• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Chapman Memories

D

Davradio

Guest
Not that I wanted to make this out to be some sort of "morbid" farewell to Ron Chapman... however we all have memories that stick in our minds...

I know we have talked about the "Great Race" with Mike Seldon back in the 70's and the People's Choice Jackpot and so on.

One of my fondest memories happened when KVIL would be simulcast on Channel 39 for a week-- and we would have the faces with the voices in the morning--- very inovative when you consider what is available today on the webcast and such...

KVIL's original Helicopter was a HUGHES- looked like a yellow bumble bee -- and I remember a nieghbor of mine would fly the bird and that was always special when I was younger-- they landed over at the NORTH PARK INN on Central and Park Lane-- and having Suzie Humphries flying (and later in the KVIL-0-Van)--

Some great inovations that Ron brought with him to KVIL from KLIF-- and what Gordon McLendon instilled in Ron-- you can tell he kept all the way to the very end-- including the choice of song and the gracefulness he walked away--

Good luck to you Ron and I hope you and Nance have a great trip-- and we will see ya down the road!

Just a thought!<P ID="signature">______________
Dave Michaels
Davradio Productions
Dallas, Texas</P>
 
> Not that I wanted to make this out to be some sort of
> "morbid" farewell to Ron Chapman... however we all have
> memories that stick in our minds...
>
> I know we have talked about the "Great Race" with Mike
> Seldon back in the 70's and the People's Choice Jackpot and
> so on.
>
> One of my fondest memories happened when KVIL would be
> simulcast on Channel 39 for a week-- and we would have the
> faces with the voices in the morning--- very inovative when
> you consider what is available today on the webcast and
> such...
>
> KVIL's original Helicopter was a HUGHES- looked like a
> yellow bumble bee -- and I remember a nieghbor of mine would
> fly the bird and that was always special when I was
> younger-- they landed over at the NORTH PARK INN on Central
> and Park Lane-- and having Suzie Humphries flying (and later
> in the KVIL-0-Van)--
>
> Some great inovations that Ron brought with him to KVIL from
> KLIF-- and what Gordon McLendon instilled in Ron-- you can
> tell he kept all the way to the very end-- including the
> choice of song and the gracefulness he walked away--
>
> Good luck to you Ron and I hope you and Nance have a great
> trip-- and we will see ya down the road!
>
> Just a thought!


Enough already.
 
>
> One of my fondest memories happened when KVIL would be
> simulcast on Channel 39 for a week-- and we would have the
> faces with the voices in the morning--- very inovative when
> you consider what is available today on the webcast and
> such...

>
When I was 8 or so I remember getting up at 5:30 for that entire week! I would tune the radio to 103.7 and watch Ch 39 at the same to get the "full effect". That's when I knew I wanted to be in radio...something about the magic behind the scenes.

It was during one of these shows that Ron walked back to what I am assuming was one of the production studios and held up a Compact Disc to the camera and predicted that we would all soon have these in our cars and homes. That was the first time I had ever heard of this technology and didn't see one again for 5 years or so. For whatever reason I distinctly remember him discribing the disc as "undistructable"....obviously this turned out not to be true, but compared to wax it probably seemed (and was) much less delicate.
 
> > Not that I wanted to make this out to be some sort of
> > "morbid" farewell to Ron Chapman... however we all have
> > memories that stick in our minds...
> >
> > I know we have talked about the "Great Race" with Mike
> > Seldon back in the 70's and the People's Choice Jackpot
> and
> > so on.
> >
> > One of my fondest memories happened when KVIL would be
> > simulcast on Channel 39 for a week-- and we would have the
>
> > faces with the voices in the morning--- very inovative
> when
> > you consider what is available today on the webcast and
> > such...
> >
> > KVIL's original Helicopter was a HUGHES- looked like a
> > yellow bumble bee -- and I remember a nieghbor of mine
> would
> > fly the bird and that was always special when I was
> > younger-- they landed over at the NORTH PARK INN on
> Central
> > and Park Lane-- and having Suzie Humphries flying (and
> later
> > in the KVIL-0-Van)--
> >
> > Some great inovations that Ron brought with him to KVIL
> from
> > KLIF-- and what Gordon McLendon instilled in Ron-- you can
>
> > tell he kept all the way to the very end-- including the
> > choice of song and the gracefulness he walked away--
> >
> > Good luck to you Ron and I hope you and Nance have a great
>
> > trip-- and we will see ya down the road!
> >
> > Just a thought!
>
>
> Enough already.


Sheesh he's just paying tribute
 
> > > Not that I wanted to make this out to be some sort of
> > > "morbid" farewell to Ron Chapman... however we all have
> > > memories that stick in our minds...
> > >
> > > I know we have talked about the "Great Race" with Mike
> > > Seldon back in the 70's and the People's Choice Jackpot
> > and
> > > so on.
> > >
> > > One of my fondest memories happened when KVIL would be
> > > simulcast on Channel 39 for a week-- and we would have
> the
> >
> > > faces with the voices in the morning--- very inovative
> > when
> > > you consider what is available today on the webcast and
> > > such...
> > >
> > > KVIL's original Helicopter was a HUGHES- looked like a
> > > yellow bumble bee -- and I remember a nieghbor of mine
> > would
> > > fly the bird and that was always special when I was
> > > younger-- they landed over at the NORTH PARK INN on
> > Central
> > > and Park Lane-- and having Suzie Humphries flying (and
> > later
> > > in the KVIL-0-Van)--
> > >
> > > Some great inovations that Ron brought with him to KVIL
> > from
> > > KLIF-- and what Gordon McLendon instilled in Ron-- you
> can
> >
> > > tell he kept all the way to the very end-- including the
>
> > > choice of song and the gracefulness he walked away--
> > >
> > > Good luck to you Ron and I hope you and Nance have a
> great
> >
> > > trip-- and we will see ya down the road!
> > >
> > > Just a thought!
> >
> >
> > Enough already.
>
>
> Sheesh he's just paying tribute


More like a wake.

