Another 1977 Beaker Street Aircheck With Stuart (McRae)

This is the last aircheck we have, truly taken off the air via a radio, of Beaker Street, back in 1977, with Stuart (McRae).

Looking back, I remember having pulled that 1966 Dodge Coronet 440 up to the shop door where I worked, having it warming up those last few minutes before I punched out at 11PM, door open and KAAY blaring out of the four speakers...somehow, (I forgot), I plumbed the audio from the AM radio into my FM/8-track's audio chain.  When the time clock hit "11", I punched out, waved to my replacement and ran for the car, hearing the opening to Beaker Street.

Back then, gas was cheap, but we paid in pretty much real money.  Inflation had hit, we were getting less and paying more.  I remember I quit paying for Ethyl gasoline when it hit fifty cents per gallon...but, back then, I was in high cotton, taking home a $77 paycheck.  I dropped back to mid-grade, but I STILL drove 'way out of the way to listen to Beaker Street.

It was 19 miles from the gate of the business to my front gate...but I'd stretch an extra ten or more miles to it and, depending on the music, I'd either cruise, or I'd race...but it was all great.  I wish now, what with all the audio work I'd done then, that I'd have devised a way to tape off-the-air.  KAAY was coming in full strength, better than local radio stations, because of the huge radio antenna and in-line amplifier I had sucking that signal in!

Nonetheless, we are always looking for audio from the "glory days" of KAAY, from 1961-1985.  Now they're spreading God's glory and that is also a good thing- not airing that cop-killing, woman-degrading junk that some stations are airing...

When I graduated in 1977, I stayed out a year, healing from various sports injuries, taking a break and saving money for college.  When I entered college in 1978, I lost touch with KAAY and Beaker Street; I was working a full day shift, taking a full course load and clinical rotations at night- usually, I went straight home and when I got home, there wasn't much left of me to tune around, much less stay awake listening to radio.  Also, in those days, a new station had hit the FM airwaves, WZEW, who Stuart and Dick Downes had gone to work for- and I listened to them quite a bit...again, FM trumped AM....

So, enough of MY memories, let's end with Stuart and Beaker Street in 1977....


(or download here)
If there is ANYONE, ANYWHERE OUT THERE who has any more Beaker Street material to share, please contact me at the e-mail address below.  I'll be glad to pay for materials and postage, to be able to give YOU credit and post it here on the blog.  I am also desperately seeking audio of Don Payne on Beaker Street, who was the last deejay to head it up after Stuart McRae left.  Don Payne aired Beaker Street the last two or 2-1/2 weeks of its time in 1977, before "the suits" pulled the plug on April 3, 1977.

Thank you, dear visitor and friends of this blog- Greg, Dave S. and I certainly hope you enjoyed taking this historical walk down Beaker Street with us!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Beaker Street from 1977 with Stuart McRae

Just as we were approaching the end of our Beaker Street series, more surprises show up.  Like -- this aircheck from contributor Greg Mathieson, who had this show on cassette for years and has shared it with the Blog -- Thank you, Greg! 

It's from sometime in 1977 featuring Stuart McRae.  The aircheck is mostly untelescoped, tho it has a few breaks and sounds like it is a mix of several shows because the time checks are out of sequence.  It is DX reception on the skywave, location unknown, and the signal ranges from barely audible to loud and clear.  

The music lineup:  Pink Floyd, REO Speedwagon, Jeff Beck, Led Zepplin, Fleetwood Mac, Ambrosia, Kansas, Elton John, Deep Purple, and an unknown final track. 


(or download here)
Just as we thought -- there are still tapes of KAAY and Beaker Street out there, sitting in boxes in peoples' basements and attics, waiting to be discovered, dusted off and digitized! 

Greg Barman

Beaker Street & Beaker Theater - 4/13/71

Before we move on to the final airchecks in our Beaker Street series, we're going to take a step back for this aircheck because it contains a full Beaker Theater episode.

Beaker Theater ran at 2:00am right after Beaker Street, with double-features on the weekends.   A telescoped version of this aircheck has appeared earlier.  This recording with a full-length Beaker Theater is courtesy of Kenneth Hawkins, and we thank Kenneth very much for sharing it.   After 37 minutes of Beaker Street music, then Clyde's newscast, it's "The Geneva Mystery, Part 1" from the BBC on Beaker Theater.  From April 13, 1971:


(or download here)
Coming soon....the end of Beaker Street.  And, it's reappearance.


