Last evening, dear reader, I again stood in the glow of a giant. Through the help of David B. Treadway, I was able to contact none other than Wayne Moss, the first "Sonny Martin"! For the better part of an hour, Wayne entertained me with story after story, reinforcing what we have found on this blog: a history, rich with great personalities, a winning team and an unbeatable format under some good managers. To be sure, he reminded me that KAAY had it's rocks & ruts, as any place will....
Wayne did, in fact, work in Mobile, AL at WABB-AM. I'd found WABB when I was 7 or 8 years old, but I cannot remember back that far. In fact, he gave me a history of radio stations with which he'd worked:
-WKDA, Nashville, TN, 1240 AM (he worked on promos to go to work at KAAY with another soon-to-be KAAY employee from the Nashville LIN station, I forgot which one.)
-KAAY, Little Rock, AR
-WMAK, Nashville, TN (no comment on this station!)
- WABB, Mobile, AL
-WONE, Dayton, OH (great to work at, per Wayne)
-WDEC, Americus, GA (a scary town to work in, if you ain't from there!)
-KAAY, Little Rock, AR
Wayne mentioned that there were other offers of jobs at stations after he retired, but he's enjoying retirement too much! Wayne is an outdoorsman and enjoys hunting & hiking, by the way.
One note here, that he mentioned of Jim Hankins/"Mike McCormick" and the Cuban Missile Crisis: Jim got a call from Edward R. Murrow, when he was involved with a government entity before CBS, thanking Jim for his and KAAY's involvement in broadcasting to Cuba. There are other facts that I'll have to clear before writing about here; however, I will do so in subsequent calls to Wayne.
I found Wayne to be very gracious and accomodating, very comfortable to converse with. I have to admit, as in speaking with and meeting some of the other Greats of KAAY, I was nervous, but he quickly put me at ease. Before we knew it, quite a bit of time had elapsed, my wife was giving me "that look" and supper was getting cold. Wayne closed the conversation, promising to look for items of interest to share with us here on the blog...!
My thanks to David B. Treadway for his initiating the contact, and to Wayne for his hospitality to this humble listener and enthusiast. More is to come!
Have a nice weeekend, all!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
Confession Time: I have had Wayne's number parked in my wallet for the better part of two years. I kept thinking I'd give him a call about the blog (and to catch up a little), but you know how "getting around to it" can work.
ReplyDeleteLet me harp on this once again: all of the Great Ones from the Golden Age(s) of KAAY would welcome even total strangers, would treat 'em like old friends, would freely give of their time and knowledge to ANYONE.
Bud, even if I hadn't "set this up," Wayne would still have been happy to talk to you about KAAY. Pity that the world doesn't work that way anymore!
David B. Treadway
Doc Holiday VII
Hired by Wayne Moss