Hollis Duncan Recounts KLRA, Little Rock, AR History

If I remember correctly, A. J. had mentioned Little Rock station KLRA, numerous times on his blog; here, Hollis also recounts some interesting history:

"Here's some information on KLRA. I have derived most of this information either from memory or from a thorough review of a suitcase full of engineering documents that I rescued from the rat-dropping-covered floor of the old KLRA transmitter building.

In the late 1960s, KLRA-1010 was operating from its transmitter site at Galloway. KLRA operated with 10,000 watts nondirectional days and 5,000 watts at night into a 4-tower parallelogram array. The towers were too short to operate properly on 1010 and therein lies a story.

Before 1942, KLRA operated with 5 kw days and 1 kw at night from a 2-tower array slightly NE of the 15th Street Exit on I-30 in North Little Rock, later the site of KDXE/KEWP-1380. During WWII, new radio station construction was placed on hold with very few exceptions (like KCTA-1030 in Corpus Christi). However, KLRA was owned by the Arkansas Gazette and they had enough political pull to obtain a Construction Permit to increase KLRA's power. The Gazette obtained a Construction Permit for Galloway and started construction. But it was wartime, KLRA could not buy a new transmitter, so it obtained a 10,000 watt RCA transmitter, which was an older unit and was at least one generation older than the KAAY transmitter. Because 10,000 watts is an fairly odd power level, the transmitter may have been even older than that. I have a vague memory that the transmitter was in a warehouse in South America. The phasor, open-wire transmission lines and the antenna tuning units were scrounged and filled with scrounged components, making everything rather unstable and it provided an odd and very poor match to the transmitter. The war also meant that KLRA couldn't obtain enough steel for proper-size towers or enough copper to install a proper ground system.

The KLRA nighttime array generated a big lobe of radiation toward Memphis and another big lobe pointed toward Dallas, with a broad SE null and a huge null covering the entire north side of the array. Because 1010 is Canadian Clear Channel, KLRA was required to protect the entire Canadian Border at night. In my experience, KLRA's nighttime coverage extended almost to the northern Pulaski County Line, but you could hear KLRA at night in Dallas and Memphis. It later appeared that the original proof of performance may have been fudged or maybe even faked (the so-called Hotel Room Proof of Performance).

Ancient transmitter, short towers, poor ground system, flaky phasor, faked antenna proof. All of these problems would haunt KLRA throughout its doomed existence.

By the middle 1960s, KLRA was owned by the legendary Mr. Leonard Coe. Mr. Coe made a fortune building the Texas Quality Network (later TSN - The Texas State Network) and (I think) as Sales Manager of WBAP-Fort Worth. He moved to Little Rock and either started or bought KVLC-1050, The Voice of Leonard Coe. KVLC's transmitter site was east of Little Rock. When the City wanted to expand Adams Field, Mr. Coe made the City build him a very nice antenna site at the foot of Big Rock in North Little Rock. Mr. Coe later sold KVLC, which became KMYO, KSOH, and so on, and bought KLRA.

As an aside, Mr. Coe owned a lot of vacant land on Hayes Street and stock in a little gas company. As I heard the story from the KLRA crew, Mr. Coe fell under the influence of some New York investors who convinced him to sell his land on Hayes Street (now University Avenue) and his stock in Arkla Gas. I met Mr. Coe when we were testing KLAZ one afternoon and Mr. Coe heard it on his radio and stopped by for a tour.

When I became aware of radio in the mid-60s, KLRA was "Ten Thousand Watts at 1010 on your dial, KLRA. First in Little Rock." KLRA advertised on taxicabs and (along with KARK and maybe KAAY) published its schedule in the newspapers. KLRA had CBS, the Cardinals, the Razorbacks, and Herbie Byrd. The air staff was Blande Perry (Chief Engineer) at sign-on. Brother Hal, Dick Alford, Jerry Hendrix (the Jerry-Go-Round), Marv Heffington, and Paul DeMaree. Elmer Overton "Alan"" Hurst was the long-time production director and copywriter at KLRA and may have done traffic.

KLRA was a strong local presence in the 60s. KLRA flipped from standards to country music around 1970 and started trying to compete with KXLR and KDXE without much success. However, the Brother Hal show was a real money-maker and Mr. Coe added to his profits by requiring that all advertising on Brother Hal must be placed through the Arkansas Advertising Agency, which was owned by his Son-in-Law, Gary Carroll.

During the 60s and 70s, Little Rock started to grow westward and northward into KLRA's nighttime nulls. At night, the NW starting point of KLRA's nighttime pattern null to Canada fell right across the Heights section of Little Rock, producing fading along Cantrell Road. Because KLRA was a secondary occupant of 1010, a new station in the St. Louis area (KXEN-Festus) was allowed to begin operation with a 6-tower antenna array that is pointed straight toward North Arkansas. This station caused severe interference to KLRA in the early morning and late-evening hours even in Little Rock. KLRA also knew that its daytime coverage wasn't nearly as good as KAAY, KARK, or even KBHS and set out to fix this, only to encounter a set of built-in problems.

First, KLRA took the logical step of upgrading its ground system. For reasons of confusion and poor documentation, KLRA ended up installing two ground systems over several years. KLRA also discovered that it was radiating too much power toward Canada at night and spent a year with an on-site Consulting Engineer to try to correct this problem. KLRA operated with antenna parameters at variance for many years. Unfortunately, this effort was directed toward returning KLRA to its 1942 antenna settings and it turned out that these settings were wrong. As far as I know, KLRA never did achieve proper operation of its nighttime directional antenna system.

Next, KLRA tried to increase the height of its towers. Up to a point, more height = more radiation at AM frequencies. But by then, Adams Field had become the Little Rock airport and KLRA was right in the runway flight path, so the FAA would not permit KLRA to increase its tower height. Of course, any change in the antennas would have required a full nighttime antenna proof of performance with requirements that KLRA might not ever be able to meet.

Finally, KLRA decided to add top-loading to the towers to increase their effective radiation. But by then, other stations had begun operation on 1010 and KLRA found that it was limited by a station in the Houston area. As far as I know, that was the last time that KLRA tried to improve its operation.

KLRA repeatedly tried to find a different site, but the requirements of suitable land and maintaining good City coverage made it difficult to find a good site. I would have moved it slightly to the north and far enough to the east to be able to build taller towers, but they didn't ask me.

To make matters worse, KLRA just never sounded right. I believe that the combination of the very old transmitter, which may not have even been designed with enough bandwidth to broadcast music, and a deficient antenna system that wasn't matched properly at the sidebands. KLRA replaced the RCA with a Collins 10,000 watt transmitter but as far as I know, the antenna phasing and coupling system was never upgraded. KLRA even went stereo in 1982 or so but it never sounded right.

The KLRA transmitter site now looks like the aftermath of a nuclear (in Texas, nucular) explosion. As I understand it, KLRA was bought and closed by a station on 1010 in New York. At night, many licensed radio stations have a "night limit," which is the coverage contour that the station is limited to at night because of interference from other stations on the channel. Each station likewise contributes to the night limit of every other station, depending on the distance between them and the radiation to or from that particular direction. It appears that KLRA, probably because of its Memphis radiation lobe, was limiting the New York station and they improved their coverage somewhat by eliminating KLRA from the dial. But by that time, KLRA had apparently started to drift and was no longer a factor in the Little Rock market.

Now, if they had asked me, I might have recommended that the New York station could solve its problem by buying KLRA a new antenna system. I would have eliminated the Memphis lobe and moved KLRA far enough from the airport to be able to erect tall towers and increase my coverage of Little Rock.

But, bottom-line, KLRA is a missed opportunity. Like KTHS/KAAY and KARK, KLRA should have upgraded its facilities during the 1950s and by the time that it came to its senses, it was too late. And KLRA is a rapidly-fading memory in the minds of increasingly-senile engineers.

Best regards,

Hollis W. Duncan
Edmonds WA"

Thank you again, Hollis!  You mentioned some "large" names  of whom many of us are familiar.  Keep 'em coming!
 
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

"New" Jonnie King Aircheck #2!

Here's the next installment of Jonnie's comments, this time on February 6, 1972, the first part:

"Next up: February 6, 1972, Okay, this was a Sunday Afternoon and we were doing a Golden Oldies-Style Weekend...which was pretty cool. There were a LOT more commercials than I remembered ! Plus, I was on MANY of the spots, along with Phil North, Wayne Moss, and, Mike McCormick (Barry Wood).


