"Doug Krile said...
David B -
What a great story! You just kicked off my Friday evening in fine style.
Now, off to babysit the granddaughter. Too bad she's too young for spooky stories! Oh, if I had only had the chance to work at KAAY. I consider my self lucky to have put in some time on Cottondale Lane, when the old carpet was still on the control room walls!"
Hey, Doug, can you tell us of some of that time, please? Drop me some lines at:
staceys4@hotmail.com
Thanks!
Bud S.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Jerry Sims' Comment, Re: Henry & The Haunted House
Well David, that makes us up to $2000 now on "getting it back". I am right in line behind you. What a neat story. The kind of stuff I like to see on the blog. It seems everyone enjoys the "inside" stories. I will try to share some of those when I can, although not with the great writing style that you possess. I was painted a picture, by you, that was in great detail. Sometimes I cannot find my fork, but KAAY details come very clear. I remember the building well.
Jerry Sims...The middle Sonny Martin
Jerry Sims...The middle Sonny Martin
Henry And The Haunted House
Henry was a 1973 Ford Galaxie 500 that my wife’s father bought her not too long after we were married, and he prided himself on finding a bargain. Henry was a bright yellow—a lemon yellow. If there ever was a more undependable set of wheels, I pity the fool who got stuck with it. Murphy himself must have owned Henry at one time, for if anything could go wrong with that car, it would—at the worst possible moment. He was notorious for refusing to start, no matter how many new batteries had been installed. A parade of mechanics couldn’t find anything wrong with him, but I think he was possessed.
Moron that I was, I drove Henry up to the recently-vacated KAAY studios one chilly evening in October of ’76 to do my show from Funmobile Number One on behalf of the Little Rock Jaycees Haunted House.
We had moved to the new facility at 2400 Cottondale Lane only days before and the Jaycees set about turning the old place into their annual Haunted House. They installed ramps and mazes and dead ends throughout the place and painted every exposed surface flat black. There were tattered curtains, cobwebs, fake coffins and skeletons everywhere. If memory serves, their main Torture Chamber was in the old control room. They spared no effort and apparently no expense, because they even installed a phone and an alarm system in the building.
I spent the evening merrily broadcasting, watching the throngs come and go until the Jaycees shut down for the night at 10:00. I had another hour to go, so I set myself on cruise control and enjoyed the relative peace and quiet. Little did I suspect.
11:00 rolled around and Beaker Street took over from the transmitter site in Wrightsville. I stowed the gear and locked the Funmobile. Time to drive home and kick back with a cold beer, right? Wrong! Henry wouldn’t start. Wouldn’t even turn over. The lights would come on, the radio would play, but his cursed engine wouldn’t lift a finger—except maybe the middle one. I was stranded miles from the studio (there wouldn’t have been anyone there anyway) and even more miles from home. In those days, there was no whipping out the ol’ cell phone to call for backup. Throughout the State Capitol neighborhood, not a creature was stirring, not even a low ride. I was alone in the middle of the night!
Desperation being the real mother of invention, I tried my key in the back door of the old building and—BEHOLD—it worked! All that remained was to find the phone and call Mrs T to come get me. Of course, it would have helped if I could have found the main power switch to get some lights on, but that was NFTH (not fixing to happen).
My first thought was to get up front and disarm the alarm system (couldn’t have the cops showing up and possibly giving me a ride home, oh nooooo) in THE DARK. Not just any dark, mind you. Complete, utter and total dark. Dark as the inside of a coal miner’s pocket at midnight. But what the heck. I knew that old building like the back of my hand (which I couldn’t see in the dark, but I digress) and all I had to do was feel my way along until I got to the lobby. Then I’d punch in the alarm code and find the phone. What could be simpler?
Imagine my surprise when I walked smack into a wall where the hall used to be! I turned ninety degrees and ran into another wall. There was just enough fuel in my trusty cigarette lighter to show me the opening I needed, so I made my way up front, barking my shins, stumbling over Lord-knows-what, getting tangled in cobwebs and turning the air purple with the most heartfelt of curses. Finally, I was at the alarm box and was able to disarm it, assisted by the very last flickers of my lighter.
I knew where the phone was—in the back of the building, of course—and I had a pretty good idea of the way back. When I finally made it to the phone, my lighter was dead. All it would do was throw sparks. Fortunately, there were enough of them so that I could phone home by a poor sort of strobe light and my long-suffering wife could come to my rescue. (Yes, we had a second car and it was reliable.)
It was maybe a week later when demolition began on that wonderful old building. At the time, I was not the least bit sorry to see it go. But now I’d give a thousand dollars to have it back the way it was when it was the home of The Mighty 1090.
David B. Treadway
Doc Holiday VII
EPILOGUE: I’m sure the spirits (of which there were at least two) who haunted that building had a big ol’ time watching me struggle in the dark. You’d think they could have at least given me a hand…
Moron that I was, I drove Henry up to the recently-vacated KAAY studios one chilly evening in October of ’76 to do my show from Funmobile Number One on behalf of the Little Rock Jaycees Haunted House.
We had moved to the new facility at 2400 Cottondale Lane only days before and the Jaycees set about turning the old place into their annual Haunted House. They installed ramps and mazes and dead ends throughout the place and painted every exposed surface flat black. There were tattered curtains, cobwebs, fake coffins and skeletons everywhere. If memory serves, their main Torture Chamber was in the old control room. They spared no effort and apparently no expense, because they even installed a phone and an alarm system in the building.
I spent the evening merrily broadcasting, watching the throngs come and go until the Jaycees shut down for the night at 10:00. I had another hour to go, so I set myself on cruise control and enjoyed the relative peace and quiet. Little did I suspect.
