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1975 IS THIRTY YEARS AGO?
Has it really been 30 years since 1975? It can't be. Seems like only yesterday that I was behind the mic at
KXOL-1360 in Ft. Worth. We had such a great little ole Rock-n-Roll radio station. We played nothin' but the hits. Oh, we did
toss a few Classics. KXOL had a pretty doggone good baseball team, too. Remember the last game we played. It was a bunch of
bankers and bankerettes versus the KXOL DJs. That was when WILLIE NELSON struck it big on both Top 40 and Country radio stations
with Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain. When the game was over, several of the money custodians invited me over to their
house to listen to some WILLIE. Then, something happened that never in our wildest dreams would occur. In the fall of 1976,
KXOL switched formats from Top 40 to Country music. This came about right smack dab in the middle of a week long remote broadcast.
One day, I played THREE DOG NIGHT, PAUL MCCARTNEY, OHIO PLAYERS and ELTON JOHN, next day, DON WILLIAMS, LORETTA
LYNN, WILLIE NELSON and CRYSTAL GAYLE. Remained as KXOL's Music Director, which presented me the dubious honor to make the
music changeover. KXOL had a new set of DJs. BOB MEADOWS stuck around for awhile on AM Drive and I was noon-3 pm. But the
Program Director and the rest of the DJs hit the road. A few months later, so did I. Six years later, when I was a DJ at KILT FM, the same thing happened.
The Country Music Hall of Fame has a brand new exibit called Thirty Years in the Mainstream, 1975-2005.
Its stars are the OAK RIDGE BOYS. You have plenty of time to plan a visit, because the presentation runs through November
29, 2005. Again, has it really been 30 years since 1975? WOW! Time sure does fly by when you're having fun. Where was the
first place and time that I heard that expression? Well, it's certainly true. Speaking of the CMA, at its annual award ceremony
on Sunday, May 1, 2005. the CMHoF warmly received two old friends, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON and JIM FOGLESONG into its throng.
WHAT TWO BANDS DID BILLY IDOL PERFORM IN BEFORE HE WENT SOLO?
(Find The Answer At The Bottom Of This Column)
SAM MALONE (Houston, TX) sammalone@ev1.net Hi Jim, I'll be starting my new job at 740amKTRH in a few months. I'm still sitting out my non-compete. You're a
radio vet, you know what that's like. When I hit the air, send me your critique. I'd be interested to hear your opinion. See
ya, Sam
MALONE was AM Drive at KRBQ FM for well over a decade and moved over to KPRC CH-2 in an anchor position.
SAM will be on the the radio again very soon. .
JOHN ROOK jr@johnrook.com , www.johnrook.com Remembering Simon Waronker. I’ve often said, “the world these days pays little attention to anything
that happened before last Saturday.” Learning from history and from the history makers is a rare experience for today’s
society. I always appreciated the time spent hearing the lessons of life and those experiences so many others shared with
me over the years. Today’s trade publications seldom give notice of the passing of those who contributed so much to
the radio or the recording industry. In the future, I will try to do so.
One such person was Simon Waronker, a name only a very few in the radio and/or record business would
even know today. My friend, Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famer, Eddie Cochran introduced Si to me in early 1957, after he had
given birth to Liberty Records in a grey two story building on La Cienega Blvd, two blocks north of Sunset. In was in the
upstairs studio there that I met Don and Phil Everly and many recording stars, as they stopped by to visit with Eddie during
a recording session. I spent many hours talking with Si Waronker and while still in my teens, he and his label manager, Al
Bennett, gave me a job preparing 45 rpm records for shipment to the nation’s disc jockeys.
April 4, 1960, EDWARD RAY COCHRANE, known as EDDIE COCHRAN, was killed in a terrible auto accident in
Chippenham, Wilshire, England. VINCENT EUGENE CRADDOCK, or as he was known throughout the world, GENE VINCENT was a passenger
in the auto. GENE was injured. In 1953, VINCENT was involved in a motorcycle accident which did irreparable damage to his
left leg, which caused VINCENT to wear a steel brace. GENE died from an ulcer hemorrhage on October 12, 1971. Both COCHRAN
and VINCENT are Rock 'n' Roll legends. EDDIE's Summertime Blues and GENE's Be-Bop-A-Lula are timeless classics.
In 1956, when I was 13 years old, called a record shop in Dallas to see if they had a copy of Be-Bop-A-Looma. Never
will forget that because the record clerk quickly corrected me in the correct title of that rockin' tune.
PEGGY POOVEY (Corinth, TX) Ppoovey@aol.com Hi Jim, I am Joe Poovey's widow. I knew Joe when he was at KPCN. We hung around the same group of people.
I was around when he was playing the local clubs and when he was Johnny Dallas for a while, and played at the Panther Club
in Dallas. After some years I got married and only saw Joe on occasion. In 1988 we ran in to each other quite by accident,
I was getting ready for a divorce, and Joe and I got together. From 1988 until his untimely death in 1998, we were never apart.