As I partially stated above, everytime period & daypart must be handled differently...and that includes Weekends. All in all I did a good job in this Air Check (which I had NEVER heard before !), considering the "Check" is not scoped, and that there were really SO MANY COMMERCIALS !


ONE THING FOR YOU TO LISTEN TO very carefully for in Pt.2. is when I do a PSA for the Arkansas Art Center stating that "you can go there this afternoon, and see the behind-the-scenes activity going on. I may be there too." WELL, here's the story on that:


If you've read my Bio you know that I was an Actor before I got into Radio. Well, in January, 1972, we had a notice that the Arkansas Art Center was holding tryouts for a play they were producing. It was Neil Simon's "Star Spangled Girl", and it only had a cast of three...2 guys, 1 girl. Since I now had my evenings free and could attend rehearsals if I got cast, I decided to tryout and did so on the night of January 22, 1972. I got cast, and we started rehearsals on January, 31st. The "Star Spangled Girl" opened on March 1st to great reviews...my Personal Reviews were truly great also and it enhanced KAAY as well as myself by the response & publicity that we got.


Well, Bud, that's about it. I don't know how many times I've said this "in person" or on this Blog, but if I could go back to that time & place, and redo all of my KAAY/Mighty 1090 days all over again...I would be there NOW !


(If anyone wants to drop me a note please do !   www.jking@thewwbc.net  )


God Bless --- Thanks !


Jonnie King"

Jonnie King, Feb. 6, 197, Part A:  stream   |   download



Thank you, Jonnie!  Folks, stand by for the second half of this aircheck!

Hollis Duncan Checks In!

At my request, I was pleasantly surprised to find an e-mail today from Hollis Duncan!  He has quite a history to report and I'll let him tell it:

"Hello,

After spending last evening posting comments on your site, I thought that I might introduce myself. I was delighted to find your invitation. Please feel free to post, edit, or disregard this message as you see fit.

Here's my history in Central Arkansas radio.

I grew up in Heber Springs and clearly remember KAAY playing the Baby Elephant Walk and then turning itself into the Silver Dollar Sound of Music. I remember the controversy over Louie Louie and Len Carl's
editorials defending the song.. I even ordered a copy of the lyrics from KAAY. Somewhere I might have autographs by Doc Holiday (presumably A.J. Lindsey) and the late Buddy Karr, whose family ran a highly-successful radio station in Portageville, Missouri, near Poplar Bluff.  As the only rock station on the dial, KAAY was a pretty big deal in Heber Springs.

Thanks to Charles Rasberry at KASU, I knew that Harold Sudbury (KLCN-Blytheville, KNBY-Newport, KSUD-West Memphis) held a CP for 1370 in Heber Springs. Mr. Sudbury acquired the Heber Springs CP
when he purchased KTPA-Prescott from Mr. Cochran (KCCL-Corning). Mr. Sudbury put KAWW-1370 on the air in 1967 with used tube-type equipment and, thanks to Mr. Rasberry, I was prepared and was the only kid in town with a Third Class License. I was an easy, though talentless, hire.

Tommy Riggs helped me get the KAWW job. I needed some teletype copy for an aircheck and called KMYO, who told me to go to hell. I then called the KAAY newsroom line and Tommy answered. He was delighted to help me. He let me in through the back door and gave me a big pile of copy that I used to create an aircheck. I then stood on the corner of the control room and watched the legendary Rock Robbins at work. I also met Jerry Pitcock, who was then Ken Knight, and Jerry encouraged me to pursue a radio career and gave me several tips. I never forgot the kindness that I received from Tommy and Jerry that evening.

I did weekends at KAWW for its first two years and after the Chief Engineer left, I became the de facto engineer. KAWW was one of the first affiliates of KARK's Arkansas Radio Network and as I recall, Les Bolton did the very first ARN newscast. Because of our ARN affiliation, I spent a lot of time around KARK and soon made friends with KARK's Assistant Chief Engineer Tom Spencer, who taught me a lot about radio engineering. In those (pre-Snider) days, the KARK engineers were in the Union and it was fun to sit in the control room and watch the engineer-announcer operation at work. I remember watching Bill Deitz, Lloyd Denny, Jim Elder & Bill Valentine, and Tom Longfellow on the air at KARK-AM. KARK was a fast-paced operation that took NBC feeds several times an hour and ran NBC Monitor all weekend. It was a great place to see traditional radio at work.

I then did weekends at Conway's KVEE-AM and KVEE-FM (separate locations and programming) and then moved to KCON-1230 while Bill Johnson was still the boss. I also made friends with Dale Seidenschwartz at KAAY and would visit him at the KAAY transmitter at Wrightsville. Dale showed and taught me a lot about the KAAY transmitter and antenna and those lessons came in very handy when I joined KAAY as Chief Engineer.

While at KCON, I received my First Class Radiotelephone License. The ink barely dry, I quickly joined KALO-1250 as Chief Engineer. Bernie Mann had just purchased KALO and was trying to bring it out of the engineering dark ages. KALO was originally KGHI (and briefly KAJI) with studios at Stiff's Station (later the location of Pizza d'Action) and 3-tower array behind Shakey's Pizza on Rebsamen Park Road.. KALO was the first new radio station in Little Rock after WWII and the transmitter site was mostly original from that era. Everything was wrong with it. After an exciting studio and transmitter rebuild, I decided that working the evening shift at KXLR would be a lot more fun (and it was).

By 1972, KXLR was operating from its transmitter site in Protho Junction. I was the third in a series of Bob Roberts. At the time, KXLR and KDXE-1380 were the Country Music stations in Little Rock, although KLRA soon joined us. KXLR had a 4-tower array that was built in 1953 after KXLR (formerly KNLR) won 1150 in a contest with a Forrest City application and moved from 1450. The transmitter and antenna had been very well constructed and the KXLR antennas had a counterpoise like the KAAY antenna system. As an aside, counterpoises do wonders to stabilize the base impedance of an antenna but are currently disfavored because they are hard to model on a computer.. KXLR needed me because I had a First Class License to operate the antenna array at night. the antenna array was located at the edge of the Arkansas River swamps and we regularly used a boat to read the base meter at the NE tower. But with the counterpoise in place, the antenna array was stable even as the river level rose and fell.

I also made friends with the crew at KLRA-1010 which was at Galloway, just east of KXLR. KXLR signed off at midnight, so I would drive to KLRA and keep Paul Demaree company until he signed off at 1 a.m. I got to know a lot about KLRA, but that deserves an email of its own.

While I was working at KXLR, I did a little transmitter work at KEWP. Does anyone remember that brief operation?

I left KXLR to build KLAZ and I have already told you a lot of that story. But perhaps it deserves its own email. And that leads to my only meeting with A.J. Lindsey. In 1972, A.J. was managing KOKY. Eloise Bibbs left KALO for KOKY and A.J. asked her to introduce us. I came in and A.J. told me, with a smile, that by giving KALO a decent air sound, I had caused him a lot of trouble. And then, completely unbidden, he picked up the telephone and called Joe Dickey and recommended me for the KLAZ job. I never forgot this unexpected act of kindness.

Meanwhile, the Texas Border was calling. I moved to Del Rio in 1974 and went to work at KDLK-AM-FM. There is nothing like having your radio station off the air and knowing that you are the only engineer within 150 miles to focus your attention. During my time in Del Rio, I became acquainted with Paul Kallinger, legendary announcer at 250,000 watt XERF across the river. I worked in Eagle Pass, Laredo, and KINT in El Paso before ending my Texas phase at KVIL AM-FM in Dallas (Highland Park). I can tell you through personal experience that Ron Chapman, PD of KVIL, deserves an even bigger reputation than he already has. Unfortunately, Fairbanks was a cheap outfit and starved me out after a year, so I went back to El Paso and built KFIM, a new Class C FM at the far end of a tramway. I then moved to Seattle as a Consulting Engineer and did a lot of directional antenna work.

And then KAAY came calling and that deserves an email of its own.