11:00 rolled around and Beaker Street took over from the transmitter site in Wrightsville. I stowed the gear and locked the Funmobile. Time to drive home and kick back with a cold beer, right? Wrong! Henry wouldn’t start. Wouldn’t even turn over. The lights would come on, the radio would play, but his cursed engine wouldn’t lift a finger—except maybe the middle one. I was stranded miles from the studio (there wouldn’t have been anyone there anyway) and even more miles from home. In those days, there was no whipping out the ol’ cell phone to call for backup. Throughout the State Capitol neighborhood, not a creature was stirring, not even a low ride. I was alone in the middle of the night!
Desperation being the real mother of invention, I tried my key in the back door of the old building and—BEHOLD—it worked! All that remained was to find the phone and call Mrs T to come get me. Of course, it would have helped if I could have found the main power switch to get some lights on, but that was NFTH (not fixing to happen).
My first thought was to get up front and disarm the alarm system (couldn’t have the cops showing up and possibly giving me a ride home, oh nooooo) in THE DARK. Not just any dark, mind you. Complete, utter and total dark. Dark as the inside of a coal miner’s pocket at midnight. But what the heck. I knew that old building like the back of my hand (which I couldn’t see in the dark, but I digress) and all I had to do was feel my way along until I got to the lobby. Then I’d punch in the alarm code and find the phone. What could be simpler?
Imagine my surprise when I walked smack into a wall where the hall used to be! I turned ninety degrees and ran into another wall. There was just enough fuel in my trusty cigarette lighter to show me the opening I needed, so I made my way up front, barking my shins, stumbling over Lord-knows-what, getting tangled in cobwebs and turning the air purple with the most heartfelt of curses. Finally, I was at the alarm box and was able to disarm it, assisted by the very last flickers of my lighter.
I knew where the phone was—in the back of the building, of course—and I had a pretty good idea of the way back. When I finally made it to the phone, my lighter was dead. All it would do was throw sparks. Fortunately, there were enough of them so that I could phone home by a poor sort of strobe light and my long-suffering wife could come to my rescue. (Yes, we had a second car and it was reliable.)
It was maybe a week later when demolition began on that wonderful old building. At the time, I was not the least bit sorry to see it go. But now I’d give a thousand dollars to have it back the way it was when it was the home of The Mighty 1090.
David B. Treadway
Doc Holiday VII
EPILOGUE: I’m sure the spirits (of which there were at least two) who haunted that building had a big ol’ time watching me struggle in the dark. You’d think they could have at least given me a hand…
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tom Hunter's Halloween Adrovdga Commercials
In an earlier post, Ron Henselman reminisced about Tom Hunter's clever comic commercials for "Adrovdgas", a tasty but pesky (and purely imaginary!) little pet.
Halloween Adrovdga Commercial 1993: stream | download
Thanks, Tom and Lee and Ron!
---Dave S.
(You can listen to Tom's recreations of his commercials here:
Via Lee Hollihan, Ron has kindly provided us with Tom's "Halloween Adrovdga Commercials", recreated in 1992 and 1993 respectively. Happy trick-and-treating with these guys!
Halloween Adrovdga Commercial 1993: stream | download
Thanks, Tom and Lee and Ron!
---Dave S.
Comments On Jonnie King's Website- WOWZA!
I have always known that the folks who worked at KAAY were prolific, creative and successful...and, for one, Jonnie King really shows it in his aforementioned website.
Jonnie has really worked hard over the last few weeks, tuning it all up and getting some rare photos posted there, along with his stories and personal history regarding his tenure at not only KAAY, but other radio stations, as well. I told him I'm a bit jealous of his KAAY pictures, but not to worry, he's sharing them with the world- and us- through his previous invitation on this blog!
Please go there, enjoy the history and drop him a note. It would be much appreciated!
http://jonnieking.net/
In the meantime, don't forget us here! We're always looking for material-no matter how trivial you may think it to be- to add to the history of The Mighty1090KAAY blog.
Many hands make labor lighter; a one-legged man CAN run a marathon, but it is more difficult, so we're asking for everyone's participation!
Thank you,
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
Jonnie has really worked hard over the last few weeks, tuning it all up and getting some rare photos posted there, along with his stories and personal history regarding his tenure at not only KAAY, but other radio stations, as well. I told him I'm a bit jealous of his KAAY pictures, but not to worry, he's sharing them with the world- and us- through his previous invitation on this blog!
Please go there, enjoy the history and drop him a note. It would be much appreciated!
http://jonnieking.net/
In the meantime, don't forget us here! We're always looking for material-no matter how trivial you may think it to be- to add to the history of The Mighty1090KAAY blog.
Many hands make labor lighter; a one-legged man CAN run a marathon, but it is more difficult, so we're asking for everyone's participation!
Thank you,
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
Comments On Music List
"This is a great idea for a post. The music category brings back a lot of memories for me. For instance, "Sugar Town" reminds me of my army basic training. The song San Francisco was popular in Vietnam because many GI's thought they would be coming home to the US through San Francisco. Each time I hear that song I remember separating from the Army and coming home from overseas was one of the happiest days of my life. On the other hand, some songs trigger some bad memories too. Let's discuss the good ones.
Ron H."
I agree, Ron! I remember when I had either a Realistic DX-200 or DX-302 shortwave receiver...I was a kid and liked to tune around, listening to odd stuff. Well, I was tuning around the 25 MHz portion of the RPU (remote pick-up) broadcast band and heard WLW...I begged my mother to call their request line and got permission; I got through pretty quickly. When the deejay heard WHERE I was hearing him and HOW, he was amazed! Before he got off the air, he asked if I had a request and I asked for, "Tears Of A Clown". In about 15 minutes, he came on the air and mentioned, "...and here's one for my buddy Bud down in Alabama..." and played it...I was thrilled!
That's one of my good memories...how 'bout more? Thank you, Ron!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
Ron H."
