Barry Mac, KAAY Rewound And Radio Yesterday

I'd been pestering Barry Mac for some history about his role with KAAY after The Last Day and he has good-naturedly come across with some great history.  Without further ado:

"I'll give you a slightly extended story of KAAY Rewound and Radio Yesterday. For several years, I'd been told by KAAY's chief engineer, Felix McDonald (who had worked with KAAY virtually non-stop since about 1953), that there were a number of tapes out at the transmitter building, and he thought I might be interested in checking out some of the audio on them. Oddly enough, I'd only been to the transmitter building once, I believe in the spring of '88, as a head honcho with Beasley Broadcasting (who had bought the station the previous year) was in town and wanted to go out there, and for whatever reason, I don't remember seeing the downstairs, even though I'm sure we went down there for awhile. Well, fast forward about 10 years, and that's about the time Felix started to occasionally try to generate my interest in these tapes. Finally, in the spring of 2003, I told Felix that I'd meet him out there one Saturday afternoon. Understand, when Felix told me there were "quite a few" tapes, I'm thinking in the neighborhood of about 50 to maybe 100. Well, imagine my shock when he takes me to the basement of the old building, and I see hundreds of tapes lining the shelves of the north wall. Then, even more surprise when I see there's another area behind that wall that has at least another 200 tapes! So, along with a guy named Grant Merrill, who worked in the newsroom at Citadel-sister station KARN, we carried out about 50 or more these tapes and took them back to the Citadel building, loading them up on one of the few reel-to-reel machines remaining (hooked up, anyway), and spent the balance of the afternoon going through these old commercials. After another trip to the transmitter building, Grant thought that we ought to do a show on KAAY late one night, running some of these old ads and talking about the history of the station. We were able to get long time Beaker Street host Clyde Clifford to sit in with us, and on a Friday night in July or August of 2003 (I don't have the exact date), we all talked about the station's past and ran numerous clips, and even took a few calls from listeners. We called that one hour segment KAAY Rewound, and promoted it for a couple of weeks leading up to the broadcast (we even advertised it newstalk KARN). Well, because of that late Friday night gathering in the summer of 2003, I thought it might be a good idea to sort of continue it with a weekly one hour broadcast that would combine music of the '50s, '60s, and '70s with these old ads. Again, unfortunately, I don't recall when I started this show, but it was several months later, probably in January or February of 2004, and I dubbed it "Radio Yesterday." It ran twice on the weekend, once in the early overnight, Friday into Saturday from midnight to 1:00 (the same hour as that KAAY Rewound program), and again Sunday afternoon from 1:00 to 2:00, immediately preceding a syndicated show called "When Radio Was," originally hosted by Art Fleming back in the '90s, and then after he died, by comedian Stan Freberg. Even though this Sunday afternoon programming block was a departure from our normal Christian teaching format, the reponse to it was quite positive. In fact, I was always surprised that I never received any complaints about us playing old rock and roll on a Christian station!

For various reasons that I won't necessarily go into now, I announced my resignation from KAAY just before Thanksgiving of 2005, with my departure planned at the end of the year. Regardless of this, I continued on with several station responsibilities, including new Radio Yesterday programs. But because of events going on in my life at the time, by late September, I decided it was probably time to shut the show down, and the last Radio Yesterday aired on October 7th, 2006. But the spirit of the show continued on in my hometown of Harrison, AR, on classic rock station KCWD, 96.1 FM, three months later, when I started a somewhat similar (3-hour) program called Tin Can Alley.

So there! A not-so-brief synopsis of the KAAY Rewound and Radio Yesterday story."
 
We'd posted some video awhile back on "Whatever Happened To The Mighty 1090", which featured several former employees, including Barry in the KAAY studio with KTHV newsman Craig O'Neill, demonstrating some of the aforementioned shows' audio.  If you haven't seen that yet, you may want to search back and view it...here is the link:
 
http://mighty1090kaay.blogspot.com/2010/01/kaay-feature-on-little-rock-tv.html
 
Barry has been graciously sending in audio clips from the tapes he was able to rescue...there are probably more, if the current KAAY engineer hasn't thrown them out.  We may never know....
 
Thank you, Barry Mac, for all you do to bring this great history and audio to us!
 
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Today Is Also Tommy Riggs' Birthday!

Charlie Okle wrote to remind me that today is also Tommy's birthday...little did I know that when we started this blog, that we landed on this great date.  Tommy would have been 67 today.

Thanks to Charlie Okle for reminding us.

July 15, Our One-Year Anniversary!

After A. J. Lindsey passed away, I was almost in a panic thinking that all the history he'd reclaimed would be lost again....and we'd all be poorer because of it.  Fortunately, several of us got together after I e-mailed everyone I could find and we got this blog going.  Data was saved, thankfully.  At one time, A. J.'s blog went down or the players quit, but some unknown benefactor must have paid the bill, because everything started working again.  Nonetheless, we forged ahead with this blog, to continue in the format and tradition A. J. started.

From about mid-2006 until early 2009, A. J. kept us entertained with the history of KAAY.  We have been able to do the same since starting this blog a year ago today.  It has been much more work than I had envisioned and, without the help of some qualified people in their fields (especially Dave Schmidt for all his computer & audio help!), it would have died a quick death.  Not only that, but with the help of many former employees of KAAY and many fans, listeners and other assorted people, all who donated material, memories, anecdotes and stories, it has kept going.  Just about the time I run out of ideas or material, up pops someone with a new picture, album cover, promotional bit or piece- and it has gratefully been accepted here to share with you, dear reader!

For a little niche blog, it has done quite well, totalling many more "hits" than I would have expected, from all over the globe.  I never knew that there were still people out there who remembered the station after all these years!

Some kind words from David B. Treadway, one of The Greats Who Were There:

"Dear Bud and all the crew,

Congratulations on the Blog Birthday! It's quite a testament to KAAY to have it so fondly remembered and carefully chronicled these many, many years later. I guess this is what the term "Legend" is all about.

Somewhere in the Great Beyond there's a set of transmitter tubes that are kept hot by the Blog. All of us who were There owe y'all a big debt of gratitude!

David B. Treadway
Doc Holiday VII
The Last PD"

And to David B., Jerry, Charlie, Mike, Greg, Tom, Barry, Phil, Bob, Dick, Dave, Don, Doug, Jonnie, Lee, Mark and many, many others Who Were There and continue to check in, my uttermost thanks for your support...we fans still adore you and those days and nights you entertained us!

And, most of all, to A. J., in the Studio Of All Studios, wherever you are: you gave us the impetus to continue to do and enjoy what we love.  Thank you for starting what you did and giving us the "oomph" to continue on.

Happy Anniversary to us, the Mighty 1090 KAAY Blog!  We have YOU to thank, dear reader!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

(Whew...it just seems like yesterday....)

"Sonny Martin III" Checks In!

I'd e-mailed "Sonny Martin III" (Matt White) several times, with no response (until now!), but, rest assured, he IS a busy man!  You may have heard him a time or two on an aircheck or ad here & there on this blog.  He's now at KWCK, 99.9,  "Quick 99", from 6 until 10 AM, Monday through Friday.  He's also working at the Lindsey Resort in Searcy, AR.  I feel honored that he could drop a note on us!