As Ray Taylor - Coyote Kincaid later said, we were part of KAAY's last dying gasp as a Rock & Roll Radio Station.. I left the oncoming KAAY disaster to help build KLRT-16 in Little Rock under Chief Engineer Dexter Merry. After a couple of years at KLRT, I took an Electrical Engineering degree from Seattle University, became licensed as a Registered Professional Engineer in Washington, took a law degree from Seattle University School of Law, and then Graduate studies in Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington. I now practice Electrical Engineering in Seattle but have long since priced myself out of reach of broadcasters. Like Little Rock, there are several radio stations in the Seattle area that have gone away,
never to return.

So there's my history in Arkansas radio. I haven't seen the inside of a broadcast transmitter in over 20 years.

Best regards,

Hollis W. Duncan
Edmonds WA"

Hollis' comments of how helpful and kind Tommy Riggs, A. J. Lindsey and Jerry Pitcock were reminds me of how classy folks at KAAY were- and still are.  No matter if they were a deejay, an engineer or anywhere in between, I have seen nothing but class.  You have to admire a station and people like that- I have, for all these many years.
 
Thank you, Hollis!  Please visit, comment and e-mail any time!
 
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Never Forget!

Please, never forget....

...but, many of us fear that so many others HAVE forgotten...

In the light of many things that have happened since the 9/11 attacks, we seem to have gotten comfortable again, even when the wolf is at the door.  I remember hearing the news alerts on the way to work that morning- it was too unbelievable.  We even had several incidents which happened here in Mobile after 9/11- evil was too close, knocking at our doors here.  Sadly, only one of three incidents were reported on our local news, none in the national media that I am aware of.  The one was of a person who was caught at the airport trying to rent a car, with nothing but the clothes he was wearing and a briefcase stuffed full of cash.

The other two came very close, personally; one of our marine industry dealers called us saying that three persons came in their office at lunch wanting to buy a boat for cash- any boat- but would not wait on the salesmen to return from their meal.  The FBI was called, but the men could not be found.  Another close friend worked at Ingalls shipbuilding facility, where the U.S.S. Cole had been brought in for repairs to its hull, after it was attacked and bombed in Yemen. He had originally drawn the plans for the Cole and was due to retire, but stayed on until the ship was finished; he passed away shortly thereafter, due to a brain tumor. He mentioned that they floated the ship two weeks early out of drydock and never mentioned it to the press, due to security reasons. The published date would have slightly preceded the date the aforementioned men tried to buy the boat.  In comparing our notes, we both believed that these persons intended to try to "finish the job" on the Cole.

Another of my friends, whose father worked at a local chemical plant, mentioned that a large Ford sedan pulled up short of their security gate, filled with several individuals, two of which were taking pictures as fast as they could; their security force advanced on the car, which made a quick 180 and left, never to be found.

Needless to say, we found later that there were many, many "targets" up and down the Gulf Coast.  Only due to vigilance on the part of law enforcement and other officials, we did not sustain any attacks locally.

I sometimes believe the media does not need to know many things, due to security reasons; I am thankful, however, for the media who report things in a correct manner and do not dramatize the news.

God bless our civil servants in all their capacities; God bless our soldiers; God bless those who perished in the attacks that day; and God bless America...may we NEVER forget.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

"New" Jonnie King Aircheck #1!

Folks, I was able to find three airchecks of Jonnie recently; one was of November 29, 1971 and the other two were from February 6, 1972.  The latter is in two parts and originally came to me mislabled, but Jonnie set me straight.  They are concurrent, breaking in the middle of a selection, Ben E. King's, "I Who Have Nothing".

I encouraged Jonnie to send along some comments when I called him one evening; he's a great one for detail and readily complied, for our reading and listening pleasure!  Here's Jonnie's comments on the November 29, 1971 aircheck:

"Hi Bud !

Good talking to you the other night and, as promised, here's the Information on the 2 Airchecks you sent me from November, 1971 & February 6, 1972.


Let's start with November 29, 1971: Since I arrived at KAAY in April of 1969, my On Air Shift had been 8pm-Mid, and, later 8pm-11pm. (Since I was Music Director also, I was actually in the building & my office from about 3pm on.) My ratings were super for that Time Period...I think my first one came in at about a 39 Share of the Audience in 1969. And they stayed high all through my years in that slot, thanks to my audience, my fellow air personalities, and the great people in KAAY management with all of their help & support.


But Wayne Moss, who was the PD in 1971, had been doing the Mid Day shift and wanted more time in the office, so at the end of October '71, he decided to place me in that slot...knowing that I could bring some of my Night Time Listeners & already-established "name recognition" along. SO, my first Mid Day Show began on November 1, 1971. It was 10am-Noon, gave me more "daytime" in my M.D. Office, and freed-up my nights. (A number of my girlfriends were truly thankful for that ! )


However, as with ANY Shift Change, there is a "learning curve" that you have to go through to get the pace & rhythm of the new Day Part, the Audience, and, the focus of the "room" itself. What do I mean by that ? Well, during the day shifts the FULL Office Staff is in the building, and many in sales, traffic, engineering, management, etc., will come into the Studio to check the log, ask about a remote, check on the equipment, et al. These are things that you usually don't have to worry about too much after 6pm...but they definitely disturb your focus while your On The Air ! Now back to November 29, 1971.


I had only been doing this shift for a few weeks as you can see. It was the Monday after Thanksgiving, and so some Christmas Spots were in the mix. But, in reality, I hadn't settled completely into the Time Period. That sometimes takes a few months, and I ask that the listener have mercy on me...'cause I was not at my best in that slot yet. (SPECIAL NOTE: To hear what I sounded like after I REALLY locked-into that shift, PLEASE go to my Personal WebSite www.jonnieking.net and listen to my "Summer Of '72" 10am-Noon Air Check...by then I had it nailed ! )


In addition, the night of November 29, 1971 I was a Judge at the Talent Contest given by the Mayor's Youth Council of Little Rock. (I don't remember who won, but I know it wasn't David B. with his harmonica solo of "Shaft" !! )"

Jonnie King Nov. 29, 1971:   stream   |   download 


Next up, February 6, 1972, what I call the "A" aircheck!

SEPTEMBER 10th: 1967-2010...

SINCERE THANKS TO YOU ALL !

I Had Posted This A Year Ago, But Since Time Is Precious And Many Who Were Reading This Last Year Are No Longer With Us, I Felt It Important, Due To Those Mentioned Within The Post , To Again Thank All That Have Touched My Life In These Last 43 Years...They Are Never Forgotten:
 

A friend of mine called me this morning to say "hello" and congratulate me. I said "Congratulate me ?", and he said: "Remember, old friend, today is your Anniversary ! You've been in Broadcasting for 43 years as of today !"

I said: "Wow ! You're right ! But, I've been working on my WebSites this morn. and haven't really had time to think about it."

Well, okay, now I HAVE thought about it. And, I want to thank everyone taking the time to read this, because the driving force behind what I've been doing since I started this "art form" of Broadcasting back on Sunday, September 10th, 1967, has nothing to do with me. It's because of Y-O-U the listeners, my co-workers, the visitors that go to my WebSites, and, all of you reading this...that I do what I do. Without you there would be no need for me.

And, I sincerely thank all of those involved in my life that got me "from there to here": my late parents, Bill & Mary, for their undying love & support; my friend and mentor Don Pietromonaco (KXOK's Johnny Rabbitt); Don Liddenton (KLID), who gave me that first job; Pat Walsh & Barry Wood (Mike McCormick) who hired me at KAAY. And, in order: Jim Brown (WDRQ), Al Casey & Joe Kelly (KSLQ); Richard Miller (KADI/KRJY); Gary Mitchell & Gary Brown (KGLD); Mike Waterman (WSSM); Mike Anderson (St.L.Media); Darryl & Donna Starbird (The National Rod & Custom Hall Of Fame/Museum); Jerry & DeVona Titus (Kustom Kemps Of America).

Also, all of those great friends I worked with including: Jerry McDaniel, Bill Steiger, Frank Terry, Charlie Moore (KLID); Mike McCormick, Sonny Martin, George Jennings, Ron Owens, Dave Treadway, Phil North, Dave Montgomery, Clyde Clifford, Greg F.,Mary Donald, Felix McDonald, Marvin Vines, Joe Dickey, Eddie Graham, Wayne Moss, Eula Mae, and some I know I've forgotten (KAAY);Ted Smith, Guy Phillips, Mike Wall, Chuck Roberts, Bill Bailey, Gary Bridges, Terry Fox, Kevin McCarthy,Ted Anthony, Joan Kelly, Jo Jo Kincaid, et al (KSLQ); and, Ron Elz, Dick Williams, Jackie McCoy, Mad Maynard, Kent Hall, Jason Church, Debbie Alexander, Dena Pietromonaco, Doug Lyon, Frank Absher (St.L Media Historian), and many others who were also there.

