Friday, December 25, 2015

A Merry Christmas Wish From Eric Lensing!

The King!



Merry Christmas, Bud, to you and all your friends and loved ones!  Let's hope 2016 is a good one!

Eric Lensing ("Eric Thomas", 1979-1986, KAAY & other Little Rock stations).

Eric, thank you for sending in your Christmas wishes!  I also celebrate the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, for this is his celebrated birthday!  I hope Elvis is celebrating life with him in Heaven!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

 

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Wouldn't You Like To Find This Under Your Tree?


I'd like it full-size, please!!!  Thanks to Doug Virden for this picture of a replica 1965 Mustang Fastback!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Jonnie King's Christmas Extravaganza!!!

Bud, I wanted to send you the Link to my yearly CHRISTMAS MOVIES LIST...before it was too late !
Here's the Link, I've added many to the "extras" section....and, as of  last year, I added your "Better Off Dead" film if you remember. (I watched it again...it is really cool !":

http://www.jonnieking.net/gpage24.html

ALSO, am attaching a pic of yours truly from the Spring of 1969, shortly after I got to  KAAY.  (Man !  That guy looks young !!!)...




...AND, a pic of me in the KAAY FUNMOBILE on Dec. 6th, 1970, at the 'TOYS FOR TOTS" yearly event:




 Bud, thank you for the George Barris Tribute add...you did a GREAT job !  (Jonnie, THANK YOU, you did all the work!  BS)

More later, my friends, God Bless you & yours with a warm, wonderful Christmas, and, a healthy, happy 2016 !


Jonnie King

Retro: Christmas & KAAY

I remember when I was a teenager, going to school during the day, working nights & weekends and listening to KAAY blasting into Mobile, AL.  I'd sent an e-mail to A. J. Lindsey about those days and he'd posted it:

"This comment from Bud:

Hello again, Doc! This time of year (Christmas) reminds me of KAAY even more....I always will remember the Toys For Tots going on in Little Rock. One of my plans was to take as much vacation as possible, drive up and stay in Little Rock during Christmas. Alas, due to my family (I was the oldest, holding things together, in a broken family) and my work ethic, I hardly ever took time off, so this dream never took place....

Nonetheless, just listening to KAAY during the Christmas season bolstered my spirits and fueled my imagination! Thanks for the memories!"

...followed by comments by Dave Montgomery about the blue "Funmobile"... here's the link:

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2007/12/christmas-kaay.html

One of my goals was to help with the Toys For Tots toy drive.  I thought it was cool how the Marines and bikers would team up and keep this thing going, all the while KAAY deejays did marathon stretches at the mic aboard the "Funmobile" remote.

Good memories...sorry I never acted upon it.  Merry Christmas, all!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Retro: Dave Montgomery's Christmas Recollections

I thought this was really cool!  Wished I'd been there!

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2007/12/kaay-fun-moblile.html


This is a picture of the blue Funmobile, thanks to engineer Dave Montgomery!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Radio Yesterday from June 12, 2005

Barry Mac brings us yet another KAAY Radio Yesterday show, from June 12 2005. 

On this program -- A non-charting classic from Buddy, Aretha sings with an Allman Brother, Sly takes a stand, a different kind of Woodstock, Gladys talks about Daddy, and our one-hit wonder of the week.  Plus, an Arkansas political flashback.

(or download here)
Greg Barman

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Slightly Retro: December 1974 Aircheck

Let's get into December with an aircheck of Bill Jackson, a "Ken Knight", from December 1974!  It was first mentioned on A. J.'s blog back on December 21, 2006, but the link is broken, so the second link is from when we obtained it from Greg Barman and posted it:

"The second aircheck...." http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2006/12/beaker-street-memories.html

and ours, complete with the link: http://mighty1090kaay.blogspot.com/2015/03/december-1974-beaker-street-with-ken.html

Thanks again to Greg Barman, who donated this aircheck in both instances!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Monday, November 30, 2015

George Barris, Friend Of Jonnie King, R.I.P.

Jonnie told me many times that, with his other ventures, he was greatly blessed to rub elbows with other Greats- this one being George Barris, the "Car Guy" who made the Batmobile, the Munster cars" and others a reality.  In Jonnie's words, regarding George Barris:


"I have finished-up a Special Tribute Page for George Barris, and it contains TWELVE of the BEST Interviews that we did between 2006 & 2014.  George's memory banks were always spot-on talking about any of the ground-breaking rides that he & Sam built.
To make it easy to access these historic builds,  I've listed ALL 12 stories on the Page with a synopsis of each.  And, they can be accessed by clicking-on the Link for each story. 

