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Abandoned Conway Radio Station WLAT/WYAV

I hate to know that the old building is gone. My very first memory of radio was that station. I was in kindergarden and my grandmother had picked me up that day, we were getting ready to drive passed WLAT AM in those days (we're talkin 1975), and she said, "now listen, when we go past the radio station the sound will go up without me even touching it". Sure enough it did, I was amazed and hooked for life long radio career. So sad to know it's gone. I wish someone would have snapped a picture.

On another note, I was on the WKOA venture, and it was Bob Chase in the afternoons, and I had totally forgot I ever went by the name Bren Evans but that was me! Temple Hancock now for those that don't know, and I am a long way from Myrtle, Nashville is my new home. I wish I had some KOA tape though.
 
Temple,
I have some airchecks of WKOA that I am going to put on my site soon, but for some strange reason it was all unattended hours, I don't know if it was the time of day I airchecked (mainly middays and afternoons) or if it was when they first went on the air and were stunting, but there are no live announcers on it.
Talk to you on myspace!
K
 
Bob Vandergrift here. Is the old building on 501 STILL there? :eek: I started working for Jack Hawley around '77 while still in high school. We even carried MNF on the old Mutual network. When Jack sold them to Beasley in '84, I was hired to do the nightshift on the new WAVE 104, formerly WLAT-FM. WLAT-FM actually signed on at weekdays at 7AM! On Sundays, both stations signed on around 8AM! Lots of great memories there...Mike Green...Dave Dempsey...Bill Clardy...Randy Housand...Mike Oliver, etc. At WAVE 104, we bumped up the wattage to 100,000, moved the FM studios to Myrtle Beach, and took off-supplanting WKZQ as Myrtle Beach's #1 station, both in ARB and Birch. We were a poweful #1 the whole time I was there, with jocks like Jeff Kelly, Tom Brockway, Rusty Price, Lloyd Maxwell, Linda King, Calvin Hicks, etc. It's a shame the building and land aren't being used. As a Conway boy, that place has TONS of memories!
 
UPDATE>>>

Ironically enough, I use to sell for Cumulus Myrtle Beach. (Back when the staff and stations were worth a dern.) I now work for the man that owns the land on which the towers for the old WLAT/WYAV sit. The building itself sits on a separate piece of land. On Sunday, April 27, the walls and else with it were knocked completely down and pushed into a pile. I think they must have hit some kind of gas line in the process. Haz mat and lots of fire / rescue personnel had the area shut down for several hours. Not really relevant to anything, just FYI.
Anyway, the old towers could probably be bought if anyone is interested. I really don't know their worth, but if anyone is interested let me know...
 
Gatekeeper, I cannot get your email to work... I've tried several times. My email is [email protected]. Feel free to shoot me an email and I'll give you my cell number.
 
I'm trying to picture you Bob Vandergrift. We should have known each other if you went to work for Jack Hawley in 77. I worked AM there for years and did a live talk show from the Pizza Inn every weekday for five years or so. I remember Billy Smith coming over to work some after he left NMB too. I left in the mid eighties.

I thought the ideal launch for the Rock FM would have been to call it Bandit 104 and avoid identifying the station otherwise, except for the legal break slipped in under the breath when absolutley necessary. Otherwise, no location, no anything, almost as though it were a pirate station. Might have been a good gimmick to kick it off. BTW, the FM was 26k and Jack had had approval for 100k on the FM years before he sold the place. It was a sleeping giant with no ambition or budget.
 
I went to and graduated from USC Coastal Carolina College in 1991. I moved near Conway in 1987 to go to school. WYAV-FM WAVE 104 had become the higest rated top 40 radio station on the Grand Strand! WKZQ switched to classic Rock in the summer of 1989 beacuse they couldn`t match the Wave 104 ratings. WYAV did have 100,000 watts during this time and did MANY live remotes and gave out many WAVE 104 items. Their logo was VERY cool! I still have a WAVE 104 coffee cup from this era. Calvin Hicks was the Morning man back in this era. He left at one point abou late 1989. I remember that in 1992, WAVE 104 was still top 40 and Calvin Hicks had returned as Morning man. I don`t know how long he stayed. One cool thing to note about Wave 104 back in the mid to late 1980`s is that they had a super 1950`s-1960`s Oldies show on Sunday Nights. They also had the noontime hour as the "Oldies Diner". You must remember that the Grand Strand didn`t have a full time Oldies station in this period. WSYN-FM Sunny 106.5 went all Oldies in May of 1990 and I think that the Oldies on WAVE 104 disappeared during this time.
 
Hello Kenny Ray (O)

I did a morning show on the old WLAT-AM from 6A-12P, plus the Trading Post and Bulletin Board, then a 15 minute farm report at noon. I played AC in the morning; you played country in the afternoon. We had NO record service. We actually had to buy records from the music store at Coastal Mall. I left in the late '70s to go across town to WJXY, where I stayed until late '84-early '85.