But, most of all, I thank God for giving me the talent that I have and the ability to use it, and, to do what I done for the last 43 years.

Always Remember: You Never Do It Alone.

Thank you, all of my KAAY Friends, each and everyone !  AND, to find out just how I got to THE MIGHTY 1090/ KAAY to begin with, click-on this link for some very Personal History:
http://www.jonnieking.net/gpage6.html

Jonnie King

Another Nostalgic Jump....

Go to the website below and type in the year you were born.  I did it for mine, and the year KAAY came on the air.  There's some neat memories that've happened!  Music, movies, historical events, accomplishments and awards:

http://whathappenedinmybirthyear.com/

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Welcome To Hollis W. Duncan!

This morning, I signed on to find numerous informative and timely comments by Hollis W. Duncan, a former KAAY engineer.  If you, dear reader, will go to the posts in the past, "The 'Other' 1090 Stations", "KAAY Transmitter Building", "A Day In The Life Of A KAAY Engineer", "Greg Fadick And FM", "Tom Roberts, Don Payne and Beaker Street", "KAAY Personnel (2010 Update) in all the parts, "Critical Directional Antenna Patterns" and "KXLR Survey-Who Is This Guy?", you'll see some interersting, historical comments about the transmitter, people and daily life at KAAY!

Hollis, thank you for visiting and leaving your comments!  Would you care to e-mail me at my address below, please?

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Another "Voice": Gary Gears

Awhile back, Phil North had mentioned Gary Gears in a post; we'd also heard some of his work in an intro or two of Beaker Street.  He was another "voice" contracted for talent on KAAY, as well as many other stations around the country.  After a short stint at WCFL, Gary worked for WSL from 1971 until 1973.  He is touted, by Jeff Roterman's webpage, to have been "one of the best voices of all".  Gary's voice was heard all over the country in the 1970's, doing ads, as well as on many stations (most in the Chicago, IL markets).  See more comments, and some airchecks, at the link below:

http://user.pa.net/~ejjeff/gearswls.html

Phil also sent along another link about Gary Gears:

http://www.reelradio.com/gifts/ggwls040171.html

If you can access Reelradio via your account, you can also hear an aircheck of Gary there.

Gary served in the Armed Forces and was also on AFVN; I wonder, since I listened as a kid, was he ever on shortwave?  I listened to AFRTS a lot on shortwave, growing up.  (I'll have to post a picture of my grandfather's Zenith TransOceanic here that I used back then.  I still have it!)

Sadly, Gary passed away from cancer at the age of 46, in 1991....

Phil comments: "Gary Gears…he was a great DJ in Chicago…I first heard him on WLS Chicago…I went up to visit him one weekend and he showed me the WLS studios and we hung out a little…nice guy…loved hockey and women…..he was very kind to help a 20 year old upstart…."

A big "Thank you!" to Phil North/Eric Chase for setting me in the right direction and providing links! (For some reason last year, I wasn't getting much in the way of research done on Gary Gears and this info eluded me.)

Here's a link to a couple of Gary Gears' intros, from Phil North:

http://mighty1090kaay.podomatic.com/player/web/2009-08-13T19_50_37-07_00

There's GOT to be a Radio Heaven, 'cuz fols like Gary, A.J. and others MUST be there....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Jefferson Thomas, R.I.P.

Today, one of the "Little Rock Nine" passed into eternity, Mr. Jefferson Thomas.  As a teenager, he was one of nine black students to integrate Little Rock Central High School in our country's first major fight for integration.  Mr. Thomas suffered from pancreatic cancer and was 68 years young.  He, and the other eight former Central High students, were issued Congressional Gold Medals on the 40th anniversary of the event.

The following link will connect to an AP article outlining his life and accomplishments:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hn86Nu_BQAF8uNRVHahyTxZgfOUwD9I2LNLO0

48 Years Today!

Once again, happy birthday, KAAY!  Forty-eight years ago today, on Labor Day, one of the greatest radio stations came on the air as KAAY, born out of KTHS, and we're still around to see it and celebrate!

All of us who work so hard to bring you little bits of history, in print, picture and audio, hope all enjoy what we're able to bring to you!  We certainly hope this blog will be around for quite some time and that more readers, fans and former employees dig around and find more bits of history to share with everyone here.  Who knows?  That box up in the attic or out in the garage or shop may have some long-forgotten station memorabelia!  Scan it and e-mail it to me at my address below so I can share with other KAAY fans.

Forty-eight years...man, time sure does fly when you're having fun....

(Some of you MAY get the picture above!)

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

LABOR DAY ON THE HOMEFRONT, 1942...

To All My KAAY/Mighty 1090 Friends:


Labor Day is Monday. A day we honor all of those, including most reading these words, the men & women of America who toil daily in their pursuit of the American Dream:

A family and friends to love & care for, food, clothing & shelter for ourselves and our family, and producing a product, selling a product, providing a service, or, whatever means of "labor" that is used to contribute to the people and the country that we live in.

I was struck by the majesty of this cover of Collier's Magazine from Labor Day, 1942, as America waged War. Production of automobiles & related products had ceased and the factories, instead, turned out Airplanes, Ships, Tanks, Jeeps, Guns, Bullets, Mortars, Hand Grenades, and every conceivable type of product they could to help our fighting men & women.

WITH ALL OF THE ABOVE IN MIND, please take a close look at this painting by reknowned artist ARTHUR SZYK that was used for the Collier's cover, September 12, 1942. Although this is NOT Memorial Day, we still have men & women in harm's way today. So let's not forget them...nor those, including my Dad, Bill Edwards working at Wagner Electric Corporation in St. Louis, who labored for the greater good on the Homefront on all of the Labor Day's during WWII.

God Bless America...and the men & women who labor in all fields of endeavor to make it, and keep it, the greatest Nation in the World.

Jonnie King   http://www.thewwbc.net/

1st Nationwide TV Broadcast Today, Sept. 4,1951

It is documented that today in 1951, the first nationwide TV broadcast took place; NBC was said to have been the country's first nationwide network.  In the '50s, names like Charlton Heston, Jack Webb, Gene Autry also became a lot of "firsts", in their own right.  Shows like "The Honeymooners" and "I Love Lucy" hit the screen about 1951 and many other great shows and sitcoms followed.  Here's some neat history to follow in "Film History of the 1950s":

http://www.filmsite.org/50sintro.html

In the mid-1950s, KTHV was born out of radio station KTHS, when the radio station built television studios.  In 1954, a new building was built and the TV and radio station was moved to 720 Izard Street.  It was the first building in Arkansas to be built for both radio and TV, with KTHV-TV on the first floor and KTHS on the second.

As history shows, KTHS was sold to KAAY, Inc. in 1962...and the show goes on.

KTHV first signed on November 27, 1955 and wasn't involved in the original nationwide broadcast; I thought it was a neat tie-in, though!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Labor Day Weekend- Best Wishes

From the U.S. Department of Labor website, what Labor Day means:

"Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country."

We live, work, play, love, grieve, worship and celebrate in the greatest country in the world!  Our ingenuity and stick-to-it attitude has in the past and will again make us great.  My wish to all of you out there, hard-working reader and visitor, that you have a safe, happy and restful Labor Day weekend!

Now, where's that BBQ and root beer I ordered?  Yes, and turn up that radio!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Razorback Grill Ad!

Compliments of Barry Mac, here is a neat ad for the Razorback Grill!  Sure makes me hungry every time I listen to it!  Bill Montgomery, former Arkansas quarterback, is the man in the ad.  The grill was a promotional item whose sales benefitted the Razorback football team.

I couldn't readily find a picture of the grill on-line, so if anyone has a picture, or even one still in existance, it would be neat to see a picture of this grill, for historical reasons!

Send any KAAY or related pictures, material or what-have-you to my e-mail address below.

Razorback Grill ad:   stream   |   download


Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

"NEW" Video Uncovered, KAAY Kommandos and Harlem Globetrotters!