Here are some comments from the last "Sonny":

"HEY BUD,

THANKS FOR THE E-MAIL AND LENDING ME YOUR EARS A LITTLE BIT IN THE MORNINGS! THE FRIENDLY GIANT WILL ALWAYS BE FILLED WITH MEMORIES FOR ME. IN MY 11 YEARS AT KAAY LOTS OF FUN STUFF TOOK PLACE AND THE BEST THING ABOUT IT WAS I GOT TO SHARE IT WITH LOTS OF FRIENDS LIKE YOU. THINGS LIKE THE NECCESSARY ACCIDENTAL CREATION OF BEAKER STREET, THE FIRST AND LAST SKUNK FESTIVAL, THE DOWNTOWN BEAT TEXAS PEP RALLEY WHEN GEORGE (George J. Jennings bs) WAS '' CUFFED " BY ATT. GEN. JIM GUY TUCKER, MEETING AND WATCHING WOLF MAN JACK WORK ON KAAY, AND WELL, YOU GET THE PICTURE!

EVERY MORNING WAS A NEW EXPERIENCE AND THE SAD THING IS THEY DON'T DO IT ANYMORE..LIKE WE DID..BY THE SEAT OF OUR DRAWERS!



GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU AND COME SEE ME AT LINDSEY'S RESORT,

SONNY"

I think that, since the KAAY we grew up with is no longer owned by the same folks, nor is using any of the deejay's patented names, he was able to take the airname with him to KWCK.  He's now, "Sunshine in the Morning, Sonny Martin".  I've been able to stream him and listen in a bit in the mornings.

Here's the link I use (I had to use the cached version, to get around the "no streaming" where I currently listen!):

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1qrS64bG4f8J:http://www.kwck999.com/+Sonny+martin+KWCK&hl=en&ct=clnk

Give "Sonny" a listen and let him know you were also a regular KAAY fan!

Thanks, "Sonny III", hope you'll stop by here, as well!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Jim Cleveland Sends In Some Audio!

Jim Cleveland, a friend of Charlie Scarbrough/King, sent along several ads he and Mike McCormick did in 1971...here are his comments:

"Hi Bud,
I ran across an old reel-to-reel tape of (4) radio spots that Mike McCormick (Barry Wood) and I recorded back in 1971.  The spots were for a Louisiana firm—Monroe Building & Loan. The spots were based on the old "Lone Ranger" radio and TV series, with a few changes in the dialogue — i.e. instead of "Hiyo Silver, Away" - it was "Hide Your Silver Away".  Barry did the announcer voice and the voice of the "Lone Ranger" and I did the voices of the old men and Tonto.  Anyway, we had fun doing it.

Best regards,
Jim Cleveland"


Back in the early 1970's, Jim was a radio and TV producer for an advertising agency in Little Rock.  He used Barry Wood and Charlie Scarbrough frequently for voiceovers on radio and TV spots.  He hasn't been in contact with Barry Wood for quite some time, but he and Charlie have lunch often.

Thanks to Jim for these great audio clips!  (And thanks to Dave S. for all his audio help!)

Lone Ranger radio spots,  
stream:   part 1  |  part2  |  part3  |  part4 
download:  part1  |  part2  | part3  |  part4

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Craig O'Neill Follow-Up

If I would have just thought for a minute, I would have remembered who Craig O'Neill was!  Thanks to Doug Krile and Dave Montgomery, they brought my head back into where it needs to be!

If you remember a post with video we had on February 7, 2010, "Whatever Happened To The Mighty 1090?", Craig O'Neill was the Sports Director who did a 6+ minute segment on KAAY:

http://mighty1090kaay.blogspot.com/2010/01/kaay-feature-on-little-rock-tv.html

At the end of the segment, Craig said he'd never worked at KAAY, but Doug Krile came up with some info on where he DID work:

"Bud,

I'm not sure if Craig worked at KAAY, although he very well may have spent some time there. When I came to town in 1986, he was rocking morning drive on the old KKYK, then moved to B98. He joined KTHV a few years ago as Sports Director. They moved him into News maybe a year or two ago....he's doing a really good job.

Doug"
 
Not only that, Dave M. sent along a link of Craig's biography:
 
http://www.todaysthv.com/company/bios/story.aspx?storyid=28060
 
"Craig O'Neill's face and voice are among the most recognizable in Arkansas. Craig first joined Today's THV as sports director in 2000 after entertaining Arkansans for 30 years as one of the states most famous and humorous radio personalities. In the summer of 2008, Craig made the move to news anchor."
 
Read the rest of his bio at the link above...and thanks to Doug and Dave for keeping my overtaxed brain in check!
 
Bud S.(staceys4@hotmail.com)

Fan Mail

Our good friend Jonnie King recently shared an old e-mail with me, in several parts, of some kind words he receieved from a listener.  I'm sure there's a lot of fan mail that got dumped into File 13 and the Round File over the years, but this one was sent over a media that wasn't even ivented yet, years after Jonnie had been on the air.  Jonnie gave his permission to share with you all, so here's the unedited text of the e-mail:

"Bud,

You know, I RARELY throw anything away, SO I was going through some of my old eMails and uncovered this from a KAAY listener...wanted to share it with you. It came almost exactly 6 years ago...luckily, I'm still alive to read it.

At the time I got it, I was here at 106.5 Smooth Jazz Radio. (in St. Louis, no doubt? bs) I didn't have any WebSites up, but corresponded with this nice lady a few times.
 
All the best to you,
 
Jonnie
 
I saw your post on Songfacts. I remember you!!! We used to listen to you all the time. We would run around with our little transister radios with an ear piece. I still have some of the handouts from the music store downtown that would list the top 20 hits of that week. You brought back some happy memories of "the good old days" when I saw KAAY. Hope you are doing well.
 
Sandy"

(The "handouts" she was talking about were the Weekly Surveys. I was music director and made those out everyweek...it was QUITE a job to say the least. Jonnie)

"So YOU were the one with the transistor plugged into your ear, eh? I remember you...you were the cute one ! Hope things are good for you, Sandy and that you and yours are healthy and happy. Do you live in LR or NLR? That whole area has grown SO much...I might not recognize it.  Jonnie"

"It has changed....OMG. I actually live in Benton now. I had to get my children out of Little Rock schools. Too much violence/drugs/gang activity for junior high kids. When I remarried in 1996, we bought a house in Benton. Of course in the last 7 years, the area from Little Rock through Bryant to Benton has tripled. Pretty soon, Benton will be just a suburb. I guess by then, I will be in the nursing home, so it won't matter. Silly me.

Not long ago, I saw Sonny Martin on a commercial....of course I don't remember know what he was advertising. Yours and his name are really the only ones I remember. ok...well maybe later when Craig O'Neil started. He is a sports person on TV now.

Glad to hear you are doing well....I do get to St Louis a few times a year. Will have to scope out the radio station.

Thanks for the response and update.

