Radio Use Only

Break Time

2009-10-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

The initial idea for this blog was to track down folks who had a hand in these records - the performers, the disc jockeys, and anyone else - and have them tell me their stories. This was never going to be a "what Lisa thinks of a record" blog.

At first, the reception to the project, and the response to requests for interviews was wonderful. Folks wanted to share their memories and history. However, for whatever reason, I'm having trouble finding willing participants to continue this blog, even with once a month postings.

The blog will remain - if only as an archive - until I eventually hear back from folks to continue it on a regular basis. If you are reading this, and either appear on these discs as a performer, or had a hand in the creation (disc jockeys, program directors), I would love to chat with you.

Starstream Records

2009-09-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

Interview with Gene Tognacci conducted June-August, 2009

While local radio station compilations have been around since the early 1960s, no label has taken the concept further than the Houston-based Starstream. Amassing an estimated 300+ albums and singles in its catalog, the company’s Big Music America, Rock to Riches, Superstar Talent Search, and Budweiser Showdown titles have given acts such as The Replacements and Bon Jovi their first big break on vinyl.

Ken Kramer, a Houston businessman, and Dr. Don Altfeld, a songwriting medical student who, in 1964, co-penned “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” came up with the idea to pitch homegrown talent albums to radio stations, as part of a nation-wide contest. They named their company Big Music America Corporation. The inaugural project on their new Nova record label would be the Big Music America contest.

View album songs and artists HERE.

“Kramer realized that since the project was basically a radio-driven promotion, he needed someone with more radio experience to run the company and he brought in veteran radio programmer Gary Firth as general manager,” said Gene Tognacci.

Tognacci had worked in radio at KTAR, KNIX and KOY in Phoenix, as well as WIRK-FM and WINZ, in Florida. He had crossed paths with Firth when they did time at KUPD in Phoenix. “He brought me in from Phoenix as production director and to handle affiliation relations – he wanted someone who knew radio to help him grow the company.”

According to Tognacci, the label’s first Nova release was a compilation of songs from various radio stations in Mississippi (unfortunately, he doesn’t recollect the name of the album). Soon after Nova released albums from Houston (KFMK), Pittsburgh (WDVE), Memphis (WMC), and Chattanooga (WSKZ).

Shortly after the release of Denver's KTLK Colorado Music ’80, the company’s corporate entity changed to Starstream Communications Group. They ditched the Nova label to reflect the change – and to honor their financial backer.

“Harold Stream III, a Louisiana oilman, was Ken Kramer’s lead investor in the venture, and I believe that either Ken or Gary’s wife came up with the name of the label,” Tognacci said.

While a handful of stations took part in the Big Music America contest, the concept was a hard sell.

“First of all, the contest had no real track record,” Tognacci said. “Second, album sales were dipping, and third, it wasn’t a fit for most pop stations.” Album rock stations were viewed as the best targets, but most, such as KDKB and KLOL, were already doing their own compilations. “The price tag for the radio stations to purchase several thousand albums was also very daunting.”

Starstream would go on to release 28 Big Music America albums.

“The Stompers, out of Boston, won the national contest the first year," Tognacci said. The band's winning song, "Shutdown," appeared on WCOZ Best of the Boston Beat - Vol. 2. While Atlantic Records offered the band a one 45 single deal, as part of their winnings (along with $25,000 and a sound equipment package), The Stompers ended up signing with Boardwalk Records, which offered them a full album deal.

"Interestingly, I see that they’re still playing in the New England area,” Tognacci said.

While the Big Music America contest was considered a success, it became obvious to the company that it couldn’t survive without a sponsor.

“So Ken and Gary set out to find corporate advertisers who would like to support the contest in return for promotional announcements on the participating radio stations.”

For the next compilation series, Rock to Riches, Miller Brewing Company came on board and gave the contest the dollars it needed to be promoted nationally, and the credibility it needed with the radio stations.

“Now, instead of asking the radio stations to foot the entire bill, we were coming in the door with promotional posters, local prizes, club nights for the bands—and of course the opportunity for the radio stations to chum up to one of the biggest advertisers on the radio at the time.”

The company hired additional staff to sign up stations, coordinate promotional announcements and book nightclubs.

“Our contract with the various advertisers dictated that we secure stations in certain key markets and we were paid by the national sponsor to deliver 'x' number of promotional announcements on major market radio stations with a certain rating,” Tognacci said.

At times it took some creative negotiating to deliver the contractual obligations.

“New York is a classic example,” he said. “We needed to deliver a station in the #1 market in the country, New York City, and WNEW kept turning me down for months. Finally within a few days of my deadline, WAPP changed format from beautiful music to rock, and program director Steve Ellis took the program.”

View album songs and artists HERE.

Ironically it was WAPP’s participation in the contest that gave Jon Bongiovi his recording debut. The album features the first appearance of the song "Runaway.”

Starstream went on to release 200 different Rock to Riches compilations, from 1982-1983.

“Most of the remix work was done at Cook Sound in Houston. We also used ACA, Sugar Hill and Inergy studios when we had odd format masters like 16 and 24 tracks. Mastering was mostly done by M.C. Rather in Nashville and Carl Rowatti at Trutone in New Jersey. Pressing was done at CBS records plants around the country and then later at Peter Pan Industries in New Jersey.”

Standard album cover art was provided to each station, however many handled the creative concept themselves. “Since there was a station expense involved in getting artwork ready for production, we always offered a “house cover” to the stations. The Big Music America cover was one version, the KZOK and WANS crowd cover is another.”

“Originally ballots were included in the album and counted by either the local radio station or mailed to Starstream for counting. Sometimes the radio station did away with the balloting and had local and national music celebrities and executives determine the best local band," he said. "When all local winners were determined we would divide the country into equal regions. Participating program directors were then sent a cassette of all the local winners in their region and they would vote for the regional winner. Voting criteria included originality, quality of recording, and commercial appeal."

When the regional winners were determined they were invited to the national finals to play before a panel of record company executives.

Finals were originally held in New York and then later moved to Los Angeles.

“The national finals were a big production – celebrities including Howard Hessman [Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP], and comedians Richard Belzer, Father Guido Sarducci [comedian Don Novello], and Judy Tenuta acted as hosts for the event,” Tognacci said. Special guests also included Rick Derringer, Night Ranger and the previous year’s national winner.

After the success of the Rock to Riches series, Starstream quickly unveiled the next contest – The Stroh’s Superstar Talent Search, which ran from 1984-1985. However the concept was not as successful as the previous series – the label only released 30 different albums.

“It may have had a bit to do with the regional nature of Stroh’s and their targeted markets,” Tognacci admitted. “Remember, by now this was a national promotion and the sponsor was directing which markets we approached and how much money was spent in each. Also, around this time, CDs were coming out and it was way too expensive for us to make that jump. It would have cost almost as much to just prepare the glass master as we were paying for pressing.”

The company attempted to make one more compilation series, using the LP format, in 1988, partnering with Seagram's Coolers.

In 1983, Starstream secured Budweiser to sponsor its Showdown series. As compared to the previous full album promotion, this series featured urban performers on 45s and 12” singles.

“We also felt that it matched the prevailing club scene better at the time,” Tognacci said. “Budwieser was looking to strengthen its presence in the urban market. The opportunity to tie in with a local radio station and clubs was a goodwill building effort.”

The national finals were elaborate affairs with the likes of Lou Rawls and Don Cornelius hosting, along with actress Jayne Kennedy, and singers Thelma Houston, Larry Graham, and Patti Austin.

“We had some great radio stations participating like KDAY in Los Angeles, WBMX and WGCI in Chicago, WBLS and WRKS in New York City and Majic 102 in Houston,” he said.

The series ran from 1983-1989.

Starstream also did a Hispanic talent search, for one year, with the finals at the Astrodome in Houston. “We had some help from David Thompson and Art Gottschalk, owners of Sugar Hill Studios with that.”

Shortly after the Budweiser series, Starstream decided to diversify its portfolio. “We went into radio syndication and other radio promotions that were expensive to run and ultimately generated little to no revenue.”

