Little Barn Soap, Horns, Books

Staying clean looks like fun!  And what horns....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Little Barn Jewelry

More stuff to wear, and a pillbox, too...

I remember Clyde Clifford advertising for The Little Barn...in particular, we've had an aircheck here of Clyde mentioning some large, heavy silver peace rings.  For the price back then, they'd have been a good investment, considering silver prices today....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Little Barn Wine Flasks, Daisy Pulls...

Wine flasks have survived the ages...and how about dressing up your furniture with those daisy knobs?

Unique artistry!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Comments From "O'Brian"

Hello to Bud, Wayne Moss, all my old pals at the Mighty 1090, former listeners, and especially my dear old friend, Steve Scott! I just spent an hour and a half looking for the tape of that last night when Farley supposedly ended up in the river. I looked and looked, and I know I have it, but could not find it. Steve and I had this stunt planned for a week, and all week leading up to Friday (which I knew was my last day before heading to Denver) I was talking about how my good friend Steve Scott was coming to town, and Farley Knuckles would be there and how I had invited them both to be on the show with me Friday night. That was the set up - plugged it all week. Then on Friday, Steve "showed up" with me on the air, and we joked between the songs about where Farley could possibly be. We were having a great time and couldn't wait for him to join us. Then, near the end of the show, the song fades and you can hear me on the phone, in the background, very seriously asking questions like, "Where? How long ago? and so on. I think Steve was acting like he was trying to cover for me. Then, if I remember right, (gee it's been a long time) I hung up the phone, still in the background, and I think I blurted out like, "they found Farley, I have to leave." Steve then pretended to stumble around, and said I'd be back in awhile, maybe Farley passed out at a bar or something. Several songs later, Steve is still doing the show, and he answers the phone on the air - says he knows it's me calling in. Now I must tell you, the next part was recorded earlier. Steve asked me what was going on. In the most saddened solemn, voice I told him (over the air) that they found Farley's body in the river - he had been shot dead. Steve reacted so sorry, and told me to come back to the radio station. And then, I had my closing line - I said something to the effect, "No, I can't ever come back until I find out who did this to Farley; so long Steve." Then Steve says, well, okay, I guess this is the start of the Steve Scott show, and then played the last song of the night - Terry Jacks, Season in the Sun! (goodbye to you my old friend...) It was a hoot - the phones lit up, and Steve and I laughed our butts off. I hope I can find that tape. But, the tape we ought to have is the one with the out takes of Steve and I trying to record that last bit. We knew we could never pull it off live without cracking up. And, while trying to record it, we did indeed crack up to the max - especially me trying to say they found Farley in the river. Those were the days of fun radio - many great memories of KAAY - maybe someday I will relate the story of when I fell asleep on the air doing Beaker Street, or, how I almost caused a prison riot on Beaker Street, and, and, oh well, just old memories of some fun days in Little Rock. Sorry this turned out so long - gee, it's supposed to be a comment! Love to all, God bless you! O'Brian

Little Barn Leather Rings & Bells

Whew!  More unique items!

I must say, they put a lot into home-brewing this catalog....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Little Barn Incense

Whoa, here's some great incense offers from 'way back....

And, yes, I know incense is still available today!  Just not too many "head shops" around any more!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

More Little Barn Goodies

Well, I'm not sure what to think about the super-huge bottles...I guess you could sit amongst 'em and play music while wearing your peace symbol....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

And One More (From Russell Wells)....

Hey, folks! We have a real gem from Russell Wells again! I'll let him explain:

"Hi, Bud--
I was going through a "traveling aircheck tape" from July 1977 ... apparently this guy took a long roadtrip from New Mexico to Memphis. That in itself wasn't important, BUT he tapped into the speaker line of his car radio, feeding into a cassette machine powered by an inverter (as I recall the story told me). With that setup, he airchecked a whole slew of stations along the way -- there are some good clips from Santa Fe, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and .... Little Rock.


Along with some brief clips of the original KLAZ (98.5) and KKYK (103.7), he captured a golden minute's worth of The Mighty 1090, with David B. Treadway at the mic.


The quality is beautiful -- in listening to the entire montage, it's VERY OBVIOUS when he started taping from KAAY; a glaring tribute to its engineering. I'll add here that there's a fantastic dialsweep of Memphis, and all the big players (WHBQ, WMPS and WDIA) also had great audio and all of them jumped out of the speaker larger than life ..... but to these ears, the KAAY sound had all of them beat.


Anyway, attached is that clip. Enjoy!!
Best, Russell


PS -- I was loving those Wayne Moss contributions. The jingle toward the end of the Moss '76 aircheck was a real gem."


(or download here)


And David Brian Treadway's response:

"Hey, Bud!
Couple o' points regarding that aircheck. I might have used my middle name for three days on the air. Sure enough, it got caught on tape! This experimentation was prompted by Kris Stevens at WLS in Chicago becoming Kris Erik Stevens, so I tried a similar move--but decided it was not for me.


It's good to hear that Russell liked the sound of the station, too. That would have been due to Dave Montgomery and Tom Rusk's meticulous installation of some SERIOUS audio equipment, followed by Jim Loupas's mystical fine-tuning of the Dorrough Discriminate Audio Processor (the "dap," as we called it) and finally that glorious, honking RCA transmitter. Yum! dbt"

I couldn't have said it better- YUM! This audio clip aired right after I graduated from high school...telling on myself, aren't I?