AND, WHAT STORIES THEY ARE !   The "Batmobile", the "Munsters Cars", the "Hirohata Merc", the "Ala Kart", the "Golden Sahara", the "Aztec", the "Larry Ernst Chopped BelAir", "Sam's Chopped Merc", "Street Racing, Bullet Holes, and, TV/Movie Cars", the "Little Deuce Coupe", the "XPAK 400" Hovercar; and, the "Burgarin Merc" !!!

Here's the direct Link...and feel free  to put it on your FaceBook page & to pass-it-onto anyone you think might enjoy it: 
http://www.legends.thewwbc.net/gpage146.html

Again, sincere thanks...George Barris was truly "The King Of The Kustomizers".

Jonnie King  
www.legends.thewwbc.net"

Thank you Jonnie!  I hope everyone enjoys the links, etc.  My respects to the Barris family for their loss, may his imagination and creativity live forever!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Retro: November 1963...

...one of the bleakest periods in our modern history.  A. J. Lindsey posted about the assassination of John F. Kennedy:

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2006/11/where-were-you-when-jfk-was.html

I've got to go through them, but there are some important links on his original post; the KAAY tapes involving the news broadcast were lost, as well as the two-hour documentary Jim Pitcock and staff put together....

Other stations thought that, since George J. Jennings just happened to be in Dallas for vacation, that KAAY had actually sent him to cover the news!  This made KAAY gigantic in their eyes!

I don't remember the actual news about the assassination, but I do remember the funeral procession on TV... I remember asking my mother why everyone was so sad...she shushed me and left me in front of the black & white console TV...this is what I remember, someone posted it on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnOERkKYyAY

I was barely five years old...and I remember....Belmead Street, Prichard, AL.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Retro: Thanksgiving 1962

Folks, here are a couple of links; one in which A. J. Lindsey presented the Thanksgiving 19632 "seasonal", but his link is broken, so the second link provides the link:

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2008/12/finally-found-it.html

http://mighty1090kaay.blogspot.com/2010/11/this-is-thanksgiving-1962.html

Wonderful production, wonderful music....

I know it's a bit early, but we have a special, historic post for the day before Thanksgiving...Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Old KAAY Stickers From Doug Virden!

Doug is a faithful contributor to the blog- and he sent along some rare treats for all to enjoy!

"Got this from Ad Craft of Arkansas.  I was contacted by them and was told about some old KAAY items.   I was told this logo started being used in 1976 when Multimedia took over and was used through the reminder of the 70's."


"Ordered this one several years ago off a website that had old vintage radio station logos.  I believe this one was used around the late 60's to early 70's."
 
Thanks, Doug, for sharing!
 
 

Friday, November 6, 2015

Happy Birthday Beaker Street!

In November 1966, "Beaker Street" was born.  No one seems to remember the exact date, but many remember the great music "Clyde Clifford" brought to the airwaves.  This, from Richard Robinson's doctoral dissertation.  Richard had given us permission to post this on December 30, 2009:

"Consider this:  In November 1966, eerie music and strange sound effects filled the airwaves of KAAY, AM 1090 in Little Rock.  Over these program elements, a slow deep voice says slowly, “Music of Iron Butterfly.  It’s 12:01 and I’m Clyde Clifford, and this is KAAY, Little Rock, with Beaker Street until 2:00 a.m. this morning, Beaker Theatre at 2:00.”  This was the voice and sounds of underground radio in its infancy, from Little Rock, Arkansas and beyond."

Thank you, Richard!  Thanks also to "Clyde" and Beaker Street!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Retro: David B. Treadway and Cottondale Studio

November 1, 1976 was a historic day for KAAY; I'll let "Doc Holiday", a.k.a. David B. Treadway's words describe it, from A. J.'s blog post on Oct. 9, 2006:

"On November 1, 1976, we moved to the new studios at
2400 Cottondale Lane. The Riverdale section of town is
now thriving and crowded, home to Alltel world
headquarters among other notable businesses. In 1976,
it was regarded as swamp land and Pat Walsh caught a
great deal of grief from his peers about his decision
to move the station there. As usual, Walsh had the
last laugh.

There was a certain "magic" about KAAY; it was a
living, breathing entity--apart and complete unto
itself *without* the human beings who made it run. For
the past thirty years, I have been convinced that the
magic did NOT make the move with us from 1425 West 7th
Street to 2400 Cottondale.

It would take the clueless Multimedia almost the next
ten years to run KAAY completely into the ground, but
the Final Approach began on November 1, 1976."

