Well, howdy-do! Former Program Director Wayne Moss sent in a few airchecks, one in which you're about to hear! This is of the mysterious "Don Marcus", with the opening 44:11 of Beaker Street in February of 1972....and it is unscoped!
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,(Marcus), he very seldom appeared at any KAAY functions."
(Does anybody remember his real name? Any history at all about him, please? bs)
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 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."
Wayne had several tapes with audio, others which you'll hear here at a later date; Greg Barman did the digital change-over and Dave Schmidt enacted the link for you. Greg passed along that one of the tapes' leaders broke as soon as he hit the deck's "Play" button...it was so old...but he was able to crack the case open, repair the leader and enact the transfer. The audio is basically untouched, except where there may have been some extra noise he tried to remove, or the addition of highs/lows for better listening- otherwise, the tapes are as you, dear listener, would have heard them over the air at the time of their broadcast!
Some tapes needed no cleaning up, however, and were obviously right off the audio chain....
As I've mentioned before, I don't like "digitally cold" recordings...if an over-the-air recording has a little fade, atmospheric crackle, etc., I prefer to have it left alone, because it brings back that warm, nostalgic "feel" of having been there as a kid listening to KAAY- or any other station, for that matter.
My thanks to Wayne Moss for his contributions; to Greg Barman for his audio technicality and drive; to Dave S. for his linkage; and everyone's willingness to put up with my eccentricities in getting all this right for you, dear reader and listener, so that YOUR enjoyment is fulfilled!
Now: "Greetings, QSLers! 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 23, 24 and 25 with loads of artists- enjoy!
or download here
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
Thank you soooooo much for sharing all this goodies with the world.It bring back so many memories of friends, places and lovers :).
ReplyDeleteLots of stories listening Beaker Street!!
Thank you, thank you,thank you.Gonna send the link to my brother and some of my old friends, they will really enjoy your blog.
by the way I'm from Cuba,listening to KAAY as well as WQAM cost to end in jail to many of the young people from my generation, but we did it no matter what :)(It look funny now but was very sad.)Happy New Year and keep your blog growing.Thank you again.