Sandy"

Johnnie was going to alert this nice lady of our blog, but her e-mail is no longer valid...maybe she'll stumble upon us soon, eh?

In the meantime, I'll take this as an example of the many pieces of fan mail The Greats all over got- and probably still get!  The Internet has certainly shortened up delivery times and made things a lot less personal, in my opinion.  Thanks Jonnie!

And, who is Craig O'Neil?  Can someone shed some light on him, please?  Did we list him in the employee list at all?

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Jerry Sims' Autographed Album From Tommy Riggs

Thanks to Jerry Sims for this touching, important and warm piece of history.  To even call such a gift "history" doesn't give it justice, but I'm glad he shared it with us!

Tommy was a consumate performer, loving to sing, even to the point of putting a keyboard in the studio, playing and singing live on the air, according to a conversation I had with Charlie Scarbrough awhile back.  Needless to say, Jerry's gift to us and the blog is SO important!  It is a portion of the album, "Songs of the Funnyman".  The note reads, "Jerry & Bertha- Y'all have been good friends for a long time.  I wish you both the best. Tommy Riggs"

Here are some of Jerry's comments: "Tommy was a great entertainer. We were big fans of his. He was particularly good with blues stuff. I remember I used to get irritated when I would get him to do a particularly sad song, like "St. James Infirmary", when there he was, literally on his knees crying, and the audience would be laughing, drinking and carrying on, as if nothing was going on. My favorite song on the album is "Leave Me Alone". But again there's "Mc Arthur Park"....another favorite. Possibly I can send it to you sometime for the blog.  Oh yeah, the Tommy album was recorded live at a club in Wichita, Kansas."
Jerry told me that late one night, someone called in while he was on the air and asked for a job...that someone was Tommy.  "Tommy was on tour, somewhere in the mid-west, when he called me, on the all night radio...."Tell me you are Jerry, and get me a job" I did, too."  He came back as a "Robbins", but whether he was a "Rob", a "Rock" or a "Bob Robbins", I can't recall...Jerry will have to remind us...but Tommy, well-loved in many respects, worked at KAAY several times when he was not on the road.

Thank you ever so much, Jerry Sims!

More Charlie King Pix

And, we'll wind down the rest of Charlie's pictures with color version of him.  As you can see, he's having fun at "work".  He also mentioned that he had the most fun at KAAY.  Note in one picture, there is a circular KAAY patch over the left breast pocket.

Again, thanks to Charlie Scarbrough for these wonderful pieces of history!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Promo Picture Of "Sonny Martin" #3

This is a promotional picture of Matt White, a.k.a. "Sonny Martin", the third in line after Jerry Sims.  He played on the KAAY Kommandos with Charlie King/Scarbough and had a running on-air banter with George J. Jennings, among other things.  He still uses the air name at "Quick 99", KWCK 99.9 in Searcy, AR.

Thanks again to Charlie!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Jerry Don Pitcock, "Ken Knight" Picture

Of the promotional pictures Charlie Scarbrough sent in, one was of Jerry Don Pitcock, Jim Pitcock's brother.  Jerry was a "Ken Knight" after Howard Watson.  This is a picture of him and the back of the photo, where Jerry autographed it as "Ken Knight" and Charlie made notes.  (Charlie had previously sent this to someone and noted he wanted it back, but told me to keep it for the blog.)

Can anyone recall when Jerry Don Pitcock was "Ken Knight"?  And is he still around?

Thanks again, Charlie!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Charlie King Pictures

Charlie Scarbrough, a.k.a. "Charlie King", sent along some promotional photos of himself and others...and I'll post his here first, the others later.  Man, these deejays were sharp, they dressed sharp, they sounded sharp!  These are also some good pictures of the studio and the deejays at work...errr, doing what they love.

From our conversation, these pictures were given out to fans at events where they appeared.  Any more pictures out there anyone else would like to share?

You can tell Charlie's having fun!  Thank you, Charlie!!!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA: PT.2

A VERY Happy 4th of July to all of our KAAY/1090 friends !

Not to upstage what Bud has written, but to add to this great weekend, I will add:

Have a safe & wonderful day, and remember why we celebrate our Independence as a free nation:  For Life, Liberty, and, the Pursuit of Happiness in the GREATEST COUNTRY in the World…the United States Of America !

In God We Trust.

Jonnie King

PS:   Bud, Happy Anniversary !

Happy Independence Day!

May this land always be free...we have our own problems, yes...and we don't have a perfect form of government...but it's the best there is and we must stand together in freedom and support those who protect that freedom for us.

"We must hang together or assuredly we shall hang separately." -- Benjamin Franklin

May God bless America!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

TwentyThree Years Today, With My Lovely Wife!

Twenty-three years may not sound like a lot of time, compared to some folks who've been married a lot longer...but, I'm proud to say that today is my and my wife's 23rd wedding anniversary and it's getting better all the time!

Gimme another twenty-three, honey!  Happy anniversary!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Did KAAY Have Radioteletype Under It's Carrier Signal?

I just read in a 1997 QST Magazine article how WSM, Nashville, TN (650 AM) cooperated with the Department of Defense and allowed a radioteletype (RTTY) signal at 50 baud to be inserted under it's 50,000 watt carrier signal, to pass information during the early 1960's.  There was an initiative to do this with all 50,000 watt clear-channel stations.  The gentleman who wrote the article was a Ham radio operator and was currently the Chief Engineer for a Demopolis, AL radio station; one of his "higher-ups" came by one day and told him that if he showed him something, he could NEVER tell anyone.

This C.E./Ham had a lot of radio gear, along with some that would decode RTTY.  The visitor told him to tune to 650 AM and run it through the RTTY decoder.  "WAR WAR WAR TEST TEST TEST WAR WAR WAR TEST TEST TEST" was constantly streaming off the paper, to his amazement!

The article stated that this C.E. never found out if other 50,000 watt stations were outfitted with this; however, there are many things we may never know, due to the sensitive nature of war and near-war.  Some things are better left alone and, in my opinion, never broadcast, since the enemy can and does listen....

My question is, was KAAY ever outfitted with this capability?

If anyone wants a copy of this article (for fun or verification), please e-mail me with your address or FAX number...I may, in the near future, be able to scan and insert this into an e-mail as a file....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Arnold's Fireworks, Complete With Bloopers!

I had a good laugh at this one, compliments of Barry Mac!  The announcer finally got it right on the last take.

It's getting rare that individuals can actually buy fireworks in some municipalities around the country, due to liability claims...remember the gool ol' days when you could actually blow up an ant hill with an M-80 and not have the Environmental Police on your back?

Now, go get some, fire it off in remembrance of our country and have fun!  But be safe!

Ad for Arnold's Fireworks:   stream   |   download

First Sponsored TV Commercial, 1941

I know, this isn't in line with KAAY, but it IS a significant event!  Today, in 1941, there were several things happening with television:

-Commercial TV was authorized by the Federal Communications Commission.

-The world's first legal TV commercial, a 10-second spot, paid for by Bulova Watches, aired at 2:29 PM over WNBT (now WNBC) New York.  It displayed a clock superimposed over the U.S.A. with a voice-over: "America runs on Bulova time."