I agree, Ron! I remember when I had either a Realistic DX-200 or DX-302 shortwave receiver...I was a kid and liked to tune around, listening to odd stuff. Well, I was tuning around the 25 MHz portion of the RPU (remote pick-up) broadcast band and heard WLW...I begged my mother to call their request line and got permission; I got through pretty quickly. When the deejay heard WHERE I was hearing him and HOW, he was amazed! Before he got off the air, he asked if I had a request and I asked for, "Tears Of A Clown". In about 15 minutes, he came on the air and mentioned, "...and here's one for my buddy Bud down in Alabama..." and played it...I was thrilled!
That's one of my good memories...how 'bout more? Thank you, Ron!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Conversation Starter...
Some of us associate music with special times in our lives...a tune triggers a great memory, or music can mark a great period. Whatever the case, music is very important to us.
Dave M. checks in with a great list of movies and music from 1968, the year he graduated from high school. In his own words...
"Our town was quiet, but we heard about what was going on in other cities. It was a small town in east Texas, and rather insulated from the world – and we only received 1 TV station, so most news came over local radio, or from the big 50kW voices we heard at night. KAAY was 6 years old in 1968 and “Top 40” radio was very popular, with a mix of personalities, pop music, and news.
Historically 1968 was an awful year, with riots in many cities, lots of turmoil over the VN war, the assasinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., and more. But there were some good movies and some great music.
I’m sure many of the blog readers will have mixed memories of this period – both good and bad."
Here's Dave's List:
Top Movies of 1968 -
- Night of the Living Dead
- Funny Girl
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- The Odd Couple
- Bullitt
- Romeo and Juliet
- Oliver!
- Planet of the Apes
- Rosemary's Baby
- Yours, Mine, and Ours
Top Songs of 1968 –
- Hey Jude, The Beatles
- Honey, Bobby Goldsboro
- Love Is Blue, Paul Mauriat
- (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay, Otis Redding
- People Got To Be Free, Rascals
- Sunshine Of Your Love, Cream
- This Guy's In Love With You, Herb Alpert
- Stoned Soul Picnic, Fifth Dimension
I agree with Dave...where I grew up near Mobile, Alabama, we had three TV stations, with one of those broadcasting from Pensacola...maybe a fourth on UHF, but I can't remember ever being able to see it with any regularity...and radio was important to us, as well. We had two or three pretty good stations here as well, but before I found KAAY (and other powerhouse stations), my mother kept her car radio on "beautiful music" (not Top 40) and my father kept his truck radio on country music. Everyone shut up when the news came on.
I also remember once, when riding in town with my father, someone hitting his truck with a brick....
Dave also sent me a l-o-n-g wish list of 1968 music to fill a jukebox with...but its too long to put here! Rest assured it was some quality stuff!
Thank you, Dave! Does anyone else have some musical, movie or other entertainment memories they'd like to share?
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
Dave M. checks in with a great list of movies and music from 1968, the year he graduated from high school. In his own words...
"Our town was quiet, but we heard about what was going on in other cities. It was a small town in east Texas, and rather insulated from the world – and we only received 1 TV station, so most news came over local radio, or from the big 50kW voices we heard at night. KAAY was 6 years old in 1968 and “Top 40” radio was very popular, with a mix of personalities, pop music, and news.
Historically 1968 was an awful year, with riots in many cities, lots of turmoil over the VN war, the assasinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., and more. But there were some good movies and some great music.
I’m sure many of the blog readers will have mixed memories of this period – both good and bad."
Here's Dave's List:
Top Movies of 1968 -
- Night of the Living Dead
- Funny Girl
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- The Odd Couple
- Bullitt
- Romeo and Juliet
- Oliver!
- Planet of the Apes
- Rosemary's Baby
- Yours, Mine, and Ours
Top Songs of 1968 –
- Hey Jude, The Beatles
- Honey, Bobby Goldsboro
- Love Is Blue, Paul Mauriat
- (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay, Otis Redding
- People Got To Be Free, Rascals
- Sunshine Of Your Love, Cream
- This Guy's In Love With You, Herb Alpert
- Stoned Soul Picnic, Fifth Dimension
I agree with Dave...where I grew up near Mobile, Alabama, we had three TV stations, with one of those broadcasting from Pensacola...maybe a fourth on UHF, but I can't remember ever being able to see it with any regularity...and radio was important to us, as well. We had two or three pretty good stations here as well, but before I found KAAY (and other powerhouse stations), my mother kept her car radio on "beautiful music" (not Top 40) and my father kept his truck radio on country music. Everyone shut up when the news came on.
I also remember once, when riding in town with my father, someone hitting his truck with a brick....
Dave also sent me a l-o-n-g wish list of 1968 music to fill a jukebox with...but its too long to put here! Rest assured it was some quality stuff!
Thank you, Dave! Does anyone else have some musical, movie or other entertainment memories they'd like to share?
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
Monday, October 26, 2009
Pics Of Tommy Riggs & Charlie Okle From 1966!
Hilarious picture of Tommy in the rear of the control room. Amazing what you can do with a couple of waste baskets, a hat, a scarf and a set of headphones...!!! So we were a couple of comedians.
And a posed picture of me at the board. Same night in 1966. I bet everyone will love these. -Charlie
Charlie Okle: Tommy Riggs' Obit
Charlie Okle and Tommy Riggs were great friends, according to Charlie. Charlie wanted me to share this with everyone:
From the Arkansas Democrat Gazette: "His name was Tommy Riggs but many fondly remember him by his radio moniker, "Rock Robbins", or by his nickname, "the Prom King"."
"In the 1960's and 1970's, Riggs' voice was broadcast over Little Rock's KAAY-AM, his humor transmitted across radio waves from Canada to Havana, Cuba."
Readers should be able to click on the picture and enlarge it, but if you cannot, just drop me a line via e-mail and I'll return with a .pdf file for you.
BTW, for those who didn't know of Tommy Riggs, he had a beautiful voice and wrote many songs. Several KAAY deejays here worked with Tommy and he's been mentioned here and on A. J.'s blog many times.