I'd said it before, and I'll say it again, I'd like to hear from Tom Rusk and Jim Loupas one day...I haven't been able to catch up with them, however....Thank you, Russell and David B.!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Little Barn Tiny Chests, Bottles & Flowers

I guess you could put the dried flowers' seeds in the tiny chests?

Little Barn Candles & Mobiles

I gues you COULD light the room, fragrantly, and lay back, watching your mobiles....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Memorabilia Mention By Barry Mac

Barry originally commented on the September 21, 2009 post regarding KAAY's "sister FM station":

"And I actually have two coffee mugs that have the announcement from Multimedia of the move to 2400 Cottondale for both KAAY and KEZQ. I believe the date listed on the cups is November 17th, so I'm presuming this was in '76. By the way, if you ever get the chance, stop by Adcraft of Arkansas. That's where I unearthed these coffee cups about three years. They have LOTS of old radio station bumper stickers and memorabilia from the '60s and beyond."

I looked up Adcraft of Arkansas and here's their website"

http://adcraftarkansas.com/company.htm

Get your favorite radio memorabilia while it lasts!  Thanks, Barry Mac!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Little Barn Leather & Lighting...

Mmmmmm....nothing like dressing in your finest leather while lighting the room with groovy floating candles....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

WABB-FM Sold

Folks, the only reason I mention this is that because two KAAY alumni also worked at WABB here in Mobile...Wayne Moss and Steve Morris. It was announced that the FM operation was sold on Friday, February 17, 2012, to Educational Media Foundation, a Christian broadcaster; the AM operation is being retained by the Dittman family and will continue to air Talk Radio. Here is a link (there are plenty more on the web):

http://www.examiner.com/radio-in-mobile/wabb-fm-to-have-new-owners-wabb-am-to-remain-with-current-owner

EMF seems to pay their bills and treats their personnel quite well, resulting in very low turn-over. Personally, I am glad Clear Channel nor Cumulus got them.

WABB-AM signed on in 1948 and moved to its present digs on Springhill Ave. in Mobile in 1969; the current FM operation signed on in 1973 on its current frequency of 97.5, even though it simulcasted on several other FM frequencies from the beginning, until discontinued in the 1950s.

I have my own opinions about recent history at WABB, but I will keep them to myself, in respect to my former (deceased) customer Bernie Dittman. Maybe more energy and attention will now be paid to the AM operation on 1480 kc's and it will continue to operate profitably for the Dittman family....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

More Little Barn Goods

Can't you hear the sound tracks from Cheech & Chong movies in the background?

Maybe you could stick the Stickerations on the canisters?

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Wayne Moss, "K-Double-A-Y, Kay-Why" Aircheck

Here is another audio gem from Wayne Moss!  It is heavily 'scoped, but only on the music and some commercials.  There is an interesting "KAAY Double Golden" jingle you gotta hear on this aircheck!  Lots of other jingles and promos on this aircheck, as well.

Mitch Michaels is the newsman on this aircheck.  Pat Walsh is doing the "Cash Cruiser", giving away some nice cash!  Gary Gears voices some of the identifiers.

This is a morning aircheck; it sounds as if it is a conglomeration of a couple or three airchecks.  Temperatures range from 80 to the nineties.

Wayne said he thought this was from maybe late 1975 or 1976, but there is a commercial for Beaker Street's 8th anniversary of September 10th...so this would make the date of this announcement in September of 1974, since Beaker Street began in late 1966.

Much abounds during this audio offering; if anyone can pin down any more specific dates and facts, please leave your comments!


(or download here)

Thanks to Wayne Moss for this aircheck, and to Dave S. for his audio know-how, so that we can enjoy more aural history!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Little Barn Catalog Continued

"Wow, I can catch my hand....!"

No, not really...it was attached all the time....

I have no comments about the top page...but I HAVE had bad hair days like the second page!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Little Barn Catalog!

WOW!  What a piece of history!  Two friends of the blog, Gil and Shawn, have sent copies of the Little Barn's first edition catalog!  The Little Barn advertised- appropriately- on Beaker Street.  For more Little Barn information and some history, please type "Little Barn" in the search window at the upper left-hand box and click the magnifyng glass....

There are so many pages- thrity-two, plus a cover/back cover shot- that I'll have to spread this out over quite a few posts.  So hang on, turn the lights down LOW, light some incense (can you find it any more?), put on your finest low-rider jeans and tie-dye T-shirt and head band, let you hair down and enjoy!

I can only imagine what folks cooked up with those utensils....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

KAAY Coverage Revisited

Dear folks, it is awesome how radio waves travel. I have studied such, having been a Ham radio operator and radio listener for so, so many years...and it is still a wonder! In speaking with Steve Morris ("Steve Scott") awhile back, I believe that I mentioned doing the math and realizing that I listened to Steve when he was on The Mighty 1090! I'd also mentioned a time or two that within thirty minutes of sundown, I could hear KAAY starting to fade in. Granted, this was while still on their daytime pattern, which was more or less roughly circular to cover the state of Arkansas and not switched over to their figure-eight nighttime pattern yet.

In the nighttime pattern above, the coverage was HUGE...and we can see how all of Cuba, parts of Central and South America were covered, as well as literally over half of Canada, up to Alaska...and no telling where else...I wish we had access to all the mail KAAY got!

