Don't Let This Happen To You!

Please take it easy tonight!  Don't let this happen to YOU!

Behave, now!  You have to go to work tomorrow!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

"Listen- And Then Listen Some More!"

There is a lot of fun stuff that goes on around Halloween!  Radio shows, such as Orson Wells' "War of The Worlds" is one memorable show that seems to make the rounds this time of year.  What with station consolidation, network programming, etc., there is very little original programming any more.  In speaking with a fellow radio nut the other evening via Ham radio, we lamented as to the degradation of AM radio.  Nonetheless, a little nugget can be found here & there, at times.  Especially at this holiday....!

(Don't forget to check out Jonnie King's websites, previously mentioned in this blog!  Good stuff!)

Don't be scared, kiddies, to spin that dial after dark, while you're awaiting trick-or-treaters!  Some of the 50,000-watt stations may still have some temporary holiday fare to enjoy.  If you have shortwave monitoring capabilities, "pirate radio" stations usually operate like crazy on Halloween.  For shortwave, listen on on 6955 kc's (kHz or kiloherts, to you young 'uns!), plus or minus a few clicks.  Some operators use AM, still others use upper or lower sideband, which is NOT conducive to good music audio quality....

The above cartoon was found in a 1962 publication and was cut-n-pasted from two different cartoons and the punkins' faces were drawn in.  I like old cartoons, don't you?

BOO!  Have fun this weekend, stay safe and let us know what you hear over Halloween!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

THE MUNSTERS & MONSTERS: "HALLOWEEN, 2010" !

JK's SPECIAL "HALLOWEEN, 2010" PRODUCTIONS...

          

SPECIAL NOTE TO ALL MY KAAY/1090 FRIENDS !

In case you may have missed this when I posted it a couple of weeks ago, as you know, every year at this time I produce something Very Special for my WebSites for HALLOWEEN ! This year it's a Trilogy of Treats: Music, Films, AND, TV !

"Monster Mash"/"Haunted House" is a COMPLETE Production on its own on the St. Louis Record Collector Site...and you've NEVER heard 'em this way ! (BTW: Turn Up The Volume On Your Speakers !! )

THEN, when you Scroll Down that Page it will link you to: The "HALLOWEEN FILM RARITIES FOR 2010" Page with cool films you can watch this weekend !

AND, "THE MUNSTERS" Story "HOT ROD HERMAN" starring the man who built the Munsters Koach & the Drag-U-La: GEORGE BARRIS !

Best of all...it's all self-contained !   Each section links to the other which you can access after you listen to the Page you're on...which makes for the COMPLETE Music/Film/TV Halloween Experience.

If I told you exactly how many hours were involved in this you would have a major stroke !

http://www.legends.thewwbc.net/

http://www.records.thewwbc.net/

http://www.serial.thewwbc.net/

OR

http://www.jonnieking.net/


ANY Of The Above Will Get You To The THREE Special "HALLOWEEN,2010" Pages on ANY of the Sites.

All the best to you, stay safe...and keep an eye out for those vampires, ghosts, goblins, werewolves, zombies, and, other assorted things that go "bump" in the night !

Best Witches To All,

Jonnie

PS: PASS THESE LINKS ON TO A FRIEND !

KAAY Movie Ad: "Slaughter"

One more from Barry...another bad "watch your mouth!" Jim Brown movie, from American International!

Movie ad for "Slaughter":   stream   |   download


Many, many thanks to Barry Mac for continuing to share these little bits of audio history!

Interesting Stories From Hollis Duncan!

Hollis and I have e-mailed back & forth quite a bit- he is wonderfully knowledgeable about broadcast engineering and such- and he says he hasn't seen the inside of a transmitter in 20 years!  Knowledge stays with one for many, many years (as my stint in the Emergency Medical field has proven).  Here are three interesting stories Hollis related to me recently:

"I'll leave you with a KAAY story. Late one Saturday night, I was in my office at KAAY and was talking to an engineer friend in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We wondered if he could hear KAAY at night, so I went into the control room, verified that it was after midnight (the "Experimental Period,"), checked the log to see that we had no commercials scheduled, and told the DJ to put it on non-directional. Gary went out to his car and said that he could hear KAAY just fine.

Meanwhile, the control room telephone rang. It was some guy in Nashville, Tennessee, asking "Where did you guys come from?"