Keep those memories coming!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
From the Arkansas Democrat Gazette: "His name was Tommy Riggs but many fondly remember him by his radio moniker, "Rock Robbins", or by his nickname, "the Prom King"."
"In the 1960's and 1970's, Riggs' voice was broadcast over Little Rock's KAAY-AM, his humor transmitted across radio waves from Canada to Havana, Cuba."
Readers should be able to click on the picture and enlarge it, but if you cannot, just drop me a line via e-mail and I'll return with a .pdf file for you.
BTW, for those who didn't know of Tommy Riggs, he had a beautiful voice and wrote many songs. Several KAAY deejays here worked with Tommy and he's been mentioned here and on A. J.'s blog many times.
Keep those memories coming!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
KAAY & Radio-Related Halloween Stories
You know, I was betting (if I were a betting man) that someone in the KAAY bunch, as creative as they were/are, would come up with a Halloween story or two...and I was correct! We'd already mentioned the grave at the transmitter site, but here's a couple more...one from "Hog Fan":
"Actually, I do, Bud. It's a story from my days at KCLA in Pine Bluff, where I worked with A.J., Greg Fadick, Barry Wood, and George J.Jennings. The largest high school in town, Pine Bluff High School, had their Homecoming near Halloween. And each year they had a homecoming parade. We found an old 30's model car with running boards, dressed up in 3-piece suits, and some of us found toy guns to complete the look. We had a sign on the car that said "The KCLA HitMen". It was mostly jocks with 1 or 2 sales-folks to make it look 'bigger'. We were standing around before the parade began and I noticed that one of the salesmen had a really nice shoulder-holster. Looking more closely, revealed that he had a real '45 in the holster. Nothing was in the clip, but the gun was definitely more 'authentic'than anything anyone else brought."
And, one from Dave M.:
"Hi Bud - I've been traveling for a week, but wanted to let you know I was digging through some old photos and found a couple I will upload later this week. I found a snapshot of Bill Howell (Bill Edwards on the air), and a pretty good shot of Funmobile "Number 1" (the blue trailer) - I'll get those to you when I get them scanned. Does anyone have any snapshots of Funmobile "Number 2" (the yellow motorhome that eventually burned down)? Don Payne will have to tell us that story of the fire and how it happened . . .
KAAY did a haunted house promotion for several years in the "70's" with the LR Jaycees (I think). I don't remember much about it other than we parked the Funmobile out front, we did a live broadcast from there each night and LOTS of people came through each year. Maybe someone else remembers some good stories about the KAAY Haunted House?
I seem to remember that the year AFTER we moved the studios to Cottondale Lane, we used the old vacant West 7th street studio building as a Haunted House, which "really" made it the "KAAY Haunted House". Not long after that the West 7th Street building was torn down to build a freeway exit.
/Dave M/"
Jim, Dave, thanks for the stories...and we're looking forward to those promised photos! Don P. also, with his story on how the Funmobile burned...was THAT a Halloween-related incident?
Be sure to watch out for kids as they run around the neighborhood, getting goodies...and I'll be working at a "Fall FUNtastic" myself, clad in a ghillie suit:
Yup, ya shoulda seen the kids AND adults jump when they saw me!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
"Actually, I do, Bud. It's a story from my days at KCLA in Pine Bluff, where I worked with A.J., Greg Fadick, Barry Wood, and George J.Jennings. The largest high school in town, Pine Bluff High School, had their Homecoming near Halloween. And each year they had a homecoming parade. We found an old 30's model car with running boards, dressed up in 3-piece suits, and some of us found toy guns to complete the look. We had a sign on the car that said "The KCLA HitMen". It was mostly jocks with 1 or 2 sales-folks to make it look 'bigger'. We were standing around before the parade began and I noticed that one of the salesmen had a really nice shoulder-holster. Looking more closely, revealed that he had a real '45 in the holster. Nothing was in the clip, but the gun was definitely more 'authentic'than anything anyone else brought."
And, one from Dave M.:
"Hi Bud - I've been traveling for a week, but wanted to let you know I was digging through some old photos and found a couple I will upload later this week. I found a snapshot of Bill Howell (Bill Edwards on the air), and a pretty good shot of Funmobile "Number 1" (the blue trailer) - I'll get those to you when I get them scanned. Does anyone have any snapshots of Funmobile "Number 2" (the yellow motorhome that eventually burned down)? Don Payne will have to tell us that story of the fire and how it happened . . .
KAAY did a haunted house promotion for several years in the "70's" with the LR Jaycees (I think). I don't remember much about it other than we parked the Funmobile out front, we did a live broadcast from there each night and LOTS of people came through each year. Maybe someone else remembers some good stories about the KAAY Haunted House?
I seem to remember that the year AFTER we moved the studios to Cottondale Lane, we used the old vacant West 7th street studio building as a Haunted House, which "really" made it the "KAAY Haunted House". Not long after that the West 7th Street building was torn down to build a freeway exit.
/Dave M/"
Jim, Dave, thanks for the stories...and we're looking forward to those promised photos! Don P. also, with his story on how the Funmobile burned...was THAT a Halloween-related incident?
Be sure to watch out for kids as they run around the neighborhood, getting goodies...and I'll be working at a "Fall FUNtastic" myself, clad in a ghillie suit:
Yup, ya shoulda seen the kids AND adults jump when they saw me!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Ron Henselman: Broadcast Radio in Vietnam, Part II
[As a follow-up to previous posts on radio broadcasting and radio reception in Vietnam during the war, Ron Henselman, himself a Vietnam veteran, assembled this material. Thank, you, Ron, for your hard work!]