Starstream was sold in 1991.

Tognacci went on to become a successful voice actor.

“I also enjoy watching the crazy prices those Budweiser Showdown records are fetching on eBay.”

Starstream Discography
(NOTE: List is not complete. If you can provide any information, please contact me)

WKLS Home Cookin' II (1981)

2009-08-01T05:00:00.001-07:00

Interview with Brett Hart (Metalworks), conducted July, 2009.

Side One
Storm Inside My Head - Fortnox
Get it To Go - Illusion
Be My Man - Dreamer
Heart of Steel - Billy the Kid
Trip, Fall, Get Up Again - Bert Elliot’s Changes
She’s a Leaver - The Sockets

Side Two
In The Name of Rock and Roll - Metalworks
Earthdogs - Public Enemy
Be Somebody - Frank Furter and the Human Beans
Dancin’ To Your Heartbeat - Buddy Causey and the Handsome White Boys
Three Years Too Late - Heathen Girls
Please Buy This Record - John Diazo and the Duplicators

For those familiar with the famous bands of Georgia, DeKalb County, located just a few Metro stops away from Atlanta, is known as home to the Indigo Girls—but back in early 1980s, before Amy and Emily hit the Top 40, the music scene in the suburb was ripe with local talent, all looking for that one shot of stardom outside the Peach State.

“Clay Hayes and I went to the same high school, Shamrock High School, the same high school as the Indigo Girls,” said Brett Hart. “It was 1977, and I was 16 and Clay was 18. He had a Sears & Roebuck guitar/amp combo and I had a Gilbert copy of a Fender Precision that I had bought and taught myself on to play in the school's jazz ensemble."

After a short stint in the Navy, Hart returned to find Hayes jamming with Mike Hinton, a junior at nearby Redan High School, and bass player named Steve Botsford.

“One night, Clay took me, my bass, and my amp to Mike's house without telling Steve. We started playing together and the room just exploded. Steve had plans to join a band called Rampage, which became our "brother" band. We auditioned singers throughout the summer of 1980 until George Baisch, who graduated from nearby Stone Mountain High School, tried out and was accepted. We practiced throughout the fall and Metalworks debuted at the Christmas dance at Shamrock on December 6, 1980.”

Metalworks from left to right: Mike Hinton, drums and percussion;

Brett Hart, bass and keyboards; George Baisch, lead vocals;

Clay Hayes, lead guitar and vocals

The group honed their act across the Atlanta club scene, at schools, and keg parties. “We also played at an outdoor concert behind Stone Mountain organized by Rampage's former bass player, Lindy Potts, called Stone Mountain Jam II for over 4,000 screaming fans in the summer of 1981.”

That summer, radio station WKLS (96 Rock) announced it was taking entries for the second in its successful Home Cookin’ LP series. The band hooked up with disc jockey Steve Starnes to produce the band’s entry, at Monarch Studios.

The contest allowed each band to send two tracks for consideration. “Steve picked the songs, one from our first demo tape ("Queen for a Day") and one he had heard us play at Green's and liked a lot ("In the Name of Rock and Roll"), for us to record at Monarch Studios,” Hart said.

On October 27, 1981, 96 Rock announced the bands chosen to be a part of Home Cookin’ II. “I was sitting in my living room; Clay and Mike were on their way home from work; I don't know where George was. The DJ went down the list in the same order as they would appear on the album. I tape recorded the announcement. When the DJ said Metalworks, I jumped out of my chair and ran around the room whooping. Clay was the first one to phone me -- we screamed for five minutes and hung up on each other. Steve called and joked, "They did say Metalworks, didn't they?" I played the tape back for him just to be sure, and when the recording said "Metalworks," started screaming again.”

The band’s song, “In The Name of Rock and Roll” had been chosen.

After the release of Home Cookin II, Metalworks kept busy, playing regular gigs throughout Georgia. “We were immediately booked for about a year playing large venues such as the Agora Ballroom, Rumors, the amphitheater at Chastain Park, Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia, West Georgia College, Emory University, and other mainstream concert bars.”

The group also went back to the studio to record its first album—but the band would soon unravel.

“We recorded the other eight songs at Monarch in late summer or early fall of 1982 in preparation to move to Los Angeles. George got heavier into drugs, and we fired him. After George, we couldn't find another acceptable lead singer, so we disbanded about six months after the recording.”

In 1996, just three days before signing a record deal in Los Angeles, Baisch died from a drug overdose.

In 2005, Steve Starnes uncovered the original demo tape, recorded by the band during that 1982 recording session. “He later discovered that Larry Turner, our engineer, had a first generation tape made from the original masters, which had long since been destroyed - so he and Larry digitally remastered that tape on compact disc,” Hart said. The CD Unfinished Business was released by Catapult Records, in June.

The re-release of the band’s winning entry on the Home Cookin’ II LP, "In the Name of Rock and Roll," recently charted on the SoundClick metal charts at #137 (out of over 73,000 metal songs), and on the heavy metal charts at #47 (out of over 32,000 heavy metal songs).

Hart still occasionally picks up his bass, and now runs a Web site dedicated to his former band. “I now work for the State of Georgia in a non-law enforcement professional capacity, work part-time editing and developing a guide for CPA candidates to help them pass the exam, and trying to get Unfinished Business introduced to as many people as possible.”

The Story of Take 6 (1966-1969)

2009-07-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Interview with Joe Daigle conducted June, 2009

In 1963, Joe Daigle, fresh out of the Air Force, found a job in California repossessing cars – when his career would take a drastic turn.

“One of their customers was a local popular disc jockey who was always late with his Cadillac car payments. So I had to repo his car almost on a monthly basis. Then he would bring his account current and retrieve his car. He also had a very small record company that released oldies albums that he would sell mail order on his radio show. We sort of became friends and when I quit the repo business, he offered me a job handling all phases of his company.”

He was only at the record company a few months when David Rolnick a New York businessman, moved to Los Angeles and purchased the label, and merged it with his New York company, Take 6. Rolnick had an idea to pitch record album compilations to local radio stations as a promotional offering to their listeners. Through his connections, his first releases were for soul station WWRL in the New York city area.

View song listing HERE.

“My job was the production of the albums—get all of the master tapes from the various record companies, which allowed us to use their songs, get the album jackets printed and fabricated, get those sequenced and timed for the manufacturing process, and then get the vinyl records pressed and shipped to distributors.”

With two successful products under his belt, Rolnick’s new label took off, keeping Daigle editing and mastering at his second home—the famed Gold Star Recording Studio in Hollywood.

“I went into the studio and compiled, timed the master tapes, then took them to the lab where a master disc was made then delivered it to the various pressing plants. Where the actual discs were pressed or manufactured.”

“Mono was determined by the master tapes received from the participating record companies. Generally if the song was a single only, we probably would get a mono tape, but if the artists put out a album from the popularity of the single we might get a stereo copy of the included song.”

Mastering tapes was only a part of Daigle’s job—he was also in charge of the artwork for each cover. Sometimes literally going out and hunting down the perfect props.

View song listing HERE.

“The KLIF album, with the Beethoven in shades, was my idea,” he said. “I went out and found the statuette, shades and the medallion.” The concept was also used for compilations in Birmingham, Buffalo,and Cleveland.

Take 6 was also known for its cartoon album cover art, often featuring caricatures of disc jockeys, or local attractions. Artists Rusty Evans (WWRL's Soul Brothers 1600 Present Soul Souvenirs, Volume 2), Hy Roth (WCFL 21 Sounds of Sunset), and Bert Wade (WAYS 21 Good Guy Goldies) offered their talents to the earlier releases.

A more consistent style began to appear with the arrival of comic book artist W. T. Vinson, who alone drew more than a dozen “King Kong” themed album covers.

View song listing HERE.

“We usually gave him a general idea what we wanted," said Daigle. "He would send us some sketches and we would pick and choose what we wanted--it was mostly a consensus.”