-NBC television was launched.

-The game show "Truth or Consequences" was simulcast on radio and TV, sponsored by Ivory Soap, as a "one-off special", (whatever that means....)

Boy, times have changed, haven't they?

Weather DOES Affect Radio Signals!

What with Hurricane Alex off the Mexican Gulf Coast, and a cold front in Northern Alabama, I was experiencing a "push" of signals from the southwest and the Gulf, signals that I don't normally hear.  I have mentioned before that weather fronts and major weather events can and do affect radio signals.  If you have time, monitor the AM/FM broadcast bands and maybe the public service bands today and tomorrow, and you may hear some signals you don't normally hear!  I don't know about digital TV, since I could only see two channels this morning, out of several in the Mobile area; digital TV signals are attenuated in anything but clear weather.

I don't want to get started on digital TV...NOT my favorite medium....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Stag Beer Boycott

I'd been looking for this and just stumbled upon it...times were turbulent in the 1960's and 1970's, but I am not sure if this boycott actually occurred, nor where it was posted, or even if it came off successful.  I just thought since Stag Beer was heavily advertised on KAAY, this would be an interesting addition to the history....to be sure, this has been posted purely for its historical content and nothing is meant otherwise.

Charlie's Business Cards

Charlie Scarbrough, a.k.a. "Charlie King" while at KAAY, sent along some of his old business cards from when he started in the broadcast business...I'm sure you read his story a few posts back, so I won't rehash the details here.  The WTUP card is from that station in Tupelo, MS and KALO and KARN were from Little Rock.  I just wish my digital camera was better; I don't have a computer scanner, so the quality isn't the best.  I'll be checking into a local shop for scanning things better (hopefully, their prices won't be too bad!), so I can get better, clarer copies here.

Thanks to Charlie for these pieces of radio history!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Ear On Arkansas 33-1/3 Album!

Wow, an original, from 1967!  Still in the original sleeve, with the plastic on it, opened only to get the LP out, very little wear, from Charlie Scarbrough!  The small logo at the lower right-hand corner is the LIN broadcasting logo.

"Ear on Arkansas" was a parody of the CBS television feature, "Eye on Arkansas".  The "players" of "Ear on Arkansas" were many, most all from KAAY and, from what I understand, a couple from Channel 7 and other parts unknown...I'll have to double-check that.  Needless to say, they took a comedic poke at nearly anyone and everyone involved in Arkansas politics, no holds barred!

We'll have to reach back to A.J.'s blog and pull that audio forward for a future post.  In the meantime, if you can't pull the back cover up large enough to read, here is the text:

"EAR ON ARKANSAS, created by the staff of KAAY Radio, and broadcast first in April 1964, has been a consistantly unique form of programming since its inception.  "EAR" fills a need for something other than is found today in radio...or, for that matter...television.  In the last half of the 60's, there are a few gadflies to constantly keep alert and alive the questionings and probings of the public at large.  Especially is this so on the local level...even in a state such as Arkansas, where the business of governement is dearly cherished as the business of the people.

Government is a prime target of EAR ON ARKANSAS...government at all levels.  Without the inquisitiveness and sometimes rightousness of the free press, those holding public trusts would find little in their paths...little to keep before them the constant reminder that they are the representatives of the people.  EAR gives the individual something to think about...in many cases, something to disagree with...but certainly it's far better to disagree...than never to have been moved to thought at all....

This album is the culmination of one year of work...a single year among many so far expended in the pursuit of...perhaps...originality.  The events of 1967 passed into history rather quietly...but this album recalls them with a bit of their original sound and fury.  We at KAAY sincerely hope that you enjoy THE EAR YEAR...1967...and that you return, week after week, in the coming months...for more...whether you are a member of the public, or one of the harried politicians at the short end of the skit.  It's all for fun...for everyone."

More of EAR later!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Stag Beer

Stag beer was an advertiser on KAAY; in fact, come to think of it, I don't recall ever hearing it unless it was on some of the Beaker Street airchecks.  Did they advertise during any other air shifts?

As an aside, my current supervisor said Stag beer was...well, less than desirable!  For some reason, we got to talking on the subject of some things we haven't seen or who was out of business, and Schlitz, Falstaff and Stag came up.

Here's an ad for Stag beer for you to enjoy, courtesy of Barry Mac!

Stag Beer ad:   stream   |   download

Comments From A Reader- We Want More!

We get occasional comments and e-mails from readers who find us by other means than the blog itself.  I had left a comment on a website over a year ago and Kathi Spencer e-mailed me, looking for any audio, links and what-have-you, re: Beaker Street and Beaker Theater. Her comments are below:

"I listened to KAAY Beaker Street and Beaker Theatre in the EARLY 70's. It was about 1 or so when Beaker Theater came on, and if memory servies, they sang before the theater, many songs that could be war protest... Joan Beaz was one. I have tried to tell my kid and friends from different areas about it, but alas, they could not get it. Would love to hear an episode from any night again. It was my "parking" entertainment out on a date.... Great memories, married the guy but we are divorced."

I gave her the URL for this and A.J.'s old blog, as well as that of Jonnie King's website, for The Breakfast Serial, which more or less was born from George J. Jennings and "Sonny Martin" (Matt White) morning serial, which, if I'm not mistaken, had its beginnings in Beaker Theater...someone correct me if I'm wrong on that.  For those who haven't found Jonnie's Legends site, here's the link:

http://www.serial.thewwbc.net/

Jonnie has been a wonderful friend, to me and this blog.  He would appreciate your visits and patronage.  By the way, he syndicates these serials all over the U.S.A.!

Thank you, Kathi, and to all who e-mail and comment.  We want more!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

"Christmas In June!" Plus, Some Good News!

Dear Readers,

I have to apologize for not being more attentive to the blog...lately, work load here on the Gulf Coast and attention to family has taken quite a bit of time, so priorities must be met...

...BUT, some good things are happening!  Charlie Scarbrough, a.k.a. "Charlie King" has sent me a great package that I'm processing right now and getting things ready to post here!  Talk about "Christmas in June"!  Suffice it to say, between the audio and pictures, I hope you're pleasantly surprised.  The former may take a little bit of time for us to sort through, the latter are soon to come.

The other good news is that The Encyclopedia of Arkansas has so far accepted my proffered entry and it is now in the final editing stages!  Of course, all the legalities have to be met, papers to be signed, etc.  So far, they've been delighted with the pictures and graphs and like the entry's content.  An announcement, with weblink, will be forethcoming.  I must say, however, that it was much harder to write in an encyclopedic manner than it was for the article for Monitoring Times!

Who woulda thunk it, a poor ol' lowly listener from Alabama would have the privilege to do what I'm doing now?  So much history has been handed to me, out of the kindness of others' hearts to share- history that would otherwise have been lost, thrown in a trash can or otherwise disposed of.  One close friend is constantly amazed at what has been accomplished here...and I owe it all to you, dear reader, who contribute the memories, and to The Greats Who Were There who partake of their time to bring memorabilia to us all.  Is this work?  No, maybe a labor of love.  May I then labor at this for you, for a long time to come!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Derby Dinner Theater Ad

This sounds like an excellent place to have had dinner, what with all the performers!  I did a search, but any places by this particular name are no longer in Arkansas, that I can find.  There's an America's Best Value Inn at 2204 Central Ave. in Hot Springs now...of course, these dinner/theater businesses come and go.

