Wednesday, July 31, 2013

KAAY: Ray Lincoln And Mike McKenny

Some information about Ray Lincoln has been posted here on this blog, but I'll let A. J. Lindsey tell you about this audio clip in his own words:

"Return with us now...to Preident. Carter, snowstorm in LR and Pryor announces for Senator.

Perhaps the headline should be "Short clip of Ray Lincoln chatting with newsman Mike McKenny". For many reasons this is a great audio sample to save. In view of Ray Lincoln's recent passing it might be good to review an AP report:
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Ray Lincoln, a longtime central Arkansas radio personality who created colorful characters to entertain listeners on their morning and afternoon drives, died Monday. He was 64.  Lincoln had a heart transplant in 2003, but his cause of death is not yet known, said his wife, Maxine Coday.  Lincoln worked at several Little Rock radio stations starting in the mid-1970s. He retired in 2000, after anchoring the afternoon drive show on KARN-AM 920.

"Ray was an enormously talented person, and he had the tremendous good fortune to get started in radio when it was still an awful lot of fun and owned by very competitive smaller companies," said Pat Lynch, who worked with Lincoln at KARN in the 1980s and '90s.

At KAAY-AM 1090 in Little Rock, Lincoln worked a morning drive show where he created alter egos like Ram Led, a west Texas cowboy, and Sport Jackson, a horse handicapper

To me, Ray was a DJ's DJ. He was one we always tried to listen to."

---A.J. Lindsey, Sept 29, 2006

(or download here)

This post originally appeared on A. J.'s blog on Friday, Sept. 29, 2006...Ray Lincoln must have passed away the previous Monday, Sept. 25:
http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2006/09/return-with-us-nowto-pres-carter.html


Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Tom Bigby Checks In!

I finally got in contact with Tom Bigby, the original "Buddy Carr" from 1962...here's his e-mail:

"Hello Bud... I was the first Buddy Carr when the station flipped from KTHS in I think 1962.. I know I was just out of high school......would love the check out the blogspot, and often wonder how many of the originals are still with us today...Mike Mccormick was the PD.... Lind Carl Voth was the GM. (I think) not sure they ever let me near the carpeted offices.. laugh...Sonny Martin, Tom Cambell, (rock robbins) Doc Holliday (the original Dub Murray) there were a lot more but there have been a lot of call letters on my rap sheet.. last 27 years with CBS Radio, someday I am going to retire..

Take care and thanks for remembering my name."

Tom, we hope to hear more fom you!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)


Saturday, July 27, 2013

Monitoring Times To Cease Publication

Some of you folks may or may not have heard of this publication, but Bob and Judy Grove, also owners of Grove Enterprises, have published a quality magazine for many, many years that encompassed all aspects of radio monitoring- including a lot of onformation on the AM and FM broadcast bands.  They have also mentioned KAAY, etc., in their pages...and we are grateful.  Here is the statement, released July 25, 2013:

"The following is a statement from MT Publisher, Bob Grove W8JHD issued Thursday, July 25 to the staff of the magazine:

'After 33 years of publishing the most informative and lauded magazine on monitoring the radio spectrum, Judy and I are finally going to retire. We are grateful for the dedicated efforts of our fine staff of writers for the excellent work which has kept MT alive for all these years. While we know the discontinuation of MT, with our December issue, will be a disappointment to our readers and writers alike, we realize that a combination of a poorly performing economy, as well as the ready availability of free listening and technical information on the Internet, has reduced sales and subscriptions throughout the market place. I would like to thank you personally for your knowledge, your dependability, and your professionalism in making MT the publication that is most often referred to in the radio monitoring hobby. It is a legacy that we have all inherited.

Warmest regards to all our writers, Bob and Judy Grove'

The following is a statement from MT Managing Editor, Ken Reitz KS4ZR:

'The news just related by Bob Grove was given to me Wednesday, July 24. As Bob indicated, the December issue will be the last for MT. I'm sending this to everyone who wrote a feature article for the magazine over the last five years during which I've been the features editor and managing editor for the magazine. It was a great pleasure to work with all of you. Your hard work made MT the best full-service communications magazine in the U.S. While it's a great disappointment to receive the news of the magazine's closure, I appreciate that circumstance beyond anyone's control require it. I have no idea what the future will hold for me personally, but the adventure continues! Best wishes to all. -- Ken KS4ZR'"

So, if any of you want the last few issues of Montioring Times (affectionately called "MT"), subscriptions and renewals can be had by calling 800-438-8155....

http://www.monitoringtimes.com/

Thanks for my friend and fellow Amateur Radio operator Ken Reitz, KS4ZR, for letting me know about this.

Folks, I remember many a day when "MT" was the "go to" source for all things regarding radio monitoring- and I have spent MANY hours poring over them, even in recent months, looking back at past issues, for information when the Internet wasn't available or practical to me.  Please show your love and flood their office for orders of the last of this wonderful magazine- and tell Bob and Judy you saw it here on the Mighty 1090 KAAY Blog!

