"Dear Bud,
I enjoy so much reading your blog on KAAY. Regarding your recent offer to pass along greetings to Charlie Scarbrough, I wish the next time you talk to him you would tell him that Skip Kendel says “HI!” Charlie and I worked together at KARN for four years in the mid-70s. Charlie did afternoon drive if I recall correctly, and I did news for KARN and the Arkansas Radio Network on the 3pm-11pm shift. It was always a joy to work with Charlie, as well as Craig O’Neil and the late Bob Harrison. I would love to see Charlie again some day. I still live in Little Rock, but I have been confined to a wheelchair the past few years and I don’t get out of the house as often as I used to.
When I started in radio at 1000 watt KWCB (now KWCK) in Searcy in 1966, I always dreamed of making it to the “big time” KAAY. The closest I came was a late evening visit once when the announcer on duty graciously let me in to visit just because I was a brother DJ. Much to my chagrin, I cannot even remember who was on duty at the Mighty 1090 that night. I just know it would have been late evening in the late 60s.
I was thrilled when I finally did make it to the “big time” at KARN/ARN in 1974. ARN shared a newsroom with KARK at that time, and I had the privilege of working alongside Roy Mitchell, Tom Bonner, Dave Woodman, Ron Gardner and many others, not to mention the great Don Corbitt and Tom Longfellow of ARN. Those were wonderful days to be in the radio/tv industry.
I left ARN to go into television at KTVE in El Dorado, and later KAIT in Jonesboro. In 1984, I left broadcasting completely to attend law school in Little Rock. I practiced law for 15 years before I was forced to take medical retirement.
Keep up the good work writing about the Mighty 1090, and we, your faithful readers, will keep on reading.
Best regards,
Skip Kendel"
Skip, is was a real pleasure hearing from you! Thank you ever so much for your kind words. I gave Charlie your phone number and I'm sure you guys caught up on some times past!
Folks, this blog has been a wonderful tool for getting folks back together again; I am proud to have been part of it. The level of ACCEPTANCE from The Greats has almost been overwhelming and I have been grateful for their friendships. I hope that this blog can rekindle friendships for a long time to come- and with YOUR help and e-mails of encouragement, information and materials, you are a part of it, too!
Keep it comin'!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
I remember Skip when he was doing afternoons at KWCB back in the middle 60s before I started in radio. I visited him in the studios every time that I went to Searcy. He was very accommodating and taught me a lot about the DJ business. I also remember Skip doing news on the Arkansas Radio Network.
ReplyDeleteI worked with Charlie Scarbrough very briefly at the ill-fated KEWP-1380 in the early 1970s. He and another fellow were doing a morning show called "The Organization" that was very entertaining and I applied for the engineering job on the strength of their morning show. Unfortunately, a new manager had come aboard and let both of them go the same day. I left soon thereafter.