Thanks again to Barry Mac:

Derby Dinner Theater ad:   stream   |   download

A Phil North Ad For The Gift Case

Here is some audio of Phil North doing a phone ad/interview for The Gift Case --- thanks again to Barry Mac!  Sounds like a neat place:

Phil North: "The Gift Case":   stream   |   download

Happy Father's Day!

To all you dads out there: keep up the good work!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

THIS WILL BLOW YOUR MIND...

To All My Big K Friends:
Just thought I'd brief you on this, as you know I'm always in the vanguard of the "hottest new items" around:

On my most recent trip to Italy, after a private meeting with the Pope, later consulting with Ferrai, Lamborghini, and Maserati, on their 2012 models, and then giving Oscar De La Renta a few tips on new cologne scents for his next Spring Showings, I met with the owners of the House of Ariete to discuss their newest Radio Device.

My friends, this will make WiFi, HD Radio, and, iPods look like Crystal Sets ! This new product truly moves Radio and our profession fully into the 21 st Century ! I give you:

THE ARIETE RADIO TOASTER !!!!!!

How could it have taken so long for someone to create this Broadcasting Phenomenon ?

JUST THINK OF IT: For 3 minutes, EVERY MORNING, you can listen to "just enough" of your favorite radio station, while your toast is toasting, to leave you wanting MORE so that you can't wait to get in your car to drive to work and listen to the rest of whatever you were hearing !

Think of the possibilities ! Not only will radio stations benefit from this fabulous device, but "cumes in cars" will go up book-after-book; bread companies will be swamped with more and more orders, their production will go up, AND, you can bet they'll take full advantage of this new "Radio Toaster" Craze and create Special new breads just for this medium. (Rock n' Roll Rye; Smooth Jazz Slices; Classical Crusts; Blues Bread; Big K Kornbread...it truly boggles the mind).

And, of course, you know Steve Jobs will have to get into the fray ! A year from now I expect he'll be unveiling the "iToast" (power cord available at additional cost).

SO, I wanted you all to be the first to know that I'm set to become the sole USA Distributor for this superb, and, soon-to-be, BIGGEST Fad since the Hula Hoop and the Edsel. The wheels are in motion, and as soon as the check clears on my initial "good faith" payment of $15.42 things will begin popping-up...just like toast !!

My name is Jonnie King, and, yes: I want to be a Millionaire !

Oh, and yes, this REALLY exists !
http://www.ariete.net/catalogo_06/catalogo3_en.asp?prod_id=201

The Year Of The Rat, From The Little Barn!

Barry Mac has sent along another ad for The Little Barn, with the two Georges...listen, and you'll know what I mean!

Little Barn Ad: "Year of the Rat":   stream   |   download

REST IN PEACE: JIMMY DEAN

Jimmy Dean was a true All-American, as well as an entertainer.

In 1970 he was launching his sausage line, and he and his brother, Don, were in Little Rock for the kick-off. Why Little Rock ? Well, what most never knew, or have forgotten in the interveneing years is that Little Rock's HOLLAND-ROTHMAN Advertising Agency handled the Jimmy Dean Account WORLDWIDE in those days.

I was at KAAY at the time as Air Personality & MD, and got a call one afternoon from Alan Rothman asking me if I'd come to a special "Breakfast With Jimmy Dean" that they were hosting. I said of course I'd love to be there, and on the morning of May 21st, 1970, myself and a few other select Invitees showed up.

It was a small, hand-picked group and we not only had "Breakfast" with Jimmy...but he cooked it himself ! In addition, he was the most affable, intelligent, humorous, and nice individual that you'd ever want to meet. I knew that he had a couple of TV Interviews to do, but I asked him if he could come by KAAY that afternoon so that I could do one with him. He couldn't have agreed faster ! Jumped at the chance because he remembered how much airplay KAAY had always given his records. That afternoon Alan Rothman brought him by, we went into a Production Room, and Jimmy Dean & I spent about an hour together.

He was just fantastic ! And, when I say he was a true All-American I mean it: Again, this was 1970, the Vietnam War was still raging on, our brave soldiers were in-the-fight everyday, and the casualty lists were mounting daily. Well, somehow, something was said that triggered his thoughts of Vietnam, the war, etc, and Dean gave me, in no uncertain terms his feelings about "hippies", "flag burners", "draft card burners", "the protest movement", "Draft Dodgers/AWOL's" moving to Canada, and anything else he considered TOTALLY UN-AMERICAN ! (In fact, in those days, and being 50,000 Watts and a part of LIN Broadcasting, there were a few choice words/phrases we had to edit out before I ran it. However, times have changed, and you will probably hear most of those words/phrases on almost ANY TV Show tonight.)

He was also impressed when I told him, small "bad-word-for-1961" or not, I always used his ORIGINAL version of "Big Bad John", and not the re-cut. Again, this WAS 1970, and he laughed and said that the re-cut version had been in the Pop Domain for so long that many had forgotten - or, even HEARD- his original. Again, my musicology background had come to the fore, and it struck a very responsive chord with him. Said that "it made his day !". (Have YOU ever heard the un-cut version ? )

Dean was also excited about his role in up-and-coming James Bond Film "Diamonds Are Forever"...he knew the strength of the Bond Films and what "cult classics" they'd become. In addition, it was the return - for one more Official Bond Film - of Sean Connery. Connery had agreed to do one last film if the producers would donate his salary to his Scottish charity.

Jimmy came to town a number of times after that to work with the Agency on various spots & promotions. And all of those who worked with him had a very high regard for his commitment to the Agency, the Product, and, his customers. (Sadly, a few years later, he severed relations with his brother, Don, who was the Vice President of the JD Meat Company. Don, was mishandling the funds and had to be let go.) Being the Ultimate "Saver-Of-All-Stuff-That-Crosses-My-Path" I still have Don Dean's Business Card that he gave me that day: May 21, 1970.

Again, R.I.P. Jimmy Dean...A True All-American.

JK

PS: If you're reading this in the St. Louis Area and the name Alan Rothman seems familiar to you it should. Alan was also from St. Louis, and his Dad & Uncle founded the Rothman Furniture Company a long-running, still in business today company, many, many years ago.

Phil North Aircheck, July 1971!

Woo-hoo!  Another aircheck from Phil!  He got this from an old radio friend and sent this along for us to enjoy.  Mitch Michaels is the newsman on this aircheck, as well.

Many thanks to Phil and his friend Jay for this great audio piece of KAAY history...now, on to the aircheck!

Phil North, KAAY, July 1971:   stream   |   download

Arkansas Floods

My heart goes out to those who have suffered personal loss during the floods on southwest Arkansas.  We here along the Gulf Coast have suffered tragedy from an oil spill; however, nothing can be as devastating as the loss of human life, in either case.