In the past, I'd mentioned the "grey line" a phenomenon where it is not day, nor night...just that half-light pattern between the two. In the "old days", radio stations would sign off at sunset and sign back on at sunrise (some few still do). During this time, it was possible to tune to frequencies and momentarily, for a few minutes, hear other radio stations that were blocked by a local station, before THOSE stations signed off. In some instances, it was mere minutes, others it was maybe longer, due to the difference of a time zone. We radio enthusiasts of all types still use the "grey line" to communicate or to listen for otherwise elusive radio stations not "there" in daylight or dark. It is a fascinating phenomenon, as things happen during the "grey line" that do not happen any other times. Here is the link to the "grey line" map; it refreshes ever five minutes or so:

http://dx.qsl.net/propagation/greyline.html

Because radio propagation is an ongoing study, some things are constant- others are constantly changing! A lot has to do with weather and sunspots. Nonetheless, I believe this "grey line effect" was responsible for my hearing KAAY before dark and the changeover to the nighttime "flame-thrower" figure-eight pattern. Give the dial a whirl before sunset sometime, you may be pleasantly surprised! Do it for a week, or two weeks and there may be more there than you realized!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Another Cuban Listener: Dago!

Folks, Dago thought I was part of KAAY, but in subsequent e-mails between us, he found that I was not an employee of KAAY, but a listener (I'd fantasized about working at KAAY, though!). Here's his e-mail, with slight editing, and photo, all with his permission:

"HI BUD , I´M DAGOBERTO PEDRAJA FROM CUBA, I´M SO EXITED ´CUSE I´M WRITING FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME TO A RADIO- MAN WHO SET MY PREFERENCES FOR THE GREATEST ROCK MUSIC , " THE REAL ONE " . I WAS A TEENAGER WHEN I HEARD ABOUT AN AMERICAN STATION THAT WAS PLAYING VERY " WEIRD MUSIC " , WE USUALLY ATEMPT TO FLORIDA KEYS RADIO STATION LIKE WQAM , THEY PLAY VERY LIGHT ROCK MUSIC , BUT THEY WERE OUR ONLY OPTION , SO THAT NIGHT I DECIDED TO DIAL KAAY...IT WAS GREAT MAN !!! AND BETTER THAN ALL AT .12 AM THERE WAS A VERY VERY WEIRD KIND OF SGHOW PLAYING THAT WEIRD KIND OF MUSIC , IT WAS MY VERY FIRST TIME TO BE IN TOUCH WITH THE " UNDERGROUND MUSIC " , MONTHS LATTER I BECAME MEMBER OF " THE RACOONS CLUB " , IT WAS A KIND OF JOKE BECAUSE WE USE TO LOOK SO SLEEPY IN CLASS, ALL BLACK AROUND THE EYES ( LOL ) JUST IMAGINE , 8AM IN THE MORNING GOING TO SCHOOL AND FEELING THAT WAY BEACUSE YOU STOPED LISTENING " BEAKERTREET " NEARLY 4:30 AM JA JA JA . YOU COULD HEAR KAAY LATE IN THE AFTERNOON AROUND 7PM OR LATTER , BUT AROUND 11 PM THE SIGNAL WAS SO CLEAR ,. BEAKER STREET WAS MY FAVORITE RADIO SHOW IN ALL MY LIFE, YEARS LATTER I BECAME IN A RADIO PRODUCER , SCRIPT WRITER AND DIRECTOR TOO , SO A BUNCH OF RADIO PEOPLE WHO USE TO LISTEN KAAY AND BS , WHERE WORKING AT THE SAME RADIO STATION AND TRIED TO DO PROGRAMS IN THE SAME WAY , WE AIRED THAT KIND OF " WEIRD MUSIC " TO THE YOUNG LISTENERS AND WE SHOW THEM " THE DARK SIDE " OF ROCK ´N ROLL , THE KIND OF ROCK UNCOMERCIAL , BUT BETTER THAN THOSE CRAP THAT OTHER RADIO STATION USE TO PLAY . SO I ´M VERY PROUD OF YOU , YOUR CREW , OPERATORS , INGENIERS AND EVERYBODY AT KAAY LITTLEROCK ARKANSAS . NHOW A DAYS I´M 55 , AND PLAYING IN " THE KENTS " , A COVER BAND WHO PLAYS ALL THE " WEIRD MUSIC " THAT " BEAKER STREET " SET ON US . SO I´LL BE IN TOUCH AND I´LL TRY TO LISTEN SOME OF THE ARCHIVES IN THE BLOCK , MAYBE I CAN RECORD OR DOWNLOAD SOME OF THEM. A GREAT HUG AND HAVE GOOD LUCK. REGARDS FROM CUBA .DAGO"

I've asked Dago for a group picture, as well. These guys, from what I've learned, have all pretty much been influenced by American Rock music, most of which was from Beaker Street.

Rock on!

Beaker Street In Cuba Comment

Hello, at beginnings of 70s I was studying in one of the Castro's invented school that mix studies with agricultural work, its name is Ceiba 6, all nights with placed the radio stuck to a column of the dormitory (to increase the signal reception) and we listened Beaker Street, great program! , I recall that often began with Pink Floyd's Pigs, by all means we could not let the professors got us listening the program because immediately they accused to you of "diversionismo ideologico" (literally, ideological deviation), and you were kicked out the school, lol!