Broadcast Radio in Vietnam, Part II
After I tired of listening to AFVN, I decided it was time to meet the man with the FM station at Bien Hoa Airbase, so my radio enthusiast friend Paul F. Lebzelter and I drove over to meet Phil Lenz. Phil showed us his setup. I was impressed because he actually had a turnstile antenna on a tower. It looked like two horizontal dipole antennas mounted at right angles to each other. This gave the station an omni-directional pattern. This is when I volunteered to build a five hundred watt RF amplifier for the station. Phil was very mild mannered, and he declined my offer by explaining he needed to keep somewhat of a low profile because he was already competition for AFVN in Saigon.
Phil Lenz:
"The tower in the picture is the one that belonged to my detachment (Long Lines South) and the dipole on the very top is the WACI antenna. It was part of a "bed springs" assy. I took the dipole off the reflector and had my friend Vance climb to the top and mount it (I don't climb). The transmitter was a TRC-24 (Track 24) which had several plug-in RF heads of course I used the 100 MHZ head. The Air Force assigned me the frequency of 102.25. The only other antenna on the tower is the microwave dish that was aimed toward Long Binh.
Vance is one of the guys on the tower but I can't really tell who the other guys are, but they are all from my group."
I explained how much I enjoyed the prerecorded shows with the funny announcers and fake commercials. Phil told us the gentlemen supplying much of the material were Tom Hunter and Lee Hollihan. Each of them mailed tapes of their shows to Phil for airplay on WACI. Both Lee and Tom could perform as different characters. My favorite character was Jose’ Meteres, which was performed by Tom Hunter. Jose’ was a DJ who sometimes screwed up the English language. There was a time I thought Jose’ was really a Hispanic gentleman. Lee did Big Lee Baby. How many of you remember Big Hugh Baby on WLAC out of Nashville? After my curiosity about Tom and Lee was satisfied, Phil informed me Lee had a station on the air before him. I wrote to Lee to see if I could get any specifics about his station. Here is what Lee had to say in his recent email:
"Hi Ron,
Hope you are feeling better.
WACI was at 1200 KC when I was on the air in 1965-1966. The first transmitter was a small 10 watt unit that was under a utility table. There is sort of a picture of it at my WACI Vietnam web site. One is at tent city B. The second is at the Gia-Dinh villa.
The final location was at the main 125th ATC compound at Tan-Son-Nhut airbase. I have been unable to find a photo of that setup. I thought I had some Black and White negatives somewhere, but they seem to be hiding. I hope they weren't in the camera case that was stolen back in 1982.
Anyhow, the transmitter was rebuilt with nav-aid beacon parts and the old crystal oscillator from the 10 watt unit. The final output power was 50 watts... using an 807 PA. I think. The modulator was a copy of a 30 watt Williamson amplifier with push pull 6L6 output tubes. A genuine 50 watt modulation transformer was used, although it only needed 25 watts for 100% modulation. That transformer developed a short, and went up in a glorious puff of smoke. No one was there at the time. It's a good thing the hootch didn't burn down. I was told how the place was filled with smoke. There was quite a commotion. I replaced it the next day with a bad beacon modulation transformer that developed an arc when used at 500 watts. It worked fine at 250 watts, so I figured there would be no problem using it at 25 or so watts. I was concerned that it might sound really bad. But it sounded just fine. It sat on the floor beneath the transmitter that was in a rack made from 2 x 4s. Nothing new about that, eh, Tom?
The antenna was the weakest link in the system. It consisted of a 150 foot long wire that was fed about 40 feet from the transmitter end with a 30 foot -- almost vertical -- hunk of wire. This was also the hot end of the antenna. The transmitter and feed line were in the same area as the studio equipment. It was a miracle we didn't get a lot of RF feedback. The only people who had a problem with RF were the poor bastards who had those Teac recorders that were very popular. WACI used one, too. I had to put bypass capacitors on the playback heads. The record circuit wasn't bothered for some reason. My little Sony 1/2 track worked fine. The antenna was only about 30 feet high. It was strung over the tops of the hootches on the drag strip side of the compound.
Yikes! That's more than I planned to write. I am getting hungry.
See ya later,
Lee"
If you care to read more about Lee’s early efforts, you should take a look at one of his web pages:
http://web.mac.com/leerecord/waci/waci_vietnam.html
When one can’t find something in the spirit of a station such as KAAY, why not create your own?
[AUDIO CLIPS:
After 9-11, I started feeling sentimental about some of the people I met in Vietnam, so I started searching the Internet. I saw Phil listed as the chief engineer of a Pittsburgh station on some DX bulletin board. My favorite fake commercial was for a fictitious product called Zeke’s French Fried Adrovdgas, so I mentioned that in my initial email to Phil. Soon I received an email from Tom Hunter telling me Adrovdgas were his creation.
[AUDIO CLIPS: Tom Hunter Adrovdga commercials
I had learned how to do analog audio production on my own, but Tom took the time to teach me the finer points of digital audio editing since we first communicated in 2001. That is why A.J. asked me to edit and improve some of his audio clips. A.J. said he didn’t have the patience to do some of the things I did for the old blog. I find it interesting how Tom can speak so clearly when he is doing an Adrovdga commercial; then he can be the bumbling deejay Jose' Meteres and be totally silly. Take a look at Tom’s site --- you will find the items near the top the most interesting, but you will also see he does on-site recording and manages some web pages. He is man of many talents: http://mysite.verizon.net/tomhunter .
One might wonder if my friends still do live radio shows. I listen to Lee and Phil on Sunday nights via the Internet, and you can too: http://www.pgholdies.com/ . Make sure to look at some of the photos on all of the sites I have listed. I still learn from Tom. He is a great teacher, yet I have never met him in person.
If Lee reads this, I hope he will give me permission to post his “Daddy Lolo show.” How about it Lee? Clean it up so we can provide a link to it! It has faked out many professionals as being a legitimate Vietnamese station.