Here's the Cottondale location as it appeared in 2012, when Jerry Sims drove me around town:



http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2006/10/doc-holiday-1976.html

A. J. Lindsey was the second "Doc Holiday", David B. Treadway was the last.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Friday, October 30, 2015

The Jonnie King Halloween Special!!!

Jonnie King needs NO introduction for those who listened to KAAY  Without further ado:



"This is G-R-E-A-T: "GEORGE BARRIS MEETS THE MUNSTERS AT THE DRAGSTRIP" !  Here's the Direct Link...PLUS, there's an Intro by Grandpa Munster !  http://www.legends.thewwbc.net/gpage.html
(If any of the guys on the Blog do FaceBook...this is a "FUN/MUST" !)


(That Yvonne DeCarlo- va va va VOOM!  Bud)

 Here is the 2015 (Updated) "Halloween Film Rarities" List:
http://www.jonnieking.net/gpage36.html


 AND, this is the Link to the COMPLETE "Main Feature" Page:
http://www.jonnieking.net/welcome2.html
 A little over 200 Hours were required to put this together like I wanted it.  It ties all areas together: Film, Music, Radio, TV, Cars, and, my old friend "The Amazing Criswell".  ALL best-viewed on a Laptop or Desktop...they're built for the big screen.

 Best witches, er, wishes, for more "Treats" and no "Tricks" this Halloween !

Jonnie"

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Happy (Early) Halloween!


DON'T EAT TOO MUCH CANDY!!!!!

(NEXT:  Watch for Jonnie King's post tomorrow!!!)

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Friday, October 23, 2015

Arcane Radio Trivia Links To Us! Re: Beaker Street

Hmmm...what happens when I click the link that says "here"...Oh!  It's us, The Mighty 1090 KAAY!  How flattering that someone thinks enough of us to do so!

http://tenwatts.blogspot.com/2012/07/beaker-street-with-clyde-clifford.html

It may be a bit dated, but interesting, nonetheless.  They gave credit to Don Payne as being the last person to run Beaker Street until "the suits" discontinued it.  I WISH someone would come forward with some tapes of Don those last few nights!!!!  Anybody????

It's always fun to fiund "new" stuff...thanks to Arcane Radio Trivia for this one!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Monday, October 19, 2015

Oletia McDonald, R.I.P.

Thanks to Doug Virden:

http://www.arkansasonline.com/obituaries/2015/oct/18/lois-mcdonald-2015-10-18/

"Funeral service will be at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015 at Smith-North Little Rock Funeral Home, 1921 Main Street, 758-1170. Visitation will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Burial will be at Martindale Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Martindale Cemetery Perpetual Care Fund, 40000 Hwy 10, Bigelow, AR 72016."

Such a delightful lady; she made us feel so welcome when Jerry Sims, David B. Treadway and I visited with she and Felix McDonald several years ago.

She is now with Felix....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Bob Steele Article Via Doug Virden

Thanks to eagle-eyed Doug Virden for this piece of news!

http://www.syncweekly.com/news/2015/oct/13/shining-example/

"Decades in the news business taught Bob Steel to expect the unexpected. Even when Cumulus Media fired him from his morning news job nearly two years ago, the 68-year-old wasn’t deterred and ready to quit working."  "Steel returned to Cumulus in September as the Arkansas Radio Network affiliate relations director."

Thanks, Doug!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Wierd Poetry, Re: Beaker Street

I'd not seen this before, in all my research.  I guess it'll make sense.  I never "got" poetry that didn't rhyme:

http://allpoetry.com/poem/12068531-Thank-You--Beaker-Street-by-Corvino

Nonetheless, I, too, thank "Clyde Clifford" and Beaker Street...

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

A Listener From Cuba Checks In

"Come new times, new winds blow . After all, you KAAY (Baker Street),
have a place here in the heart of many Cubans. Bud visit us soon, we
are waiting with open arms, please bring to Clyde .
You could post the photos on your blog . Best regards

--
R.Peraza"

This was a message via e-mail from Ramon Peraza a few days ago.  He'd also sent a few pictures of Americans and Brits who visited Cuba, with no known dates.

The one that seems to fit is Mick Jagger, taking some time off in Havana....

Thank you, Ramon!

If you remember (and for those just visiting), KAAY's nighttime signal enveloped Cuba and much of the area around- folks in the Caribbean, Central and South America also heard the signal!  See the nighttime antenna plot below:

 

This also shows why so many people to the north could hear KAAY, too!

Thanks to Ramon for checking in!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Retro: KAAY & "Monster Mash"

Let's have some fun!  I found this post of A.J.'s regarding the above:

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2007/10/kaay-monster-mash-new-at-same-time.html

What a great video!  I'll be watching for scary B-movies this Halloween season!