OK, one more. I was sitting in my office one bright sunny morning and I received a semi-hysterical telephone call telling me that KAAY needed to go off the air because we were interfering with her radio station. As you know from your BCB experience, things get really active on the AM band around sunrise and sunset. I finally extracted this much: she owned a 500-watt radio station on 1090 somewhere in Eastern Tennessee and was trying to sell advertising in a town that was 20 miles away and when KAAY went non-directional at local sunrise, we were eating her up in this distant city. I tried to explain to her that she was operating on KAAY's channel and not the other way around, but she wasn't buying it. So she told me that she would call the FCC to have us shut down and I asked her to give the Commission my phone number so that I could cease operations immediately. I never heard back.

OK, yet one more... I received a reception report from Havana, Cuba. I couldn't acknowledge it because there was no mail service between the US and Cuba and my reception report kept coming back. Knowing then what I know now, I would have put Canada and a fake Canadian postal code as the last line of the address and Canadian Postal would have said "Wrong Country, eh?" and sent it to the right place. People used to send letters to Russia this way. But I always felt bad about not acknowledging the guy's reception report...."

You gotta chuckle!  Unfortunately, a few people in the business, like the lady in Tennessee, have no practical knowledge as to how radio "works"; leave it to us hobbyists, who chase after distant broadcast band stations' signals ("BCB DXing"), as well as broadcast engineers, et. al., to know how radio waves act at different times of the day.  Numerous KAAY deejays KNEW their voices were being flung to the farthest reaches of this country and beyond!  Jerry Sims spoke of how he was in awe of this phenomenon, as a young deejay.  Folks, the wonderment is still there!  Radio is STILL magic!

Thank you, Hollis!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Badfinger at Robinson Auditorium!

Here's another ad from the Barry Mac Audio Files, for Badfinger!  I'll bet that Thursday night was rockin'!  Four dollars at the door, presented by Consolidated Talent....

Badfinger concert ad:   stream   |   download

Is It Age, Or Mileage, That Counts?

Man, I feel like my odometer has rolled over for the third time, but I'm only 52 today!  I laugh, in that I don't call 'em "birthdays" any more, I call 'em "vicories"...looking back, there are times that I wonder, how did I survive?  The motorcycle and auto wrecks, sports injuries, etc.  Nonetheless, there's a higher purpose for all of us...

Thinking back, I've enjoyed my few years- not that I've done great things or travelled the world- but my memories are mine and I have few regrets.  Radio has been a BIG part of my life and I have great memories there, as well!  The Internet/World Wide Web gives us the opportunity to visit yesteryear and enjoy old programs and TV shows, memorabilia and such...and I'm proud that, through the miracle of computer engineering, we here at The Mighty 1090 KAAY blog can share some of these special memories!  Ain't technology wonderful?

So, on this day of "victory" of mine, MY present to YOU, dear reader, is a renewed effort to constantly seek more KAAY goodies to share with you- time is short, you know!

Got any contributions?

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Don Payne Airchecks, WZPL, Indianapolis, IN

I was recently contacted by Delvan Roehling, a fellow radio enthususiast, who read my plea on the RadioInfo message boards about Don Payne and wanting an aircheck, ANY aircheck, of him from anywhere.  I'd searched the world over and not found anything of him at KAAY (yet, but I'm persistant!), but Delvan graciously put this compilation together for us to enjoy.

This collage spans the years 1986-1990 at WZPL, to Delvan's best guess; you'll hear several mentions of months and years.  Delvan also worked at WZPL in the research/promotions department in 1990-1991.  He mentions that he looked up to all the guys on the air...and that Don was one of the more memorable ones.

Please enjoy what Delvan has put forth; thank you, Delvan!

Don Payne Airchecks, WZPL:   stream   |   download

More Gone...

Tom Bosley, of "Happy Days" passed away today...Barbara Billingsly, the Beaver's mom on "Leave It To Beaver" and the hilarious jive-lady on the movie "Airplane passed on yesterday...Tony Curtis, gone last week...

Today's TV just ain't the same...neither are the actors....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

KTHS QSL Card!