WOW!  Compliments of "Charlie King" (Charlie Scarbrough) comes a video from 'way back, about 1968!  This was actually a promotional video by Little Rock TV station KATV, channel 7, but it featured the two aforementioned teams.  Charlie says that KATV did the feature specifically on Bozo, since he was on their station, but KAAY got some publicity, nonetheless.  A. J. Lindsey had originally mentioned the KAAY Kommandos in his blog:

http://kaay1090.blogspot.com/2006/03/kaay-commandoes.html

Pay attention to the video, you'll see these players all over the place!  From left to right in the picture above is #32, "Sonny Martin" (Matt White), #51, station manager Pat Walsh, Bozo (Gary Weir), #31, news director George J. Jennings, #25, weekend newsman Steve Riggs (Tommy Riggs' brother) and kneeling, the supplier of the video is #16, deejay "Charlie King" (Charlie Scarbrough)!

Whether we call them "Commandos" or "Kommandos", I don't know; I've seen it both ways.  However, the GREAT thing is that live video of the team exists!  Please note that this was taken from an old tape, so the visual quality is not what we'd have today and I'm sure there was some degradation while being stored, BUT, it is wonderful, priceless, newly-exposed history!  And, thanks to Dave S. who was able to work his computer know-how and get it here, please enjoy!





(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yhokJl_r4w)


Thank you, Charlie Scarbrough!!!!

Hurricane Katrina, August 29, 2005

Not a happy "anniversary", but one that we here on the Gulf Coast should learn from.  There was a lot of mishandling and improper national media coverage, from our standpoint.  All they wanted to cover was New Orleans, but they encountered floods from broken, improperly-maintained levees; the most terrible damage occurred along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where for several miles inland, it looked like a moonscape, wiped clean, from storm surge; I know, I was there for a friend in some of the relief efforts.  Alabama suffered a lot of damage, as well, regarding the fishing industry.  Numerous shrimping and other boats and vessels were shoved inland for a long distance.

I had many Ham radio operators ask me about the condition of the coast, who NEVER saw any damage on national TV or heard of it on the national broadcast radio news about Mississippi or Alabama; we are of the opinion that the media wanted "drama" and not the truth.  These Ham operators were astounded at the damage outside the areas the media didn't cover.  Pictures of Mississippi and Alabama were e-mailed to my fellow Hams all over this country, that the media otherwise ignored....

As for communications along the coast, the Georgia Baptist Society's Ham radio operators took time off from their lives and jobs, many of them for SIX months, brought their own radio gear, generators, supplies, food and fuel and lent their services for police, fire, ambulance, marine police, hospitals, and many, many other emergency services, while the communications infrastructure was being rebuilt.  Most of this activity occurred in Mississippi, with the fringes into Louisiana.  Mobile, Alabama was the "gateway" for digital (and some voice) communications for "health and welfare" messages.  The Hams in the affected areas made arrangements for their own food, fuel and supplies from outside areas, so as not to put any strain on the already overburdened relief efforts.  I remember that there was one broadcast station on the Gulf in Mississippi that survived and was able to offer information, but I cannot remember its call letters now.

Needless to say, there has been a lot of rebuilding, but there are still signs of Katrina all up and down the Louisiana, Mississipi and Alabama coasts.  As with all the other hurricanes we've endured, this one was different; no two are the same.  All we can do is try to learn from each one.  I have been fascinated by these storms and their beauty, as well as fury, ever since I experienced Camille back in '69.  I slightly remember one in '65 as a very young child, but really remember Frederick in '79.  Many stormed have buffeted the Gulf Coast year after year and I have endured all but two and those two were not worth running from; we just saw fit to evacuate two elderly friends, because of their fright at the media's "drama".

Not anything relating to KAAY; just radio-related.  You had to have been there, on the ground, and not in front of the TV set....

Bud S.

"New" Phil North Aircheck, #3

..and Phil/Eric's final comments on this one:

"….I was shortly to leave KAAY and Arkansas forever…..That experience spring boarded me on a future in radio that was as great an adventure as it was lonely….I was able to work with great names in radio like Bob Pitman in Pittsburg, George Klein in Memphis, Al Kacey in Detroit, Dale Dorman in Boston, Beau Weaver in Houston (who I still see when I get out to LA), Tommy Kramer who is my voiceover coach and friend now, Christopher Haze and Kevin McCarthy and THE GREAT Bill Young from KILT…and so many more that I can’t name here….my name was changed by Michael Spears when I was in Dallas and I’ve used it ever since in my voiceover and production here in Houston..…I’ve learned from the best and I am eternally grateful…..and it all goes back to the magic of a place and time where KAAY was a real breathing force of nature. I hope my ramblings have not sedated you too much. I appreciate to opportunity to reminisce and share the magic. Here’s the to MIGHTY 1090…..

All the Best, Eric Chase"

Phil North, April 14, 1971:   stream   |   download


Eric, you'll ALWAYS be "Phil North" to me and many, many others who listened to that mighty, gentle giant of a flamethrower, KAAY!  Thank you SO much for sharing your memories with us!
 
Personally, I've always liked the un-'scoped airchecks, they feel more nostalgic and evoke many more memories...and I am constantly in search of any and all audio regarding KAAY, not only as an addition to my collection, but to be able to share same with you, dear reader!
 
My door is open to airchecks of KAAY for the blog...please contact me at my e-mail address below:
 
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

KAAY Entry on Encyclopedia of Arkansas!

After months of preparation, editing and bunches of e-mails to & from the folks at Encyclopedia of Arkansas, material from our blog and other sources, my KAAY entry has been accepted and entered:

http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=6228&type=Time+Period&item=Modern+Era+(1968+-+the+Present)&parent=&grandparent=#

What a thrill it has been!  Now, I am about to be "contracted" to do an entry for KAAY's predecessor, KTHS.

The home page is: http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/ just in case the above link doesn't work; from there, you may click on "See What's New" or just "Browse Entries" by catagory...KAAY is under "Media", then "Broadcasting", then "Radio" and "KAAY(radio)", which is the long way around, but works....

Also, enjoy the various historical entries in this site.  This site is staffed by many, many volunteers, so send 'em a note of appreciation, if you so desire.  And, IF you happen to see something missing or no entry on an important piece of Arkansas history, be sure to contact them- YOU may be published there, as well!

This was another labor of love regarding one of my most favorite radio stations!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

"New" Phil North Aircheck #2

This is the second aircheck in our three-part posting...and Phil/Eric has more commentary about this audio:

"….Jump ahead to May 1971…I was so glad to hear this aircheck as I think I had improved a lot in a year…The station had purchased a new jingle package from PAMS and I recreated new elements for the news and promos…….just on my own in my pre ADD spare time….I have to thank Wayne Moss for being so indulgent and letting this kid just out of high school (who looked like he was 30—a sort of Vampire on a day pass look- The studio was a cave like place and sunlight was then foreign to me) take over his station by night…He would just show up and I would have audio cart for him with new stuff….He’d just put it on the air….something that would not happen today for sure… I was really enjoying all that I was learning and I thought man this is it….making money really had very little to do with it…it was the live shows and the magic of the studio that I loved…

.That particular aircheck was not 'scoped and hearing all the music and commercials intact really brought it back…there was so much good (and bad) radio back then…and each station carried a lot of weight because there were not many of them…FM was not yet popular and Cable and the Internet was far in the future…there was a knowing and responsibility and reverence to the radio experience that is lost today….I was going thru a lot too as my mother was diagnosed with cancer that year…I was now living in Little Rock contemplating college and Viet Nam ….I thought well I think maybe Armed Forces Radio might be in my future if I was lucky…but I won the only lottery in my life which was the high lottery number from Uncle Sam…so I was saved from the war…

Feeling lucky and relieved I stayed in Little Rock for 1 more year and got a nice break to go to WDRK-Detroit shortly after my mom passed away…."

Phil North, May 18, 1971:   stream   |   download


 DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL!  (or, maybe that mouse?)  More to come!

Don Payne: "Hanging In There!"

Don Payne, the man who has the distinction of running Beaker Street the last night on KAAY before administration shut the program down 'way back when, checks in with his latest prognosis:

"Hope everybody's doing ok.

Here's an update on how I'm doing as I continue to fight pancreatic cancer. I got the results back from last week's CT scan and it is showing the tumor on the liver is slightly smaller in size, and the one on the pancreas is about the same. The Doctors say this is good news, and not to be too concerned with the pancreas tumor not shrinking, it could be deceiving as we could be looking at dead cells in this type of scan. When they do blood work every week, they look at a certain protein level which tends to go up or down with the size of the tumors. Last week, this number was way down, which they were very happy about.