Greg Barman

1975 Beaker Street Aircheck

We'd posted this sometime in the past, but decided to add it to the line-up.  I can't remember if we'd ever found out who the DJ was... but, for historical reasons, here it is again:


(or download here)
Does anyone know who this is ?

We're getting close to the end....


Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

1974 Beaker Street With Tom Roberts

In this short intro to Beaker Street, you'll hear a change...no longer LIN Broadcasting.  Multimedia Inc. are the "suits" I mentioned before.  This show featured Tom Roberts.


(or download here)


Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

May 1975 Beaker Street with Ken Knight

Here is another aircheck of Beaker Street with one of the post-Clyde Clifford hosts -- Ken Knight.  Real name: Bill Jackson.   This was recorded off the skywave at my home in Evanston IL, just north of Chicago in May 1975.  It includes the intro for Beaker Theater, and a "Greetings to the great Southwest" ID.  Sorry for all the static, it must have been a stormy night!  

Note all the concert spots for venues as diverse as Minneapolis, Des Moines, Baton Route and Tulsa.  They all bought airtime to advertise their shows, knowing that Beaker Street and the 50,000-watt reach of KAAY was a great way to reach music fans beyond those cities.


(or download here)

Greg Barman

KAAY Off The Air Again

As reported by Doug Virden and others on the KAAY Facebook page, KAAY has been off the air again... I will investigate this further, as to the reason.  Looking back to my visit a few years ago, the transmitter site was in deplorable condition...the antenna system had just been repaired after copper thieves had vandalized it...but when Jerry Sims (God rest his soul), David B. Treadway and I were there, the transmitter was all the way DOWN...the Optimod on the back-up 5kw transmitter wouldn't even work, so we were probably preserved from any stray RF energy frying our brains any further while out on the field, looking for little Glaspie Dillard's grave.

Nonetheless, if you tune across 1090, it's not there; I'm also told that KARN, 920 AM, has also been off the air since February.  Is this a sign of the times that the owner (Cumulus) doesn't care, that they're just milking all the money they can out of these stations before they go dark?  I said it before and I'll say it again: when consolidation was allowed years ago, it was the death knell of radio as we knew it.  Of course, there have been other factors... but allowing huge conglomerate companies to monopolize the airwaves has KILLED radio....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

December 1974 Beaker Street with Ken Knight

Alas, after 1972 when Clyde Clifford left KAAY and Beaker Street, different people headed up Beaker Street, as "the suits" saw fit.  This aircheck was donated to A. J. by Greg Barman and features a "Ken Knight", who was Steve Morris' ("Steve Scott") friend Bill Jackson.


(or download here)
"GREETINGS, QSL'ERS!"

Thanks, Greg!

(Note -- this was reception of KAAY on the skywave in Evanston IL, just north of Chicago).

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Beaker Street with Don Marcus - February 1974

This is an untelescoped aircheck of the mysterious "Don Marcus", with the opening 44:11 of Beaker Street in February of 1974.  This aircheck is courtesy of former KAAY PD Wayne Moss, who has contributed many airchecks to the Blog.

According to Steve Morris ("Steve Scott", 1972-74): "Don Marcus was a bit strange (as we all were).  He was a very small guy with great long hair ala; 'Kenny G'.  When he moved to Tucson, I moved into his apartment out by the U of A @ L.R.  I inherited his telephone number, waterbed, furniture, etc.  (back then when ya moved to another radio station, you never took more than you could carry in the trunk of your car).  Of course he worked  from 11pm 'till 5am...By virtue of his shift, he very seldom appeared at any KAAY functions."

Steve also remembers that maybe Wayne Moss hired Don Marcus from Kansas City "or somewhere like that"...I called Wayne later and he didn't know very much about him, it had been so long. Wayne told me that Don had left for a very lucrative offer in Arizona while Wayne was on vacation; Don had told GM Pat Walsh that he couldn't pass on the offer and then left.

Steve also adds: "Don Marcus replaced O'Brian (Mike Verdicchio) on Beaker Street, O'Brian came downtown to do 8-11pm.  When Marcus departed for Tucson, Ariz., Wayne hired Ken Knight (Bill Jackson) from Joplin, Mo., to do Beaker Street.  Of course I took over 8-11pm from O'Brian when he left to go to KLZ-FM in Denver."

We have been unsuccessful trying to reach Don Marcus or to find out anything about his whereabouts after leaving KAAY.  If anybody knows more about him please let us know here at the Blog.