For one particular album cover, Vinson drew his version of a popular Janis Joplin album. “On the San Francisco KYA album we told Vinson to simulate the R. Crumb album of Big Brother and the Holding Company [Cheap Thrills cover].” The cover art was also used for KTSA in San Antonio and KEYN in Wichita.

View song listing HERE.

Daigle left Take 6 in 1969, “when Vice President Jerry Fine teamed up with Mickey Stevenson [former Motown V.P. and songwriter], to start their own company, People Records.” The label lasted a couple of years, and was merged with Canyon Records, which was owned by Wally [former member of the Heartbeats] and Rennie Roker.

I later moved to Original Sound Records where my old pal, Paul Politi, [who wrote “Those Oldies but Goodies”] had landed. I was there until 1984.”

Daigle served as promotions director at KRLA, during his later years at Original Sound Records. The label took over the management and programming of the station for about a decade. During that time, Daigle was involved in promoting the station on billboards, busboards, newspaper, and television.

“It was all a great learning experience as it was my introduction into the record business."

Daigle now runs a silkscreen business with his wife, and is the Webmaster for the late artist Leo Politi’s tribute site.

Unearthing the radio archives of Joe McChesney

2009-06-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Interview with Mike McChesney conducted February, 2009 and May, 2009.

Back in February I received a nice e-mail from Mike McChesney, the son of Joe McChesney, the disc jockey who spent 15 years at Dallas stations KIXL, KBOX, KMAP, WRR and KXXK. Mike had seen the blog entry I wrote on these KXXK jingle discs.

Read about that blog entry HERE

“I recognize my dad's handwriting on that picture you have of that record and I think I have more of those (as well as carts) in storage. My dad died a few years ago, and I inherited his collection. I've got all of this stuff that I don't know what to do with.”

Mike said he would contact me when he cleaned out the storage area.

The wait was agonizing. What treasures would he unearth? Then last month I received an e-mail:

“Give me a call. I’ve cleared out the storage shed.”

Nothing could prepare me for what I would be invited to view. It was literally a museum’s worth of Dallas radio artifacts. Boxes of carts, reel-to-reel tapes, records, pictures, fan letters, and cigarette lighters.

The history of not only a long-gone era of Dallas radio, but a well-preserved archive of one man—Joe McChesney.

Joe McChesney grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. After graduating from Central High School, he joined the Army in 1952. Just shy of a radio degree from Baylor, he landed his first radio job, in 1956, at KWTX in Waco.

Joe McChesney
KWTX Waco, 1957

After three years he headed west to KSET in El Paso.

In 1963 he would make his move to Dallas radio and the Greer Garson, William Holden, Tyrone Power-owned KIXL, where he would stay for two years.

McChesney would briefly man the boards at KBOX—as J. Morgan Van Buren—taking requests from March-November, 1965.

Click on picture to read fan letter.

After a brief stint at classical station KMAP, and then KXXK, he landed at oldies format WRR-AM – his radio home, for the next seven years. “I remember as a kid he would bring me up to the station because he had to work and I didn't have anywhere to go and he would set me up in the production room with a blank reel to reel and I would play DJ and record myself like I was on the air and do commercials. I still have some of those tapes. I knew how to run a board before I was 10-years-old," Mike McChesney said.

In 1978, the city of Dallas decided to dump the AM station, and focus on its FM holding. McChesney, along with numerous other staffers were asked to leave. 1310 became known as KAAM. In 1994, the station became sports-talk.

Click on picture to read termination letter.

Joe McChesney would later move to East Texas to manage KLUE in Longview.

He died in 2003.

Mike McChesney intends to keep most of the collection for his children, and hopes to give the rest to a university or Dallas historical society so others may learn about this era of Metroplex radio, and his father’s contribution to it.

“I gained a new appreciation for all of it and there was so much I wish I had asked him. My dad was so humble that I had no idea how big of a deal all of it was and what a golden age of radio that he was involved with. I wish I had appreciated it more.”

Oldies But Goodies and Boogie Biggies - KPOI (1972-1975)

2009-05-01T04:00:00.000-07:00

Interview with Glen Martin conducted March, 2009

In 1968, Glen Martin got his first break in radio, at powerhouse KHJ in Los Angeles. “I was an off-the-air, part-time employee in the promotion department, hired by Don Berrigan. As a junior in college, I worked three days a week and nights when needed.” But while the experience working with legends like Charlie Tuna and Don Steele was a dream come true for a college kid, the $2.00 an hour gig hauling stage equipment and screening Battle of the Band entries was not what he had in mind for a long-term career. A friend suggested he move to Hawaii, where he got his first full-time job, engineering the board for the morning show, and then working his own nine-noon show at KORL, in Honolulu.

“My first impression was that radio there was lagging several months behind the mainland and couldn’t hold a candle to what I grew up listening to in Los Angeles. But the stations sounded pretty good and grew on you once you got used to the place. KGMB dominated the ratings, and the morning star was the late AKU. One of the Top 40 stations was the legendary KPOI where the Mighty Leader, Mike Hamlin held down mornings and was terrific in the production studio too with some incredible rock concert spots. The other Top 40 was KKUA. Both were good and very competitive with one another, but it was KPOI where I wanted to work. After a few months at cross-town KORL, I got my chance.”

Martin started out as a newscaster and board operator at KPOI. “I ran the board and played the public affairs tapes including the old Powerline show,” he said. Just two months into the job he was offered his own on-air time slot. “I took over 9AM-Noon from mid-1972 into early 1974; did PM drive the rest of 1974 and early 1975, and then AM drive my final three months there.”

Using vinyl as a promotional tool was nothing new for KPOI. In the 1960s the station put out “Twist to Radio” and “Oldies But Goodies.” In the 70s the station decided to revisit the concept.

View song listing and back of album HERE

“The “Oldies But Goodies” series was a twelve volume set and we cooked up a deal to give away individual albums and full sets with the Original Sounds records people. We slapped our own promo piece on the back of each of the albums that featured the air staff at that time.

View song listing and inside of album HERE

“Boogie Biggies” was a similar album promotion done a couple of years later. It was a double LP and we were allowed to use the full inside fold out to promote the station and did so with a photo collage of all the air staff and some of the listeners.”

The station also offered listeners singles, with “Convention Confusion,” playing up on the “break-in” record craze of the era.

“I think General Manager and Program Director Tom Moffatt came up with the idea,” Martin said. “The record was done in the election year of 1972 and was modeled off of a concept that Dickie Goodman had tried with novelty records nationally – and not with much success either until “Mr. Jaws” in 1975. “Convention Confusion” did well on the air in 1972 and we did a similar record in late ’73 early ‘74 called “Gas Lines.” It was centered on the gas shortages and alternate-day rationing that was taking place then. When “Gas Lines” too was well-received, both novelty creations were pressed onto a collector edition single and given away in station promotions.”

The records were produced and recorded at KPOI, with Martin taking over mixing and editing duties on the discs. “The writing was a collaborative effort among Tom Moffatt and a few of the air staff including myself and KC Dennis.” Members of the air staff were featured under pseudonym reporter names on the “Convention Confusion” record, and the “Gas Lines” reporter questions were all voiced by News Director, Don Smith. The records were used as on-air giveaways.

By 1975, KPOI’s management and format changes (going from Top 40 to what Martin called “Chicken Rock”—“A watered-down version of Top 40 but without the edgier rock, and more oldies”) were reasons enough for Martin to leave the islands after five years and head back to the mainland—and KFMB-FM in San Diego. It wouldn’t be the only career change he would make.

“There was already a “Martin” on the air at B-100. Billy Martin was there first and was a good guy. I thought it would be better and respectful to use something different. I had only a few hours to come up with something before my first air shift. (Paul) McCartney was hot then and the name was more showbiz than Martin so I went with it (Glen McCartney). I wound up staying with that as an on-air name for most of the balance of my radio career.”

Martin would stay in San Diego for almost ten years, before heading to Chicago (WFYR and WCLR), and later Seattle (KLTX and KJR). He left radio in 1993 to become a financial planner and investment advisor.