By the way, if any of you have over-the-air digital TV and can get MeTV, be sure to watch Svengoolie every Saturday night for some fun entertainment!  I'm sure he'll turn up the cauldron for October!!!

http://svengoolie.com/

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Retro: KAAY, October 1962

This began a very serious involvement of KAAY in our nation's history.  Because the FCC overlooked the fact that KTHS was bought by KAAY, and that KTHS no longer showed on the rolls for broadcasting, the FCC "forgot" about the whopping signal emanating from Little Rock and how it blanketed the area of the Caribbean, including Cuba.

Because of this, several of The Greats have related to me that Jim Hankins/"Mike McCormick" almost lost his job in getting KAAY involved in this most important service.  At Midnight every night, government agents would come in, lock the studio and broadcast Voice Of America propaganda to Cuba.  I am PROUD that Mr. Hankins had the guts to go through with this.

Here is A.J. Lindsey's post to that effect:

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2007/07/more-cuban-missile-crisis.html

And, later, our post to the effect:

http://mighty1090kaay.blogspot.com/2014/09/then-cuba-happened.html

Thanks to all who participated in this patriotic gesture.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Monday, September 28, 2015

Radio Yesterday from June 19, 2005

Here is more retro-fun from Barry Mac's Radio Yesterday service.  This one aired on KAAY during the weekend of June 19, 2005.

On this show -- Eddie plays some blues, a visit with the Candyman, what the Byrds want to do, checking out the coal mine, a sermon from the Staples, the one-hit wonder of the week, and a movie ad flashback:


(or download here)

Greg Barman


Friday, September 25, 2015

KAAY Poster From Doug Virden


"KAAY used to give out posters each week during the Razorback football season.  Of course this was done before all the patents and trademarks took place.  For the Arkansas Razorbacks this was done about 25 years ago.  This has happened with most college and professional teams over the years.  For example with the Razorbacks the logo or name can't be used without written permission from the University of Arkansas.  Now IMG Media owns the rights a majority of Division I college teams.  It includes merchandise and games broadcast over the airwaves.  Its similar to what Iheart and Cumulus is to radio."

Thank you, Doug!  I'll have to dig out my posters and re-post them, as well, for football season!

Any others out there?  Please contact me at my e-mail address below!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)


Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Retro: Car Giveaway

After listening to A.J. Lindsey and others regarding KAAY's appearance in 1962, he said they were scared stiff at how KAAY sounded, with the new "hip" music and slick deejays.  Here was his comments about a giveaway KAAY started in 1962:

"Continuing the contests memories. KAAY signed on September (Labor Day weekend as I remember.) 1962. I was Program Director at KXLR. With KAAY, a total of four stations in the market were top 40. We had heard on the street, that KAAY was going to give away a car. So, we got our crack sales department to go out and trade out a car to give away. KAAY's contest was to give away a car a day for a month and ended the promotion with a car an hour for 24 hours. Mike McCormick (PD at the time) always thought big even for 1962. The run of the mill contests, the news tip, etc. were usually small dollars."

The whole link:

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2006/08/car-hour.html

Thanks again to A.J. and the Lindsey family for allowing us to carry on his work here.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Friday, September 18, 2015

Jonnie King Departed KAAY in September 1972

The Mighty Jonnie King, after spending about 3-1/2 years in Little Rock, got "the call" about this time in September 1972 to go to WDRQ in Detroit Michigan, at that time, the 5th largest market in the country.  What was Little Rock's loss was Detroit's gain.

For old time's sake, let's go back and listen to Jonnie in the summer of 1972:

http://mighty1090kaay.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-jonnie-king-aircheck-2.html

Thanks to Jonnie for ALL the great memories!  Here is the link to his great website:

http://www.jonnieking.net/

Thank you Jonnie!  You are a wonderful friend!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Monday, September 14, 2015

Going Retro: What Else Happened In September?

KAAY, that's what!!!  Back on Labor Day, 1962!!!!  A. J. Lindsey entered this post on his blog, which included the link, "Take Me Back To The Sixties"...pay heed to what many of us experienced- I certainly wish we could go back to simpler times:

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2008/08/golden-oldie.html

If the link in A.J.'s post doesn't work, here it is:

http://objflicks.com/TakeMeBackToTheSixties.htm

Boy, how we as a country and a people have degraded and decayed....