---Ron Henselman
Broadcast Radio in Vietnam, Part II
After I tired of listening to AFVN, I decided it was time to meet the man with the FM station at Bien Hoa Airbase, so my radio enthusiast friend Paul F. Lebzelter and I drove over to meet Phil Lenz. Phil showed us his setup. I was impressed because he actually had a turnstile antenna on a tower. It looked like two horizontal dipole antennas mounted at right angles to each other. This gave the station an omni-directional pattern. This is when I volunteered to build a five hundred watt RF amplifier for the station. Phil was very mild mannered, and he declined my offer by explaining he needed to keep somewhat of a low profile because he was already competition for AFVN in Saigon.
"The tower in the picture is the one that belonged to my detachment (Long Lines South) and the dipole on the very top is the WACI antenna. It was part of a "bed springs" assy. I took the dipole off the reflector and had my friend Vance climb to the top and mount it (I don't climb). The transmitter was a TRC-24 (Track 24) which had several plug-in RF heads of course I used the 100 MHZ head. The Air Force assigned me the frequency of 102.25. The only other antenna on the tower is the microwave dish that was aimed toward Long Binh.
I explained how much I enjoyed the prerecorded shows with the funny announcers and fake commercials. Phil told us the gentlemen supplying much of the material were Tom Hunter and Lee Hollihan. Each of them mailed tapes of their shows to Phil for airplay on WACI. Both Lee and Tom could perform as different characters. My favorite character was Jose’ Meteres, which was performed by Tom Hunter. Jose’ was a DJ who sometimes screwed up the English language. There was a time I thought Jose’ was really a Hispanic gentleman. Lee did Big Lee Baby. How many of you remember Big Hugh Baby on WLAC out of Nashville? After my curiosity about Tom and Lee was satisfied, Phil informed me Lee had a station on the air before him. I wrote to Lee to see if I could get any specifics about his station. Here is what Lee had to say in his recent email:
"Hi Ron,
Hope you are feeling better.
WACI was at 1200 KC when I was on the air in 1965-1966. The first transmitter was a small 10 watt unit that was under a utility table. There is sort of a picture of it at my WACI Vietnam web site. One is at tent city B. The second is at the Gia-Dinh villa.
The final location was at the main 125th ATC compound at Tan-Son-Nhut airbase. I have been unable to find a photo of that setup. I thought I had some Black and White negatives somewhere, but they seem to be hiding. I hope they weren't in the camera case that was stolen back in 1982.
Anyhow, the transmitter was rebuilt with nav-aid beacon parts and the old crystal oscillator from the 10 watt unit. The final output power was 50 watts... using an 807 PA. I think. The modulator was a copy of a 30 watt Williamson amplifier with push pull 6L6 output tubes. A genuine 50 watt modulation transformer was used, although it only needed 25 watts for 100% modulation. That transformer developed a short, and went up in a glorious puff of smoke. No one was there at the time. It's a good thing the hootch didn't burn down. I was told how the place was filled with smoke. There was quite a commotion. I replaced it the next day with a bad beacon modulation transformer that developed an arc when used at 500 watts. It worked fine at 250 watts, so I figured there would be no problem using it at 25 or so watts. I was concerned that it might sound really bad. But it sounded just fine. It sat on the floor beneath the transmitter that was in a rack made from 2 x 4s. Nothing new about that, eh, Tom?
The antenna was the weakest link in the system. It consisted of a 150 foot long wire that was fed about 40 feet from the transmitter end with a 30 foot -- almost vertical -- hunk of wire. This was also the hot end of the antenna. The transmitter and feed line were in the same area as the studio equipment. It was a miracle we didn't get a lot of RF feedback. The only people who had a problem with RF were the poor bastards who had those Teac recorders that were very popular. WACI used one, too. I had to put bypass capacitors on the playback heads. The record circuit wasn't bothered for some reason. My little Sony 1/2 track worked fine. The antenna was only about 30 feet high. It was strung over the tops of the hootches on the drag strip side of the compound.
Yikes! That's more than I planned to write. I am getting hungry.
See ya later,
Lee"
If you care to read more about Lee’s early efforts, you should take a look at one of his web pages:
http://web.mac.com/leerecord/waci/waci_vietnam.html
When one can’t find something in the spirit of a station such as KAAY, why not create your own?
[AUDIO CLIPS:
- LEE HOLLIHAN, WACI VIETNAM, VOL 01A: stream | download
- PHIL LENZ, WACI, BIEN HOA: WINE WINE WINE: stream | download
- PHIL LENZ, TOP TEN MINI-SPINS: stream | download ]
After 9-11, I started feeling sentimental about some of the people I met in Vietnam, so I started searching the Internet. I saw Phil listed as the chief engineer of a Pittsburgh station on some DX bulletin board. My favorite fake commercial was for a fictitious product called Zeke’s French Fried Adrovdgas, so I mentioned that in my initial email to Phil. Soon I received an email from Tom Hunter telling me Adrovdgas were his creation.
[AUDIO CLIPS: Tom Hunter Adrovdga commercials
I had learned how to do analog audio production on my own, but Tom took the time to teach me the finer points of digital audio editing since we first communicated in 2001. That is why A.J. asked me to edit and improve some of his audio clips. A.J. said he didn’t have the patience to do some of the things I did for the old blog. I find it interesting how Tom can speak so clearly when he is doing an Adrovdga commercial; then he can be the bumbling deejay Jose' Meteres and be totally silly. Take a look at Tom’s site --- you will find the items near the top the most interesting, but you will also see he does on-site recording and manages some web pages. He is man of many talents: http://mysite.verizon.net/tomhunter .
One might wonder if my friends still do live radio shows. I listen to Lee and Phil on Sunday nights via the Internet, and you can too: http://www.pgholdies.com/ . Make sure to look at some of the photos on all of the sites I have listed. I still learn from Tom. He is a great teacher, yet I have never met him in person.
If Lee reads this, I hope he will give me permission to post his “Daddy Lolo show.” How about it Lee? Clean it up so we can provide a link to it! It has faked out many professionals as being a legitimate Vietnamese station.