“I think it wasn’t the same passion for me any more. My competitive urge had been greater than other management’s at the last two stations I was at. Programming was also a job only really well done if you committed to staying on it at some level of supervision 168 hours a week. I didn’t have that left in the tank anymore, didn’t want to miss my kids growing up and didn’t really relish leaving Seattle for the next big paycheck. I’m in financial services; connected to the same company I joined in 1993, but essentially working for myself consulting primarily smaller, closely-held businesses on financial, succession and estate planning.”

Homebrew - WMYK K-94 (1980)

2009-04-01T06:30:00.000-07:00

Interview with Wynn Evers conducted January, 2009

"WMYK 94, Love Broadcasting, from 1000 feet above Earth,
out in the woods, from the 100K watt Dismal Swamp tower."

In 1974 WMYK, or K-94 as it was known, signed on. The station broadcast rock across the Hampton Roads – the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News area of Virginia and North Carolina.

On any given day the station’s jocks made themselves visible, taking part in any number of remotes, events and contests. The promotions were wildly popular, if not notorious in the community.

“In 1980, or ’81, we gave away $25,000 to the 25th caller who called in when they heard “Another One Bites the Dust,” said Wynn Evers, the station’s 6-midnight jock. “However, when we actually aired the song, we actually locked up the phones surrounding Hampton, Virginia Beach area, knocking out phone service for the mid Atlantic Eastern seaboard.”

The telephone company wasn’t pleased.

“I believe people, as far away as Baltimore, had their phones knocked out – there were no dial tones,” he said. “They [the phone company] kindly informed us that if we pulled that stunt again, that they may pull our telephone service. So when we did the contest again, we had to notify the phone company, telling them when we were going to give away the money, in confidentiality, so they would have personnel on hand, to cover the switchboard.

In another promotion, the station produced its own “homegrown” album, Homebrew, featuring local bands, including Bull, Homegrown Vigilante Band, Bubit, Boothill Express, Streettalk, X-Raves, Sutters Gold Streak Band, Snuff, Virginia Fire Band, and Super Grit Cowboy Band

“The cover was taken at an outdoor concert that benefited MS research,” Evers said. “The photo of the air staff lineup was taken at one of those memory lane photo shops. We thought the photo would keep the theme of the southern rock outlaw sound of the album.”

DJs pictured: Randy Berner, Jim Stanley, Stella Jones, John Rodman
John Heimerl, Wynn Evers, and Mac McClellan

But while the station’s shtick was to make themselves visible to their audience, some personalities managed to maintain an illusion of character—namely the wildly popular, Zonar.

“Jim Stanley was our morning man for years,” Evers said. “He came up with a character for the morning show called Zonar.” Based on some of the fans often seen at the station’s outdoor concerts, Zonar was an outrageous, spaced-out, Tommy Chong-styled personality, who instantly took off with listeners.

“The listeners thought Zonar was real,” said Evers.

In reality, the character of Zonar was produced each day prior to the Stanley’s next show. “Jim would pre-record all Zonar drops onto a cart and then he would just interact with Zonar, who was on tape.”

To seal the deal with the listener, Jim Stanley dressed up as Zonar, complete with wig and beard, and appeared at one of the station’s Portsmouth concerts. “We brought Zonar out to emcee. Once people saw him at the concert [about 25,000 people], he was real to the listeners.”

In 1983, WMYK’s run would end, when WNOR and shock jock Henry "The Bull" Del Toro would dominate the market. Sensing a need to reinvent itself, WMYK changed its format to new wave-modern rock, a format that had taken off on the West Coast. “That was not the case in Virginia,” Evers said. “Basically it was the death of that station. East coast wasn’t ready for it.”

After less than a year playing Talking Heads and New Order, the station changed its format again—to urban contemporary, and was known as "K-94 The Rhythm of the City.” After several additional format and call letter changes, the station is now known as WPYA, and is now a “we play anything” Bob format station.

Evers left the station in 1986 for a production director gig at WNOR. He left radio in 1992 and is currently a successful commercial voice talent.

“It was a great place to work. When I went to a couple of other stations, before I got out of radio, it wasn’t the same. Those days of radio are gone.”

The WFUN Good Guys - 22 Original Winners (1964)

2009-03-01T05:03:00.000-08:00

Interview with Bill Deane (James Madison Bey) conducted January-February, 2009

DJs pictured: Dick Starr (diving mask), Al Dunaway (with red ball), Jim Howell (on pink raft), James Madison Bey (almost submerged), Bill Holley (on blue raft), and Greg Warren (in the middle).

In 1963 Bill Deane was working a jock shift at WFUN, the number one station in Miami, when all hell was about to break loose. “Station owner Robert Rousaville let the great creator Bud Connell go because Gary Stevens and Frank Ward were making such a political mess to gain control of the station,” Deane said.

“Frank's aim to take over the Connell post had failed though he remained as PD before Bill Holley. I was the last of the seven originals to leave. Art Sully, who had never run a top 40 operation, came in from Atlanta and immediately lost the number one rating to WQAM.”

Deane then got a gig in Ft. Lauderdale radio, and on Channel 10 in Miami – when he got a call to come back to WFUN.

“Sully rehired me on the condition I change my name. He said, ‘We don't want anyone to think we are trying to return to the original (Connell) WFUN programming’.” I was beginning to get into news in a big way and chose my father's name, Russ Deane, which was OK'd by Sully, when I did the news. I then came up with Jay Madison Bey when I DJ.'ed. I thought it would be memorable when the survey people called.”

In an effort to regain the ratings it once had, WFUN jocks took part in numerous promotional events – including appearing on the album cover, WFUN Good Guys 22 Original Winners (Roulette 25273).

“We did lots of promotions, and this was just another. We did the watermelon seed spitting contest at a super market, the miniature golf appearances, DJ’ed stock car races, and this album was just another of the many, many appearances,” Deane said.

Shot in a backyard pool, in a residential area, near the station, the idea for the cover shoot possibly came from PD Holley or Dick Starr. “Holley came from KBOX, in Dallas, but seems like this is the perfect Miami idea and not something he would have carried from Texas,” Deane said.

Absent from the photo shoot was morning jock, Jack Perrington. “I think he was still at the station – could it be that Holley and Starr wanted him out of the picture as he was much older than the rest of us?”

Deane left WFUN in 1965, when he took a job at WBBF, in Rochester, New York. “I was hired by one of the most dedicated broadcasters ever, Bob Kieve, to head his nine-person news staff. In Miami, I never attended a city council or school board meeting. I didn’t have to as there was some crazy story by-the-hour. When I went to Rochester I knew if I wanted to cover local news I’d have to go and get it. I did with Kieve's support and thanks to his instruction and backing.” Kieve is now running all-news KLIV, in San Jose.

After working in Rochester, Deane went on to KBTR, Denver, and KYW, Philadelphia, before working as an editor at ABC News and an assignment editor at CBS News.

“I retired a couple of years back and busier than ever,” he said. Among the project he’s working on is a book on the CIA. “It's been a tough but good and rewarding life.”

The voice of My Home Town - Terry Jenkins

2009-02-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

For as long as Marie Therese Leahy could remember, she was always performing.

“I first sang at the Capitol Theatre, in Austin, on the kiddie show,” she said. “If you were asked to perform, you got in free to the movie that day, and got two passes for later in the week. America was in the middle of a depression so I went to the kiddie show every Saturday and got on, and got my tickets.”

By 1941, she would find herself entertaining on another stage – in front of the troops, at one of the several bases around Austin. “Mr. John Peninger, who was a friend of my dad’s, was head of the USO in Austin and asked if I could be on the USO shows - I was only 14 at the time,” she said. Terry, as she was starting to be called at the time, would find herself singing before thousands of soldiers at Camp Swift in Bastrop, or at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin. “I would perform on a flat bed truck, driven out into a field, and there would be five thousand young men waiting to be entertained.” She would later be crowned Queen of Melody of Camp Swift. “What a treat that was, but I well chaperoned as my dad was quite strict.”