By Juan Perez on "Comments That Hit You "Right There"....

More Soviet Radio Pictures

As promised...do you find this interesting? These are more photos sent along from our visitor from Cuba...

This is its power supply and a comparison in size as in relation to a USB drive:

And the radio itself comparing in size to the USB drive:

This picture of the power supply shows the differing voltage/current from U.S. units:

And one last shot of the manufacturing information of the VEF radio:

I hope you have enjoyed these pictures, gifts from our friend in Cuba, who, so many years ago, enjoyed listening to KAAY and Beaker Street as we did.

And now, a parting word from our friend:

"Bud, there's something you should know, listeners of the KAAY AM station, during the 70's here can be counted by thousands, just do not know that there is a blog where can share those experiences, the day they learned, you may receive many emails, letters and photos. Another thing you should know, and it is good that appears on your post. Here are just listening to the KAAY from midnight, of course the single most heard was Beaker Street program, the station's signal vanished almost at dawn, nobody ever knew why, and it did not matter,as midnight following waiting for Cannabis Sativa notes,moments before hearing the voice of Clyde Clifford."

Ah, yes, Clyde...! You had such an influence- and still do! We all look forward to encouraging messages from all over the world regarding KAAY...thank you, sir, for sharing your pictures and very kind words!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

ROCK & ROLL RADIO HISTORY: FEB. 3, 1959..."THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED" !

THE MOST TRAGIC DAY IN THE EARLY YEARS OF ROCK & ROLL HISTORY WAS FEBRUARY 3, 1959...

DON McLEAN in his instant-classic hit "American Pie" (Released in the Fall of 1971) termed it "The Day The Music Died", and since then that's the way it's been known.

I've had this rare, historic, News Bulletin about the crash on that day, February 3, 1959, in my Archives for a long time, but I don't know where it was originally broadcast or who the announcer is. When I decided to add it to the WebSite, I added a little bit of music from Buddy Holly, and Richie Valens, PLUS, the voice of The Big Bopper with his legendary Intro to start things off...to give it a little more balance and give you a chance to hear their voices again.

This special, rare audio that you'll hear is not very long...but it is very important. And, maybe next time when you hear Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, or, The Big Bopper, on your radio while you're out Crusin' you'll think about the musical legacy they left us, and remember that they left us way too soon.

Simply click-on, listen to the audio, read the History, read my personal memories of this tragic occurence, and, remember those 3 Legendary singers whose music will live on forever.
http://www.legends.thewwbc.net/gpage149.html

Jonnie King www.jonnieking.net

Don Cornelius Deceased

As per Dave Montgomery's sharp eye:

"Another great of our generation, gone:


"Soul Train" creator Don Cornelius was found dead at his Sherman Oaks on home Wednesday morning.

Law enforcement sources said police arrived at Cornelius' home around 4 a.m. He apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing.

The sources said there was no sign of foul play, but the Los Angeles Police Department was investigating.

In a 2010 interview with The Times, he said he was excited about a movie project he was developing about "Soul Train."

"We've been in discussions with several people about getting a movie off the ground. It wouldn't be the 'Soul Train' dance show, it would be more of a biographical look at the project," he said. "It's going to be about some of the things that really happened on the show."

According to a Times article, Cornelius’ “Soul Train” became the longest-running first-run nationally syndicated show in television history, bringing African American music and style to the world for 35 years.

Cornelius stopped hosting the show in 1993, and “Soul Train” ceased production in 2006.

Story credit for the Don Cornelius story goes to :

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/soul-train-creator-don-cornelius-dead-in-apparent-suicide.html

Los Angeles Times


DM"

Soviet Radio, as Promised

Dear reader, some of you know how I love radios. Yes, they all do the same thing: receive signals. But for something to have been used to hear one thing and used to hear another...well, that's as political as I'll get. Nonetheless, here are more photos from our friend in Cuba for you to enjoy! As he mentioned before:

"...new photos of old Soviet radio, where we listened with great pleasure Beaker Street."

Notice what's in the background?

More pictures later!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

K-A-A-Y One-Oh-Nine-Oh‏

Folks, Paul Kirby was one of the biggest contributors to the San Antonio Radio Memories book, mentioned before on this blog...funny, how great personalities are influenced into their profession!  He worked at several stations in the San Antonio, TX market over the years...I enjoyed reading his stories in Vicki's book.  Vicki contacted him and told him I'd like to hear his story about listening to KAAY, so, without further ado, here's paul!

"K-A-A-Y One-Oh-Nine-Oh!

As a thirteen-year-old living in rural western Minnesota, we didn’t have television and radio (to our family) meant listening to clear-channel 50-thousand watt WCCO in Minneapolis/Saint Paul. Because WCCO was the only radio station we could receive both day and night, the tuning knob on the radio rarely got moved.

For me, most of the time, I spent nights reading, rather than listening to WCCO. Each week after my piano lesson in town, we would visit the local library where I would check out a new stack of books for the coming week.

There was a radio show that I regularly enjoyed on WCCO called "Honest To Goodness" hosted by Dick Chapman and Randy Merriman. I remember to this day one of their questions: Who is Leonard Slye?

My cousin Ted was very excited about a Disk Jockey on WLS from 9 to midnight. A slight move of the radio dial from 830 to 890 brought in the completely different Dick Biondi each weeknight for an hour, after finishing my homework and before retiring for the night. I still read regularly each evening, but it was just a little bit less than before.