You may remember the scan last month showed a 23% shrinkage. I don't have the percentage on this report, but the tumor dropped from 14x8cm to 12x8cm in size. I'll take it!

(Don had attached a radiologist's report, but I didn't think it pertinant to post here...suffice it to say, we'll take the good news! bs)

I take chemo for 3 hours every Monday afternoon, the next one is this coming Monday. I do three sessions then skip a week, then do three more and repeat. I handle it pretty well but it seems to make me tired that evening and the next day. It was causing a fever for a few days after treatment but they are now giving me a pre-med which seems to have solved that problem. This makes things much better. The meds are new cutting edge and don't have the traditional side effects like nausea and hair loss. Although I noticed I am losing a little more hair lately, no big deal to me it was almost gone anyway.

Doctors took me off the blood thinners due to a small bleeding problem I'm having in my spleen. Seems that I tore the membrane around it several weeks ago and it's been a little tender. Doctors think the blood thinners may be causing it not to heal, but I need the thinners to prevent clots from the cancer. So they are watching carefully. I'm up and around and doing stuff like laundry and housework.

Michele is doing great and has been helping out at a resteraunt down the street making a few extra bucks a couple days a week. I am able to cut grass but the Doctors say they only want me driving close by the house due to some dizziness I was having. Some days I feel good, other days I'm tired and have headaches. So I'm following the Doctors orders and appreciate your thoughts and prayers. I will know more about what the Doctors are wanting to do after I meet with them Monday. I would imagine we are going to keep on track with what we have been doing.

I'm hanging in there for now.  Don"
 
Don, rest assured that we are behind you all the way.  Keep the good reports coming!
 
And, as I appealed for in an earlier post, if ANYONE has any air checks of Don at ANY station he worked at, please forward it/them to me at my e-mail address, or at least contact me as to where I may obtain such.  Thank you.
 
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

David B. Treadway Comment, Re: Cabs, KAAY

(I just HAD to make this a separate post, because it is so informative!  David comments on the downtown Little Rock picture from the late 1950's a few postings back...bs)

You'll have to click through to the larger picture, but please note the black and white taxicab on the lower right under the Coca-Cola sign, bearing the phone number 4-0333.

Some time after KTHS became KAAY, a radio spot began airing--with great frequency--urging folks to "Call FRanklin 4-0333, the Black And White Cab Company." I heard this ad for a huge part of my teenage love affair with KAAY. The copy never changed; it was the same spot for YEARS.

When I came to Little Rock in 1971, all the Black And White cabs carried signs advertising KAAY. The ubiquitous "Call FRanklin 4-0333" spots were what we call trade-outs: the cabs carried our signage, we ran spots for them. No money changed hands.

You couldn't walk or drive through Little Rock without seeing KAAY on a cab. Dunno who started the relationship, but I detect the subtle hand of Pat Walsh in there somewhere!

Props to LeeRoy for the picture. It was prescient.

David B. Treadway
Doc Holiday VII

FROM LITTLE ROCK TO DETROIT AND BACK AGAIN...

                                  
As I have mentioned before, my time at KAAY was one of the most fantastic, pleasant, and professionally rewarding experiences that I've EVER had in my career.

As the year 1971 began and progressed, I was thankful for some of the sweetest & nicest girls that had shared time with me:  Kerry, Barbara, Peggy, Judy, Debby, Katy, Doris, Linda, Cookie, plus a few others...all just great.

Also, as KAAY's "Ultimate Car Guy", I did most of the remotes that involved Detroit Iron, and so it was that the "Funmobile" & myself were at the Barton Collesium on Friday, January 22 & Saturday, January 23, for the 1971 Annual Hot Rod Show World Rod & Custom Show.

(By way of explanation:  In the R&C Industry the Winter Shows (Jan.-Mar.) are held indoors; from April - Sept. the shows are outdoors.)

In any event, this show was just SUPER !   And the featured cars were the Sonic Cuda, the Bugs Buggy, the Red Baron, the award-winning Fire Truck, and many others built by Chuck Miller at his Styleline Customs shop in Detroit.  Interestingly, less than two years later, I'd be moving to Detroit myself to work at WDRQ-FM.

NOW Flash Forward To 2007:   I'm attending the Induction Ceremonies at the Darryl Starbird National Rod & Custom Hall Of Fame and one of the new Inductees is CHUCK MILLER !  During an Interview I'm doing with Chuck, he starts going over many of his favorite cars that he's put together during the years...and the proverbial "light bulb" goes on over my head !   I saw most of the cars that Chuck was talking about in Little Rock in January, 1971 !

As I'm driving back to St. Louis I KNOW that, somewhere in the vast Archives Of The
King, I still have that magazine I was given at the time to use the info for at the Remote. It has Features on ALL of the cars we talked about, Chuck's Bio, and many other interesting notes on him. (That's it at the top of this page !)

Sure enough, I dig it out, call Chuck, and we're both amazed at the fact that 36 years after I saw his expert craftsmanship in person, that we've finally met & done an Interview together !

A few months later we got together at the yearly KKOA Lead Sled in Salina, KS., I did an update Interview with Chuck and brought the above pictured mag. for him to sign...Great Memories for him AND me !  (Since that time, Chuck, his new bride, Candi, and myself have become good friends, visit at shows a couple of times a year, update his newest info, and I have a standing Invitation to come to the Detroit Autorama that Chuck works with every year, and visit anytime.)

From Little Rock to Detroit and back again...AND how great that return trip was !

God bless all of my KAAY friends, and if any of the above named girls read this, please drop me an eMail.  One of you left your sunglasses in my glove compartment !  I've saved 'em, and if you can identify 'em you can certainly come and get 'em.

Jonnie

PS:   To Hear Chuck's Interview That I Mentioned Above, Just Click-On This Link:
http://www.legends.thewwbc.net/gpage42.html

"New" Phil North Airchecks!

I am ever on the lookout and search for audio and memorabilia we haven't posted here yet (or on A.J.'s blog) and I was fortunate enough to find numerous more airchecks!  We'll begin with three airchecks I got of Phil North; I'd sent these to Phil/Eric Chase for his listening pleasure and he sent back some great comments:

"Eric Chase (formerly Phil North in another life at KAAY) wrote:

I was recently sent 3 old airchecks of me from 1970 & ’71….while I know it’s me I have a surreal felling that it’s really someone else…I certainly don’t remember the day of the shows or actually uttering the words… but I remember what was going on in my life at the time…

..the first tape was I think from Feb of 1970…I was still in high school with 4 months to go before graduation….I had been chosen to attend the VFW Boy’s State program (where I was elected Governor of Boy’s State by quoting and reworking old commentaries from my favorite news influence, Edward R Murrow in my speeches…(it was that moment that I decided that I would never go into politics…too easy to say the right thing and NOT know what you were really talking about-come to think of it perhaps I should have run)….so I was a giddy high schooler on the largest station in Arkansas with one of the largest signals in the country…how cool is that…….I was really searching for my sound as a radio personality and was copying everybody…Mike McCormick was my mentor and he was always coaching me to be myself and natural (something that has taken 40 years to finally get) …he shared airchecks from our sister station KILT in Houston so I was on a Steve Lundy kick at the time….I remember the great old ABC Contemporary News LOGO in that show with Mary Donald who was a very nice woman but very quite doing her news across the glass…

..I was responsible for the on air imaging however and for some reason I remember all of those elements very well…all produced using 2 full track Ampex tape machines and old RCA ribbon mic and lots of imagination…very crude by today’s standards…it was all the more gratifying when art flowed from the production room because everyone know it wasn’t the equipment but the artist that made it happen.. ….I did a lot of editing of old jingles and getting VO tracks from Steve Lundy from KILT and generally playing in the old studio all thru my time at KAAY...."

Phil North KAAY, Feb. 1970:   stream   |   download


The next post will have another aircheck and more commentary!

First Regular Licensed Radio Broadcast Today, 1920!

Most assuredly, there have been radio broadcasts which took place before this date in 1920; however, today is the first day a regular broadcast began with a licensed station.  KDKA wasn't licensed until November of 1920, but Westinghouse's engineer, Frank Conrad was asked by his company to go on the air on this date for testing purposes.  Although this information is a little murky, today is said to be the first day "regular licensed radio" began.