Thanks again to Ken Reitz for keeping me informed...let's work up a sked sometime, OM!

73 (best regards) also to Bob and Judy Grove...your efforts have been loved and admired for YEARS...and may your retirement be fruitful and restful!  "Thank you" seems so inadequate for so much enjoyment you've given us for all these years....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)


Wednesday, July 24, 2013

KAAY 45 RPM Record: Day For Decision


I cannot add to what A. J. Lindsey said here, in his own words:

"Thanks to Jerry Sims, the Day For Decision, in its original form is now available for you at the end of this post.

You will notice the original author and narrator are listed on the photo of the record. It all started as an editorial on WMAK, Nashville. Public reaction was fast. Soon all the Lin Broadcasting Stations were airing it. And the requests just kept coming.

The publicity material indicates 750,000 records were sold. I'm not sure which version that figure relates to. KAAY pressed about 5000 and gave them away. The country artist Johnny Sea at some point in time bought the publishing and all rights to the editorial and released his own version, which also had great success. If you do an internet search for 'Day For Decision' you will see it credited to Johnny Sea. Johnny Sea's version is available on several internet download music services.

Someone should do a 2006 version of 'Day For Decision'. Where are the radio stations today that editorialize? Where are the editorials that touch the public in the way 'Day For Decision' did?

Here is the original Day For Decision: "

---A.J. Lindsey, Sept 22, 2006

(or download here)

More here:
http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2006/09/day-for-decision.html

I believe someone should do a 2013 version of this record...anyone?  Please?

Thanks to my good friend Jerry Sims, who originated this contribution; to A. J. for the patriotism to bring it to us; and to Dave S. for finding, archiving and linking to this wonderful audio piece of American history....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)




Friday, July 19, 2013

KAAY Jingles And Promos

Jingles and promos were what made a station stand out...they weren't just an identification, it was personality, pizzazz, what made a station's identification "pop"!

Today, there's very little class in what's offered in identification, jingles or promotions.  Please enjoy below another sampling from A. J. Lindsey's blog:

(or download here)

And in A. J.'s own words:  "Some Early KAAY Jingles and Promos...Thanks to Jim Pitcock a/k/a Ken Knight for some early jingles and promos. The jingles (I believe) were written by Jim Hankins a/k/a Mike McCormick and recorded in Nashville."
---A.J. Lindsey, Sept 13, 2006

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Monday, July 15, 2013

FOUR YEARS OLD TODAY: Some blog history, an update, and a request

By Dave Schmidt, the tech-support person:

This blog, "mighty1090kaay.blogspot.com", came to birth four years ago today, on July 15, 2009.  Many of the current readers do not know the history and evolution of the blog, so now is a good time to fill it all in!

Some History:

A.J. Lindsey ("Doc Holiday II") started his blog, "kaay1090.blogspot.com", in 2006.  (You can still read his posts!)  Doc presented the history of his station, posted photos and recordings that he owned and received from Pat Walsh (KAAY's famous General Manager), and encouraged others to contribute. 

One of A.J.'s enthusiastic readers and contributors was Bud Stacy, from Mobile, Alabama.  Bud listened to KAAY in the "glory days" and he shared Doc's desire to document what he remembered.  Bud shipped a lot of audio files in Doc's direction, who saved them in Heaven-Only-Knows-how-many different accounts and servers and linked his blog to them.  Sadly, A.J. passed away suddenly in May, 2009.

Bud couldn't rest, knowing the story was incomplete.  He contacted me (I had posted a few comments on Doc's blog), and proposed that we contact other contributors to Doc's blog (Greg Barman, Ron Henselman, Jonnie King, Richard Robinson, Russell Wells, and others) about continuing the work.  That We Did, commencing on this day in 2009.  We scrambled to salvage all Doc's audio before it disappeared (just in time, too!), and we backed up all Doc's web pages.  (Thankfully, Google Blogger is now an archive --- whatever is posted there stays forever!)

Our plan was to continue what Doc/A.J. started: document the history of the classic, Top-40-oriented, KAAY radio --- the jocks, the engineers, the listeners, the times.   We posted articles that were informative, scholarly, and fun to read.  We wanted a textual, visual, aural archive.

Bud contacted everybody he could find on the Internet, soliciting stories, photos, and recordings.   Many, many KAAY people contributed, far too many to list here, but if you scan through the archives, you will see their names, all acknowledged for their contributions.  Bud knocked himself out to do this right.  He even made a field trip to Little Rock and visited the people and places of KAAY, all documented here on the blog.