---Ron Henselman
Friday, October 23, 2009
Care And Treatment Of CDs And DVDs
I got permission from a fellow aircheck collector to print this...makes good sense:
"Do not put labels or write on the DVD's or CD's. I have found that labels can dissolve the protective lacquer coating if the adhesive is based on a solvent that the lacquer is susceptible to. Asymmetric labels can throw the disc out of balance, causing read problems, and labels not designed for CDs or DVD's might bubble or peel off when subjected to long periods of heat inside a CD/DVD drive. The ink in some kinds of pens may damage the top coating of the disc."
Have a good weekend, all!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
"Do not put labels or write on the DVD's or CD's. I have found that labels can dissolve the protective lacquer coating if the adhesive is based on a solvent that the lacquer is susceptible to. Asymmetric labels can throw the disc out of balance, causing read problems, and labels not designed for CDs or DVD's might bubble or peel off when subjected to long periods of heat inside a CD/DVD drive. The ink in some kinds of pens may damage the top coating of the disc."
Have a good weekend, all!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
Jerry Sims Comments On The Scooter Rides!
I remember the contest well. They were Yamaha "Twin Jet 100's". We gave away the two of them. The contest rule was to keep up with the miles they had put on them. At various times the D.J.'s would update the rides. "Today Ron Owens rode over to the State Capital Building to cover a Governor's press conference..and back". "Buddy Carr went for a ride out to Park Plaza Mall and back" etc.
Now thanks to you, Charlie, we know the milage was not accurate, but it would have been worth it to see Tommy on the bike.
Most of the jocks were not riders before the contest. I had two motorcycles and the guys would come to my house, in Lakewood, to practice. We also had a race at the old Benton Speed Bowl one night that almost ended in disaster. I'll post a story about that later.
Jerry Sims
Now thanks to you, Charlie, we know the milage was not accurate, but it would have been worth it to see Tommy on the bike.
Most of the jocks were not riders before the contest. I had two motorcycles and the guys would come to my house, in Lakewood, to practice. We also had a race at the old Benton Speed Bowl one night that almost ended in disaster. I'll post a story about that later.
Jerry Sims
Thursday, October 22, 2009
THE OFFICIAL JONNIE KING WEBSITE
Hi Everybody ! (Does that sound general enough ?)
I wanted all of you to know that I've put together my personal WebSite...and I wanted to share it with you here first.
I had a serious accident a year ago yesterday (10-21-2008), and it had me laid-up for almost 6 months...and in the process gave me a lot of time to think about the future, as well as my past.
With well over 50 years combined in Acting & Broadcasting, I've decided to share many of my stories, pix, airchecks, memorablia, and personal memories on a "dedicated" site. And, someday, I promise there'll be a book !
I thank all of you for logging-on to THIS site and, of course, I'll keep contributing here too. BUT, I wanted a forum to share my archives with all of you...and many others who are friends, on a very personal basis. That's why I'm mentioning it here first.
If you have some time please check-it out and let me know how you like it. WARNING: It is a "work in progress", not finished yet. But, during the last 3 weeks I've spent well over 100 hours putting it together...my standards are very high, and I've torn it apart and rebuilt it many times to get what is there now as perfect as it can be.
THINGS TO LOOK FOR ON THE SITE: 3 pages of KAAY Pics & Info;
My Special 2009 Halloween Film Rarities List; The 2 Part Rick Nelson Interview/Tribute; My 40th Anniversary Show; AND, how I got to KAAY TO BEGIN WITH !
PLUS, after you've listened to all my other Airchecks, listen to my 40th Anniversary Special...you'll hear a different style, a different progression. Like many others in my profession, if you try to do what you do very well, you become a "chameleon" and can shift & change into ANY format and still retain your own persona. If you listen, I think you'll know what I mean.
(Don't Forget: You'll see some of the RAREST KAAY PIX in existence from my personal collection, and see some of the early KAAY crew too ! )
Take your time, enjoy the Site, and thanks to each and everyone of you for your kindness & support.
Just go to : http://www.jonnieking.net/
Jonnie
I wanted all of you to know that I've put together my personal WebSite...and I wanted to share it with you here first.
I had a serious accident a year ago yesterday (10-21-2008), and it had me laid-up for almost 6 months...and in the process gave me a lot of time to think about the future, as well as my past.
With well over 50 years combined in Acting & Broadcasting, I've decided to share many of my stories, pix, airchecks, memorablia, and personal memories on a "dedicated" site. And, someday, I promise there'll be a book !
I thank all of you for logging-on to THIS site and, of course, I'll keep contributing here too. BUT, I wanted a forum to share my archives with all of you...and many others who are friends, on a very personal basis. That's why I'm mentioning it here first.
If you have some time please check-it out and let me know how you like it. WARNING: It is a "work in progress", not finished yet. But, during the last 3 weeks I've spent well over 100 hours putting it together...my standards are very high, and I've torn it apart and rebuilt it many times to get what is there now as perfect as it can be.
THINGS TO LOOK FOR ON THE SITE: 3 pages of KAAY Pics & Info;
My Special 2009 Halloween Film Rarities List; The 2 Part Rick Nelson Interview/Tribute; My 40th Anniversary Show; AND, how I got to KAAY TO BEGIN WITH !
PLUS, after you've listened to all my other Airchecks, listen to my 40th Anniversary Special...you'll hear a different style, a different progression. Like many others in my profession, if you try to do what you do very well, you become a "chameleon" and can shift & change into ANY format and still retain your own persona. If you listen, I think you'll know what I mean.
(Don't Forget: You'll see some of the RAREST KAAY PIX in existence from my personal collection, and see some of the early KAAY crew too ! )
Take your time, enjoy the Site, and thanks to each and everyone of you for your kindness & support.