Frank Conrad had been on the air as a clandestine broadcaster as Westinghouse developed the de Forest vacuum tube, for the war effort (WW I).  He used a phonograph to test the audio.  In defiance of the government order not to listen, numerous other experimenters would call him while listening in, reporting his audio quality.  For more information, see "100 Years of Radio Broadcasting", check this link:

http://www.californiahistoricalradio.com/100years.html

Unfortunately, KTHS isn't mentioned, but this is still an interesting read.  Enjoy!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

"Marvelous" Mark Larsen spinnin' that Donna Summer...

...or was it that new Foreigner song?  Marvelous Mark rockin' 28 states at 50,000 watt KAAY Little Rock, circa 1978.  I still love those RCA BC-7A boards.  With that vertical panel, it was really hard to spill anything in there, unless you were a total geek!  Virtually indestructible Gates carts in the background -- Dave M. had them on sequencer auto fire!  And that venerable Electro-Voice RE20 mic.  I still use one today in my studio.  This was from the Cottondale Lane shop.  As stated earlier on this blog, KAAY was my all-time favorite music radio gig.  B97 in New Orleans was serious fun, but Little Rock the best!

-Mark Larsen, Tampa Bay

http://www.markinthemorning.com

Main Street, Little Rock, AR, About 1918

Leave it to Dave M. to find neat stuff for the blog!

"Ain't this a kick in da pants! This picture is Main Street Little Rock, about 1918.

What I noticed was the electric streetcar and overhead catenaries. I remember my mom and dad talking about the days when Little Rock had street cars, but never really thought about it much other than it would have been pretty cool to catch a ride in one.

Nowadays, there is a stampede back to electric as being a clean and cheap energy source. What was once old is now new again. Heh.

 Seeya, //DM//"

KTHS, Downtown Little Rock, late 1950's

This is a great color picture that Dave M. sent in for the blog!  Nice, clear and crisp!  He mentioned that it may be around 1958, the file says 1956, but either way, it is a good picture, with KTHS in the upper right-hand corner.

We'd posted the announcement before, but here it is again, compliments of Dave once again!

This file was marked 3/24/1953....

Thanks, Dave!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

The Yellow Funmobile

This ISN'T the last Funmobile, only a picture of one similar to it (this is from 1968).  I'd been told the last KAAY Funmobile burned on the side of a highway somewhere, and inquired of several folks from the 1970s Who Were There....

David B. Treadway said it was a Pace Arrow and a "hideous shade of yellow".  Greg Fadick, a.k.a. "Hot Scott Fisher" was there, but on late nights at the time...he also confirmed that it was "painted a horrible shade of yellow, but even without the color, the overall style (or lack of style) of the vehicle made it beyond ugly.  In fact, we used to refer to it as the Banana Bus."

Greg said it was about 10 years old when they got it, so the picture is, again, of a 1968 Pace Arrow...just guessing, for the record, of about when they were refurbing it for the station in the late 1970's.  He said Tom (Roberts?) and Felix did a great job on the interior, but it wasn't in action long before it burned and Greg never had a chance to work out of it.  Also, he seems to remember the burned-out hulk sat in the back parking lot for awhile before it was finally towed away....

I'd also called Felix McDonald, who remembered it, but didn't remember the reason why it burned.  By the way, Felix is doing better after the small stroke he experienced last year, so if you're in touch with him, give him a short call to say "Hi!".  It was good to speak with him.  Nonetheless, most of these old RVs were powered by 460 Ford or 454 Chevy gasoline engines and all it took sometimes was for a neoprene rubber gas line to degrade, rupture and away it goes...these and other RVs are not known for their engines to be readily accessable, so sometimes, things went unnoticed....

The good thing about this Funmobile was that it was self-powered, but it just didn't last long.  If anyone has any pictures of this particular Funmobile, please send them to my e-mail address below, or contact me via e-mail for my mailing address; I'll be glad to scan them (and any other pictures pertaining to KAAY!) and return them afterward.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Me and Barry Mac!

You saw him on the video awhile back on "Whatever Happened To The Mighty 1090?" and you've heard his contributions to our blog in many, many ads and audio bits...and here is the man himself, Barry Mac!  Ol' fat boy (your host) is on the left....

Barry was coming through Mobile on his way home to Arkansas, with his son, from a vacation in Destin, FL (see, he wasn't afraid of anything regarding oil on the Gulf Coast.  His son said it was great!).  He took time to stop and graciously allowed me to meet with him for a few minutes- I felt like a 5-year-old at a surprise birthday party!  As he had quite a ride ahead of him for the evening, I didn't want to intrude any more than he had time for me to!

Barry has the distinction, you remember, of operating the board on the last evening of the last day KAAY was a rock-n-roll station...and ran the board for Clyde Clifford that last hour...and I shook the hand of that man....several times!

Barry was on board in the latter glory days and stayed on afterward.  He did a show with some of the old audio called "KAAY Rewound" which then turned into a regular show, "Radio Yesterday".  As happens with seemingly all radio stations, a good employee and upper level management sometimes don't see eye-to-eye and one divorces another...hence, happening in this case.

Needless to say, I found Barry to be quite humble, informative, and very patient with me; I really enjoyed my short visit with him.  I feel proud and quite fortunate to have met him and hope to run into him again in the future.

Thank you Barry, we appreciate you!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Updated Link for Head LP Info

For all Beaker Street fans -- I just noticed that the music blog Redtelephone66, which has a good writeup on the Head LP, has moved their website.

The new URL is:

http://www.redtelephone66.com/2010/06/head-1970-buddah-lp/


The new site also provides a link to download the entire Head LP, including the cut "Cannabis Sativa" that was used as the trippy bed on Beaker Street. The old reader comments about the use of Head on KAAY did not transfer over from the old site, so maybe there needs to be some new ones.

Another writeup of the Head album also exists at:

http://www.hippy.com/php/review-477.html

Greg Barman
Denver CO

Rebel Springs Rock Festival '73

We've received another nice little ad from Barry Mac, this one regarding the Rebel Springs Rock Festival from 1973!  Featured bands were ZZ Top, Bloodrock and River City.  It took place on July 4, 5 and 6, 1973, from noon 'til midnight on all three days.  There were no prepaid tickets and were $12 dollars for all three days at the gate- that's $4 per day!  No where will we EVER see those ticket prices again....

Thank you, Barry!

Rebel Springs Rock Festival:   stream   |   download

Don Payne, Fighting Pancreatic Cancer

Here's Don Payne maintaining the WTLC-FM transmitter approximately last year.  Don is the Chief Engineer over five radio stations and one TV station in the Indianapolis, IN market for Radio One.  He also has the distinction of being the last deejay to air Beaker Street on KAAY before it was shut down.  No airchecks are known to exist.  If anyone has ANY airchecks of Don while he was on the air, please forward them to me for posting here!

Don contacted me last week, thinking I'd fallen off the planet- I think our e-mail systems just didn't jive, spam filters, and all- and he told me that he'd recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  So far, he's been successfully treated, the tumor having been reduced by 23%, and he wanted me to forward his story and info...this is the first part, he tells me:

"Bud,

Ok, lets start from the beginning. Firstly, I need to put in writing that you do have my permission to share this with the KAAY blog in it's entirety. There are new laws called HIPA (Health Information Privacy Act) where people have been sued for discussing private medical info with others. Don't worry, no problem here.

Back in the middle of May I had a swollen ankle. It was sore and so swollen you couldn't see or feel the ankle bones. I could barely walk on it. Doctors gave me Ibuprofin and said I had sprained it. This helped and then the swelling moved to the other ankle, then both. I was hobbling around work dragging my legs. After a few more days, I got nausea driving on the way to work drinking my morning cup of coffee. Doctors thought I had blood clots in my ankles and ordered an ultrascan of my legs and ankles which showed nothing. Went to the MedCheck after a few days and they said I had allergies and sold me a hundred dollar bottle of nose spray.

My family Doctor was in the process of retiring so I was trying to find a new Doctor thru all of this, which didn't help. I have a few Doctor friends...neighbors that I hang out with and they said I showed definite signs of Diabetes. So I went back to my new Doctor and she did blood work looking at my sugar and glucose levels and everything, trying to figure out what was wrong. I had no pain but was low on energy.