May God bless those families affected and give them grace for the days to come, and may His grace abound over all of Arkansas and our Gulf.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Wolfman Jack

Sometimes I go off on a tangent and do some odd research.  We'd mentioned Wolfman Jack and his relationship to KAAY a couple of times on this blog and, for some reason, he got on my mind again.  I like to listen to his airchecks from KERB 1090 as well, from time to time.

Well, I found a video site that had a nice tribute:

http://www.vidchili.com/video/s5GqYK7m2Ab/Wolfman_Jack_Tribute/

You can also search out other Wolfman videos (and others on many subjects) on http://www.vidchili.com/  All of the ones of him I came upon here were pictures with some of his airchecks dropped on them, but it was still fun to listen.

Everyone have a nice weekend!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

"Charlie King" Revisited

Charlie Scarbrough, a.k.a. "Charlie King", called me last night and mentioned that I had a couple of errors in my original post.  For those who've read it already, I have made the necessary revisions.  I must have misread my shorthand as I posted!  Needless to say, we here at Mighty 1090 KAAY blogspot want to make SURE the correct information gets posted, so that proper credit and history are both set straight!  It's all about honesty and integrity....

This was another great conversation with Charlie; he is a wonderful, patient gentleman, taking time with me, a lowly listener and avid KAAY fan.  We look forward to his visits, memorabilia, stories and insights yet to come!

Thank you, Charlie!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Worthen Bank Mini Tellers!

I guess this was the early "all-time" or "24-hour" ATM...an amazing thing to have at the time, now something we take for granted nowadays.  In fact, we gripe when they don't work, even when there's one on every corner!

Thanks to the Barry Mac Audio Library!

Worthen Bank Mini Tellers:   stream   |   download

Old and New Technologies Merge....And The Grand Ole Opry

I'm still an analog guy and I'm being dragged, kicking and screaming into the digital world.  But sometimes, there is a glimmer of interesting stuff that makes it through all the dust I kick up....

Like last night: my daughter was at the Grand Ole Opry last night with a friend of hers who just graduated (and this is her graduation trip).  I told her that I have listened to the show on AM radio at night and she seemed very interested.  "Daddy, will you hear us when we go there?", she asked, before the trip.  I told her that with WSM's signal, it should be almost as good as a local station.  That's the old technology....

...enter the new technology: she texted (sp?) my wife/her mom to tell me to be sure and listen!  Yes, that was what I was about to do, as we worked out in the yard.  You see, I don't have a cell phone...don't want one, don't need one, have no desire to get one.  Ham radio has all I need.  The only time I carry a cell phone is for when I'm on duty for work, every third week...but that's a rabbit trail of no worth....

Needless to say, we sat and listened to AM 650, WSM; the signal was climbing up at 8:10 PM Central, just before dusk (kind of like what KAAY did!) and gave full bars on my DX-440 in just a few more minutes.  We listened to Little Jimmy Dickens, Tricia Yearwood and finally, Carrie Underwood.  All the while, the girls were texting my wife and she texted our comments back.  I told her to tell them that I could hear them screaming over the air and they believed I could!  They and we had a great time and texts were flying back and forth as we listened to AM radio from Nashville, TN.

Old and new technologies....they mix and merge and compliment each other.  Yet, not quite an "old fart", I still resist some things, in lieu of the nostalgic.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

(By the way, a demonstration was held on The Tonight Show awhile back, where it was demonstrated that Morse Code beat texting, hands-down [pun intended!]...there are several other references to it on the web, as well. bs)

My First Radio, by Dave S.

The recent posts about radios set me to thinking about the radios I used as a kid.  (We are going back to the late 1950s here.)   My folks owned a monstrous, massive, walnut "entertainment center" in which was embedded a poor-quality record changer (built for 78s but would also turn at 33) and a surprisingly sensitive AM receiver whose signal was amplified by a tube amp.  The amp's output was sent to a 12" combined tweeter-woofer (which I fried one day some years later by routing a Gibson Les Paul Jr. into the amp's imputs and overdriving the tubes --- but that's another story).

I really liked that console radio --- when powered up, the radio static would fade in, like the tides, and the dial would glow all golden-like, just like the tubes, which I could see through the ventilation holes in the back of the unit.  Also, the radio warmed up the room (good ole tubes!), so listening to it was the perfect winter pastime. 

I was too young to be allowed to use the radio on my own, and I guess I was too young to listen to rock-and-roll anyway, so when my parents bought their first television and a mounted an antenna on the roof, I got distracted by the Lone Ranger and Davy Crocket.   I liked Diz and Pee Wee on the weekends, too.

One day, when I was 7, my father brought home something in his pocket.  "Listen to this!" he exclaimed as he pulled out what looked like a fat notepad --- he turned a switch and this hissy fizzy squawky sound came out of the world's tiniest speaker.  But there was no denying that the hissy voice was the DJ at the local AM station, KXXX.    "It's a transistor radio --- it doesn't need to warm up!" he exclaimed.    I couldn't get over how small it was.

The radio my father brought home was a "six transistor" Zephyr model.   Somehow, transistors were like tubes and the more you had, the better it was.   That's all I knew, then.

The radio was my father's and although I could listen to it, I couldn't play with it.  So, I wanted one of my own for Christmas that year.    The little radio my father bought cost five dollars, and in 1960, five dollars was a lot of money to spend on a kid's Christmas present, but to my great delight, I got an exact copy of my father's radio as my Christmas present that year:

This was a cool deal to a seven-year-old: The radio had a case, so that I could practice taking the radio in and out of the case and A-B-ing the sound quality with-and-without case.  Also, I could see and use the tiny tuning dial better outside the case.  So, I developed this ritual when using the radio: I would take the radio out of its case, tune it to where I wanted to go, and careeeefullly slide the radio back in the case without messing up the tuning.  Lots of fun!

But the best part was popping the radio's back lid and looking at the parts:

That's where I learned about capacitors, resistors, and the secret code (the color bands) on them.  I can't recall how many times I counted the six transistors --- I guess I always wanted to make certain that one didn't fall out, I guess!

I didn't like the earphone that came with the radio, even though the earphone had its own cool little case --- the radio's sound was small enough as it was without pushing it through an earpiece.

My little Zephyr ZR-620 was used a lot.  I listened to everything I could with it.  (I kind of remember listening to WLS at night.  But there was no KAAY in 1960-61.)  But transistor radios got smaller and smaller and cheaper and cheaper, and transistor-inflation meant that six transistors just weren't good enough any more.  Somewhere along the way, my little Zephyr radio was abandoned (or it died), and I bought another radio with my pop-bottle money.  (Did you ever collect pop bottles for spare cash?  That was my "summer job".)

Last night, I checked Ebay, and it seems I can buy the same exact model of my five-dollar Zephyr  radio, in working condition, for $94.50 !
( http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-TRANSISTOR-RADIO-WORKING-ZEPHYR-ZR-620-W-CASE-/140200871280?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20a49f8570 )
I guess inflation has set in.

I also found at "Sarah's Transistor Radio Page"
( http://www.transistor.org/collection/collection.html )
this cool comment:

Zephyr ZR-620
Several radios appeared under the "Zephyr" name that were quite stylish.
This is perhaps the most famous. A stylish logo and rounded corners make this one special.

