Focus On The Newsmakers - June 12, 1966

As promised, here is the "mystery audio" I alluded to a few days ago!  The clues led to "news"...something we all listen for, sometimes with excitement, sometimes with trepidation, but it is always there.

In my not-so-humble opinion, real "news" is rare nowadays...what passes for news is often pumped up with drama and commentary.  Today's journalists often have an agenda, which taints the REAL news.  Ah, for some news without all the tainted fluff....

Needless to say, KAAY's very own George Jennings heads up this episode of "Focus On The Newsmakers", dated 6/12/1966.  We've mentioned George many times in this blog; he was a consumate news journalist, avid for his craft and exacting in his endeavors to bring the best reporting possible.

No, this may not be as exciting as hearing your favorite Beaker Street or other KAAY program, BUT, it is historical, top-level KAAY reporting...enjoy!


(or download here)
Bud Stacey

Ram & Ray Recordings?

From the "Comments" section on an older post:

"I'm editing some Ray & Ram air check tapes right now. What a nostalgia trip! I figure youtube is the place to post some of them and I should have a few up by May. So if anyone's interested, wait a few weeks and do a search there." on Dave M. Checks In With More Names, Re: "Where Are They Now"?

Anonymous on 3/27/14


(in response to I know this thread is old but does anyone know about any recordings from Ray's radio days on the net? I'd love to listen to his old signoff line or anything else.. Thanks, Kevin Trotter.)

Whoever sent in this comment, would you please contact me directly, as I would like to post those air checks her and give YOU credit, please?  Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

KAAY Memories (Comment)

"Greetings to the plains states of Kansas Iowa Nebraska and South Dakota. You are tuned to the night time voice of Arkansas, KAAY Little Rock". I was in the army MP's Fort Riley, Kansas 74-76 and remember that promo booming in on my little portable radio while on patrol. )on KAAY Jingles And Promos)


"Anonymous" on 3/24/14

Thank you for your service!!!  Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

"New" Audio To Come!

Dear readers and visitors, awhile back, some audio "fell into" my possession and I donated it to The Butler Center For Arkansas Studies, who carefully restored the tapes and transferred everything over to digital format.  I was made aware of the website and got a sign-on.  After inquiring to someone there, since I was the contributor, I was told that I was the "owner" and can do anything with it...so, we're going to present it here for your enjoyment!

It is a surprise...no, it's not more Beaker Street material...it's not a different air shift- but I will hint that it is a great portion of the radio business that everyone listens for, sometimes with eagerness, sometimes trepidation...but almost everyone listens for it.  Just for giggles and snarks, that's all I'll say about it...but, not knowing what exact material was on the tapes, except for a brief notation on their containers, Greg Barman and I will be reviewing these audio oddities and will get them posted here in the near future.

That's all I'll say for now...stay tuned!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

More KAAY Memories

Cliff Barnes: I remember listening to Buddy Carr's show (Top Ten Countdown?) on my 6 transistor ChannelMaster radio in the early/mid 1960s.


James Watts: I listened to both. Loved the Breakfast Serial and then Beaker Street at night driving around or at home. Both were No. 1 with me.   (Both comments gleaned from the KAAY-AM, Mighty 1090 Facebook page from my request for memories...Bud S. staceys4@hotmail.com )

Favorite KAAY Memory By Kimbery Dunn

It was a sunny, Saturday morning. I was 10 years old. My older brother got a new radio and let me have his old one. He brought it into my bedroom. It was white, plastic, about the size of a loaf of bread with a two knobs on the front. A small one for power and volume and a large knob for tuning. The radio was already tuned to KAAY (of course!) My brother plugged the radio in, showed me how to turn it on and off and then left the room. I sat down in my little wooden, child sized rocking chair, turned on the radio and caught the end of a song and gasped!


“Is that the Beatles??!!”

The DJ didn’t say, but I just knew it was! And I sat in my rocking chair all day, staring at that radio, waiting to hear the song again... and I mean, ALL day....

When my best friend came over, I told her I couldn’t play because I needed to stay in and listen to the radio. She looked at me like I was crazy, then got mad and left.

But there I sat, rocking and listening to the radio until finally- FINALLY!!!- the song was played again and I got to hear it in it’s entirety.

The name of the song? “Yellow Submarine”

It was 1969, I had my very own radio and got to hear “my most favorite group in the whole wide world!” on MY radio... and it was Heaven.

-Kimberly Ingram Dunn
North Little Rock, AR

(Thank you, Kimberly!  Looks like a Motorola, can't readily identify the other, but I also have a couple of radios similar to those- great memory!  Bud S.)

George Jennings Photo From Paul Kirby

Per Paul (affiliated with Vicki Worthington's San Antonio Radio Memories website):

"Bud,

Attached is a photo that Vicki recently received. From what I understand, it was taken at a get together at a restaurant after George Jennings' memorial.

I am not sure who the people are in the photo, but you can see a photo of George in the photo.