The lab showed glucose was fine, but my liver functions were "out of whack" as they called it. They took a stool sample and there was traces of blood in my stool. They took a urine test, and it came out dark orange. The Doctor said she didn't have to anaylize the urine, she could see it wasn't right from across the room. She ordered an immediate ultrasound of my liver. I went home about 3PM and barely got in the door when the phone rang. The tests showed blood clots in each lung, and two "spots" on my pancreas. The Doctor ordered me directly to the hospital and I grabbed a few things and headed in there that night. They scooped me up in a wheelchair and did an immediate CT scan. It showed blood clots in the lungs and tumors on the pancreas which had spread to the liver. They immediately put me on blood thinners to dissolve the clots.

The next day they did a biopsy which determined the cancer was real.

I learned I had cancer at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon, then they showed me a video on how to give myself shots in the stomach twice a day and sent me home....and I'm afraid of needles! (I'm proud to say I got over that, and am now pretty good at giving myself injections.)

The Doctors put me on a couple of new cutting-edge wonder drugs.

I've been taking weekly chemo treatments and have lost about 45 lbs but am doing quite well. I went thru about a 6 week phase where I had no energy and could not eat without throwing up. I couldn't have made it thru this without my wife, Michele. (Yes we got married thru this). A couple of good reasons, one was insurance. One of the pills I take every day costs 426 dollars!

So that's the first chapter, there is more, but for now I will attach the email from my General Manager Chuck Williams, announcing to the staff my condition. Feel free to use it in your update to the group.

I am maintaining a good attitude and have fun with the nurses and Doctors at the chemo sessions. I have not allowed myself to get angry or scared. My body needs this energy right now for other things, and I honestly believe this is one reason I'm doing better. I will cover the latest news in the next email, but the latest scan showed the tumors have been shrinking. Praise God as my healing companion! What do you think?

-Don

(here is the email from Chuck Williams, GM at Radio One of Indy)

Indy team-

Don asked me to share some information he recently received as a result of various tests his Doctors have ordered over the last few days.

Don has learned that he has two blood clots in his lungs and has been placed on an appropriate blood thinner in order to dissolve the clots. This has been working well enough that Don has been released from the hospital after a couple of days.

While in the hospital, the Doctors learned Don's clots formed as a reaction to malignant tumors discovered on his pancreas and his liver.

Don asked me to share that he will begin chemo treatments immediately on Monday and is asking each of us for our support and prayers, and to keep him in your thoughts as he fights back to force his cancer into remission.

Don tells me the Doctors will be using a promising new drug, that works without the traditional side effects. Don is also reviewing alternative options.

I know you will all want to reach out to Don, and I ask that initially, you email him so he or Michelle can respond when he is most ready to reach back out to you.

I can tell you he looks strong and 100 times better than he did early last week. Don is a courageous fighter, you all know that. Let's keep him in our thoughts and prayers.

-Chuck"
 
Dear readers, please lend Don your prayers and support, whatever your faith or beliefs.  More as I hear from him.
 
If you want to send messages of encouragement to Don, please send them to my e-mail below and I will forward them; I have found a way past our spam/e-mail blocks to get to him and, if he wants direct contact, I will make the arrangements, due to the sensitive nature of his time and treatment.
 
Thank you, all.
 
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

The Hogmobile!

If it could be done, I'll bet those guys at KAAY could do it!  From left to right, this is Mike McCormick (Barry Wood), Phil North, Jonnie King, Larry Montgomery (assistant) and Clyde Clifford (Dale Seidenswarz) in front of the motorized Razorback Hogmobile!  We'd mentioned the other KAAY Funmobiles in the past, but I found this on Jonnie King's website (http://www.jonnieking.net/subpage.html) and just had to share it with you dear readers- with Jonnie's permission, of course, pending your participation in going to his website and enjoying the fine Jonnie King history there!  Do it!

I'd forgotten to ask Jonnie, KAAY's then-resident-car-guy, what the Hogmobile was based on, chassis-wise.  Looks to be about the size of a Volkswagon Beetle, or Thing, maybe?  Maybe Warden VW donated the auto for publicity!?!?  Maybe we'll never know, but someone in the Big K Crew drove this thing!

If anyone else has any history on The Hogmobile, please pass it on!  This is great history that needs to "get out"!  Jonnie says this picture hasn't been seen in public since it was taken, until he put it on his website and shared it with us here, as well.  It was taken September 12, 1970 at the Razorback Pep Rally.  Thank you, Jonnie!

For more great radio history, please go to: http://www.jonnieking.net/index.html

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

The Dramatics,At Discount Records/Soul Bro. Records

I'd never heard of The Dramatics, but here is a nice ad from the Barry Mac archives announcing a new album, "A Dramatic Experience", by this group.  These were available at Discount Records and Soul Brothers Record Shop....the date is unknown.

The CD is available via Amazon, as well as other Dramatics music:

http://www.amazon.com/Dramatic-Experience-Dramatics/dp/B000000ZHH

If you want to see more on The Dramatics, here is their webpage:

http://dramaticsoul.tripod.com/

Dramatics at Discount Records:   stream   |   download

Downtown Little Rock and KTHS

A. J. has posted this 'way back on his blog and I thought it would be interesting to look back again.  KTHS moved to Little Rock's Main Street from Hot Springs and, in the picture at the upper left, you'll see the call letters on the building.  Later, in 1954, KTHS moved to a new building on 8th and Izard, the first in Arkansas built for both radio and television broadcasting.  Television station KTHV signed on the air in 1955 and was on the first floor, KTHS on the second floor.

When LIN Broadcasting bought KTHS, the call letters were changed to KAAY.

This picture is so cool, with all the old cars and buses...real iron!  And ladies dressed like ladies!

Does anyone else have any old pictures along this line?  Please forward them on to me so they can be posted for all to enjoy!

Can ANYONE positively identify the year of this picture?

(I got a correction on the above information by an anonymous reader- thank you, sir or ma'am!)

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

A Nice G.E. AM/FM Portable

I got this years ago, from either my wife's garage sale days, or directly from a friend- I can't remember all of the circumstances, I just remember that I have radios!  This is a General Electric P975F portable AM/FM transistorized portable receiver.  I believe the vintage to be about the mid 1970s, due to the design and style; I can't seem to find any technical information on the 'web.  There are manuals for sale, of course....

It's a 15-transistor model (remember a posting mentioning if more transistors make a radio better?), powered by four "AA" cells.  As a transistor radio, one can usually put batteries in it, and it'll play, if nothing's wrong with it (like having gotten wet in the past & something shorting out!).  This one isn't operational right now, so it's on my "look at" list....

The leather cover is still in very nice shape and the carry handle and shoulder strap are fully intact, but could use a little TLC.  A nice feature is that the tuning and volume controls are recessed into the left-hand side.  The AM/FM button could get punched by mistake, though.  The telescoping whip isn't overly long, either and is external to the radio.  I was amazed at the cleanliness inside the radio- it obviously had stayed inside most of its life.

I can see some cute chick carrying this on the way to a Funmobile remote location, while listening to KAAY!  Could she have listened to Sonny Martin, Phil North, Bob Robbins, George J. Jennings or Jonnie King with it?  Possibly- I'll bet she could have....

What did YOU listen to KAAY with?

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Arvin 446-P AM Portable

This is a little tube-type portable AM receiver that my wife and a friend found and gave to me.  This little sweetie was made in 1950 in two colors, Maroon (which you see here) and Sandlewood.  It has four tubes and was powered by one 67-1/2 volt (Eveready #467 or equiv.) and two "D" batteries.

It is surprisingly in very good shape, but I'll bet it'll need a little TLC in replacing some capacitors before it can be fired up.  They really crammed the parts in radios this small, so it'll definitely be a labor of love.

I can see this one in the basket of a bicycle (cradled in a towel of course), heading out to an open field to listen to a favorite radio station!

What did YOU listen to KAAY with?

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Go Get A Warden VW & Get Outta Dat Tub!

Here is another fun ad, courtesy of Barry Mac.  Does anyone know who the voice talents were for Ralphie and Harietta?  The date of the ad is unknown.

Warden Volkswagon, located on 8415 New Benton Highway in Little Rock, AR, was giving a "six-wheel special" consisting of a 10-speed European bicycle with every VW deal...the "Spring Ecology Special", it was called...for $2181!

Here's some memorabilia to enjoy, along with the audio!

Did any listeners in the Little Rock or surrounding areas ever take advantage of this deal?

Warden VW ad:   stream   |   download