Wow, another great find!  As many of you remember, KTHS was KAAY's predecessor; KTHS was born in 1924 and remained on the air until KAAY, Inc. bought the station in 1962.  A reader by the name of John came forth with a QSL (verification of reception) card just the other day!  It's signed by Bob Hicks, but it doesn't say if he was an engineer there in 1961, when the card was dated.  If memory serves me correctly, wasn't Felix McDonald the Chief Engineer at that time, coming on board with KAAY?

Nonetheless, here is a rare treat for us...thank you for this wonderful piece of history, John!

Memorabilia such as this is always sought by us here on the blog!  If anyone has any more such pieces of radio history, please contact me at my e-mail address below.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Dave M. Comments, Re: Woody

David B,

I just read your remarks about Woody. It brought back a flood of memories about him, and a tear or two.

I didn't know Woody nearly as well as you and some of the others. But I do remember his presence, his big grin, hearty laugh and welcome demeanor. You're right - he was a real source of energy that was infectious and wonderful. Thanks for your words - they are a wonderful remembrance.

/Leeroy/

And from David B.:

"Can you believe this big ol' softy (referring to Dave Montgomery)? Just another example of the love, acceptance and camaraderie that was all OVER KAAY before Multimedia got it.

dbt"

Makes me wonder why I didn't run away from Mobile, while I had the urge, to go work at KAAY, when I was young and impetuous!
 
Thanks, Dave M. and David B.!
 
Bud S (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Remembering Woody

On the air at KAAY, he was Mike McCormick--the second person after Jim Hankins to use the name. In real life, he was Barry Somers Wood from Union City, Tennessee. "Woody" when you got to know him, though Pat Walsh was prone to call him "Woodchuck." I just now learned that he died six years ago and I'm beating up on myself for being a pitifully neglectful friend. I left him alone and now he's gone.

I met Woody through my recent acquaintance with Phil North sometime in late 1970, and the first thing Woody did was TEACH me. He sat me down in front of an RCA 77DX ribbon microphone in the voice booth of the KAAY production room (seriously big deal!) and recorded me intro-ing a Michael Jackson song. Then, he had me do it again and told me to SMILE as I spoke. When he played the tracks back, I was astonished at the difference! Forty years later, I remember Woody's lesson every time I go on the air.

Barry was slight of stature; couldn't have been an inch over five-five, but he was ten feet tall on the air. (If you have not heard his voice, there are many samples of it here on the Blog. You ought to avail yourself of this richness of tone.) He might have been having the worst day of his life when he walked into the control room at 1425 West 7th, but you'd never know it when he opened the mic. Michael J. McCormick was always on top of the world--and he wanted you up there with him.

I wondered how such a relatively small head could contain so much knowledge and refined intelligence. You could ask Woody about ANYTHING and he'd know. He was a born leader and had been Program Director at KAAY (back when the title actually mattered) for a few years before I arrived.

Undoubtedly, his tour of duty with the Air Force broadened him, but his mind was hungry and thirsty at every moment--witnessed by his use of the Turkish phrase "Goo-lay, goo-lay" (rendered phonetically here) when he'd sign off, and the knowledge that the biggest insult you could hurl in Turkey was to show someone the sole of your foot.

It was the Air Force that cost him his sense of smell, the result of a chemical leak in a missile silo. Somehow, the thought of such a gentle soul being involved with huge things that could blow up the world wasn't that hard to accept. It was just another fascinating part of him--like the way he could cook such GREAT food without being able to smell a bit of it! (On the downside, not being able to discern a natural gas leak in his apartment nearly cost him his life--but he always had the best sort of friends. The kind who would come and check on him.)

His sense of humor was marvelous. He'd probably heard every short joke there was and he was okay with it. The record racks in the back of the KAAY control room stretched to the ceiling and I was with him one afternoon when he had to stand on a chair to get the 45 he wanted. As he stepped down, he looked up at me and said, "Now. Let's see YOU get SHORTER."

It was Woody who first told me that the studios were haunted. He said that Richard Weitan (Buddy Karr), who had died in a Jeep accident related to his National Guard duties, was among the spirits who chose to hang out at KAAY. He told me of a time when a record kept falling out of the rack. He'd climb up and put it back--and it would fall out again. Finally, he played it. Then when he put it back, it stayed. "Richard must have wanted to hear it on the air" was how he figured it.

