RADIO TRIVIA IS GOOD
Think ELVIS was the only one with managerical difficulties? NINE INCH NAILS' singer TRENT REZNOR has sued his former
manager, JOHN MALM in New York. REZNOR claims that MALM stole or mismanaged millions of dollars of N-I-N's earnings. TRENT
said that in 2003, despite millions of dollars that N-I-N had earned, he only had about $400,000 in cash. TRENT says, I
felt I had an accountant I couldn't trust.
REZNOR claims that MALM, his former friend, duped him into signing a contract which permitted JOHN to collect 20%
of N-I-N's gross earnings rather than net earnings. When N-I-N signed its first record contract in the 1980s, TRENT told the
jury that he trusted MALM more than anyone in his life when he agreed to let him handle his finances. JOHN was the business
guy, and I was the guy working for nothing in the studio.
MALM's lawyer, ALAN HIRTH, testified that his client, JOHN MALM, never even collected his 20% commission and
that he kept no secrets from REZNOR. The vast majority of the money went back into REZNOR's pockets, not Mr. MALM's pockets.
On another note, May 17, 2005 was TRENT REZNOR's 40th birthday. And the beat goes on.
As I waltzed across Texas over four decades, have been on the team of several great radio managers. One of the more
notable ones is CHET MAXWELL. During the time I was at Dallas' famed KBOX-1480 and KTLC-FM from 1971-72, CHET was
sales manager. When BOB BOSTIAN headed to Denver, Colorado, MAXWELL became General Manager.
CHET MAXWELL (San Antonio,
TX) chetmaxwell@sbcglobal.net Subject: KENS/KBAT Hi Jim, KENS 680 Radio in San Antonio was an old line CBS Radio affiliate in the mid to late
1950's, complete with Arthur Godfrey's variety show in the mornings followed by soap operas for most of the rest of the day.
Radio as an industry was floundering. Television had struck a body blow.
KENS was no exception. It was owned at that time by the publisher of the Express-News newspaper, who also owned
KENS-TV. The "ENS" in KENS stood for "Express-News Station" The Huntress family owned all three: the newspaper, TV and radio.
Both the newspaper and TV were doing extremely well. KENS Radio was not.
KONO was doing better than the rest of the market at that time, so Mr.Frank Huntress hired away the Program Director
Herb Carl Skoog as KENS General Manager. Herb had been on the air at KONO using the name Herb Carl. Herb improved the KENS
sound considerably, but he was still stuck with all the CBS block programming. He finally persuaded the Express-News management
to drop some of the CBS stuff and switch the format to country.
He hired Charlie Walker, Bill Mack, Neil Merritt and Ray Baker as the on-air personalities. This was in about
1958. The station was an overnight success. KENS was the only 50 kw country station in the state. We drew mail and telephone
calls from half of Texas. Sales shot up. I know because I was Sales Manager through all of this. The Hooper Ratings were the
only audience measurement in those days, and they looked good...really good.
Everything was peaches and cream until about 1961. Judge Roy Hofheinz. former Mayor of Houston and prime mover
in the building of the Astrodome, bought a franchise for a major league baseball team in Houston. He named the team the Colt
45s and started trying to set up a radio network. No station in San Antonio wanted any part of it, KENS included. Hofheinz
solved that problem by buying a station...KENS. He paid $750,000 for it, a huge sum at that time.
Now the Judge may have been a good ole' country boy, but he hated country music. I heard him say that no station
he owned would play "that stuff". Since Herb and I had been the ones to turn down the baseball broadcasts as well as being
involved in switching the format to country music, it seemed like a good time to start mailing out resumes'.
My good fortune led me to KILT in Houston, working for Bill Weaver and Dickie Rosenfeld. Herb bought KGNB in
New Braunfels, where he remained for the rest of his radio career. Judge Hofheinz changed the KENS calls to KBAT and the format
to what was then called "Middle-of-the-road"...and I guess everybody lived happily ever after. Chet.
Never dreamed the Alamo City's trio of broadcast outlets, KENS/KBAT/KKYX-680, possessed
a history which is so wide and varied. This has opened up an unexpected volume of disclosures, findings and real good radio
trivia.
Met and talked with
BILL WEAVER at the Texas Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in San Antonio at the magnificent Radisson Hotel and Spa
in October 2004. We were first in line at the entrance to the huge ballroom. Of course a little radio chit-chat went on. Never
will forget what BILL told me just before all of us were allowed into the large banquet hall. WEAVER said Radio has passed
me by. No it hasn't, just seems that way. If one waits long enough, what comes around, goes around.
WHAT FT. WORTH LAD
BECAME THE KING OF THE ROAD?
(Find
the answer at the end of this column.)
Since the satellite
and iPod invasion, radio has to once again become inventive. Too many copy-cats these days. There's plenty of room at the
inn for one and all. The only real change that we'll never see again is that one radio station will not dominate like Dallas'
KLIF-1190 did in the fifties, sixties and seventies.