Thanks to A.J. for this post and link.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Friday, September 11, 2015

Let's Go Retro: Paul Harner's Comments From A.J.'s Blog

As this day dawned, I remembered the awful events that happened today, fourteen years ago.  We were at work and someone ran down the stairs from our break room at work to tell us of the planes hitting the Twin Towers...then the Pentagon...then the crash in Pennsylvania.  We didn't get much work done that day.  I went back to A.J. Lindsey's blog and found Paul Harner's comments, a portion of which are reproduced here:

"As far as September 11 goes, I haven't forgotten. I don't think anyone alive and awake would ever forget that, regardless of their political stripes. I also despise that damn "Have You Forgotten" record that was released afterword. I was doing data entry work at Harrah's Casino that week. It was my last week of working there. I was stuck in traffic that morning, for no real reason. I called the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT), just to find out why the road was unnecessarily jammed. There wasn't any real reason for it. The woman said "it could be worse, I just heard that two planes flew into the World Trade Center." I thought she was joking. Nope. As I made the rounds, all the monitors switched to CNN, showing what happened. Twenty minutes later, the Pentagon was hit, and I watched that. From that point on, there wasn't a whole lot of work to get done. Three hours later, a large number of people show up. Passengers from flights to Las Vegas diverted to Lambert Airport as all the planes were grounded. These passengers had no place to stay and were looking for hotel rooms.

As the afternoon progressed, there was talk about price gouging and long lines at area gas stations. When I left work, I sat in a long line, but thankfully the price at the station was unchanged.

There were hardly any patrons at the casino that week. That Friday, my town hosted their annual Italian Fest. It was my last day of working at Harrah's, and I decided to take a long and more scenic drive home. There are marinas along the Mississippi river, and there are several scenic routes that take you to them, exiting from Missouri 94 from St. Charles to West Alton, MO. After the drive, I went to the Italian Fest. It was probably the first time anyone went out and did anything besides watch television that week.

If there was anything I remember the most, it was how quiet everything was. It was like that for months. It was as if everything slowed down. For me it was like that until March of 2002. I've never seen anything like it.

What makes me sad about events like September 11 is the realization that our country will spend decades of lives, resources and treasure into a war that will not end. I had hoped that the Cold War's end would have opened up new opportunities to do something different with said lives, resources and treasure. Now I don't think that's likely. I also don't care for the marketing of fear these days, and the concept of "The New Normal." Bulls**t. The Germans and Japanese occupied land and were truly a threat to the world, as were the Soviets later. The people responsible for September 11 aren't remotely as smart or brilliant as that, and probably could be disrupted and de-fanged if the will was there, and in a much shorter time than decades.

Paul Harner""

It seems to me that MANY have forgotten those tragic events...and that people are so willing to look the other way at how terrorism has progressed.  WE HAVE BECOME COMPLACENT AGAIN, as if it won't happen again.  Well, don't bet your last pair of boots, it very well COULD, and possibly sooner rather than later....

Sorry for the non-KAAY/radio post, but I thought it was appropriate...thanks to Paul Harner for his comments to A.J. back on 10/4/07.  You can see the entire post here:

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2007/10/kaay-coments.html



Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Neat & Clean!

David B. Treadway or Dave Montgomery mentioned how Felix McDonald kept the field outside the transmitter in Wrightsville manicured and clean...and these pictures show it:




...unlike the horrible, unkempt condition David B. Treadway, Jerry Sims and I experienced a few years ago:

And these weren't the worst areas....

There's more to come!  Thanks to Lance Sanders for the "neat" photos!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Friday, September 4, 2015

Bob Robbins Poster From Doug Virden

Thanks to Doug Virden, who posted this on the Mighty 1090- KAAY Facebook page, another great piece of history!  In his words:
 
Look at this superstar in the makin'. That's our very own Bob Robbins (circa: early 1970s) hosting a radio show on The Mighty 1090, (or the Friendly Giant) KAAY.
 
Thanks, Doug!  Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
 
 
 

Monday, August 31, 2015

Eric Thomas In The Control Room, And More

Folks, Eric has been VERY gracious to share things out of his personal file- and his personal life- for the posterity of the blog.  We, as fans of KAAY, have always wondered what it's like behind the scenes.  Quite often, the comments have been that a deejay's life is not glamorous, no matter our imaginations....

Nonetheless, I have always been a "nuts-n-bolts" guy and love digging through things, seeing how they work.  Eric has once again sent some pictures and files for us to enjoy!

The first, is of Eric in the studio during the summer of 1981:


...and Eric today with his lovely 5-year-old daughter:

"Ah, before digital photography! Also attached is a picture of the control room circa 1981. I guess you guys have seen it with the shag carpet on the walls and the cut out shag KAAY logo? I had to bend my head down to get the logo in the picture - a true face for radio! But I do have my cans around my neck with the plug in my back pocket a la Larry LuJack, haha! This was the control room as it was from when the building opened in the ‘70’s until the early-mid 1980’s. Looking at the picture just to the right and out of the photo was the big picture window looking out from the 2nd floor toward the Arkansas River. In fact, the river was probably less than 100 yards from the building. In between was the parking lot, a levee and then the river. Several times during the late night hours a big barge would be going up or down the river and shine it’s bright search light right through the control room window. That always deserved a wave.  I wonder if those guys were listening to the station?