-BV
 
Bob V. I think I do remember you now. You are in Florida now? I split my time between the Shenandoah Valley of Va. and near Savannah, Ga. Nice to know you are still kicking....

Kenny Ray
 
WOW! I can't believe some of the names I am seeing here. kahuna, Kilgo, Dorroh, Vandergrift, the only person missing is the man himself- Bill Hennesy (I can remeber him taking HOURS teaching us to say the letter W the way he wanted)...man those were the days. I was born in Myrtle Beach in 63 and grew up on ocean blvd (my family owned the Candy Castle right across from the gay dolphin). Radio was part of my life from the beginning. I remeber Johnny 'Fireball' Mack at WTGR, Steve Oin (my mentor may he rest in peace) gary 'Freakin Deacon' dawson so many rich personalities. Pat Milan and Bob Scarborough (a truly righteous dude) gave me my start at WTGR. Bill Files was an amazing engineer and WKZQ was the best place in the WORLD to work. Weekends, over nites even a temporary morning slot before banana jack showed up (bill hennesy saw something in me I guess) . Sadly my ego got the best of me and Johnny Diaz and myself had a falling out in 89 (once again i should have listened to the 'Hen Man'). Beautiful Lake 102 fm in Lake Lanier georgia was not so beautiful. From there back to MB and Sunny 106.5. After that I was Wave 104 bound. I had a great time and eventually worked my way to Morning cohost with Chris ling . Sadly I hitched my horse to his wagon and did get to travel a lot but it put a cloud on my career from the on. But i did manage to meet one of the best, most creative, loyal and honest men in the business- kahuna (ric you are the best). I went many places from there including raleigh, fayetville, st louis, new orleans, key west, pensacola- all over. But the Myrtle beach years were the best. The Glassman, Rockin Ric Hudson doing 'Da Butt' on top of the KZQ van in the middle of the pavillion, standing in a field with the Waxman (spenser trent) wearing a santa suit along with bill hennessy. And the Wave 104/Power 98 wars were EPIC- thanks to the rivaalry i got investigated by the FBI and visited bt FCC agents. I have tons of pics and will one day publish them. I hear from some of my old friends still- Amy Cross is working pt at KOLA, Kahuna is THE voice of traffic constipation, chris ling is still fleecing folks. Man THAT was radio :)
 
Dan, you are too kind. You left out one who was always a true radio friend, one who was always ready to help out, to make things happen, to help me move my thousands upon thousands of records from one side of Myrtle Beach to the other, one who ALWAYS made me welcome in his home, no matter what time of the day or night, one who always had time to listen, one who enjoyed Bill Haley's music as much as I, one who walked for a friggin' hour with me down a freezing cold snow slope, one who made me comfortable enough to "let my hair hang down"... DAN THE VAN MAN. I miss you, my brother.
ANSWER YOUR FRIGGIN' PHONE ONCE IN A BLUE MOON! Seriously, nice words you had there, a check is in the mail...
 
I loved the Candy Castle next to the gay Dolphin. Me and my wife visted this year and it is now something else. Did y`all sell out? I loved WKZQ. Dan the man, were you there when WSYN switched to Oldies in 1990? You said you worked at WLKQ-Oldies Lake 102 in Buford/lake Lanier, GA? When? I listened to them back in the late 1990`s when I lived oin Conyers, GA. Did you know Mark Joseph? Were they bad to you?
 
I don't want to get off topic, but I remember Jones Bingo next to the Gay Dolphin and I think they expanded into that space.

I also remember a place where people would shoot guns. There was a bird who flapped his wings and made an annoying howling noise. There was a stop light that would change.

And my favorite was the man in the cowboy hat who played the piano.

I wonder why I'm thinking of "Never As Good As the First Time" by Sade being played on WKZQ?

If all goes as planned, I'll be in Myrtle Beach in two weeks. I might remember to look where the old building for WLAT was. Then again, I might not. But if I do remember, I guess I'll be sad.
 
I saw it. :(

I thought I had passed it because there were so many stores. Then I saw the sign. The worst it has ever looked. The towers are there.
 
I'm spending Christmas at Myrtle Beach this year...gonna be sad lookin' at that piece of property, like always for me. When I drive by there, I think of a time gone by, and my first gig in radio, in a little building that looked a lot like that...and think of the way things where. This ain't the business it used to be :(
 
I drove through on Friday, on my way to the beach...and it was a sad sight. The building is gone. Two towers remain, but that's it. Amazing how much this area is changing. I've been visiting here regularly since I was a kid. The big empty lot where the Pavilion was is at least as sad as the big empty lot where the radio stations used to be.
 
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