Doug Virden Snags A Good Find!

Found this at an estate sale this past week.  It is a commemorative coffee cup from the opening of the Cottondale building in November 1976:

 

The other side of the cup has an invitation to the grand opening;. At the tip it says "A Moving Experience, Multi Media requests the honour of your presence at the grand opening of the KAAY-KEZQ studios.  Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served Friday evening the twelfth of November from four until seven o'clock.  2400 Cottondale Lane Little Rock, Arkansas."

 

KAAY's sister station 94.1 had been through a few changes during the Multi Media years, this is what the format was before Multi Media sold KAAY and 94.1.  After KEZQ was switched to a rock station around the spring-summer of 1978, KEZQ moved down the dial shortly afterwards at 100.3 FM.  Remember reading the story on the blog about the change when the police came to the Cottondale building to make sure everything was OK during the transition.  There were a lot of unhappy people about that change.

 

This is what Philip Jonsson changed 94.1 to after he bought the station.  A majority of KAAY's former listeners came here after KAAY went full time religion.  They played the light rock favorites from the 60's, 70's, and current music at the time.  David B. Treadway and Barry Mac went to work for K-LITE sister station KLRA AM 1010.  Barry was also offered a job for the religious KAAY and worked days at KAAY and evenings at KLRA.  David B. Treadway eventually became Program Director of K-LITE and was Program Director when 94.1 made the change to The Point 94.1 Memorial Day Weekend of 1994 and served that position until he left at the end of 1995.

 

(Thank you, Doug, for sharing these cups with us!  Nice finds!  And keep it coming!  Bud S [staceys4@Hotmail.com])

David B. Treadway Retires From U.S. 97

Today, the Voice Of Arkansas hangs his hat up...as per his Facebook post:

"Hello Goodbye.

Okay, here's the official word. I am retiring from US 97, 96.7 The Rocket, US Stations LLC and Radio in general, effective at 10:00 AM this Frida...y, February 10. It was a week ago today that I somehow survived to be 66. That's 198 in human years, and the feds declare it to be my Full Retirement Age. Being a good American, it is now my patriotic duty to quit working and get on that government tit. I am eager to become a burden on society, as I figure I have about half a tank of fumes left to get me through two more mornings.

I am deeply, seriously and humbly thankful to everyone who has ever listened to me. If you've gotten a laugh along the way, it has made me rich beyond reckoning--and I hope you're okay knowing that I'll never be able to pay you half of what I owe you. If you're one of that small handful of miserable bastards who tried to stomp me out, feel free to line up and start kissing my ass. I'll be home most days and I'll come down to the road so you don't even have to get out of your cars.
My eternal gratitude to Mr Charles Shinn, Gary Terrell and Craig T. Dale for having THE best company I ever did work for. My love to the Most Dangerous Woman On The Air, Vicki Parker, Tom Duke, Pat O'Briant, Jennifer Bailey, and Wayne Bennett for surrounding me with their consummate professionalism. It's been an honor to serve with y'all and I'll miss you like blazes!
Treadway out. For now."

There is more, if you have Facebook access...

David B., congrats for getting out alive; I hope you and Mrs. Treadway will have many, many happy days together in the sunshine with Shack, and all the wild animals.  maybe you can work full-time keeping the deer out of her garden now!

Bud S. (staceys4@Hotmail.com)
 

The Final Listing, From Doug Virden

"Here is the final telephone listing I have for KAAY this is from the 1977 Little Rock telephone directory.  There had been some changes to KAAY over the past year, first KAAY was under new ownership, Multi Media took ownership of the station the previous year, second KAAY moved to a brand new building located at 2400 Cottondale Lane, third it was also the first time KAAY had a sister station, it was KEZQ located at 94.1 FM at the time.  You can see it a few listings down.  On a final note, the 7th Street building had been torn down by the end of 1976 to make room for the expansion of I-630.

Here is the front cover:

...and the back cover:

By this time, touch tone phones were growing in popularity.

A pic inside the Cottondale building 40 years later.  I had the privilege of visiting the Cottondale building a couple of months ago, 94.1 is still located there and is a Classic Rock station known as The Point 94.1.  There are a couple of other FM stations in the building and they are locally owned and operated   In the pic with me are morning host Rick Steel and Promotions Director Chuck Gatlin.   The engineer's shop is now located where the KAAY studio once was."

Thank you, Doug!  You know, what with newer social media technologies such as Facebook, there are more things like this popping up, then disappearing.  I am glad that this blog is serving as a repository for everything KAAY (and related).  You know you can come here and, with a simple search, find everything on a subject you're interested in: pictures, audio, etc.  Folks like Doug are helping us keep it alive...won't YOU?

Send us your stories, your memories, etc. of what KAAY meant to you...thanks!

Bud S. (staceys4@Hotmail.com)