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.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Album Project II - WFBQ (1980)
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.”
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.”
Saturday, February 23, 2008
The First KFM Album (1980)
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.
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.
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