Well, it was "special" to me, anyway....

--- Dave Schmidt

P.S.  I never listened to KAAY on the Zephyr ZR-620.   But believe it or not, my parents retained the massive, monstrous 1950's console tube radio and moved it several times until it found its final home in the basement of our house in Kansas in the mid 1960s.  I used that console radio with its tube amp and that 12" speaker to listen to KAAY,  The World Tomorrow, The Soul Record Club (it used to come on at midnight in 1968), and Clyde.  Believe me, as spooky as Beaker Street used to get at 1 or 2am, it was even spookier when Clyde and Cannibas Sativa faded in and out in rhythm with those pulsating valves.  When I heard that etherial whoosh-whoosh, I thought I was pulling in a signal from outer space, because no earthly station could ever sound like that....

These days, the console radio is gone (my cousins talked my mom out of it --- they wanted that walnut cabinet), but my friend down the street built me a KT-88-tube-fired, 50-watt power amp that I use to listen to LPs and heat my house in the winter.  Tubes are great...watching those electrons splatter on the plates and generate that glow makes me realize that music occupies both time and space....

Classic 1963 Ford Fairlane

Here's a spectacular 1963 Fairlane that is the spittin' image of the one I used to listen to KAAY in! Ain't she a beauty?

(Thanks to www.conceptcarz.com for the great photo)

/DM/

Dave M's All-Time Fave Radio!

Here's my all time favorite radio to listen to KAAY. KAAY was the second button from the right. KEEL (Shreveport) was second button from the left. The specifications say it had a 3 watt output!!!! I added a rear deck speaker to increase the "cool factor".

/D/

(Folks- send in some comments, with pictures or not, about your favorite radio(s), to my e-mail address: staceys4@hotmail.com  Thank you!  Bud S.)

School's Out, With KAAY!

Here's a neat KAAY jingle!  SCHOOL IS OUT!  I wonder how many times Alice Cooper's "School's Out" followed this jingle!

Thanks again to Barry Mac!

KAAY jingle "school's out":   stream   |   download

Focus On The News Makers, With Mitch Michaels

Here is a little news clip, compliments of Barry Mac...this one is in regards to Governor Bumpers.

KAAY Focus on Newsmakers: Dale Bumpers:   stream   |   download

Charlie Scarbrough, a.k.a “Charlie King”

I had a very entertaining conversation with another one of The Greats tonight, “Charlie King”, known as Charlie Scarbrough these days. I was given his phone number by a reader and former KAAY employee (who I hope will also include his own information here!) and spent the better part of a very delightful hour with Charlie! He is now doing commercial voice-over work “from Anchorage, AK to Miami, FL and everywhere in between”. He’s given permission to share some information with you here on the blog...I just hope I get it right, since my notes were hurried and scribbled!

As a youngster, Charlie used to listen to “Ken Knight” (Howard Watson) and his “All-Night Club”, with his radio under the pillow (as many of us did!) so as to not disturb the household. He mentioned the tinkling of glasses and silverware and conversation in the background, which were really sound effects, but it all sounded so real! Charlie later worked with Howard Watson at KMYO, but that’s another story....

Charlie originally went to college for accounting, but found math boring, even though he was and is very good at it; he consequently left early to get into radio. He’d never told anyone he really had radio broadcasting at heart. He walked in one day and told his parents he wanted to work in broadcasting and he said he’d never seen anyone stand there so long with their mouths agape...but they proved supportive to his dream! He later went to Memphis and completed Keegan’s Radio School and got a job almost immediately at WTUP, 1490 AM Tupelo, MS in October, ‘63.

Charlie worked the midnight-to-6 AM shift and had two all-night listeners. One was a lady across the street at the local newspaper, doing editing & layouts for the morning edition and was a big Elvis Presley fan. She’d call & ask for “anything Elvis”. His other listener was an attendant at the all-night gas station out on the highway, who called and asked for anything BUT Elvis! So Charlie kept all Elvis at one turntable, everything else at the other.

Fast forward to his KAAY days: he happened to be at Keegan’s again when someone called from Little Rock, “looking for talent”- I believe the station he mentioned was KALO (“Land Of Opportunity”). The receptionist put Charlie on the line with the man and in a few minutes, the guy hired him. By February ‘64, he was on the air at KALO. Charlie said that shortly after, A.J. Lindsey took him to lunch and offered to find him a job in another market away from Little Rock (even as far away as Mobile, AL!), because KALO was competition and KAAY didn’t want any good-sounding talent in the area if they weren’t at KAAY. Funny thing: since A.J. was “Doc Holiday”, he went around in a black cowboy hat; Charlie met him wearing a white cowboy hat!

Charlie was later hired by Pat Walsh and worked at KAAY from 1967 to 1968, about two years. He took the name “Charlie King” after LIN Broadcasting’s vice president. He was originally hired to work the 10AM-3PM shift, but when he came on, “Buddy Carr” (Richard Weithan) had left for his yearly military two-week stint. Charlie stepped into the 3-6PM slot while Richard was gone.  Richard was killed in a jeep accident a few days later and the “Buddy Carr” air name was retired. Charlie worked the whole time in the afternoon time slot.

Charlie also mentioned playing with the KAAY Kommandos and all the antics they got into...playing “ringers” from the different schools, the goofy stuff they did, all the time doing it for charity. They even played a ten-minute game against the Harlem Globetrotters before their exhibition games in Little Rock!

Charlie mentioned that the most fun he had was while he worked at KAAY- the second best was while working with Howard Watson at KMYO (“Cameo”). He also mentioned that, on a trip to Disneyworld, he & a friend stopped here in western Mobile and ate their fill of shrimp a number of years ago...isn’t the world a small place?

We ended the phone call with several promises of getting back together- I’d kept him too long and he had to call family- so I hope to report more at a later date. Charlie is going through his stuff to find any KAAY memorabilia he can find to share with us!

I must say, I was excited to speak with Charlie; it made a tough work day otherwise great!

Thanks to Glenn B. for the tip!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

"Remember The Past, But Don't Live In It."

That's a quote from a graduating senior of our local high school...and several others had some interesting parting quotes, as well.  It got me to thinking, that's what we're doing here!

There are times when I'm working around the house, doing research or what-have-you, and I'll pop an aircheck in the computer or player....and I relish every LP pop, every lightening crash, every signal fade...all the things that we experienced listening "live" to KAAY.  Yes, these invoke great memories when The Mighty Ten-Ninety was blasting through the ether; memories such as when you were a kid, huddled under the blankets on a stormy night, that signal ALWAYS made it through...or when you were playing out in the yard chasing fireflies...or dancing to the beat at the drive in hamburger joint.... These recordings captured the actual soul of the moment, the "real thing" and are more alive than any cold, remastered CD recording that has been cleaned up...give me the real thing every time!

Yes, we're remembering our fun times...and we're living in the "now" enjoying them all the time!

Thanks to all who contribute...please keep it comin'!