The other photo is of the control room rack that was to our backs in the studio. The nerve center!

(Speaking of the building back then, just recalling the little things, the men and women’s bathroom signs on the 2nd floor read “Elton’s” and “Olivia Newton’s.” Classic 1970’s radio humor.)

Take care, Eric"

Eric also sent along a 9-page manual of the KAAY Procedures Manual; some may or may not appreciate this, but I hope you do!


Thanks, Eric!  What great material!  Don't you folks agree?

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

"Top 40 Top 40 Stations Of All Time": KAAY #8

Heard from Doug Virden, who sent the link below...and I would have thought KAAY would have been higher!  Oh, well, everything's about politics, I don't try to understand it all.  Thank you, Doug!

http://www.examiner.com/article/top-40-top-40-stations-of-all-time-koma-wls-and-wabc-top-the-list

"...here's an attempt to rank and identify some of the greatest of those Top 40 stations of yesterday, keeping in mind that strongest consideration was given to stations that were prominent and dominant for at least most of the era from the late '50s through the '60s."

WAKY, KAAY's LIN sister station, achieved #17.  My hometown station, WABB in Mobile, AL (where Wayne Moss once worked in between stints at KAAY) garnered an honorable mention.

"Undoubtedly, many other stations merit consideration, but everyone has the right to their own opinions and the right to cherish memories of their personal favorite stations of the glory days of Top 40 radio."

Again, thanks to Doug Virden!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Monday, August 10, 2015

Radio Yesterday with Barry Mac! June 12, 2005

Barry Mac brings us another KAAY retro-show, from June 12, 2005. 

This show features:  A non-charting classic from Buddy, Aretha sings with an Allman Brother, Sly takes a stand, a different kind of Woodstock, Gladys talks about Daddy, and our one-hit wonder of the week.  Plus, an Arkansas political flashback.


(or download here)
Greg Barman

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

WOW!!!

Dear reader and visitor, it is because of YOU that we keep this blog going...I just logged in a few minutes ago and was astounded by seeing we had 339,634 page views!!!!  My, how six years have flown by!  We've been truly blessed and fortunate to have all the material we've gotten.  But, again, we're about to reach the end of some things by the Fall of this year, so look around- EVERYTHING regarding KAAY's history is important!

I don't care if it's a 5-second station i.d. and you do or don't know who it is... if you can tell us at least a little something about it and maybe we can guess or i.d. the deejay, we'll do that, too.  Ticket stubs from a contest at KAAY...John's Jeans ad sold by the salesmen on KAAY- ANYTHING!

OK, OK, you get the picture!  On my own personal situation, the l-o-n-g hours of two jobs is smoothing out and I'm starting to realize some extra time- and I'm not spending ALL that time sleeping.  We finally paid off my daughter's massive medical bills and I'm doing some damage-control in the aftermath, financially.  Bills will never go away, but I am looking forward to maybe quitting this 2nd job one day and spending more time chasing radio...

One of the newest things that you may have seen on the KAAY- Mighty 1090 Facebook page is the emergence of AM radio stations again PLAYING MUSIC!!!  Right now, I'm using my Realistic DX-440, my Realistic passive loop antenna placed on a little Lazy Susan to hear a 500-watt (night-time power) WGAD AM 930, Gadsden, AL here in Satsuma, AL!!!

So with that, I want to THANK YOU for visiting, contributing and commenting!  By the way, we COULD use MORE of the latter, please!  Here's my set-up, listening to WGAD:


Bud S (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Monday, August 3, 2015

Eric Thomas' KAAY Concert Flyer

"Hello Bud,

Hope all is going well. I wanted to share this flyer with you, and you may have seen it before. Just in case here it is. I found this in a miscellaneous KAAY folder so I am assuming it was advertised on Beaker Street maybe???
Wow! What a lineup! I would probably have enjoyed this much more than Woodstock.
Take care, Eric"


I agree!  With a line-up like that!  Thanks again, Eric!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Tin Can Alley Arkansas' Best Oldies Radio Show!

As per Sidney Woodbury's post on Facebook (and urged on by Doug Virden):

"Barry Mac's radio show Tin Can Alley was recognized by the Arkansas Times for best oldies radio show! This is further proof that a full time classic hits/oldies station on KAAY can work. Listen Saturday at 1pm or Sunday at 2pm for an early 1980s themed show!"