Paul"

Thank you, Paul!  Folks, Paul is full of stories about his time on the radio in San Antonio...he knew George Jennings and his success in the Texas radio markets, as well.  Please be sure to visit San Antonio Radio Memories when you can- enjoy the efforts of Vicki Worthington as she strives to bring radio history forward in her website:

http://www.sanantonioradiomemories.com/

Her book was a wealth of information, too!  Let her know how you like her website.

Thanks to Paul Kirby for the picture of our own George Jennings!

Bud S (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Stan's Record Shop Comment

In 1956 I attended a business college across the street from the rear entrance to Stan’s Record Shop in downtown Shreveport. When the King’s “Don’t Be Cruel” was released, we ran across Travis Street and picked up a copy at Stan’s. We took it back to the school, and as all the guys and gals gathered round, played it on a phonograph. We didn’t get much studying done the rest of that day.

George Carrera
San Antonio, TX

Memories From Barry McCorkindale

Folks, here is another memory from our very own Barry Mac!  As you recall, (and even if you don't), Barry was the man on the board for Clyde Clifford on the last hour of The Last Day; Barry also stayed on for another few years...there is a wealth of info on Barry, just search him in the upper left-hand corner!

Here's his take on "The Singing Pig" (and I've never heard this before, thanks, Barry!):

"Bud, I saw your correspondence, imploring old KAAY listeners to pass along any stories (my plea was on the KAAY Facebook page bs).  Well, even though this is a "latter day" story, and not really much of a story, as much as it is a historical perspective, I think it's significant, because it really did mark the beginning of the end of the old KAAY days, and AM music radio in general.  It seemingly came out of nowhere, as I don't recall KAAY promoting it beforehand.  But on one night, in September of 1979, while driving the last of my Don's Drug Store delivery route, I was listening to KAAY, in good part because my company car was equipped with only an AM radio.  It hit 7:00, with the obligatory legal ID, and instead of more music, I heard a voice I'd never heard before, introducing himself, and talking about how they were going to start doing something different weeknights at 7:00.  This was the introduction of talk radio into the KAAY format, and the host was a guy named Dick Price.  Even though I was more interested in music, out of curiosity, I listened for awhile.  I think after I finished my route, probably half an hour later, I took the company car in and got into my vehicle, and in all likelihood listened to an FM music station on the way home.  Either that, or I pushed play on whatever was in my 8-track (!) player.  But I listened more and more to this experiment on KAAY, and came to like it more and more, not minding in the least that they went from music with Joe James, their then-afternoon drive time jock, into talk radio with Dick Price at 7:00.  I'm not sure if it was 7:00 to 10:00, or if it was 7:00 to midnight, but it got to where I'd listen to Dick's show in my vehicle, and occasionally from the home radio.  And even though this did kind of mark "the beginning of the end," from my understanding at the time and since, the ratings at night went up.  Dick eventually named the show "The Singing Pig," in dedication to one of his callers who just wasn't getting his point (as Dick said, "You just can't teach a pig to sing - it wastes your time and annoys the pig"), and he stayed on for several months, possibly a year, before moving on to cross town AM rival KARN, which had a full news/talk format in operation.  And not long after that, late in 1981 I believe, Ray Lincoln also departed.  With their exits, as well as the aforementioned Joe James, and the changing face of AM radio, this marked the end of the station's glory days, even though there was a brief resurgence in its last year, mid-1984 until April of 1985, with the implementation of the oldies format.  Alas, that was short-lived, as owners Multimedia sold the station to religious broadcasting Sudbrink Media, and the station overhauled the format to Christian programming, as well as relocating the offices and broadcasting facilities to a completely different part of town.  But all that change, in my estimation, began late in 1979, with Dick Price and "The Singing Pig!" "

Thanks, Barry!  Please send your memories of KAAY/Beaker Street/Beaker Theater to me, I'll get them posted here!

Bud S (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Memories From A Classmate

"As a young teen, it was a highlight of the week to stay up late weekends, and listen to the drama (and sometimes horror) stories of Beaker Theater at 2:00 AM.  I deeply miss those old radio shows.

Mike Roberts, Mobile, AL"

MIke & I were classmates all through school, from elementary upward...and I never knew he listened to KAAY!  What a small world...and what an effect KAAY had, back then.

If you, dear visitor, have any favorite memories, please pass them on to me and I'll be glad to post them here!

Bud S (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Record sticker from Moses Melody Shop

Rich Conaty contacted us with this bit of history from Little Rock's Moses Melody Shop:

"I was curious about this sticker on a 78, so did a search, and turned up your blog from 2009. The second result was a 1934 newspaper with an ad for the shop.  Rich"

Here's the blog post he is referring to:
http://mighty1090kaay.blogspot.com/2009/11/moses-melody-shop.html

And, here's another one, with a Moses' KAAY spot:
http://mighty1090kaay.blogspot.com/2010/02/moses-records-last-day-of-72-sale.html


Thank you, Rich!


Greg Barman