I was shocked one evening to no longer hear Dick on the radio, but Art Roberts instead. It wasn’t that Art wasn’t good. It was that Art didn’t seem have the excitement, edge and fun that Dick had every night. I went back to reading.

One night, on a whim, after "Honest To Goodness," I decided to tune “up the band” on the radio to see what I could hear. I stopped on 1090 when I heard something completely different on the radio.

That something completely different turned out to be KAAY Comex News. I had never heard news delivered with such urgency.

With such urgency, I had to keep listening to see what would happen next. What happened next was Rob Robbins who seemed to be having fun on the radio just like Dick Biondi.

However, what really surprised me was that any time Rob spoke you could here a jingle in the background repeating over and over again:

K-A-A-Y One-Oh-Nine-Oh

Over the years, I have asked a number of people about how the repeating jingle was implemented, but to this day, I have not encountered anyone (including George Jennings) who could provide actual implementation information.

I once again enjoyed regular nightly listening to the radio. However, like most good things, it didn’t last long. We moved and I was no longer able to pick up KAAY.

Paul Kirby"

Thank you, Paul- and thank you, Vicki!  Isn't it interesting how the radio world intertwines?

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

More From Havana Cuba!

I have corresponded with our fellow Cuban KAAY and Beaker Street enthusiast and asked if he appeared in any of the pictures...and for privacy reasons, he did not, but wanted to promote the band The Kent...herewith more of his e-mail material, lightly edited:

"...these people are members of a band called The Kent,one that plays the same rock music every night, we listened to on the radio in those years. Like I said the night club called Yellow Submarine, is the home of the Beatles in Cuba, is like a cave, if you look at the photos carefully, you will see that the walls are many of the lyrics of the Beatles.

Very close to this nightclub at about 96 steps is sitting on abench, the bronze statue of John Lenon....
The Yellow Submarine is a place for everyone who wants to come to open your nostalgia. To the right of the entrance to the site, welcomes visitors with a huge photo of Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, who along with some of her songs printed anthologies everywhere on the walls, make the club a kind of sanctuary .The bar takes the submarine details such as hatches, keels, tubular shapes and proportions. Liverpool Quartet cartoons, illustrations of his subjects,including Strawberry Fields Forever, and a bar decorated with the covers of the 18 original records. Open Tuesday to Sunday afternoon and into the morning every day,The most beautiful and welcoming place in the city,our cave .

Soon I will send you new photos of this club, also new photos of old Soviet radio, where we listened with great pleasure Beaker Street.  Thanks Bud, Thanks KAAY, Thanks Beaker Street."

Our friend in Cuba has many great memories, as we do. Isn't it wonderful to remember growing up with such great memories? And this blog will strive to keep bringing forth history of KAAY and all aspects thereof, bringing to light those things we all loved- and still love. Please, as our frind in Cuba has done, share those wonderful memories here for all to enjoy!

Next Post from Cuba: another Soviet radio on which KAAY and Beaker Street was heard!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

San Antonio Radio Memories Revisited

Hoo, BOY!  Vicki Worthington hit a home run with this book!  I just finished it this morning and what a hoot!  Lots of stories and anecdotes shared, a lot like we do here on this blog.  I am convinced that radio people are a special breed...what that breed may be, I don't know, but I am thankful for them!

What a way to begin my day, every day, by reading Vicki's book for the last couple of weeks...a chuckle here, a chortle there...thank you to Vicki and all the contributors to San Antonio Radio Memories!

I remember Tony Warner's show when he had several KAAY folks over on his KAAY 40th anniversary show, where he mentioned to Pat Walsh that he should write a book...and I wish Pat would have!  I could see an encyclopedic series, if he had!

Many thanks again to Vicki for this effort...remember, folks, your purchase of this book (with an entry on KAAY's George Jennings) goes to charities and scholorships.  The website address, once again, is:

http://www.sanantonioradiomemories.com/

Would San Antonio deejay Paul Kirby stop by sometime and relate his KAAY listening memories, please?

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Wayne Moss Himself, August 16, 1976!

Here is Program Director Wayne Moss!  Funky music, great rock 'n' roll and that great voice, still great today!  Just shortly after 10 AM on this date, Wayne followed the "Sonny Martin" program.  Wayne announces the station as "Kay Double-Ay-Why" many times over.  It is interesting how some managers and directors alternated the usage of either that or "Kay-Ay-Ay-Why", when at times, they got mail for "KWAY" and other station calls.  Regardless, with that great signal, modulating those great voices, there was very little confusion as to WHO they were!

There were maybe a couple of breaks in audio here and there, but Greg Barman did an excellent job in bringing this audio back to life; it was on the same tape as the previous "Sonny Martin" morning broadcast.

Ah, great memories...this was the music played when I was in high school- specifically, this time was when I was a junior.  Those were great days- not the easiest- but I survived and radio, in several forms, helped a lot.  Thank you, Wayne, and all the Other Greats, for getting me through this tough, confusing time!

Hey, listen out for a spacey KAAY jingle in the later third of the audio!  I'll bet some may not have heard it before!

Victoria Griggs (sp?) got the Morning Salute from Wayne during this broadcast...does anyone recognize the name and could she be located after all these years?