During my DJ days at
KFJZ in Ft. Worth from 1973-75, STAN WILSON became one of my favorite radio people. STAN was General Manager of 1270 for decades.
WILSON was at KFJZ during the time of the Red and Blue networks and was a huge part of the formation of the Texas State Network
(TSN). STAN is back at the Stonegate Nursing Center. WILSON's daughters report that he shows great progress.
Awhile back, we understood
that WILSON had a heart attack. Very pleased to announce that was a false alarm. STAN is still partially paralyzed on his
right side, but is alert, active, and mobile. Just a few days ago, one of STAN's attendants, ROBERT, brought a motorized wheelchair
into his room. ROBERT then accompanied WILSON as he drove off and toured the nursing center grounds. According to his daughters,
STAN has become highly proficient with the machine. Plans are under way to get WILSON a new deluxe model for his use after
he leaves the Stonegate nursing center. Our prayers are that STAN regains his full and complete health and strength.
STAN has many friends
and admirers and would take great delight in a visit or you can simply jot him a little note. Either will be a tremendous
boost and will help speed STAN's recovery. WILSON's address is: Stonegate Nursing Center, 4201 Stonegate Blvd, Room 134, Fort
Worth, Texas 76109
CLAUDE HALL (Las Vegas,
NV) claudeh@earthlink.net Jim, Just FYI, KWKH was directional at night and you could hear it all across the south, especially in the southwest
out toward Tucson. Not north or south, though. At least to the best of my knowledge. I heard Elvis his first night and
Johnny Cash, too. Loved the "Louisiana Hayride." Claude Hall
Yes, on a clear channel
50 kw radio station after 8 pm, phone calls come in from everywhere. When I was on WFAA-820, 8 pm-midnight from 1967-68, it
was unbelieveable how far the signal went out. The skip waves could send the signal just about anywhere. On clear nights,
the calls streamed in from those far away places. Really exciting.
CLAUDE HALL (Las Vegas,
NV) claudeh@earthlink.net Ah, but once when I was on at night on XEROK, we heard from Tunisia! Claude
The farthest away calls
I ever received while at WFAA-820 included one from an Air Force base in Alaska. The other from an island in the Caribbean.
Didn't believe the guy. He sent me paper currancy from that island. Still have that letter and $ in a box somewhere.
CHARLES F. PAYNE (Dallas,
TX) cpayne47@sbcglobal.net Subject: Funniest thing that happened to me. A slip of the tongue. My first summer in radio had me at KAND Corsicana.
Had a scripted show of island music 5:45-6:00 pm. Script calls for segue into closing theme "Aloha Oe" - fade at appropriate
time and I approached the mike and actually said the following (fade) "Aloha Oe" and so the song of farting pades away. At
16 I was so rattled I don't really recall what happened next. After the song of farting pading away, I was butt of bunch of
jokes. Don't tell Cambridge, They might choose to recall my Doctorate, ugh. CP in Big D
That was very funny.
Don't believe I ever uttered a four-letter word on the radio, or at least it disappeared from my mind. But, the second
time at KILT FM was so exaspirating and way too full of doubling up, many times forgot if I was on FM or AM. One afternoon
on KILT-610, I said, This is 55 KTSA San Antonio. Never was at KTSA.
Realized what I was
saying as the words rolled out but like a consummate seasoned pro, just finished the line and moved on as if nothing happened,
but my face turned a solid red. JOE LONG's teaching was in full force. Don't call attention to a mistake you made on the
air. Nobody ever said a single thing about that episode, but BILL YOUNG had been out of the building for years. What
CHARLIE mentioned reminded me of an old saying that used to go around about a DJ in Texas City who said Sexy T****
instead.
BOB CROWLEY (Arlington,
TX) bobcrowley@mail.ev1.net Hey Jim, I was surprised to see I was your lead story! A little embarrased too. 30k might be a lot for some guys.
It seems to be the standard news salary now. That was the figure offered by Raleigh and Charlotte last fall when I was looking.
You know the saying:
"What's the difference between a radio newsman and a Domino's pizza? The pizza can feed a family of 4!"
I sat down with
one GM here in DFW. When I was looking last fall, 30K seemed to be the standard salary. That's what I was offered from Raleigh
and Charlotte. I sat down with one DFW GM and he explained that since the de-reg of '96, jobs that paid 120 now pay 70. Jobs
that paid 70 now pay 40. New guys get 10 dollars an hour. I have a friend in S.A. with 30+ years of radio experience in big
markets, and they were giving him 7 dollars an hour at Clear Channel to voice track on three stations! Pinche Cabron! Bob
Crowley
Texas radio has its
share of movers and shakers. TOM CALOCOCCI, Operations Manager of KBXX-FM, the BOX, here in Houston, travels to Los Angeles
as the new Program Director at KKBT. This is an internal promotion within its Radio One operation. Also, BILLY the KID becomes
Music Director at Dallas' KHKS. The KID formerly held down a KHKS DJ show at twilight time.
