?  What did David B. Treadway say about an "already bad memory"?

Nonetheless, I found a historical site for WABB, a long-time radio station in Mobile since 1948 and they had pictures!

http://wabbam.com/history.html

As the pictures scrolled by, I recognized a name: Wayne Moss!  Here is a Top 50 Survey from 1965; Wayne's picture is in the top left-hand corner of The Good Guys collage:

Here's the other side of the survey, just for kicks:

Not only that, I believe this is Wayne Moss, second from the left with the acoustic guitar, in this Good Guys Photo:

After careful scrutiny, I believe this is the same Wayne Moss who worked at KAAY as "Sonny Martin", then later as himself when the airname was already in use by another deejay.  A. J. Lindsey mentioned, in his blog, that Mr. Moss has retired and was living in Roanoke, VA.

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2006/07/whatever-happened-to.html

(As an aside, Bernie Dittman, former owner of WABB, was a customer of mine, before he passed away in October 2006; he had a yacht with twin Cummins VT903-M diesel engines.)

Wayne Moss, wherever you are, we would be honored if you'd comment?  Thank you, sir.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

David B. Comments About KTHS Console

That looks a BUNCH like Walt Sadler (Ron Owens at the time Matt White was Sonny Martin III), but I'd need to see him head-on before I could be certain.

Meanwhile, can anyone tell what one important thing is MISSING from this picture? Something without which the KAAY control room could not have functioned?

Bonus points for knowing why the turntable in the foreground has two tone arms!

David B. Treadway
Doc Holiday VII
The Last PD

Dave M. Comments On KAAY's Console

Dave mentioned to me that in later years, KAAY went for an all-electronic console...he sent along this link, from A.J. Lindsey's blog, re: the post about same:

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2008/04/board-or-console-at-kaay.html

One day, I hope to see the old console for myself...thank you, Dave!

Be Sure To Vote!

We have the privelege to live in a republic where we can cast our votes freely for those who we choose to serve us, not the other way around.  This should not be counted lightly, as many people throughout this world have no choice- there are regimes who put on the appearance of allowing elections, but the people are subjugated, nonetheless.

Adherance to, and protection of, our Constitution is the only buffer we have against a regime.  Our Founding Fathers had it correct so may years ago.  Anything less, we become subjects, not a free society.

Vote...vote well...and vote for those who WILL uphold the Constitution, not just pay it lip service for their own gain....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

KTHS Control Room, 1960

Hollis Duncan found a picture of the KTHS control room, circa 1960, as per his comments:

"...here is the picture of the KTHS Control Room 1960. Unless I am mistaken (and either Phil Roe or Jonnie King would know), this was the same Control Board that KAAY used during its heyday on West 7th Street."

I also forwarded this to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas for entry.  Can anyone identify the gentleman in the picture?

Thank you, Hollis!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)