So it's farewell, Woody, even though the stories could go on for weeks. On the one hand, I should have been a MUCH better friend to one so wise and patient, who taught me so much. On the other hand, you were such a private person that no one could even FIND you if you didn't want it (ask me how I know this).

"It doesn't matter if what you're doing is good or bad, as long as it's interesting. If it's interesting, the audience will stay with you. The worst thing you can do is be boring." Thanks for that, Woody, and a hundred other lessons besides.

I love you, I miss you, I owe you.

David B. Treadway
Doc Holiday VII

How About An AMC Gremlin for $2889?

Ed McMahon heads up this KAAY ad, hot from the Barry Mac Emporium of Audio.  How long has it been since we've bought a car at those prices?  How long has it been since we've heard a classy, non-digitally-performed ad such as this?  Am I dating myself?

AMC Gremlin ad:   stream   |   download

Barry Wood, Update

Jim Cleveland e-mailed me this morning, to substantiate that, yes indeed, Barry Wood had passed away in 2004.  He's spoken with Charlie Scarbrough ("Charlie King") who'd gotten the news from Pat Walsh, before HE passed away.

And thanks for David B. Treadway's comments re: the post the other day; David also did some investigating and found, like I did, that everything is NOT on the Web.  Nonetheless, if anyone could find it, David would have been one of those who would've found out.

"Google is giving me nothing useful on this, and the genealogy sites where there MAY be something all want to charge me to take a look.

"Never married" sounds right, and if the "S" stands for Somers (any way to find this out?), this could be our Barry Wood. He is from Union City, Tennessee, which looks to be in Obion County. The age would be about right, too.

I don't like what little I know.

David B. Treadway
Doc Holiday VII"
Nonetheless, Barry Wood's audio will live on here on The Mighty 1090 KAAY Blogspot, thanks to donations of audio from everyone here.

RIP, Barry and tell A.J. "Hello" for us!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

JK's SPECIAL "HALLOWEEN, 2010" PRODUCTIONS...

SPECIAL NOTE:

As you know, every year at this time I produce something Very Special for my WebSites for HALLOWEEN ! This year it's a Trilogy of Treats: Music, Films, AND, TV !

"Monster Mash"/"Haunted House" is a COMPLETE Production on its own on the St. Louis Record Collector Site...and you've NEVER heard 'em this way ! (BTW: Turn Up The Volume On Your Speakers !! )

THEN, when you Scroll Down that Page it will link you to: The "HALLOWEEN FILM RARITIES FOR 2010" Page, AND, "THE MUNSTERS" Story from their TV Show...it's all self-contained.

Each section links to the other which you can access after you listen to the Page you're on...which makes for the COMPLETE Music/Film/TV Halloween Experience.

If I told you exactly how many hours were involved in this you would have a major stroke !

http://www.records.thewwbc.net/ OR

http://www.serial.thewwbc.net/ OR

http://www.jonnieking.net/

ANY Of The Above Will Get You To The THREE Special "HALLOWEEN,2010" Pages on ANY of the Sites.

All the best to you, stay safe...and keep an eye out for those witches, vampires, ghosts, goblins, werewolves, and, other assorted things that go "bump" in the night !

Jonnie

Can Someone Substantiate This, Please?

Awhile back, an anonymous poster left this comment on a post where Jim Cleveland had us post some audio- perhaps no one saw it, or no one that could substantiate it...is this true?

"Appears Barry Wood passed away in 2004. This info from TN death records:

WOOD BARRY S 07-31-2004 / 61 OBION OBION / TN NEVER MARRIED, SINGLE M WHITE 35232

Perhaps someone can confirm.

July 13, 2010 5:24 AM"
 
I'm unable to find this just Googling...anyone?  Please say it ain't so....
 
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

1971 Chevy Clearance Ad on KAAY

Hot off the e-mail, from the Barry Mac Emporium of Sound!  Again, this is one of the ads on tape he was able to rescue from the KAAY transmitter site...who was that announcer, by the way?

1971 Chevy Clearance Ad on KAAY:   stream   | download

Previous Gary Gears AFVN Into/Outro, Unable To Link....

Dave M. reported in this morning to say that the previous link no longer works...and he offers this link:

http://webspace.webring.com/people/rr/rmorecook/multimedia.html

I also did some research...the more I do, the more links I find with Gary Gears' audio or references to such...one such:


http://webspace.webring.com/people/rr/rmorecook/multimedia.html

...where there's a five-minute news audio bit...