An all-American ad for Avis Rent-A-Car ends this audio treasure- $147 a week?  That was a lot of money, even in 1976!

Listen and enjoy- and my hearty thanks go out to Wayne Moss for sharing these treasures- to Greg Barman for his wonderful recovery efforts- and to Dave S. for his smooth archival of this audio for all to enjoy!



Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

More Cuban Comments

Folks, I have heard from a fellow who would like to keep his privacy, but share his e-mail with you. I have left it fully intact for your enjoyment. He has also sent pictures which I will share with you here:

"Greetings From Havana Cuba!

Dear Bud Staceys, first of all accept my greetings and wishes for good health and fortune staff, make it extend also to your family in this new 2012. For me personally has been very comforting and rejuvenating perhaps, find that blogg about KAAY. And stories I have known the AM station, which at the beginning of the 70 as magic carpet, just arrived at midnight to the north coast of Havana, Cuba. transporting for me and many of my generation to meet with Beaker Street´s dweller in those years the mystical Clyde, not Sherlock Holmes,we expected that hour, and I remember The house of the rising sun. Many fond memories come to mind right now, even tears, how much nostalgia, for all time spent listening to Beaker Street. Who writes to you today is a man of 53 years old, who lives in Cuba since he was born. I'm not political, but I must tell you my opinion and my truth. For along time I heard Beaker Street and other stations from Florida,with little old Soviet radio that my mother gave me when I turned 15 years old.

Never, never my friends and I had to hide our radios to hear these AM stations .of course, we were young students, who were also scholarship from Monday to Friday ,all listened to the radio, WQAM,WGBS at night Beaker Street from KAAY Arkansas,At weekend, went home with our parents, we gathered for parties with our friends and girlfriends, and always accompanied by music from the radio, we did not have tape recorders or record players. Now remember, that in those years came the first TVs valve from the Soviet Union and Bulgaria, many of these were located in schools, to be used for daytime classes. The same schools that we were scholarship,at open fields were located in close proximity to Havana. Also remember that all underground music we listened to Clyde Clifford, we saw in that Bulgarians televisions branded Starfurt. How? then in those years, the television signals of Florida, also came to Cuba,we saw at Friday night those great programs Midnight Specialand Rock Concert,did you remember Bud? They were wonderful years, the best. Throughout those year, that was the music heard on the radio for everyone here in Habana Cuba, I do not remember, have been arrested for that, I tell you more during our vacation, we met on the board walk or at the Sta Maria beach to listen the music coming from Florida WGBS,Q54, WQAM and KAAY at midnight,from Little Rock,I repeat never,never we´d got arrested for it. We were students, not vague.This is my truth.

Bud has been very rewarding, to send this email and tell you that I offer my help and my hand for anything you need, remember I live in Cuba and I am a humble man but honest, I ask nothing return only respect. Excuse any inaccuracy in these letters, remember that my mother language is Spanish. Check out this photo of my old Soviet radio,manufactured in 1972, still works, Also sent you photos of Yellow Submarine Night Club,next to the John Lenon´s park in Habana,where always plays live music,Rock and Underground bands.When you want to come and see for yourself. Best regards."

Folks, this is but one wall in the Yellow Submarine Club...more from our fellow KAAY and Beaker Street enthusiast in another post...please stand by!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

More Scammer/Hijacked E-mails...

Boy, the audacity and nerve of some people!

Awhile back, I mentioned that someone had hijacked A. J. Lindsey's e-mail address and used it to try and get me to click on a link...and I warned you about this, dear visitor.  Not only that, but several of my Ham radio friends have had their's hijacked in the same manner...in fact, I got an e-mail, appearing to have come from myself telling me to click on a link- I deleted it ASAP...

...now they've gone and hijacked Matt White's e-mail ("Sonny Martin III") and sent me a wierd link today.  I wrote to Sonny and asked him...he confirmed that it wasn't him and I thanked him.

Greatgooglymoogly!  Be careful about duplicated e-mails...they're scams.  We all have to be vigilant so that we don't get unwanted solicitations and viruses from these hijacked e-mail addresses and the links they support.  And, you run the risk of, when you dump them into the "junk file", maybe not ever hearing from the legitimate e-mail holder again, if your computer program weeds them out from here on out.

Anyone got any ideas about this?  Anyone been seriously affected by something such as this?

BE VIGILANT!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Sonny Martin (Matt White), August 16, 1976

And we present to you another audio treasure, compliments of Wayne Moss- and remastered by Greg Barman!  I may have mentioned that Greg had to do some physical and audio TLC on the old cassettes Wayne sent in for us to enjoy and lovingly, skillfully brought them back to life.  This audio is partially 'scoped, possibly due to some tape repair and rescue, possibly for taping reasons, and it is a good copy for us to enjoy.

"Colonel Sonny Martin", as he calls himself on this morning broadcast, featured a detailed weather report, later airing the famous "Breakfast Serial"

He also read an ad for a store with citizen-band radios and accessoreies, as well as stereo equipment- remember the CB craze?

And Jerry Lewis was featured in a commercial for Muscular Dystrophy; I enjoyed the telethons over the years and they're NOT the same today- especially without Jerry Lewis.

Mitch Michaels read the news (with a humorous twist) in this portion; listen for the KAAY jingle just before the newscast!

Without further ado, enjoy this latest offering from Program Director Wayne Moss!