And now: "Greetings QSL'ers! This is KAAY Little Rock!"  Lou Reed, Suzie Quatro, Slade, Alice Cooper and more artists await your ear, as well as an ad for The Warehouse on February 21, 23, 24 and 25 with loads of artists - enjoy!



or download here


Bud S. & Greg B.

Lesley Turner, Daughter of Bill Summers, Needs Your Help!

I was just contacted by Lesley Turner, with the below message:

"My Dad, Bill Summers (Bill Stracner ), worked near and in the Little Rock market at: KBBA, KAAY, KXLR and KLRA. I am looking for air checks, articles, pictures and your memories of him at any station.  He was a DJ and a newsman. I have air checks for every where except KAAY. One of my earliest memories is sitting on top of the KAAY van during a Razorback Pep Rally. I need more memories. Please post responses here and Bud will get us in touch."

I e-mailed Lesley a link with everything we had on Bill, including air checks we have, but if there are any other things, I'd like to help her in her search.  Unfortunately, Bill died in 1981 under tragic circumstances.

Please help Lesley!!!!  Anyone?  Be sure to contact me ASAP, with the header on the e-mail as "Bill Summers", please.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

KAAY's Bob Robbins & O'Brian on Beaker Street - October 3, 1973

This is Bob Robbins with KAAY's regular Top-40 format in its final half hour leading up to O'Brian with Beaker Street, on October 3, 1973.

You'll hear Bob promo Beaker Street and "some of that dope smokin' kind of music."  Then, "Impact", a short public-affairs break.  Finally, "Greetings Northern Mid America!" and Beaker Street rolls with O'Brian, starting off with music from the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Joe Walsh, and War.

"O'Brian" was (and still is!) a friend of "Steve Scott" (Steve Morris) from that era and has been mentioned here before.  "O'Brian's" name is Mike Verdicchio, who now runs a number of very successful businesses today.

Thanks to KAAY's former PD Wayne Moss, for contributing this cassette aircheck to the Blog.


(or download here)
 Greg B & Bud S. 

Russell Wells' '72 Beaker Street

Russell Wells had originally donated this 1972 'scoped aircheck to A. J. Lindsey for his blog...we're bringing it back.

I'd LOVE to find all this music and meld it back into the 'scoped airchecks....


(or download here)
Thanks to Russell Wells, friend of this blog!



BudS. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Another Warehouse Ad

Back a few posts, (aircheck listed as August 14, 1971)  Clyde Clifford was running an ad for the above groups appearing at A Warehouse in New Orleans...the problem is, the ad was mentioned August 13th and 14th!  Nonetheless, here is a poster of the event, featuring Ten Years After and Edgar Winter's White Trash... enjoy!

Thanks to Bobby Wahl again for allowing us to bring these goodies to you!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

We Inturrupt This Series....

For a plea from Kenneth Hawkins:

Kenneth HawkinsFebruary 16, 2015 at 8:46 AM

Does anyone out there have any Beaker Street shows on tape or disc they can share with me? I have a whole bunch of B.S. shows on MP3 from 1970 to the very last show of 2011. I would particularly like some of those shows from the 60s if anyone has them? Let me know what you all have. THANKS!

 

KENNETH: get in touch with me A.S.A.P., lets see what you have... my e-mail address is: staceys4@hotmail.com

 

Bud

Beaker Street with Clyde Clifford - June 1-2 1972

It's Summer 1972, and here is Beaker Street on the skywave as received in Evanston, Illinois.  It brings back a lot of memories for me.

I grew up in Evanston (a northern suburb of Chicago), was an active DX-er, and I was fascinated by this powerful, exotic station from Arkansas that boomed in every night on 1090.   The signal was sometimes almost as strong as our local big city rockers, WLS and WCFL.  But Beaker Street sure didn’t sound like anything on the air on AM or FM in Chicago!  The underground rock music with the southern blues, folk and country influences, Clyde Clifford’s laidback style, the “Head” music bed under his raps – it was all such a strange, spooky, interesting mix.  I can’t count the number of nights I stayed up late to listen, keeping the volume low so as to not wake up anyone else in the house.  As a young man who was fascinated with radio and so eager to work in the business, Beaker Street and KAAY were radio magic to me. 

This is a full 3-hour show I taped the night of June 1-2, 1972, 11pm-2am, telescoping the aircheck along the way (sorry, there is no untelescoped version).  The signal fades up and down, but as you’ll hear it’s pretty good skip reception most of the time.  The aircheck ends with the intro to Beaker Theater and Clyde’s dry, funny description of what was to come.   

