I just happened to see the list of nominees for the 2007 class of the National Radio Hall Of Fame, and right there among the big names such as Jimmy Durante, Art Bell, Dr. Laura, Dan Ingram and Rufus Thomas, is Bob Sievers, who hosted the legendary "Little Red Barn" morning show for many, many years on WOWO in Fort Wayne (he's nominated in the Local Pioneers category). Wouldn't it be something to see "Mr. WOWO" take his place among radio's greats? You can see the entire list of nominees at www.radiohof.org.
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Bob Sievers Up For National Radio Hall Of Fame
- Thread starter Corky Marlowe
- Start date
There are certainly some heavyweights in Siever's category. Bob Collins of WGN, Dan Ingram from WABC's heyday and then WCBS-FM, and Rufus Thomas who not only was a radio star in Memphis, but also had a few hits himself for Stax. I wasn't much of a WOWO listener in my youth, but learned to respect the program in my 20s. Sievers and ag director Jay Gould knew their audience and played to them well. This was back in the day when WOWO garnered their usual double digit ratings and left the rest of the market to fight it out for the best single digit ratings. I hope Sievers can get the nod. 50 years being associated with the same station, who does that anymore? (He started on WOWO after serving his country in WWII.)
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hammondo
Guest
When I owned the Columbia City station we were one of those single digit "competitors" with Bob and Jay for a while. Bob and Jay and Smoky Montgomery (who probably gave us 500 records) are among the BEST memories I have of those days.
Is Smoky still around? I know the record shop burned down, right?
Is Smoky still around? I know the record shop burned down, right?
Good luck to Bob! That's sounds pretty good! 
hammondo said:
Smoky passed away sometime in the last year... The record shop is still standing and open for "git-tars" and record needles.
When I owned the Columbia City station we were one of those single digit "competitors" with Bob and Jay for a while. Bob and Jay and Smoky Montgomery (who probably gave us 500 records) are among the BEST memories I have of those days.
Is Smoky still around? I know the record shop burned down, right?
Smokey is no longer with us? Sad..."Howdy, friends, this is Smokey Montgomery of Smokey's Record Shop, and also Smokey's Tours..."
Did you own the CC (Columbia City, not That Company) station when it was still WFDT?
Is Smoky still around? I know the record shop burned down, right?
Smokey is no longer with us? Sad..."Howdy, friends, this is Smokey Montgomery of Smokey's Record Shop, and also Smokey's Tours..."
Did you own the CC (Columbia City, not That Company) station when it was still WFDT?
I had the pleasure of listening to Bob Sievers and the Little Red Barn show ("Here, chickchickchickchick!") when I was growing up in the Ft. Wayne area, and Bob Collins while in Chicago from '94-'98. Two of the absolute best, both deserving of a place in The Hall. Spike at WGN comes close, but they don't make 'em like than anymore. mw
A
Anyacat
Guest
I can not take any organization seriously that lauded L. Lowry Mays as a "pioneer" even though he has expressed his contempt for the medium. In 2003, Mays told Fortune Magazine: "We're not in the business of providing news and information. We're not in the business of providing well-researched music. We're simply in the business of selling our customers products." Although it is true that no one has had a greater impact on what passes for radio than Mays, his influence has not been a positive experience for those who work in radio or who listen to radio. As far as I can tell, Mays was inducted in 2004 because he owned more radio stations than anybody else, not because he had made any positive contributions to the medium, to those who work in radio or to those who listen to radio. Well, okay, he made himself and his investors rich.
VERY much deserved. In northern Indiana, and western Ohio, he is an icon. Most of those names from the late 60's/early 70's era WOWO are still easily recognized in the area. Anybody that has ever been in the business around that area understand the importance he played in broadcasting.
For the students.. Get the hardback on The Indiana Broadcasters Hall Of Fame and you'll see his influence goes way beyond Fort Wayne, the (fulltime then) 50kw signal and the outer reaches of American radio icons... Well deserved....
D
dinosaur
Guest
Bob Sievers unmistakable voice can still be heard on WOWO doing station IDs.