Thanks also go to Dave S. for his archive wizardry!  Dave, this wouldn't be possible without folks like you and Greg!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Kudos To Dave Schmidt!

Folks, Dave S. has been a real boon and blessing to us here on The Mighty 1090 KAAY Blogspot. Even though he wears many hats at work and has many demands on his time, he STILL finds the wherewithal to jump in and take care of the computer aspects of the blog. Notice the new look? I'm not a computer whiz- never have been and, due to my own lack of time and heavy work loads over the years, I've not taken any more time than to be a computer operator. I am in awe of those who are fortunate enough to be able to absorb and utilize skills, ANY skills...and in Dave's case, who are willing to come alongside and help make a beloved thing all the better! There are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes of this blog many of us are not aware of (well, that's true in anything, isn't it?), and Dave makes it all look easy!

All of us have specific talents and gifts...and it is a wonderful thing when gifted people can come together on a particular matter and make it better for others of like mindedness. Look at the wide appeal KAAY had for so many people! Not only in the U.S.A., but outside the country as well...and we, along with others, have the opportunity and privelege to bring it to YOU, dear reader and enthusiast!

I'll paraphrase the great David B. Treadway, currently still the Voice of Arkansas over on US 97: Whoever's on the mic gets all the praise or all the blame, no matter the circumstances (or something like that). Well, most of my siglines might be on these posts, but there is a bevy of folks supporting this blog, of whom I'd like to share the praise. It may be in technical ways, it may be in contributing stories and anecdotes or materials and audio, but rest assured that it is a group effort. Without folks like Dave, this blog would be much more plain and kludgey.

Hats off to you, Dave! Keep up the great work!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

A Gift From David B. Treadway

I think I'm suffering from some sort of "daddy disease", "no time disease" or "getting older disease"...I INTEND on doing something, but I either get called away to let the cat out, take out the trash or help with homework, or I just plain put it to the side for the morning, or when I get more time, or I just temporarily misplace it in a pile...ever have that problem?

Well, I must admit to all the above...and I hope I have not done him a dis-service, but The Great David B. Treadway sent me along one of the elusive KAAY belt buckles and an equally great story:

"Dear Bud,

Here is the artifact I referred to a few months back, the one that kept hiding from me whenever I tried to find it and give it to you. (Sounds familiar! bs)

The KAAY belt buckle dates from about 1976 and is based on a billboard campaign that was probably one of the last promotions Pat Walsh had a hand in before he was replaced as General Manager.

I don't remember if these were made available to the public or were reserved for staff members, but they are pretty rare in any case. This was my second one, as Sonny Martin III (Matt White) talked me out oif my original one- belt and all- one night at a huge outdoor concert in a field twenty miles south of Little Rock. Some pretty girl had talked him out of his, belt and all, and he wanted his jeans to stay up when he went back onstage.

This rightfully belongs to you in recognition of all your tireless efforts on behalf of the KAAY legacy and legend. Wear it in robust health or frame it and hang it. Either way, you will find it indestructable.

And now, by the ancient and mystical powers invested in me by the Mighty 1090 Skywave, and with my right hand upon the RCA Transmitter Of Glory, I do hereby adopt and sponsor you into the KAAY Family Of The Air, with all rights, respect and privileges appertaining thereunto, should they ever materialize. Witness my ham and steel on this Second Day of August, Two Thousand Eleven, it now being Dang Near The Fiftieth Year Since The Baby Elephant Walked. So help me, Clyde.

Very Truly Yours,

David B. Treadway
Doc Holiday VII
The Last P.D.
Etc., etc."

By gosh, when I got this in the mail, I was moved to tears...you have to know David B., he has a heart as gold, as big as Arkansas doubled.

I have struggled with different backgrounds, different lighting, different flashes and I can only get an almost-in-focus picture. The only thing I haven't done is get my old Pentax K1000 SLR and went though the lengthy process of transferring film to digital. Nonetheless, here is the best picture I could muster under many conditions. The only thing I haven't tried is natural light...maybe I should? I must apologize, I couldn't do it justice. I'll try for a better picture later, but I did NOT want to delay it any longer...here is The Belt Buckle:

(enhanced by Jim Cleveland- thanks!)

Thank you, David, from the bottom of my heart!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Comments That Hit You "Right There"....

Dave S. did a compilation of comments a couple of posts ago...and then, I checked in today and found a comment that hit me "right there". You know, dear reader, we take a LOT for granted...the we live in a (mostly?) free country, can come & go as we please, have plenty to eat, plenty of heat and air conditioning, plenty of everything (hence, the name "Land of Plenty)...but what about those folks who don't have any, or very little, freedom?

I was talking with Wayne Moss about a week ago about the country of Cuba, where just listening to anything but that country's radio (socialist in nature) gets one put in jail or prison. Such is the fate of many people in other such countries. We're pretty moderate, shockingly so, judging by the content of our radio and TV....in my opinion, some of the producers and programmers ought to be jailed for the content of our shows....

Nonetheless, there are those brave souls who somehow mailed KAAY and other stations to let them know how much they appreciated them. The following is one such comment we received January 6, 2012:

"Lora said...
Thank you soooooo much for sharing all this goodies with the world. It bring back so many memories of friends, places and lovers :).

Lots 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."

So, remember how good we got it....

Lora, you and your brother and friends please visit often and please give us a few stories about listening to KAAY...such as, how did you hide the radios and such?