After she graduated high school, in 1945, she continued to perform with the 8th Service Command Band, while continuing her education at SMU, in Dallas. “I was a student at SMU, and a producer heard me sing, and that’s how I got on the radio, on WFAA,” she said. The program, called Dream Nocturne, was a popular nighttime feature, showcasing local vocalists. Within two months, she was promoted to the morning show at the station, The Early Birds. “It was much like the Breakfast Club in Chicago,” she said. “All of Texas and the surrounding states listened. Dale Evans go her start there, and the Cass County Boys. We had a full orchestra, and depending on how many sponsors, sometimes we had a really big orchestra.”

Going from a late night to an early morning show wouldn’t be the only change she would experience during that time. “The announcers couldn’t pronounce my last name, Leahy, even though there was a famous coach at Notre Dame [Frank Leahy] and a former admiral in the Navy [William Leahy].” So they gave her a new name—Terry Lea.

Photo from the WFAA Early Birds 25th anniversary program.
Courtesy of Terry Jenkins.

After her stint with WFAA, she would lend her voice on commercial jingles, working with Tom Merriman and the Liberty Broadcasting Network, and later James Earl “Pop” Sellers (who founded the first independent recording studio in the Southwest) before “settling down, getting married, and having children,” but she would soon return to radio—singing a different tune.

In the mid 1950s her old friend, Bill Meeks, contacted her. The two had known each other when Meeks played in the Early Bird Orchestra during their time together on WFAA. He was starting up a new company, the PAMS Advertising Agency, and was looking for singers to perform spots for advertisers.

“I kept very busy doing commercials,” she said. “I have no idea how many I did, probably 12,000. One day I cut 54 jingles in one day. I would cut the jingles and go home and take care of my family.” She is featured, most prominently on PAMS jingles packages Series 8 (1958) and 10 (1959).

While the concept of using catchy tunes to promote a product was nothing new, the idea of using a full length song to promote a radio station was. In 1960, Meeks came up with the idea of creating a standard 1:30 music bed, entitled “My Home Town” (in the "Sound of the City" - Series 16 jingle package). The song bed, written by Euel Box, was pitched to radio stations from Abilene to Winston-Salem. Localized lyrics would be penned by the jocks, or other staffers, which would then be performed by Jenkins, for the custom jingle. However, more often than not, the amateur songwriters would cram as many words as they could into the canned music bed. To make the recording session more interesting, due to the two-track recording system, Jenkins would have to sing not only the lead straight through, but also the harmony, in one take. “I couldn't make any mistakes," she said. "But when you have a natural gift, given by God, you just do it,” she said.

It's estimated that there are over 100 different versions of "My Home Town."

Listen to a sample of this record here .

“That was the genius of Bill Meeks – he was a very talented young man,” she said. “He was always looking for new ideas.”

On at least one “My Home Town” recording (WTAW in College Station), PAMS singer Claire Stewart is credited as the singer. “I knew Claire from WFAA,” Jenkins said. “She was this darling blonde, very saucy singer. I was more Dinah Shore, while she was more Peggy Lee.” However, a comparison of the vocals reveals that Jenkins is actually the singer.

Listen to a sample of this record here .

While Terry was consistently the main singer on these records, her name credit on the singles is anything but. Variations on her name have included “Terry Lea," "Terry Lee,” “Terry Lea Jenkins," and "Terry Lee Jenkins."

“I’m not sure how that happened,” she admitted. “I think someone might have just made a typo from the Lea to Lee. I never asked for my married name to be on them.”

Terry Jenkins would stay with PAMS for several years, “I just got older and my children got older,” she said. “I just quit and PAMS was going down at the time, and it was just time to leave.” PAMS would to cease operations in 1978. Meeks would pass away in 1999, at the age of 78.

Now 80, Jenkins has stayed in Dallas where she and her (now late) husband Jim raised four children. She is active in her church, but refrains from the hymns. “Old singers never die they just fade away.”

Photo of Terry Jenkins and the author taken
January 19, 2009, in Austin.

Memories of KFJZ (1974)

2009-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

It's amazing what you find when you clean out boxes you haven't gone through in decades. While not vinyl related, allow me the first post of the new year to share a fond personal radio memory of my past.

In 1974 I was 13-years old, living in Fort Worth, dreaming of marrying Rod Stewart. Every night I would go to bed with a transistor radio under my pillow, listening to John Records Landecker's "Boogie Check" on a weak signal all the way from WLS-AM in Chicago—what seemed like a world away.

While my William Monnig Middle School friends wanted to become teachers or actresses, I wanted to be in radio.

My favorite local radio station was KFJZ-AM. My best friend Tracey and I were dedicated listeners. We knew every song on the weekly hit list, and probably attempted to win every single call-in contest they ran. On one particular afternoon, after hearing the seemingly constant sound of a busy signal, I was "lucky caller number five," and picked up The Sweet’s Desolation Boulevard album. I’ll never forget it when Christopher Haze, the 3-6:00 p.m. jock, told me to stand by, because he was actually putting me on the radio. I nearly froze when he asked me what my favorite station was – but there I said it, in my best Metroplex twang, for all of Dallas/Fort Worth to hear – “K-F-J-Z!”

Everyone at Monnig religiously listened to Mark Stevens. He had the coveted 6-10 p.m., shift, and was considered Fort Worth radio royalty. His daughter, Kimmie, was in my class, and by default, was easily the coolest girl in school, due to the parental celebrity factor.

The Mark Stevens show featured sidekick favorite, Biff Burns. In between Chicago, Paul McCartney and Grand Funk, the two would banter back and forth - Mark playing the straight man, to Biff’s bumbling goof, with the perfect punch line at the end of every bit.

(Recording made by holding my Sears portable recorder
condenser mic, up to my transistor radio)

After Mark Stevens wrapped up, L. (Larry) Shannon would take over the airwaves. Call it junior high naiveté, but it never dawned on me, until probably 20 years later, that Biff Burns was actually Shannon. I guess that was the wonderful thing about radio back then.

One night I called Larry Shannon to request a song (probably “Life is a Rock”). He said he would play it, and then, instead of hanging up, he asked what my name was and where I went to school. I told him, and then he literally opened the door – he asked what I wanted to be when I got out of school. You know that scene in “A Christmas Story” when Ralphie’s mom asks him what he wants for Christmas? Yeah, it was like that – a golden opportunity. I told him I wanted to be in radio.

“Hang on a second, let me get into this next record,” he said.

For the next 30 minutes, through segued songs, weather forecasts, and commercial breaks, we talked about radio. The conversation, in between the “stay in school” message, hit the highs and the lows of life as a disc jockey. “You’re going to have to work a lot of overnight shifts in this business, but it’s worth it to get your foot in the door,” he said. I absorbed every sentence. I would call him again, a couple of months later, to tell him that I was moving to Oklahoma, and that I wouldn’t forget him taking the time to talk to me that night.

Five years later I got my first gig – changing out reel-to-reel tapes at a “beautiful music” station, in Pueblo, Colorado. Yes, it was the overnight shift – but I had my foot in the door.

Sun Country Harvest – KBIM (1989)

2008-12-23T08:46:00.000-08:00

Interview with Bob Miner conducted December, 2008.

Side One:
Hagerman My Island - Sam Dunnahoo
Fill My Soul with your Magic - Annie Johnson
You Made Me Love You - Paul H. Byron
Southwest Friends Old and New - Robert Miner
Roswell Incident Rap - Russ Burch

Side Two:
I’ve Got New Mexico on My Mind - Jere Lowe
Llano Estacado - Kim Blakely and Timberline
Willie Lee - Frances Davis, Gary Beevers and Tom Cox
Pickin’ (On New Mexico) - Charles Davis
Juanita from Bonita - Nowlin Tubbs
Southwestern Light - Maureen T. McGinn

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: OK, let’s get this out of the way - technically this is a television station release. I tend to have blinders on when it comes to these albums. If it has “K” or “W” call letters on them, I buy them. Also, yes this is my second blog entry, about a New Mexico album, in three months. I send out dozens of e-mails, to the jocks and artists who appear on these comps, and then I wait…and wait. Thankfully I received a reply from a jazz musician out of Albuquerque, who appears on one of my newest acquisitions, KBIM - Sun Country Harvest.)