An Update:

If you study the Blog Archive list in the right column of this page, you see a summary of the results: Roughly one article per day the first year-and-a-half, and about one article every other day for the next two years.  Readership has grown to two hundred views per day, even on days when nothing new is posted.  There is now a community of former KAAY employees who stay in touch.  There is also a KAAY discussion/chat group (via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/198469254312 ).  

Several key people kept this blog going:
  • Bud himself, the heart and soul of the endeavor.
  • Jonnie King, the smooth-talking, classic-car-loving jock, who contributes great stories and maintains his own huge website, http://www.jonnieking.net
  • Greg Barman, who has rescued, restored, and digitized many of the audio files on this blog as the tapes literally fell apart in his hands
  • Richard Robinson, David B. Treadway, and Russell Wells, who supplied key contributions of scholarship, anecdotes, and audio.  (Russell rescued and submitted the now-famous Pat Walsh tapes of KAAY from May 18, 1971.)
  • Barry Mac, who rescued reels and reels of KAAY ads from the old transmitter building and incorporates them each and every week into his weekly webcast of Tin Can Alley.  (Find it over there at the top of the right column!)

There are also many many other people who submitted great items at great times (thank you, Hollis Duncan, Dave Montgomery, Greg Fadick, Charlie King, Phil North, Wayne Moss, Fritze Prentice, Gary Pfeifer, and many others --- sorry if I've forgotten a name or two here!).  Alas, we have lost some people too, most notably the blog's great friend, Jerry Sims.

A request:

As the blog starts its Fifth Year (amazing in itself for a volunteer effort!), there will be more articles, photos, and audio.  But it is getting harder and harder to dig up the material.

To make things tougher, everyone here at the blog has a full-time job, and in Bud's case he now has two full-time jobs due to unplanned medical expenses.  So, the posts are a bit less frequent than what they were a year ago.  But we are still going and will keep going.

Here's what you can do to help:
  • Contact us if you have any stories, memorabilia, and (especially) audio to share.  Our intent is to archive for posterity the history of KAAY and have fun while doing it.  Everyone can contribute!   Email your materials to Bud and me at the addresses below.  
  • When you use materials from this blog --- photos, stories, audio --- please include a link back to us at   www.mighty1090kaay.blogspot.com    This helps new readers, who might have important archival material, to find us.
  • Send Bud an email to thank him for his work!



So, Happy Birthday To Us!

Contact info:  Bud Stacy   staceys4@hotmail.com
      Dave Schmidt   schmidt1953@gmail.com

Monday, July 8, 2013

KAAY: Michael O'Sullivan Aircheck

Another great snag by Dave S., here is an aircheck for you to enjoy, recused from A. J. Lindsey's blog.  Again, the players on A. J.'s blog have ceased to function, hence, our bringing the audio back to you here on this blog!  Now, in A. J.'s original words:

"I got a great email from Bob Steel who was the only Michael O'Sullivan KAAY ever had. As was Pat Walsh's custom as an inside joke, the actual Michael O'Sullivan was an accountant with LIN Broadcasting Corp. Along with some additional names, Bob sent a newscast with an exclusive interview with V.P. Spiro Agnew as he visited Little Rock. This is another great example of a real functioning radio news department. As you hear this great newscast you will probably be blown away with the commercial for "Black Ceasar" showing at the Capitol Theater and a couple of drive ins. Someday maybe I will tell you the story of the movie theater account at KAAY. Here is the aircheck:"

---A.J. Lindsey, Sept. 19, 2006


(or download here)

Bob Steel...I'll have to do some research to see if we have ever been in contact...my mind is swirling at this moment.  I find it harder all the time to snatch details of things that happened so many years ago.  Like David B. Treadway told me several times before...the grey fog obscures things that happened so many years ago!  I find this comes from being TOO busy at times, when the job and other responsibilities tend to come to the forefront of my memory and hobbies get pushed back....

Have I ever asked anyone here for information on newsman Jack Lee?  If anyone has information on him, could you contact me at the e-mail address below, please?

Thanks again to Dave S. for his tremendous help in the archiving and linking of these audio treasures!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

More about "Light Hoss Harry Jones" and "The Rivermen"

About ten days ago, we posted a long-lost A.J. Lindsey audio clip of the KAAY promo single, Light Hoss Harry Jones by The Rivermen. 
Here's the link to the post and the recording.

To our surprise and pleasure, we've received feedback about who were "The Rivermen" and who made the recording:


June 21, 2013 at 6:14 PM

    Hey, I can't believe I came here today for the first time and you had this record. Thanks Tom Connely for posting the link on facebook. I was in the Rivermen when we recorded this 45. I had just joined them. Had no idea it was produce by KAAY and I sure don't have a copy for myself. Thanks for posting it. ---Barbara Raney


June 21, 2013 at 6:17 PM

That's Ronnie Routh, Jerry Miller, Bob Hayes and Bill Shamberger.
---Anonymous

Wow --- thanks for this great info!   We are always happy to hear from our readers!