I heard that even before he was doing the IDs that FedMed kept him on the payroll since the time they bought WOWO. (Maybe I read that here.) Nice move! And I thought Bob was just on some "local access" cable show here, but I only caught the credits. Anyone know what that was?
K
kirkiefan
Guest
I remember listening to WOWO and Bob Sievers in the early 70s growing up on the west side of the Buckeye-Hoosier line. Bob is long overdue for an award. Anybody out there remember any other worthy Ft. Wayne Dj's from back in the day?
Jack Underwood-WOWO
Charlie Butcher and Chad Hunt-WMEE
Dr. Dave-WLDE
Marvelous Mark McClure-WERK(AM) in Muncie
Jack Underwood-WOWO
Charlie Butcher and Chad Hunt-WMEE
Dr. Dave-WLDE
Marvelous Mark McClure-WERK(AM) in Muncie
I remember listening to Bob Sievers and Jay Gould in the mid to late 60's. I was listening to the Little Red Barn program in Tampa, Florida.
WOWO did have one great nighttime signal in this direction.
WOWO did have one great nighttime signal in this direction.
frankberry said:
That's certainly not an isolated observation. Before the 1995 hobbling of their signal, WOWO could be picked up all up and down the East coast, and on cruise ships in the Atlantic and Caribbean.In fact, Chris Roberts once played an aircheck of WOWO that was supposedly taped in Sweden. In the 60's and 70's, their nighttime DJ's, like John Cigna, Listo Fisher, Calvin "Baby" Richards and Carol Ford had audiences as wide as those on WABC, WLS, WLW, and other big sticks...In fact, some of them got big time gigs in NYC and Boston.
They say talk radio saved AM...Maybe so, but I miss the days when AM radio could just play music, whether it was rock, MOR, country, or whatever, and the people playing the music could simply entertain us without talking about Democrats, Republicans, UFO's, car repair, ballplayers on steroids, or how to cleanse our colons.
I remember hearing the story of a person from my home area who was in the Army in the mid 60s stationed in Germany. While on bivouwac (sp?) they were tuning around on an AM radio and picked up WOWO. He and his farm family used to wake up to Sievers and crew all through his youth and after his return to the family farm.
I do remember Listo Fisher on overnights and if I'm not mistaken he landed at WBZ eventually. I also remember Michael O'Shea who sounded more like a top 40 jock than the rest back in the day. Who can forget Carol Ford. I wonder how many midwesterners were shocked to learn she was black! I believe she works on the Doug Banks show now. A couple of lesser known names...Dale Ulmer and Larry Kenney. I had one of their Ulmer and Kenney lemonade stands. Larry Kenney had laryngitis his first night.
When I was a kid, I always thought Bob Sievers and Jack Underwood sounded a little out of place introducing rock and roll. But certainly they are/were legends. It's great that Bob Sievers is still doing IDs. Does he still do commercial voiceovers in the market? I do remember being a kid and wondering how Bob got from the "Little Red barn" to the studio in five minutes at 7am.
When I was a kid, I always thought Bob Sievers and Jack Underwood sounded a little out of place introducing rock and roll. But certainly they are/were legends. It's great that Bob Sievers is still doing IDs. Does he still do commercial voiceovers in the market? I do remember being a kid and wondering how Bob got from the "Little Red barn" to the studio in five minutes at 7am.
My first roommate at Ball State (way back when) was from Ft. Wayne, and our little Sony clock radio went off mornings to “The Little Red Barn” and “Bob”... He was GREAT! I remember him talking one morning about how much he liked the current Disco-Tex ‘n His Sex-O-Lettes “Get Dancing”... I thought – how cool that 40-50-year-old is! Bob was a very “cool” and a great host on raydeyoo! He was from that great age of “very local radio” that could just happen to be heard in Baltimore. ‘No what guys?... ‘Baltimore probably thought well of Indiana for it! CHEERS!
Carol Ford was/is a great person. When I first came to Fort Wayne I did all nights on WMEE/1380. Carol was on WOWO. We used to talk on the phone occasionally and she and I and a couple of other folks used to meet for breakfast after our shows. Years later when I was at Y107 in the NYC area, I got a call from a very familiar voice. We had a nice chat and later that year met for lunch. Real class person.gr8oldies said:
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