Just go to : http://www.jonnieking.net/
Jonnie
Charlie Okle, Tommy Riggs And The Midnight Scooter Ride
Had to be the summer of 1966... KAAY was running a promotion to give away two motor scooters, Yamaha I believe. Tom worked till midnight. His wife Stella was there and I was visiting. The motor scooters were parked in the back room of the station where the door to the parking lot was. Tom got the bright idea to take them for a "midnight ride" through downtown. The station was on West 7th street near the state capitol building. So off we went, navigating steep hills and narrow streets for several miles. We pulled down the alley behind the station and put the bikes away in the back room! As far as I know, nobody at the station was aware of our escapade. Certainly not the contest winners...
Perhaps someone will have information as to the exact date, and the make of the scooters. Let me know if you find out.
Perhaps someone will have information as to the exact date, and the make of the scooters. Let me know if you find out.
Number One Songs For This Date '62 to '85
1985 Saving All My Love for You Whitney Houston
1984 I Just Called to Say I Love You Stevie Wonder
1983 Total Eclipse of the Heart Bonnie Tyler
1982 Jack and Diane John Cougar
1981 Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) Christopher Cross
1980 Woman in Love Barbra Streisand
THE 1970s
1979 Rise Herb Alpert
1978 Hot Child in the City Nick Gilder
1977 You Light Up My Life Debby Boone
1976 If You Leave Me Now Chicago
1975 Bad Blood Neil Sedaka
1974 Then Came You Dionne Warwick & the Spinners
1973 Midnight Train to Georgia Gladys Knight & the Pips
1972 My Ding-a-Ling Chuck Berry
1971 Maggie May/ Reason to Believe Rod Stewart
1970 I'll Be There The Jackson 5
THE 1960s
1969 I Can't Get Next to You The Temptations
1968 Hey Jude The Beatles
1967 To Sir, with Love Lulu
1966 Reach Out I'll Be There The Four Tops
1965 Yesterday The Beatles
1964 Do Wah Diddy Diddy Manfred Mann
1963 Sugar Shack Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs
1962 Monster Mash Bobby "Boris" Pickett & the Crypt Kickers
AND, for this day in 1958:
1958 It's All in the Game Tommy Edwards
Why? Because today's my birthday!
http://www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/10/1022.htm
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
1984 I Just Called to Say I Love You Stevie Wonder
1983 Total Eclipse of the Heart Bonnie Tyler
1982 Jack and Diane John Cougar
1981 Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) Christopher Cross
1980 Woman in Love Barbra Streisand
THE 1970s
1979 Rise Herb Alpert
1978 Hot Child in the City Nick Gilder
1977 You Light Up My Life Debby Boone
1976 If You Leave Me Now Chicago
1975 Bad Blood Neil Sedaka
1974 Then Came You Dionne Warwick & the Spinners
1973 Midnight Train to Georgia Gladys Knight & the Pips
1972 My Ding-a-Ling Chuck Berry
1971 Maggie May/ Reason to Believe Rod Stewart
1970 I'll Be There The Jackson 5
THE 1960s
1969 I Can't Get Next to You The Temptations
1968 Hey Jude The Beatles
1967 To Sir, with Love Lulu
1966 Reach Out I'll Be There The Four Tops
1965 Yesterday The Beatles
1964 Do Wah Diddy Diddy Manfred Mann
1963 Sugar Shack Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs
1962 Monster Mash Bobby "Boris" Pickett & the Crypt Kickers
AND, for this day in 1958:
1958 It's All in the Game Tommy Edwards
Why? Because today's my birthday!
http://www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/10/1022.htm
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
A Tommy Riggs Story From Charlie Okle
Tommy Riggs has been mentioned from time to time on this blog and A. J.'s old blog; Charlie Okle shares a humerous story with us (how many of US have done this, huh?):
"Here's a Tommy story from the old KAAY days...
After Tom started working at KAAY, I would drive up to Little Rock from Pine Bluff and visit fairly often as we were best of friends. One afternoon in downtown Little Rock, we were browsing around in the old Woolworth Store at 4th and Main. We spotted a display of the new Wham-O "Super Balls". Having seen them advertised on TV, we each bought one. As we went to the sidewalk out front Tom unwrapped his and gave it a mighty slam against the concrete. This was a very busy intersection and the ball bounced very high out over traffic. When it came down and bounced off a car driving by, all hell broke loose. Here was his ball being batted around by passing autos. Tom shouted "My God", and we stood there dumbstruck for a minute, then beat a hasty retreat down the sidewalk hoping no one had noticed where it had come from!!! -Charlie."
"Here's a Tommy story from the old KAAY days...
After Tom started working at KAAY, I would drive up to Little Rock from Pine Bluff and visit fairly often as we were best of friends. One afternoon in downtown Little Rock, we were browsing around in the old Woolworth Store at 4th and Main. We spotted a display of the new Wham-O "Super Balls". Having seen them advertised on TV, we each bought one. As we went to the sidewalk out front Tom unwrapped his and gave it a mighty slam against the concrete. This was a very busy intersection and the ball bounced very high out over traffic. When it came down and bounced off a car driving by, all hell broke loose. Here was his ball being batted around by passing autos. Tom shouted "My God", and we stood there dumbstruck for a minute, then beat a hasty retreat down the sidewalk hoping no one had noticed where it had come from!!! -Charlie."
"Where Are They Now"...Again....
Man, what a pleasure, listening to those voices on the Timeless Tracks! Always the questions surface...this time, it's about Jim and Jerry Pitcock! Does anyone know where they are nowadays, how to contact them and what they're doing? We sure would like their input to the blog!
How about Charlie King? I think Jerry Sims mentioned that he may still be around.
The more we look around, the more folks we find who are still with us! Still looking for stories, anecdotes, pictures and what-have-you to help fill the historical holes in KAAY's lineage!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
How about Charlie King? I think Jerry Sims mentioned that he may still be around.
The more we look around, the more folks we find who are still with us! Still looking for stories, anecdotes, pictures and what-have-you to help fill the historical holes in KAAY's lineage!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
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