He was the Great Love of My Life. I still miss him every day. I recently got remarried, but Joe will forever live in my heart.
I am sure you know Aubrey Mayhew. Aubrey and I became great friends and still talk to each other often. Aubrey and Koch
records put out a CD on Joe last year that has some of his best work on it. It is "Groovy" Joe Poovey The Late and Great Me,
it has the Little Darlin Label on it. Aubrey and Koch have been re-releasing the Little Darlin recordings for a while now.
If you are into the old good stuff (Paycheck) etc., you might want to give it a listen. I knew Jim Newton very well and Brad
Wilson and I stay in touch as well as Mac Curtis. Newton and I had been friends since the early days, and I sure miss him
too. He could make me laugh at the darkest moments. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. Sincerely,
Peggy
PEGGY POOVEY (Corinth, TX) Ppoovey@aol.com Jim, I forgot to tell you Joe and I lived in Dallas. I moved to Corinth Tx. last July. That's about 25 miles north
of Dallas. Peggy
DR. BRUCE NELSON (Corpus Christi, TX) BStratton@wbhq.com Hey Jim, Dr. Bruce here and here is my favorite funny radio story. Jeff McLain is on stage at Gilleys hosting "The
Saturday Night Special" which was a live broadcast from Gilleys carried on KENR. Loretta Lynn is the star and its my birthday.
Joe Ladd from KIKK and myself from KNUZ decided to send Loretta a request that reads "Happy Birthday to KNUZ's Dr. Bruce Nelson
from KIKK's Joe Ladd". And bless her heart in her best most articulate reading ever she announced my birthday including both
sets of call letters to the audience and the KENR audience. Best part was watching the blood run out of Jeff's face like a
thermometer that had had its bulb knocked off. Needless to say has some explaining to do to KENR G.M. Bob Chandler on Monday
morning. Ladd & I laughed about this for weeks and I think Jeff just got over being pissed last week Ha Ha. Best to my
pal Jeff McLain. Dr. Bruce
Haven't seen our buddy JOE LADD since the early 1990s when he was Music Director and mid-day DJ at KIKK
FM in KIKK's former Gulfton location. Last I heard about LADD was that he was MARK CHESNUTT's manager.
JEFF MCCLAIN (Cleveland, TX) hmcclain1@houston.rr.com Subject: Elkin's. Jim, What part of 1964 did you attend Elkins Institute in Dallas? I went the summer of 1964 and
only took the 1st class license coarse. I don't think we were in the same class. I remember that Friday the summer of 64 when
I finished that Elkins six week license coarse and took the 1st Class Radio Telephone test at the FCC office in downtown Dallas.
They didn't tell me the results of my exam at the time. Said they would call the school on Monday with the scores. Man, I
was so stressed out and tired, I took off for hometown Cleveland, Texas where I had a job waiting for me at wonderful 1410
KVLB. The call letters stood for Virginia Louis Bails. The original owner's wife. The station has been dark about 15 years.
They had been working short handed waiting for me to finish school and come to work. They put me to work Monday morning at
the station not knowing if I had a license or not. About noon I get a call from Jim Cradock at Elkins. "Jeff, you're not on
the air by yourself and taking transmitter readings without knowing if you passed the test or not, are you? Man, you better
get your butt back to Dallas and get to studying to take that test again." My heart sank about 10 feet. Then, Jim starting
laughing and told me congratulations, I had passed and my license would be in the mail in couple of days. I was 16 years old
that summer between my sophomore and junior year in high school. Jeff McClain
There is a KVLB FM in Bend, Oregon.
JEFF MCCLAIN (Cleveland, TX) hmcclain1@houston.rr.com Subject: Elkin's. Jim, I think he may have been my instructor also. I can't remember. I've have a class picture
somewhere with him in it. You must of gone to the class before me. Jeff
LEON BECK (Friendswood, TX) houstonhotcountry@hotmail.com Jim, Just a note to let you know how much I appreciate you mentioning
the reunion in your column. When will you be sending out your new column. I really enjoy reading about the radio memories.