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

O'Brian on KAAY, February 1974

Steve Morris' best friend in radio was Mike Verdicchio, or "O'Brian" as he was known on KAAY.  Steve and Mike worked together in radio...well, let me allow Steve tell you a bit of the story:

"O'Brian (and Farley Kunckles, a charactor voice) went to KAAY in early 1974 from Panama City, Fla (WDLP) (where) he was program director.  He hired me from WBSR in Pensacola to do morning drive.  Wayne Moss asked me to send an air-check to KAAY, but I didn't have the 1st Class FCC ticket I needed to do Beaker Street from the transmitter site.  Mike Verdicchio (O'Brian) did.  He got the job. I took over as P.D. @ WDLP, & Mike was off to the big KAAY!!  He did Beaker Street for a few months and then 'Don Marcus' took Beaker Sreet and O'Brian moved into town to do 8-11pm.  O'Brian (Mike Verdicchio) left to go to KLZ-FM in Denver, and I inherited the 8-11pm slot from downtown.  Marcus stayed for a few months at Beaker St. & left to go to Tucson, enter 'Ken Knight' (Bill Jackson)  from Joplin, MO to do Beaker Street.

I remember his (O'Brian's) last night on-the-air.  His fictitious character voice ('Farley Knuckles'), jumped off of the Arkansas River bridge.  When Mike 'found out' he got up and walked out while he was on-the-air!!  (of course I was there to take over for him). That happened on a Friday evening & Monday afternoon the phones started going crazy!!!"

Thanks, Steve!  Folks, you'll hear some of that 8-11 PM shift right here with "O'Brian" at the mic...and it sounded as if he had fun with it!  Unscoped, featuring Top 40 from the early 1970 era, sounding like it was pretty much off the deck.  Greg Barman cleaned it up a little for our enjoyment; Dave S. again works his linkage wizardry for us to tap right in.  And before I forget, this is another donation by Wayne Moss- thanks to you all, guys!

And now, without further ado: O'Brian on KAAY!




Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Comments that you've submitted...

Many of the postings in this blog receive comments.  It's not always easy for a reader to see which postings get comments when, so as a kind of "public service", I have extracted from the blog's server a summary of recently posted comments and formatted it so that it can be posted here.

You'll see that comments sometimes appear for a story that was posted long ago, and you'll also see comments that in themselves are so interesting that they make you want to reread the original post!  You can find a story on this blog, no matter how old, by typing its title into the Search box at the top left corner of the page.  You'll get in return the story and all its attached comments. Or, try looking for the story in the "Blog Archive" list" in the right column over here ==>

So, I will get rid of the "comments backlog" by posting two lists here, which roughly correspond to comments submitted last month and the month before.  Click on each list to see the full-size version.  I'll post more such lists as needed.

I hope this helps you enjoy the blog a little more....

Happy New Year,
Dave S.

"Ladies And Gentlemen: Steve Scott!"

After the holidays (barely), I had the great honor of meeting "Steve Scott" (Steve Morris) on January 2, 2012! I was on call for work over the New Years' holiday and had to rush out of work to meet Steve. My best friend David met us as well, since we all had the same interests (Ham radio, KAAY) and David got the chance to meet one of The Greats of KAAY, as well!

It was a beautiful day, albeit a little windy and cool, but we had a blast. We met about halfway, since Steve lives on one end of the county and I live on the other end- David, the lucky soul, lives just five minutes away from our agreed-upon meeting point....!

The picture was taken by David; you can see my "rolling Ham shack" (my truck) sporting its antennas. By the way, Steve is a Ham, as well and operates exclusively CW (Morse Code), from his days in the Navy.

We all had a great time! I'll be meeting with Steve from time to time, since we live reasonably close to one another.

Thank you, Steve!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

A New Book! Link To George Jennings

Folks, I have heard from Vicki, who is the editor of San Antonio Radio Memories:

"Bud

I have been enjoying your 1090 blog/website for some time. Keep up the good work. I started working as an editor on a project a few years ago that involved San Antonio Radio. The result is a book called: San Antonio Radio Memories. There is a connection to KAAY. George Jennings is mentioned in the book. Besides air personalities, the book contains a number of technical/engineering stories. ALL profits from the book go for scholarships and/or to charity.

There is also a website that contains both stories and audio from San Antonio Radio:

www.sanantonioradiomemories.com

Material on the website is different than what is contained in the book.

The photo and the audio of George Jennings on the current website came via A. J. Lindsey. The story in the book is a gathering from the stories that got told at George's Memorial gathering. The book is available at: Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com It can also be ordered from most bookstores. Pricing of the book is $19.95.

Paul Kirby (book and website contributer) tells me that he used to listen to KAAY during the long winter nights when he was a kid in Minnesota. He mentioned something about a jingle playing continually any time a DJ turned on the microphone. (If I remember correctly) He said the jingle went: K-A-A-Y One-Oh-Nine-Oh

Vicki
Editor - San Antonio Radio Memories"

Thank you, Vicki! If you go to the website mentioned above, scroll down and click on the link "George Jennings" and see the photo (cropped from original) and listen to the audio of George announcing the Kennedy assassination.

(You may have to copy and paste the link bs).

As Vicki mentioned, the proceeds go to good causes; please get your copy soon!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Beaker Street With Don Marcus, February 1974

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)