FRANK HALEY (Albuquerque,
NM) fhaley@qwest.net Jim, do you know where CHAPMAN MOTT and ED BEAUCHAMP are these days? Haven't heard anything about them in nearly
30 years. Chapman Mott was a great writer, we worked together...he at klol and me at ktrh. Thanks, Frank (The OLD Texan)
Haley PS: Phil Morgan, former reporter at KTRH in the mid '70's is staying with me for awhile until he gets a job in Albq.
CHAPMAN MOTT and ED
BEAUCHAMP were quite popular fellas in Houston radio decades ago. We sure would love to hear from them or someone who can
give us an update.
FRANK HALEY (Albuquerque,
NM) fhaley@qwest.net Jim, did you ever work in Gainesville at KGAF?? That was my 3rd job in 1962, the former owner Joe M. Leonard, Jr
is still alive at 85 years old, he was named Pioneer broadcaster of year by the Texas Assoc. of Broadcaster last year. He's
still making records and writing books. He's got a great Elvis story. Get him to tell you. He's in the phone book, and in
fact here's his e-mail: Joe Leonard, Jr: lin45@ntin.net Frank
Never was behind the
mic in Gainesville, but my cousin, JERRY ROSE, was a DJ at KGAF for awhile in the mid-sixties. JERRY was a TV floor camera
operator at WFAA CH-8 when I was a DJ on WFAA-820 in the late sixties. He moved to management at an El Paso TV station. Then
JERRY became General Manager of PAT RORERTSON's TV outlet in Chicago.
DAVE JARROTT (Austin,
TX) djarrott@austin.rr.com Jim, Of course any of us who spent even 15 minutes in Fort Worth radio knew Major Bill Smith! He had an office downstairs
in the KXOL building when I was there.
One of his proteges
at that time was "The Legendary Stardust Cowboy," who shouted a song called "Paralyzed." Lege believed his own publicity,
dressed the part 24/7, right down to the spurs. We'd be sitting around the jock lounge doing important business like holding
the couches down and we'd hear "ching, ching, ching," and we'd know Lege was coming up the stairs. You've never seen disc
jockeys move that fast except when the paychecks were cut on Friday. No one wanted to be forced into a conversation with him.
It was too surreal.
Lege was invited
to be on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In and flew out to California. He may have flown in on American, but he left in a huff when
he perceived that the Laugh-In crew was actually making fun of him! Go figure.
Speaking of Bruce
Chanel. I emceed some show at the Tarrant County Convention Center somewhere around 1969 or 70 and Bruce was on the bill.
He got me up on stage to sing "Hey Baby" with him. Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end.
That's a very interesting
radio story. DAVE mentioned downstairs at KXOL. The only dowstairs that I remember when I was at KXOL, from 1975-76, were
the ones which led to the dead KXOL FM studio in the basement. JARROTT must've been in the previous KXOL location. So, it
was MAJOR BILL who was behind the LEGENDARY STARDUST COWBOY? Still have a copy of that infamous record somewhere in the batch
of thousands. My very first encounter with good ole MAJOR BILL SMITH was in 1967 when I was a DJ at WFAA-820. The MAJOR sent
an important looking packet to me which contained a couple of lackluster records and a note which asked if I would play
the tunes on my show.
DAVE JARROTT (Austin,
TX) djarrott@austin.rr.com Jim, The station was overlooking the Trinity, near Trinity Park, on Camp Bowie. It was on the side of a hill, so
if you went in the front door to the station you were really on the second floor. You could drive around the side of the building
and down the hill and there was another entrance down there. The KCWM offices were down there, but the "control room" (it
was automated country) was in the lobby--had a glass window so you could look in and make sure the tapes were rolling, rolling,
rolling!
Must have been some
facility alterations, because when I was at KXOL-1360 from 1975-76, the FM studio was the only thing at the base of the internal downstairs.
It was just like an empty basement with a complete radio station control room. There were hundreds of LPs which lie against
the surrounding u-shaped control room desk. The LPs were of the E-Z Listening M-O-R variety. The upstairs hallway had solid
walls.
Don't think anyone at
KXOL at the time even knew of the existance of that wonderful FM broadcast studio. What a shame, because instead of selling
KXOL FM, KXOL AM could have dominated by merely moving its format over to the FM part of the broadcast band. That's what we
DJs kept telling KFJZ-1270's management when I was there from 1973-74, but they just couldn't or wouldn't see that FM was
the wave of the future.
ROGER MILLER was born
in Ft. Worth, Texas January 2, 1936. MILLER had a great wit about him and radio came calling. ROGER was a radio DJ
for several years. MILLER also had a penchant as a song writer. In 1965, ROGER won six Grammys. During the years 1964-65,
MILLER recorded five top ten chart singles on Billboard.and he wrote everyone of them. ROGER MILLER's biggest hit was King
of the Road. The tune had all of America captivated in the spring of 1965. It reached #4 on Billboard's Pop chart
and was #1 on the Country list. ROGER had his own network TV show in 1966. MILLER penned the Broadway musical Big
River, which won the Tony award in 1985. ROGER MILLER died of cancer on October 25, 1992.
Jim Rose
Houston, Texas
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