In the late 1980s, saxophonist Bob Miner was playing in the local Roswell-Carlsbad area band, Cielo. He was finding steady work playing weddings and special events at churches and at Lucy’s in Carlsbad, and out in Artesia. “When in Rome, play Roman polkas and cumbias,” he admitted. “I had a delightful time, made some life-long friendships and expanded my musical background.”

However, Miner loved playing jazz. Unfortunately the chances of being “the next Charlie Parker of Roswell," a town built around little green men and space ships, were slim. “We don't live in an artisan's society in this day and age, so making a living as a musician is more-often-than-not a losing proposition,” he said. “I was one of two jazz guys there.”

It just so happened that local television station KBIM was looking for hometown bands and performers to appear on an album compilation. Miner saw an opportunity—both personally and professionally. "The proceeds were donated to the Cancer Foundation and at the time my Mom had cancer, and subsequently passed away from it. So it was kind of a way to channel my enjoyment of playing toward a good cause—with a personal twist.”

He decided to enter “Southwest Friends Old and New.”

“It was just a recent composition. I thought it came out pretty good, so I entered it."

Southwest Friends, Old and New - Robert Miner and Charles Davis

While the entry stood out as the only jazz performance on the record, the album did not receive any support from local radio. “I did get a spot or two on TV commercials promoting the sale of the album for charity,” he admitted. “I got my 15 minutes of fame on the local TV channel, and I have the album framed on my wall as its my first published work.”

Miner would soon leave southern New Mexico for El Paso, and then, in 1993, find a more appropriate place for his craft, the big city of Albuquerque. “There is much more opportunity here for jazz,” he said. “I did a solo gig for a few years while weaving my way into the fabric of the local music scene.” It was at one of his shows that he would meet guitarist, Ben Martinez. The two were sidemen on a gig, when Martinez approached Miner to join a band he was putting together, the Ben Martinez Project.

BMP, with its traditional jazz, funk, modern jazz, Latin, rumba, urban and polyrhythmic jazz sound, would go on to win four New Mexico Music Award honors, and just returned from playing the Texas Jazz Festival—the band’s thirteenth appearance at the annual event. Miner still performs in the band, and is currently working on his first solo release.

KXXK "The Groovy One" (1968-1971)

2008-11-10T16:26:00.000-08:00

Interview with Dick Roth conducted November, 2008

One of things I've enjoyed about this blog (and my accompanying Web site, radiouseonly.com), is meeting so many people who used to work in radio, and were a part of these recordings. What's been equally exciting is meeting so many people who have helped me locate some wonderful hidden gems.

Case in point: Last month the local Austin paper did a nice feature on my Web site. As a result I received a wonderful e-mail from a gentleman who asked if I would be willing to give a good home to some radio records he had.

He's a local salon owner, who had a long time client named Don Selden. Don was a professional percussionist by trade who, along with performing with the Dallas Symphony and local jazz bands, would often work on radio station jingle recordings in Dallas. What this wonderful, generous gentleman had to give me were three 10" records, containing over 40 different jingles for Dalllas radio station KXXK - featuring his friend Don Selden.

Sample of KXXK jingle (circa 1968-1971)

According to Mike Shannon's wonderful tribute site to Dallas/Fort Worth Radio:

KXXK, Dallas. Call letters established 5/25/1968. Format: Adult Contemporary (fashioned after WPIX-FM in New York, according to Jack Darden; a "watered-down KIXL, with light pop hits," according to Art Riley.) Owner: Dawson Communications Inc. (purchased 4/4/1968.) Notables: Roy (Royce) Applegate aka Jimmy Kemper (later a character actor,) Joe McChesney (PD; known better as "J. Morgan Van Buren" on KBOX in the mid-1960s,) Jack Darden (5/1968-11/1969,) Marshall Martin, Lee Bales , Charlie Whitaker (OM,) Dick Roth aka Dick Marshall, David Hultsman, Art Riley, Irene Runnels , Lynn Christian (SM.) Remained located at Suite 257B in Exchange Park, and upgraded power to 60,300 watts "circular polarization," as the station called it. Transmitter was in the basement with the studios, and the tower was mounted to the building's roof...despite being dangerously close to Love Field flight patterns!

"The KXXK disk you are referring to is very clear in my mind as I had a slight hand in it at the time," said former station disc jockey Dick Roth (aka Dick Marshall). "In late 1968, Gordon McLendon of McLendon Broadcasting had brought me back to Dallas from KABL AM/FM in San Francisco, CA where I had been working weekends as a newsman, DJ, and automation/control room engineer. I had just gotten out of the service and worked at KLIF/KNUS through the summer of 1969 when McLendon wanted me to go down to KTSA/KTFM in San Antonio to help set up their Shaffer Automation system. I was to work on the air, and be the assistant Chief Engineer for Coleman Barber who was the current CE. The problem was that the job didn't start until January of 1970. So Lenny Henderson (cousin Lenny), who was working the night shift at KXXK and I literally swaped shifts at the end of the summer. He came to KLIF, and I went to KXXK."

At that time, KXXK was owned by Dawson Communication and was being managed by Moe Gardner, engineered by Lee Bales (a McLendon alum), and programmed by Joe McChesney (from WRR and another McLendon alum). "Because I sang for one of the PAMS of Dallas 'Jingle Groups' once or twice a month, and Joe valued my opinion, on my second day of work, Joe, Lee and David Beckham, (one of the stations 'board ops'), called me into the production room to listen to those jingles, and let me hear the new campaign and direction the station was going to take. We listened to the entire package and collectively decided which jingles to recomend to Moe Gardner as the start-up rotation."

Janie Fricke and I both sang for PAMS and TM, together and at different times during the sixties and seventies, however I didn't have anything to do with the production of these jingles. The lead female voice on these jingles sounds like Peggy Lauren who was one of the other people that sang in our circle. There were several, (interchangable) groups singing in those days and you couldn't always get them all together at one time so there were often 'subs' in each group at any given session."

Roth left the station in early January, 1970. In 1971, KXXK became KOAX - a beautiful music station. The successful format would last until 1985. The station then went through numerous format changes, and is known today as KLLI "Live 105.3."

Home Grown - K98 KHFI (1980)

2008-10-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

Interview with Jimmi Lederer conducted October, 2008.

Side One:
Find a Man - Judy Price
American Hang-Up - Shammy
My Best Friend - John Treanor and Andy Murphy
Always a Dancer - Wommack Brothers Band
The Dillo Shall Rise Again - John Reed and Friends
Jenny, Jenny - Bill Gossett

Side Two:
Just Look, Don't Touch - Mother of Pearl
Mamie Mama - Too Smooth
Seasons of Plenty - Lynn Boehmer
Since I Found a New Love - Cobras
The Lord Pulled Up Behind Me When I Had Cheatin' on My Mind - Miles Lefler

Jimmi Lederer needed a new band. After a few years of playing throughout Texas, in different groups (including Zilker Sunday), he decided to put an advertisement up in a local Austin music store, looking for a new gig - when Kevin Wommack called him up. "I think it was the summer of 1979. They were looking for someone to replace their recently departed female vocalist," he said.

Kevin and his brother Keith had formed the aptly-named Wommack Brothers Band, playing gigs at the famed Armadillo World Headquarters, opening for acts including Elvis Costello, The Runaways, Journey, and Edgar Winter. "In fact, they opened for national acts so many times, some people referred to them as The Warmup Brothers."

The new line-up, with Lederer, toured extensively in East Texas, Louisiana, and an occasional trip to Memphis. "We played four or five nights a week, four hours a night - we played more on the road than we did in Austin, as the money was better." Locally, the band picked up gigs at Liberty Lunch, Steamboat, and The Back Room. "We made a living without needing a day job, but Austin was a much cheaper place in which to live then."

