Nice E-Mails....

This is from Gary, on the other side of the world, in regards to a post I made awhile back regarding a Mobile broadcast station:

"Hi Bud

Congratulations on your efforts to preserve another interesting piece of radio history with the KAAY Radio Blog.

I noticed your interesting post concerning 1410 WNGL (Dec 10 2009) during an internet search.

Thought that you might be interested to know that the 1410 WNGL signal made it through to South Africa on the 15th September 2011.

I was fortunate to receive a brief email verification from Station Manager David Renshaw after a follow-up reception report.

Details available here  http://capedx.blogspot.com/2013/01/wngl-mobile-al-qsl-and-audio.html at the Cape DX blogsite in case you're interested.

Best

Gary

Gary Deacon
Fish Hoek
Cape Peninsula
South Africa
www.capedx.blogspot.com "

...and Gary followed up with an audio link and the station manager's response:

"...definitely WNGL that made it through to SA on 1410 kHz back in September 2011 - a pity about the "female announcer" issue -

My guess is that the top-of-the-hour id announcement was possibly pre-recorded and aired at the time that I managed to hear the signal (apparently Daniel diSilva was station manager at the time).

A brief audio clip of the reception is also available at www.capedx.blogspot.com

Best,

Gary"

And from Mike, a KAAY fan:

"Hello!

I am a former devoted KAAY listener and enjoy your site. I listened a lot at night in the mid to late ‘60s and early ‘70s, especially in the winter when the signal boomed in. I shunned WLS in Chicago for KAAY mainly because I liked the variety of music that they played.

I recall listening to an overnight DJ who used the name Ron Owens. In fact, I wrote to him once and got a handwritten letter in reply. I recall he was also a newsman. I might still have the letter someplace…

I also remember an evening DJ who used the name Rock Robbins and used the song “Rockin’ Robin” as his intro.

Does anyone remember the program “Ear on Arkansas?” I think it was broadcast on Sunday afternoon or evenings. It was a political satire aimed mostly at Arkansas politicians. It was way ahead of its time.

In its heyday, KAAY was a fantastic Top 40 radio station but never really took its place among the giants like WLS, WABC, KHJ, etc., which is very sad. But, I think that had a lot to do with the interruptions of the Top 40 format for religious programs (early evening and early morning) and for advertising programs. I recall they had a 15-minute infomercial-type program at midnight every night that advertised a set of books, but I just can’t remember what the books were about! I also think they had a 15-minute program that advertised sets of classical music recordings. Maybe if KAAY had been all Top 40 all the time, things might have been different. I still miss the Mighty 1090.

Keep up the good work! I enjoy the unscoped recordings that bring back a lot of memories. Thank you for the site.

Mike R. Bondarenko, Baldwin, Wis.

mikerbondarenko@baldwin-telecom.net "

Comments- and e-mails- like these are far and few between and it warms my heart to get them and share them with you!  It makes me (and others here working on the blog) feel like we're doing something worthwhile.  When I get an e-mail, I take the time to answer and correspond...in the case of Gary in South Africa, he mentioned in a follow-up e-mail that he was looking for a picture of the station or towers...I did one better, I got him a roadside Google map shot of the facility.  With Mike, I discussed Ear on Arkansas and mentioned the album I received from "Charlie King" (Charlie Scarbrough), KAAY 1967-1969. By the way, Mike, I like the unscoped versions, too...makes me feel like I'm "back there" reliving the good times...especially when I can recline on the lawn on a starry night and listen to Jonnie King, Phil North and others, as well as Clyde Clifford and Beaker Street, in near-real time (evening)!

Speaking of which, we have some "retro treats" coming back, including Ear on Arkansas!  So stay tuned, we're bringing back as much as we can!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)