(Bold lettering and underlining mine!  BS)

Keep up the great work, Barry!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Monday, July 27, 2015

Radio Yesterday from Barry Mac! March 20, 2005

Once again, Barry Mac brings us another of his retro-KAAY "Radio Yesterday" shows.

On this show -- A first from Otis, Aretha hits gold, somebody else dances in the street, a song that took over 5 years to hit the top 10, an A side that is upstaged by its B side, and our one-hit wonder of the week.

This aired on March 20, 2005.


(or download here)
Greg Barman

 

Monday, July 20, 2015

Focus on the Newsmakers - Dec 28, 1969

This Focus On the Newsmakers show aired on December 28, 1969 and features:  Debate over the death of a state prison inmate; the head of the local PTA; a defensive driving program; and the Univ. of Mississippi football coach on an upcoming Sugar Bowl encounter with Arkansas. 


(or download here)
Greg Barman



Monday, July 13, 2015

Eric Thomas Brings More Introspect...

...to our understanding of how KAAY worked!  In his own words:

"I went through more folders and found a few things. Many of the memos and pages in these folders aren’t too interesting. Enclosed are a few attachments that kind of add some color to the everyday workload at the Mighty 1090. Feel free to use any of them. And yes, I am still looking for more, too.
First of all there is a “1981 KAAY music memo” from our PD Steve Kelly. These are the kinds of memos he sent out frequently. The man was always tinkering and making moves. I learned a lot from him. Enjoyed working under him – very much.


Secondly, attached is a KAAY 1978 FCC required signature list. It actually ran on thru 1979 when I signed it. These are real names and so no “on-air names” appear on it. I was told this was required by the FCC in case they wanted to match log signatures. That is, if any questions came up over who was working when any transmitting problems occurred. True? I don’t know. But it was kept at the reading site.
(Signature list removed, due to possible legal ramifications. BS)


Third, here is a copy of the station sheet listing all of The Beatles songs in order during our Beatles scramble contest. The songs were all meshed-up in very brief segments and the first caller to name them in order won some big Beatles prize during a ‘’Beatles Weekend.’’


Next is my hand written list of songs played on KAAY during the “Sixties at 6” on June 28, 1981. We kept these so we wouldn’t play the same songs over and over. It was a great show – totally free form taking any requests. We used a lot of vinyl and some carts. The LP was for album, CT for cart, and 45 for – well, you know. Rather basic. I recall bringing a few albums from home since I had, and still have, a nice sized music collection. Of course, I had to clear any songs played with our PD, Steve Kelly. I very much enjoyed doing special shows like this all thru my radio years.


And next is a 1982 KAAY memo from our PD. All these years later after going thru a folder of similar memos I can’t help but chuckle. Man, there was no feeling like being the only one in the building late at night, guiding The Mothership, the 50,000 Watt Mono Monster of the South. What a rush! The control board at your fingertips. Broadcasting to over 23 states, Central America, Canada and out into the Caribbean. It was a dream come true. I would often just sit there, turn out all the lights in the control room with just the glow of the twinkling machinery – and CRANK IT UP! Of course!


Mentioning the power of the airwaves, the next attachment is a letter I received from an inmate at The Tucker Unit (Arkansas State Prison.) There was a brief time when KAAY did some overnight weekend simulcasting with KLPQ-FM. Q94 ran a program at midnight called ‘’The Midnight Snack’’ (I think Mark Wallace came up with it) and it featured a classic rock album. Since this went out on KAAY as well, you could say this was a slight nod to the Beaker Street days. Very Slight. Anyway, the letter is self-explanatory.


Just a note – I have always been a music freak. I love it. It remains a big part of my everyday life. That is how I became interested in radio – it was a tool to get music to the people. I relished sitting at the board and segue between two songs, or a song – jingle - and song. I always did in manually over riding any cue tones. Man, nothing better than hitting a tight, smooth segue. And that was what I was most proud of during my radio days.

If I can do anything for you, please let me know. Once again, keep up the great work and take care.

Eric "

Eric, you don't know how much you have pleased us, having let us take a peek at the inside of KAAY!  There was- and always is- a lot of work behind the mic- and in production, news, sales, etc., so it's NOT just all a deejay and a stack of wax!  Thank you for being "there"- and, rest assured, I'll keep asking, so keep on digging and sending us more stuff to ogle!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Monday, July 6, 2015

Radio Yesterday on KAAY from early December 2005

The Radio Yesterday Shows roll on!  Here's one from early December 2005 featuring:  Some mean woman blues, taking a stroll in the Big Easy, a first for the Rascals, something to tell Mama, the Supremes' single after Diana, a word from the Late Night Weirdo, Carole King in Spanish, and our one-hit wonder of the week.  