In 1980, Austin Top 40 station, KHFI (known as "K98") decided to put together its own version of the successful KGB-San Diego Homegrown records, featuring local bands. The band decided to submit a Lederer-penned tune, "Always a Dancer."

"I had been writing songs and playing with a friend, Kim Hayley, for a few years. When I joined The Wommack Brothers Band, Kim was playing bass with The Stephen Doster Band, and I used to hang out and sit in with them a lot. "Always a Dancer" was written on the road with guitarist, Joe Forlini, just a few weeks after I became a member of the Wommack Brothers Band. The lyrics came from my personal experience - observations of the girls who become followers of bands. In this case, I am referring mainly to strippers, who, while having a legitimate interest in the music, really didn't have much of a clue as to who the boys in the bands really were; thus the line, "She's in love with your guitar."

Always a Dancer - Wommack Brothers Band

Kevin Wommack- Bass
Keith Wommack-Guitar
Joe Forlini-Guitar
Jan Grimm-Drums, Background Vocals
Jim Lederer-Lead & Background Vocals

After the release of the album, the band decided to capitalize on the exposure, and started to submit tapes to major record labels. "In 1981, we pressed, released and distributed a 4-song EP on Twin Song Records, which got a little airplay locally on KLBJ-FM, and a few other small East Texas stations," Lederer said. "One song, "Runaway Heart", was listed in the December 19, 1981 issue of Billboard as a "Recommended" Top Single Pick. Others on the list that week were Genesis, The Jacksons, Diana Ross, and Peter Cetera." Unfortunately, with no national distribution, the song never charted. "We joined the ranks of the 'almost famous'."

The Wommack Brothers Band would go on to break-up the following year when Keith Wommack decided to quit music to become a Christian Science practitioner. "We played one of our last gigs in Grambling, Louisiana - ironically, the club burned down that same night," Lederer said. "I have been in and out of the music business since then - mostly out. The last commercial release on my part was a cassette of ten songs by a band called B-Sharp, released in 1992." Lederer is currently a socialworker for Child Protective Services.

Poemas De Luz y Sombra - KLOS (1962)

2008-09-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

Interview with Mike Langner conducted August, 2008

In the late 1950's through the mid 1960's, Albuquerque radio station KQUE dominated the airwaves. In spite of the enormous popularity of Al "Pal Al" Tafoya, and his program "Night Train," rival station KLOS couldn't compete. In 1960, looking to carve out its own niche, Tafoya (who was also the station's program director) switched formats from pop rock to Spanish language.

"In 1962, in an effort to promote the format, and generate income, he (Tafoya) decided to produce an album of Spanish language poetry, read by station's afternoon announcer, Jesus Buenrostro," said Mike Langner who, at 19-years-old, served as "the kid who maintained the equipment," in his first radio job. The recitals were recorded in the station's makeshift production studio, located on the third floor of the Loft Building. The session took two evenings to finish.

Featuring the poetry of Lautaro Vergara, Carlos Rivas Larrauri, and Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, Beunrostro's words were accompanied by local guitarist, Vincente Saucedo.

Telon - Jesus Buenrostro (Vincente Saucedo on guitar)

"The albums were sold over the air and at Spanish language record stores," Langner said.

However, unable compete in the market, the station went bankrupt, and off the air the following year.

Mike Langner went on to have a successful radio career in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe market (KGGM, KVSM and KDEF). Later he would spend several years as a volunteer at the classical music format KHFM - and go on to be the station's general manager.

Alfonso 'Pal Al' Tafoya went on to radio station KAFE, as program director. He later left New Mexico to pursue a career in California radio. He has since passed away (date unknown).

"Jesus Buenrostro, when the station went dark, he disappeared." said Langner.

Guitarist Vincente Saucedo continue to play at his own local bar and restaurant, Vicente’s Dining Rooms (located in the Old Town Plaza), and went on to record an album, Vincente Plays. A stroke in 1996 left him unable to play again. He passed away in 2002.

Twist to Radio WDGY (1961)

2008-08-17T17:16:00.000-07:00

Interview with Tom Wynn conducted July 2008.

In 1961, clarinetist and Ritchie Valens discoverer/producer/manager Bob Keene was looking for a promotional opportunity for his record label, Del Fi. A year earlier, Chubby Checker had rocketed up the charts with an infectious dance number, “The Twist,” so Keene, the one time bandleader, decided to capitalize on the trend—and produce a record of popular dance songs of the era, performed by his own Bob Keene Big Band.

But how could a big band leader get any airplay on rock and roll stations? To sell the concept Keene would call the LP Twist to Radio. He pitched the idea directly to local stations as a "local album" featuring not only the participating station's disc jockeys on the album cover--but also Keene's music.

“I can’t remember why it was ever put out,” said Tom Wynn, who was one of the six disc jockeys pictured (second from the right) on the Minneapolis Twist to Radio WDGY album .

Disc jockeys posed on the cover of the album “twisting” in matching jackets. Their signatures and station logo adorn the LP.

“I do recall posing for the picture in the basement of WDGY many years ago,” Wynn said. “We didn't have any twist instruction on how to pose—you could probably tell that by looking at the LP cover.”

Keene went on to produce similar Twist records for KRLA, Los Angeles; KYA, San Francisco; WQAM, Miami; KPOI, Honolulu; WTIX, New Orleans; WHK, Cleveland; KLIF, Dallas; KAYO, Seattle, CKGM, Montreal and CHUM, Toronto.

See song line-up here.

In 1961 WDGY’s (known by its nickname Weegee) Top 40 format was competing with pop powerhouse KDWB, who had dominated the Minnesota airwaves. While KDWB featured live jocks, WDGY was 100-percent automated. Wynn, who was the station’s midday announcer, would record his entire show on tape, which was played back on a Schaefer system, consisting of six large 10-inch reels. The time and temperature were inserted into cart machines at specific times. “We were hardly a threat to KDWB,” he admitted, however the Twist to Radio album was probably released in an attempt to boost ratings. “It's one of those really dumb things we did before our demise.”

“I do recall recording the show one late night, when who walked in with his new bride—the one and only Todd Storz himself—first and only time I saw the man,” he admitted. Storz is credited with the Top 40 radio format. At one time he owned not only WDGY, but also WTIX, WHB, KXOK (AM) in St. Louis, WQAM in Miami, and KOMA in Oklahoma City. He died of a stroke in 1964 at the age of 39.

Wynn would leave WDGY in 1962, for a job across town at KRSI. He would later move to WEBC in Duluth, before heading west to Fargo, North Dakota and news talker, KFGO. He just celebrated his 30th year at the station as morning show host, with Larry Ristvedt.

WJXN Jackson, My Home Town 45 (1961)

2008-07-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

Interview with Bob Rall conducted July, 2008.

In 1961, the Dallas-based PAMS company (known for its signature radio jingles) created a "extra" for stations - a 2-minute song bed, to be used to create a local song called "My Home Town." While the tune was written by Euel Box, the stations were in charge of creating their own Chamber of Commerce style lyrics, highlighting local attractions, historic monuments, or simply stating civic pride. Terry Lea (or Terry Lee or Terry Lee Jenkins, as she is credited on the recordings), a regular PAMS jingle singer, sang what are estimated to be hundreds of different versions of this song - many of which were turned into 45s and distributed via the various local radio stations.

In 1958, Bob Rall was a junior in high school, working for WJXN in Jackson, Mississippi. By the age of 20 he was the program director for the station. He remembers writing the lyrics for the local Jackson version of "My Home Town."

"I took it pretty seriously," he admitted. "Several of us at the radio station made a list of things about Jackson. Then, I took the instrumental track and wrote lyrics to fit. You had to work within the prerecorded music, so the lyrics had to fit percisely. With the song, you had no optional melody"

The brainstorming took about ten hours to complete "over two or three evenings."

Listen to sample of record here.

"We took it to Ace Records, which was based here in Jackson [the label home of Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Ford, Huey "Piano" Smith, and Joe Tex]. Johnny Vincent with Ace sent them off for us," he said.