Bud S (staceys4@hotmail.com)

J. C. Penny Portable

There have been several people who have mentioned in the blog, and to me personally, that they've listened to the big sounds of KAAY with just a simple little pocket radio, like the J. C. Penny 6-transistor Model 1132 radio pictured.  KAAY put out SUCH a signal, I'd almost bet you could receive them on braces, if you were in the vicinity!

This radio, like many others, came with a real leather case.

I wonder how many folks built the razor blade "Foxhole radio" and listened to KAAY on THAT?!?

What did you listen to KAAY with?

Bud S (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Westinghouse: A Great Name In American Appliances!

I'd bought this Westinghouse H364 at a ham radio tailgater a few years back. The owner didn't know where the speakers were, but swore that the unit worked, so I bit.  When I got home, I wired up the Realistic bookshelf speakers to it.  This is a heavy brute, so I expected a little out of it.  Boy, I was pleasantly surprised!  Great sound and a pretty good receiver!  I've used it mainly to dial around on AM, due to its great full sound.  With its large internal ferrite bar antenna, it is highly directional, but I don't move it around a whole lot!

It has separate dials and controls for AM and FM, so one can set each on their favorite stations, respective to the band.  It recieves FM Stereo and Mono and AM, plus will take inputs from a phonograph and tape. It is all transistorized with a beefy output section.  I haven't found any info on it yet, but I suspect it is of early 1970's manufacture and has a nice wooden cabinet.

If you look closely in the background, you can see some of me reflected in the window....BOO!  The little white blob playing behind the right speaker is our grandkitty, Lilo...he's a male cat, long story....

What did you listen to KAAY with?

Bud S (staceys4@hotmail.com)

#1 Songs, Memorial Day, 1962-1984

No sense in including 1985, since the station was sold before Memorial Day....

THE 1980s

1984 Let's Hear It for the Boy Deniece Williams

1983 Flashdance ... What a Feeling Irene Cara

1982 Ebony and Ivory Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder

1981 Bette Davis Eyes Kim Carnes

1980 Funkytown Lipps, Inc.



THE 1970s

1979 Hot Stuff Donna Summer

1978 Too Much, Too Little, Too Late Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams

1977 Sir Duke Stevie Wonder

1976 Love Hangover Diana Ross

1975 Before the Next Teardrop Falls Freddy Fender

1974 The Streak Ray Stevens

1973 My Love Paul McCartney & Wings

1972 I'll Take You There The Staple Singers

1971 Brown Sugar The Rolling Stones

1970 Everything Is Beautiful Ray Stevens



THE 1960s

1969 Get Back The Beatles

1968 Mrs. Robinson Simon & Garfunkel

1967 Respect Aretha Franklin

1966 When a Man Loves a Woman Percy Sledge

1965 Help Me Rhonda The Beach Boys

1964 Chapel of Love The Dixie Cups

1963 It's My Party Lesley Gore

1962 I Can't Stop Loving You Ray Charles

Remember....

Originally called Decoration Day, our modern-day Memorial Day is a day of rememberance for those who have died in our nation's service.  Having a son in the armed forces, I am sensitive to this and other "holidays".....

Please do not forget to fly the American flag at half-staff until 12 noon, 5/31/2010....

For those who are interested in flag etiquette and history, here is a good site to view:

http://www.awesomelibrary.org/Flag.html#flags

A Pair Of Crosleys

I've had these radios for quite some time...both were typical "barn radios", having been put in storage in an old shed, then given away.  I happened to be in the right place at the right time!

The Crosley on the left ("Delux White") is a Model 10-135 AM table radio; these were made in 1950.  Except for some fading of the silver paint on the knobs, it cleaned up pretty well.  This one's nickname was the "Coloradio" and came in several other colors, which coincided with its model number.  I think this one will take a little TLC and come back strong.

The Crosley on the right ("Gulf Green") was called the "Serenader", AM table model 11-117U...this radio was made in 1951 and came in numerous colors, which coincided with it's model number.  I believe that, with the shape it's in, it'll also come back with some time & TLC.

What did you listen to KAAY with?

Bud S (staceys4@hotmail.com)

You Listened To KAAY on What?

I was blessed a few weeks ago by a fellow Ham radio operator, who is now inactive.  He gave me several pieces of gear and numerous AM, AM/FM and AM/Shortwave table radios, just so they'd have a good home.  Pictured above is one of the radios he gave me, a Channel Master Model 5636.  It's in reasopnably good shape, the wood is smooth, clean and not cracked (despite being out in an open trailer) and barely needs a little cleaning.  This is a tube unit, I believe built in the early 1960's.  All I can find, info-wise, is that someone has Sam's Photofacts for sale for it, but not the date of manufacture.

It was so clean that I was tempted to plug it in and see if it would play, but that little Ham voice said, "Check it out!"  In older tube-type radios, the capacitors can sometimes dry out and need to be replaced.  These capacitors, when they dry out, can short out and produce disasterous results when they explode with power applied!  At the least, the capacitor will be destroyed- at the worst, the radio....

Needless to say, I'll put this radio through a variable transformer and bring the voltage up s-l-o-w-l-y, to make sure I don't lose this treasure!

As you can probably tell, I love old radios...more to come, both a little newer, and a whole lot older!

What did you listen to KAAY with?

BudS (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Art Linkletter, R.I.P. May 26, 2010

TV funnyman Art Linkletter passed away today, May 26, 2010, at the gentle age of 97 years young.  I remember him so well, as he interviewed kids ("Kids Say The Darndest Things!") and adults alike...what a showman!  He was one of the bright spots in my childhood.

Rest well, Art, we'll see you later!

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7023613.html

Len Carl/Lind Voth: Where Are You Now?

A. J. had interviewed Len Carl (Lind Voth) and posted the videos on his blog.  Len Carl was the second General Manager, beginning in 1964...and checked into A. J.'s blog often.  I certainly hope he has word to check in here.

Where are you, sir?  Please let us hear from you!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Robinson Auditorium/Center

I'd heard several advertisements for Robinson Auditorium and decided to snoop around...what a beautiful building!  One ad mentioned the auditorium and Entertainment Attractions bringing The Fabulous Outsiders on April 1, 1967.  It was on a Mike McCormick aircheck.

Missing (The Present-Day) Mark Larson?

mcb said...


I miss Mark Larson. The 3 jokers who took his place are pathetic and insult my intelligence.

(MCB, there's good news!  Mark has started his own Webcast and you can listen every morning- not only in the Tampa Bay area- but all over the world now, at:

http://www.markinthemorning.com/

Many times, those conglomerates make a move for the worst, so I bet they did this out of greed.  Did it actually take three guys to take Mark's place?  No way...

Be sure to contact Mark and tell him that you enjoy his webcast.  You can even go back into the archives & listen to previous shows...not something you can do with over-the-air radio...computers and the Web DO have their advantages, at times....bs)

Where Are They Now? Tom Gallagher/Danny Goode

I was going through some more notes and came upon a name who we'd previously missed...that of "Tom Gallagher", otherwise known by Danny Goode.  By the notes, he worked at KAAY from 1977 to 1979.  Does anyone have any other information on him, please?

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)