Barry Mac mixes some big hits along with songs that I haven't heard anywhere in years.


(or download here)
Greg Barman

Thursday, July 2, 2015

We Hear From Jonnie King!!!

It had been some while since I'd heard from Jonnie King, so I decided to reach out- and I'm glad I did!  Jonnie had just unearthed some photos (which we'll share here) about the same time my e-mail reached him!  Here is his message:

"I did unearth a couple of photos that you're free to use on the KAAY Blog if you want.  They're from July 8, 1969, when I Interviewed Marilyn Kay Allen, who was  "Miss North Little Rock" in the "Miss Arkansas Pagent" for 1969, at her home in North Little Rock.  Then on the night of July 19th, 1969, I went to Hot Springs to cover the "Miss Arkansas Pagent" live for KAAY.

As we all know by now KAAY was a truly respected station, AND, since it was 1969, I didn't have a Cell Phone with me, and so with my KAAY Press Credentials, I was allowed Backstage Access all evening to do my "Live" call-ins from the Pagent Headquarters Area...and in the process saw ALL of the contestants before, or, after they were On-Stage.  All those beautiful girls in-one-place-at-one-time ! What can I say ?  It was a one-night "Bachelor's Paradise" for yours truly. (What made it even MORE fantastic was the fact that all of these beauties who came by and said "hello", told me that they listened to my show every night.  I was sincerely honored to meet them one-on-one...and they were all as nice as they were beautiful.)

BUT, I've saved these TWO Special "Backstage Encounters" for last:  #1.  While I was doing one of my live call-in's during a Pagent break, whom did I see coming toward me but none-other than Judith Anne Ford, the reigning 1969 Miss America !   I was stopped-dead in my tracks.  She was truly much more radiant and beautiful in-person than on TV or in her pictures...stunning in her own way.  Since she was only about three feet from me, I quickly said "Hold on for just a minute !"...to the jock running the board at the station, and introduced myself, asked her that since I was already doing a live call-in, if she would just say a brief "Hello" to all of our "Big K" listeners all-over Arkansas, and all over the World.  She was more than gracious, said "Sure" !   I went back, told the jock that I had a very special message from a very special guest.  I introduced her, and she did exactly as I had asked, said a number of nice things about being in Hot Springs  for the Pagent, and, thanked me for giving her the opportunity to be on-the-air on such a great station...said that she had heard us at her home in Illinois !  She was just spot-on-perfect !

#2. Guess who the Winner of the 1969 "Miss Arkansas Pagent" was ?   The same sweet, so-very-pretty Marilyn Kay Allen, "Miss North Little Rock" that I had Interviewed just 11 days earlier !   As soon as the Pagent was over, I hurried Backstage, found the new Miss Arkansas, again, got her "live" with me as I called the station to do my final report, and did a brief Interview with this very happy Winner.

 
 

 So, yes, those photos that I've forwarded to you, bring back vivid memories for me of that wonderful time, and all of the events that transpired.  My time at KAAY was truly one of the most fantastic times of my life...BOTH Personally, AND, Professionally.  We were a Super Team...the entire staff pulling together to achieve the best we could for our station, for our listeners, and, for each other.

BTW:  Bud, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that I was able to do so many Interviews after I got to the station, and I really loved doing them.  And, many of those were with other very wonderful beauty queens.  Some of my most-memorable were Jody Boggs, "Miss Dogpatch, U.S.A." in 1969, Reba Collette Walsh, "Miss Teenage America 1971", and, Paige Young, the talented, wonderful, "Playboy Playmate" for November, 1968.

In this pre-Intenet era, people actually wrote letters !  I still have the personal, handwritten "thank you" letters from Jody, and, Reba...both remarkable, beautiful young ladies, as well as the personalized photo, and other memorabilia, from Paige. These three, as well as Marilyn, and the many, many, others that I was privileged to Interview while I was at KAAY, have all enriched, and added wonderful memories to my life...by sharing their lives - no matter how briefly - with me.

God bless you, Bud, tell my friends at the KAAY Blog I haven't forgotten them either !  

Your friend,

Jonnie King"

Thank you, Jonnie!!!  Who said "timing is everything"?  This was an opportune moment, both back in 1969, and today, when I contacted Jonnie, as he'd JUST found these pictures.

And, as in the admonition of Clyde Clifford and David B. Treadway, I am not ashamed to say that I love you, Jonnie!  Keep up the good work, keep the memories coming!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)