This show has been posted previously in two parts, but this is first time the entire show is posted in one single file.  Bud Stacey says this aircheck may well be the best and most representative of the original Beaker Street, and I agree.  The music is a rich mix of artists that includes:

Hour 1:  The Flock, McKendree Spring, Nick Drake, Eric Clapton, Grateful Dead, Robert Johnson, Leon Russell, Judy Collins.

Hour 2:  Hawkwind, Daddy Cool, Steppenwolf, Joyous Noise, Vigrass & Osborne, Bloodrock.

Hour 3:  Dust, Bloodrock, Arlo Guthrie, Foghat, The Chambers Brothers, Spooky Tooth, Mason Proffit. 

The commercials are great, too.  It amazes me how someone could to go to A Warehouse in New Orleans and hear such tremendous music for just $4! 

Listen to this show in a dark room or on a dark road at night to best capture the mood.   Thanks Clyde, for all the entertainment and music discovery you provided for us young people growing up in the Midwest. 

(or download here)

Greg Barman

Another Great Ad From Beaker Street

Something just occurred to me today...when I was listening to the January 1, 1972 aircheck, I thought about the ad where The Allman Brothers, Vince Vance & The Valients and REO Speedwagon played an encore concert that night, since so many people weren't able to make the concert New Year's Eve (12/31/71).  I thought of our friend Bobby Wahl and The Warehouse tribute site, wondering if there wasn't some more memorabilia there... lo and behold, there was a poster of the concert!

Bobby is constantly improving the site, so you MUST go there and check it out, if you haven't recently!  http://www.blackstrat.net/  Clyde Clifford ran these ads (and many more) well outside KAAY's local area, because the station's signal covered so much ground- it was like a worldwide shortwave station!  So many people flocked to The Warehouse, I believe, because of KAAY's/Clyde's airing the ads.

By gosh, here's another one:

The ad for the encore concert ran many times in the early A.M. hours of Beaker Street on this particular aircheck...remember hearing them in the post a few back?

From time to time, I'll sprinkle a bit of history here and there, hopefully for your enjoyment, to augment the experience of the airchecks!

Alas, I never made it to The Warehouse; I worked all the time I wasn't in school and college.  There was little time for play.  I was able to make concerts in Mobile, AL, Pensacola, FL and Gulfport, MS, because I could drive back home in a reasonable time and not lose too much sleep.  I regret that I never made it to New Orleans.

THANKS SO MUCH to Bobby Wahl, the master of The Warehouse tribute website!  Give it a visit and leave Bobby a note telling him you saw this here and how nice his site is looking- it just keeps getting better and better!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Clyde Clifford Interview about Beaker Street

This is a re-post of one of the few interviews that Clyde Clifford has given about KAAY and Beaker Street.

In 1995, Clyde Clifford did this phone interview with Jim Snowbarger, a self-described radio nut, electrical engineer, KAAY fan and internet radio producer/host in Marshalltown, Iowa.  Jim sent me a copy of the interview several years ago and gave his okay to pass it along to this blog.

The interview lasts about 29 minutes and Clyde talks about:  The beginnings of Beaker Street;  how the spooky background music bed came about; whether the KAAY transmitter site was haunted; the transmitter studio equipment; the last Beaker Street show on KAAY in 1985; his Beaker Street shows on FM in 1995; his day job at UALR; and why he's still unflappably happy.


(or download here)
Greg Barman

Beaker Street August 14, 1971

Here is another Beaker Street that Dave S. was able to glean from A.J.'s blog before the players broke...after Jethro Tull's "My God", notice the more familiar "Cannabis Sativa" background music?

The Dr. Pepper commercial harkens back to better times, in my opinion.  Music was MUSIC, not the synthesized versions we've gotten used to today.  I love the nuances of multiple voices and actual instruments!


(or download here)
I am grateful to Dave S. for his rescue efforts, and to Greg for helping repost everything here!

Do you like us bringing back these memories?  Please leave us some comments!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Beaker Street 4/13/1971 Part C

Here is Part C of April 13, 1971.  We hope you have enjoyed this series!


(or download here)
OK, more Beaker Street audio to follow!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Beaker Street 4/13/1971 Part B

Here is the 2nd portion of this aircheck...there may be some overlap from Part A.  Some great music- Clyde had such a great way of bringing diverse music together.


(or download here)
Part C to follow- don't touch that dial!  (Like I didn't think you would....)

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)