A total of 500 of the singles were pressed, and distributed at the station - where it the disc received regular rotation. "Until all of us were sick of it," he admitted.

"The response was very good. The promotion lasted about a month, as I recall. We rationed the
give away of the 500 so they would last."

Rall left WJXN in 1961, to have a successful career throughout the south. "I was on the air at WKGN Knoxville, WABB Mobile, WTIX, New Orleans, KBOX Dallas,
WSLI Jackson, WRBC Jackson, and WWUN Jackson, until 1980, and then General Manager at WRBC Jackson, WSVA/Q101 Harrisonburg, Virginia, K99 (WKNN) Biloxi/Gulfport, and Z106 (WSTZ) Jackson."

Currently he is "semi-retired" doing helicopter traffic reports at WLBT (NBC TV Jackson), and WFMN FM, afternoon traffic for six Clear Channel stations in Jackson - and on Sundays he has a 3-7 shift on WQJQ (Q105) in Jackson.

Album Project II - WFBQ (1980)

2008-03-08T12:03:00.000-08:00

Interviews with Tim O'Malley and Chris Lieber conducted March, 2008.

Side One:
I've Been Waiting - Pedaler
Feelin' Free - Free Spirit
Boat to Jamaica - Bill Wilson
Caught Her By Surprise - Neon Parke
Look at Me, Ma - McAllister

Side Two:
Spending The Night With Friends - Twice
Fine Line - The Edge
Waiting Room - John Kimsey
She Clown - Lifer
King of Kings - Franklin's Kite

Indianapolis-based guitarist Tim O’Malley and keyboardist Chris Lieber were big Little Feat fans, looking to follow their hearts, after playing in the popular local funk outfit, The Dan Hanley Band. So, when it came time to finding a name for their new country tinged rock band, they decided to pay homage to Lowell George and company--and their recognizable album covers. “We named the band Neon Parke for the guy that used to do the Little Feat album covers (Martin Muller, otherwise known as Neon Park). “We made it Parke to be different.” Neon Parke’s sound took a page directly from Little Feat, and the similar bands that would follow. “I would describe our group as a rock band with country and blues influences, kind of like an early version of Wilco,” he said. “We were a jam band before there were jam bands.”

In 1980, while playing around Indianapolis, at clubs such as Crazy Al’s and The Vogue, they had heard about a contest being held by local rock radio station WFBQ (which would later go on to be the home of the syndicated morning show “Bob and Tom”). O’Malley decided to submit a recording he had done prior to his forming Neon Parke, “Caught Her By Surprise.”

“I had originally recorded the song at a studio owned by Wayne Hall, who used to have a band called the Hugo Smith Band. The name of the studio was called The Underground. The original recording had John Apple on Bass, Jeff Lantz on keys, and Jan Clark on drums,” he said. “When we recorded it for the WFBQ Album Project I had Chris on keys, Bill Moring on bass and Jan again on drums.” The tape was sent to the station, and was chosen among more than 200 entries.

Caught Her By Surprise – Neon Parke

But the tune would prove to be the band’s debut…and swan song.

“I had been planning on moving to California before all this happened and I basically broke up the band and took off,” O’Malley admitted. “They had a big showcase concert I believe at the Vogue night club for the contest winners but by then I was gone.”

O’Malley left to play guitar for a studio band. The gig lasted just three months. “One day the IRS locked the doors for non-payment of back taxes. So that was that. I tried to get hooked up with some other people but it became so expensive to live out there that I just cut my losses and came back to Indiana.” When he tried to reform Neon Parke, all of the members had moved on to other opportunities.

Upon moving back to Indiana, Tim O’Malley went to work as a salesman for a paint company, but continues to play music. “I play in a band called Built for Comfort and also play with a great songwriter by the name of Slats Klug.”

“Honestly, none of us thought that Neon Parke was the last band we'd ever be in. We just enjoyed playing together for a while and then we moved on,” said keyboardist, Chris Lieber, who went on to start up rippleFX, a music production and audio post-production studio in Indianapolis. He has also recently gotten back into part time gigs with a couple of different local bands. “The members are less than half my age. I guess I've kind of gone back to my roots—playing original songs with kids in their twenties.”

The First KFM Album (1980)

2008-02-23T06:04:00.000-08:00

Interviews with Scott Dugdale and Peter Berkow conducted February, 2008.

Side One:
Throw it Away - Dan Cruces and Scott Dugdale
Break Even - Page One
Old Letters - Todd Klehr
Twenty First and Salem Blues - Ralph Shine Band
Harvest Time in Chico - Kim Cataluna and Slick Rick with the Funky Mystics
Late Date - Sven Jensen

Side Two:
When I Was Born - The Great Blue Herring
Grey Day - Leslie Riley Band
Lady Luck - Jack Zampa
I'm Feeling It Now - Gary Epps and Janet Garlin
Feelin' 'Bout You - Spark and Cinder Band
I Like You, Much As I Like Beer -Doug Midgely Band

Music producer Peter Berkow moved to Chico, California in 1975 to start up the audio engineering program at Cal State. While there he initiated a relationship with local radio station, KFMF (known as KFM), a small freeform format servicing the population of just over 60,000 with an eclectic mix of music, and suggested producing an album featuring local talent. "In fact, KFM never would have done it if I hadn't coerced, cajoled, (and in some instances, even PAID for some of the expenses) and, in general, made myself a pain in the butt until they finally produced one ... as long as I promised to go away and leave them alone," he admitted.

With Berkow signed on to produce the LP, it was then just a matter of finding enough talent to put on the record. Through Berkow's day to day interaction with up and coming musicians at Cal State, he was able to encourage many to try out.

"If I remember correctly, I think it was a kind of contest," said Scott Dugdale, who was 19 years old at the time. A local performer, with an extensive musical background, he and friend Dan Cruces were also beginning the early stages of the successful West Coast band, Leo Swift. "All the local bands sent in recordings, and of those, 12 were selected for the album."

Entries piled in, featuring Chico's best in rock, country, jazz and blues. Berkow knew that since the compilation would feature such a diversity of genres, the first song on the album had to stand out.

"Dan and I had been playing music and recording together since our early high school years," said Dugdale. "At the time, we were listening to a lot of progressive rock of the day-bands like Styx, and Toto and Kansas. We also listened to Genesis and Yes. But after surreptitiously acquiring some studio time, as an experiment, we wanted to see if we could write a song in that vein, and play all the instruments between the two of us, and see if we could produce something like that. Peter heard about it, listened to the song and said, 'You have to submit this one'."

Throw it Away - Dan Cruces and Scott Dugdale

"It was very difficult recording that song and trying to make it as 'big' as the stuff we were listening to. We were limited to two 1/2 inch 8-track Tascam decks (actually almost a luxury for a small local studio at the time). Since neither of us played guitar well enough to track, I multitracked all the 'lead' parts, one note and one part at a time with a Minimoog synthesizer. The 'rhythm guitar' sound was a piano, miked, and run through a guitar amp in a bathroom cranked up to 10 (11 really). Dan had the melody idea and some lyrics, I fleshed out the music, we both played drums and percussion. There's even a timpani in there somewhere. Dan sang the lead and we both did background vocals. My good friend and engineer Ralph Staub worked the sessions too, and we all did the final mix together."

Released in the 1980, the album's cover featured a cartoon design of main street Chico, by local artist Sylvia Massy, a university student, who later went on to become a veteran record producer and studio engineer (Undertow - Tool, Unchained - Johnny Cash, and Diamonds and Pearls - Prince).

Scott Dugdale is now the in-house composer for Wavegroup, a post-production studio responsible for recording tracks for Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero: Rocks The 80's. He has scored numerous films, television documentaries and other video games, including Online Chess Kingdoms and Brooktown High. He has also created many tracks in the Dance Dance Revolution series, including the most recent version for Wii, as well as six sequels of the successful Karaoke Revolution series of video games. In 2005, his musical score for a mini-series called Astronomy: Observations and Theories was nominated for an L.A. Area Emmy, and the series won the Emmy for Best Educational Series and Best Writing.