Tell me about your book. I think I mentioned to you that I'm working on a book too. Thanks, Leon
GARY MCBRAYER (Dallas, TX) GMcbr1480@aol.com Subject: Buddy Holly and Bill Holly. Jim: Your column on Buddy reminded me of a jock from the 60s, Bill Holly. He
worked at KBOX twice, once using the "Night Creature" ID. He also worked for some other legendary call letters including KYA,
KIMN, WFUN, and WQAM. Someone told me he was Buddy's first cousin, but I was never was able to confirm it and haven't been
able to find out what became of him. His last known location was San Francisco, but that goes back to the early 70s. Maybe
one of your readers can confirm his relationship to Buddy and what happened to the Night Creature. I always enjoyed his work
on "Wonderful K-BOX". Regards, Gary McBrayer
BOB CROWLEY (Arlington, TX) bobcrowley@mail.ev1.net Jim, I've been dwelling on this a lot. Think of the wildly successful, dominant radio stations we've been associated
with. KASE/KVET in the '90s and KTSA/KTFM in the '70's come to mind for me. What they had in common was not only creative
personalities and well-funded promotions, they had involvement. Their people were everywhere. They not only did remotes, they
served on boards, they attended events. They didn't hide in the shadows, they talked with people, made then feel like they
were interested in them and what they thought. I knew dozens of guys who would do their airshift, then go back to the apartment,
flip on the tv. Most are long gone from the business. Then there are guys like Stan Kelly when he was with KTSA, Sonny Melendrez
at KTFM, Tom Allen at KASE. They were out there, involved, and very well known. It helped that their air-work was top-notch,
but the difference was the human element, something Jack and Bob and those other juke-box I-pod clones can't touch. That kind
of success takes years to cultivate; the exact opposite of the "Jack" flash in the pan. It's the future of radio. It's the
only way free, over the air broadcasting can recover from the cookie-cutter consultant flavor of the month formats so prevalent
in the business now. Bob Crowley
LARRY TODD (Austin, TX) larrytodd@juno.com Big Jim, Loved your reminisce from 1959, the year of my high school graduation in good ole Amarillo. I was with
the TV station as a cameraman and hanging out on the radio side as long as I could. That was the year Alaska and Hawaii became
states, gasoline was a quarter a gallon, bread was .20 per loaf and a movie tick cost a dollar. The big hits included The
Battle of New Orleans, Come Softly to Me, Mr. Blue, Why, Kansas City, Heartaches by the Number .and a ton of C & W. Mostly
W in Amarillo. Father Knows Best was the height of the evening Tee Vee. President Eisenhower invoked the Taft-Hartley act
to end the settle workers's strike. And guess what? Soviet forces arrived in Afghanistan. I had a great year in 1959. Driving
up and down main street. We were the original American Graffiti group. Also, the hottest DJ during that era was a black lady
called "Lady Coool Breeze." She would play our requests.. spin some sexy tunes about 1:00 am on Friday and Saturday
night. She probably did more for race elations than anyone. Remember, we were segregated during those times. By the way, I
was not on the honor role nor the honor society, but I did graduate. Larry Todd
JEFF MCCLAIN mentioned that he had been a DJ at KTRN AM at one time also.
GENTLEMAN JIM CARTER (San Antonio, TX) JCarter536@aol.com Subject: KTRN. Howdy James: I was there in '79 when the town was devastated
by that tornado. In fact, I was in my car when it hit my car. I had just left KTRN, it was a little after 6:00 PM. I don't
recall the spot on the dial. I wasn't there long, just a couple of months and left shortly after the tornado struck for KIXS
in Killeen prior to my return to KONO in late '79. Jim
CHRIS HUFF (Arlington, TX) dfwradio@hotmail.com , www.dfwradioarchives.com Hi Jim, I recently stumbled across your "Remembers..." articles and have thoroughly enjoyed them. Given your history
in the DFW area, I was hoping you might be able to provide some assistance to me, as I have spent over a decade in vain now
searching for Hooper and Pulse numbers for Dallas and Fort Worth. I've seen plenty of anecdotal numbers for a station here
and a daypart there, but never any actual numbers - and I'd like to be able to document them on my website. Any leads you
could give me in where to look, or who might still have this information would be greatly appreciated! Chris Huff
FRANK HALEY (Albuquerque, NM) fhaley@qwest.net Jim, Yes I remember KGKO, and I was a fan of K-BOX and KLIF. I applied for a news job at KBOX in the early '60's.
Ray Carnay didn't think I had enough experience, in fact I had none. I loved their production in the news dept. I have some
"air checks" of Bill Holly and Earl Vandervork (dead now) doing news, and others. Webster Webfoot was a puppet character on
WFAA radio, here's a reply from his creator Jimmy Weldon: First children's show in DALLAS...April 4, 1950. Continued until
September 1952 when Webster and I moved to Los Angeles to channel 13. Jimmy In 1951, I was 11 yrs old and I went to
see the program, what a thrill. Then in 1975, I was doing talk at KTRH in Houston, and Jimmy Weldon was speaking to a convention
in Houston, and I had him as a guest on my program, told him about attending his radio programs years ago. I now keep in touch
with him by email. He's done a lot of voices for cartoons in Calif,
He's really a guy. Frank
BILLY IDOL, born WILLIAM BROAD on November 11, 1955 in Stanmore, Middlesex, England was leader of the
London punk band, GERATION X from 1977-81 and the group, CHELSEA. BILLY has been a solo artist since 1982 with 4 Top Ten singles
on the Billboard chart. IDOL had one #1 single in the Fall of 1987, Mony Mony "Live". In the summer of 1990,
Cradle of Love, from the movie The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, sold more than a half million singles and
placed #2. Five of BILLY's other tunes landed in Billboard's Top 40. BILLY was injured in a motorcycle accident
February 2, 1990. IDOL had a role in the 1991 movie, The Doors.
Jim Rose
Houston, Texas
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