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I worked with Kyle (part of the Curfman radio family also including Dean, and Kelly). If memory serves, Tom Land was back in the building at that time as PD, latter to become GM of KEYN/KQAM. I think we were running somewhere around 1000 titles. Five or six cart carousels and carts also in wall racks.
I spent a lot of time in the building at 2829 Salina over the years. I got my first full-time air gig doing over nights when it was KWBB after leaving the 6-12m shift at KAKE 1240. This was around 1973 or so??
A note regarding people who wandered through the place back in the day. Todd Wallace, a top 40 legend, Jim Setters, Dick Schmidt local legend newsmen, also "Margo at Night" Margo went straight from "Music Radio 14" to KFRC as the first female air talent at "The Big 610".
An interesting story about the KQAM calls. I will lay partial claim to planting the seed along with Glen Martin. When KEYN (American Media) bought the facility the original plan was to continue KBUL (country) programming that was on the old daytime 900 frequency. After several months, the station decided to ditch country and move towards AC/Top 40 on 1410 via automation. Remember "Fred" (F---ing Ridiculous Electronic Device)? Eventually the automation became known as "Otto". Glen and I voice tracked the station 24/7 using an all cart carousel system. A pain in the rear but when it worked it sounded great...
Sorry drifted off course...
For a while the AM was known as "14K". Just before the sale to Long-Pride it was decided to go all oldies hence the call letter change exploration. I always liked having a "Q" in the call letters (from my day(s) at KBEQ "Super Q Plays Favorites") so we checked out options. KAMQ, was in use BUT KQAM was available. We really liked the "flow" of 14-10 K-Q-A-M and the rest is history...
The station really came alive under the guidance of Tom Land and Dan Pearmen (both ex-WHB).
They were able to entice some really great talent into the station, Dick Yarnell (ex-KAKE) Rick Gannon (ex-KLEO) Bill Bishop, and many others. A great time for Wichita radio...
Jay,
I remember listening to you--mainly overnights on KEYN (I think), 'don't remember the era, '72-'78? Did you have anything to do with the "Q garoo" (mascot)?
Jay,
I remember listening to you--mainly overnights on KEYN (I think), 'don't remember the era, '72-'78? Did you have anything to do with the "Q garoo" (mascot)?
DJ
Must be another Jay ???
Never worked the Q suit either, but I know who did, my friend "~o~" :-X Oh wait, I did voice track 70's style, the AM overnights briefly when I was doing afternoon drive on the AM. I worked several times for KEYN AM/FM beginning in 1975 at the Mr. D's location on Central, then again from late 1976-82 at Salina. I came back middays on AM then quickly to FM morning drive, FM afternoon drive and 6-10p on FM while also the AM/FM Chief Engineer.
I left in 82 for KOFM OKC, KPKE Denver, WLS/WYTZ Chicago, finally to Dallas at KEGL...
Since then I've been with CBS Dallas for coming up on 20 years...
I'm still on the air so to speak as the imaging voice of "Oldies Radio 98.7 KLUV HD-2" here in Dallas as well as a Chief Engineer for CBS.
I worked with Kyle (part of the Curfman radio family also including Dean, and Kelly). If memory serves, Tom Land was back in the building at that time as PD, latter to become GM of KEYN/KQAM. I think we were running somewhere around 1000 titles. Five or six cart carousels and carts also in wall racks.
I built that little studio over a weekend many years ago. My Dad built the cabinetry also.
A Collins IC-10 console, six ITC cart machines on the over bridge, Sennheiser MD 421 microphones, Valley People Gain Brain mic processors, all into a CRL stack to a Collins Power Rock transmitter.
Jay;
I must have mis-remembered you on KEYN overnights. I think I sometimes confused you with Steve Bridgewater. I am amazed that you can remember all the equipment in KQAM "control." Congrats on still being gainfully employed in radio.
Jay;
I must have mis-remembered you on KEYN overnights. I think I sometimes confused you with Steve Bridgewater. I am amazed that you can remember all the equipment in KQAM "control." Congrats on still being gainfully employed in radio.
DJ
It was no big deal remembering the equipment at KQAM, I was chief engineer and processing guru for both AM and FM.
On KEYN-FM I ran a Rockwell/Collins console Valley People Gain Brain mic processors and at various times depending on my mood modified DAP 210's and Urei LA-4's into an Optimod 8000 with the first composite clipper in the market. When KARD switched format to Hot A/C I changed KEYN's processing to Urei LA-4's into modified DAP 210's into an Orban 8100, then added the XT package as well all with heavy composite clipping. We used to drive everybody nuts because we were so LOUD yet clean.
After I left the market various stations in Wichita called and paid me to come up and tweak.. Having been a jock, I've always appreciated good audio processing. The best I worked on in the 70's was KBEQ in Kansas City. You could go from "Radar Love" into "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" and not see or hear a level change. I still do processing consulting around the country...
I started at KQAM in 1990, the day after they changed formats from Oldies to Adult Standards. I worked there a year before crossing the street to KFH. Jay, KEYN AM-FM in the late 70's and early 80's were the stations that made me want to get into broadcasting. As a young kid, I was fascinated by the fact that KEYN was on both AM and FM. In fact, I have some old program logs from KEYN-AM from 1978 that I got out of the attic of the KQAM studio. The music on the program log was basically what you described, an AC/Top 40 mix. I have a few questions.
Did you work on KEYN-AM when it was disco? I heard an aircheck of the station's disco format where the DJ went by the name Jay.
Did KEYN go back to an AC/Top 40 format after the Disco format? Did the oldies format come before or after the call letter change to KQAM?
Do you have any copies of the old "Time Capsule" program that aired on KEYN-AM on Sunday afternoons?
Sadly I must admit to working the "Disco" phase at 1410. :
You are correct KEYN AM went back to a Hot A/C format until the format and call letter change when it became KQAM.
I don't have any of the old Time Capsule programs, or my favorite, "News Blimp".
I visited KWBB in the 1970's It has a rather large building containing the transmitters and studios and offices. I recall a taller FM tower on the same property. KWBB had a Collins 21E 5KW transmitter, and a GE 1KW tranmitter. They had an unusual GE AM modulation and frequency monitor, the only one I have ever seen in my travels. I do not recall the format, but remember a lot of unused space in the building complex. Station had decent audio on the air. When did this burn down? Was this site ever rebuilt?
It burned to the ground around 10 years ago and the building was never rebuilt.
When they re-built the transmitter building they put up a little pre-fab that holds a BE solid-state xmtr and phaser.
The 21E and the GE XT-1 were pretty good transmitters at the time. When I was CE there we installed a Collins Power Rock to replace the XT-1 and it was a sweet sounding site.
Super clean and real loud. I don't recall the freq/mod monitor you mention, I had a Potomic then a Belar when i made the xmtr change since I needed to measure positive peaks. When I first went to work in the building in the early 70's we had the Max twins from CBS. Over the years I change through a number of processors from Modu-Limiter to CRL.
Neat old place back in the day...
Jay Walker
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