We'll leave the previous link in-place, because it was a signifigantly interesting view on the 1968 year's news items.  Maybe it will become active agian.  There appears to be an active site at least, from a Google search:

www.afvn.tv/

...and, although I cannot reach it from this location, it looks like it would work.  If someone tried this link and can get to the previously-mentioned audio, please let us know.

In the meantime, we will continue to search for more audio of Gary Gears.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmeil.com)

Go Hogs!

Again, thanks to Jerry Sims, "Sonny Martin II" for the poster!

Gary Gears, Intro & Outro on AFVN

Compliments of Dave M. (man, he's a bloodhound at finding stuff!), here is a link to an AFVN tribute to 1968.  It is the bottom-center entry, "1968 A. D.- A Year In The Life Of Man".  Very good program, very descriptive of the year in focus.  Give a listen:

http://www.afvn.tv/audio/index.html 

Please note that some of the airchecks included on this link are NOT for "tender ears".  I just wanted you, dear listener, a chance to hear Gary Gears on this particular aircheck.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Happy Birthday, Barry Mac!

Our Benefactor of Audio Goodies, Barry Mac, celebrates another birthday today!  I found out that he's two weeks older than I, so I bow to the respect of my Elders!

Nonetheless, I am VERY respectful of ALL The Greats...may they ALL hang around for a long time to come!  And may their memories stay bright and sharp.

Happy Birthday, Barry!  Here's a little different pic of Barry 'n' me....his hair is darker than mine....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

A Gary Gears Intro On AFVN

Thanks to fellow blogster Thom Whetston, here is a short clip of Gary Gears doing an intro on AFVN (Armed Forces Vietnam Network):

Gary Gears Intro On AFVN:   stream  |   download


The link to Thom's blog, in case you are interested, is below:

http://afrtsarchive.blogspot.com/

More Gary Gears later!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Radio: Still A Comfort....

As I mentioned before, I still twirl the AM dial, looking for different programming.  Much of AM radio has changed to News, Sports, Weather and Talk.  Occasionally, I'll still find some music, like on 1220, WABF in Fairhope, AL (still locally owned, I believe).  Or old radio dramas...which is my current subject!

I sleep light, so if something happens, like our dogs barking at a bear or other wildlife in the wee hours, I have a hard time going back to sleep.  Four o'clock one morning a couple of weeks ago, this happened.  After shushing the mutts so they wouldn't awaken the rest of the household, I got my little Grundig Mini 300 and a pair of headphones and started dialing around.

Yes, I did try KAAY on 1090, at 4:12 AM; the signal was pretty good, but faded to almost nil a few minutes later, which was a testimony that the atmosphere CAN enhance a small signal (we can hardly pick up KAAY here in Mobile any more- Jerry Sims couldn't hear the station at all when he was here last year).  I dialed up, hit 1150 to find "Coast To Coast AM" jammed by a typical Cuban "warbler" station, but I tuned back to 1120, KMOX, to find "When Radio Was"! (KMOX lists this series to air from 1 AM to 6 AM Sunday mornings.)  "One Way Passage" (from 1932) with Humphrey Bogart and Joan Bennett just started- nice play!  I sat back , closed my eyes and let the theater in my mind open....after the show, a Halo shampoo ad aired...made me want to go out & find some!

At the bottom of the hour, "Theater of Romance" was aired, with Frank Graham (Dec. 18, 1945).  The program, it was explained, was broadcast for five years, starting in 1943.  There was an ad for "Radio Spirits", then a "Ma Perkins" show from 1949 was aired.  I was getting quite relaxed about this time and finally began to doze off.  Sometime around 5:15 AM, I pulled the headphones, turned the '300 off and took a nap before the alarm rang....

Radio is still an entertaining, relaxing source of entertainment- you just have to search out the odd & unusual!  Not that I'd get up at 4 AM every Sunday morning to catch "When Radio Was" or other radio shows, it's nice to know that it was out there when I was wound up & not sleepy!  Sure, this stuff can be found on the Internet, but there's something still romantic about capturing the signal in the dark, across many miles and enjoying the airwaves...to me, a computer ain't radio....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)