And he's done it more than once.

But what do I know. I never listened to him.
 
Two questions here...didn't Channel 5 do the same type of simulcast in the mid-1970s with Ron? Seems like it ran from 4:30PM-5PM, and would have had to be a delay of what was taped in the morning (unless Ron took afternoons for a brief time at KVIL?) This went on for a couple of months, maybe. I remember the cameras zooming in on a digital countdown clock that the jocks used to "hit the post"/talk up to the beginning word of a song. This was taped while they were still at the old Park Cities Bank building on Preston.

Second, Suzie didn't fly for very long, as the chopper crashed one day in 1977 and killed the pilot and his girlfriend, only moments after dropping off Suzie at the Northpark Inn. Was your neighbor the pilot that got killed? Seems like the chopper crashed upside-down somewhere in a University Park neighborhood. Suzie was apparently spooked by the event and never flew in a chopper again. This was maybe a year into her tenure at KVIL.

> One of my fondest memories happened when KVIL would be
> simulcast on Channel 39 for a week-- and we would have the
> faces with the voices in the morning--- very inovative when
> you consider what is available today on the webcast and
> such...
>
> KVIL's original Helicopter was a HUGHES- looked like a
> yellow bumble bee -- and I remember a nieghbor of mine would
> fly the bird and that was always special when I was
> younger-- they landed over at the NORTH PARK INN on Central
> and Park Lane-- and having Suzie Humphries flying (and later
> in the KVIL-0-Van)--
>
 
>
> Second, Suzie didn't fly for very long, as the chopper
> crashed one day in 1977 and killed the pilot and his
> girlfriend, only moments after dropping off Suzie at the
> Northpark Inn. Was your neighbor the pilot that got killed?
> Seems like the chopper crashed upside-down somewhere in a
> University Park neighborhood. Suzie was apparently spooked
> by the event and never flew in a chopper again. This was
> maybe a year into her tenure at KVIL.
>
>Suzie was also with child at the time.
 
> > > > Not that I wanted to make this out to be some sort of
> > > > "morbid" farewell to Ron Chapman... however we all
> have
> > > > memories that stick in our minds...
> > > >
> > > > I know we have talked about the "Great Race" with Mike
>
> > > > Seldon back in the 70's and the People's Choice
> Jackpot
> > > and
> > > > so on.
> > > >
> > > > One of my fondest memories happened when KVIL would be
>
> > > > simulcast on Channel 39 for a week-- and we would have
>
> > the
> > >
> > > > faces with the voices in the morning--- very inovative
>
> > > when
> > > > you consider what is available today on the webcast
> and
> > > > such...
> > > >
> > > > KVIL's original Helicopter was a HUGHES- looked like a
>
> > > > yellow bumble bee -- and I remember a nieghbor of mine
>
> > > would
> > > > fly the bird and that was always special when I was
> > > > younger-- they landed over at the NORTH PARK INN on
> > > Central
> > > > and Park Lane-- and having Suzie Humphries flying (and
>
> > > later
> > > > in the KVIL-0-Van)--
> > > >
> > > > Some great inovations that Ron brought with him to
> KVIL
> > > from
> > > > KLIF-- and what Gordon McLendon instilled in Ron-- you
>
> > can
> > >
> > > > tell he kept all the way to the very end-- including
> the
> >
> > > > choice of song and the gracefulness he walked away--
> > > >
> > > > Good luck to you Ron and I hope you and Nance have a
> > great
> > >
> > > > trip-- and we will see ya down the road!
> > > >
> > > > Just a thought!
> > >
> > >
> > > Enough already.
> >
> >
> > Sheesh he's just paying tribute
>
>
> More like a wake.
>
> And he's done it more than once.
>
> But what do I know. I never listened to him.
>

Obviously.
 
> > > > > Not that I wanted to make this out to be some sort
> of
> > > > > "morbid" farewell to Ron Chapman... however we all
> > have
> > > > > memories that stick in our minds...
> > > > >
> > > > > I know we have talked about the "Great Race" with
> Mike
> >
> > > > > Seldon back in the 70's and the People's Choice
> > Jackpot
> > > > and
> > > > > so on.
> > > > >
> > > > > One of my fondest memories happened when KVIL would
> be
> >
> > > > > simulcast on Channel 39 for a week-- and we would
> have
> >
> > > the
> > > >
> > > > > faces with the voices in the morning--- very
> inovative
> >
> > > > when
> > > > > you consider what is available today on the webcast
> > and
> > > > > such...
> > > > >
> > > > > KVIL's original Helicopter was a HUGHES- looked like
> a
> >
> > > > > yellow bumble bee -- and I remember a nieghbor of
> mine
> >
> > > > would
> > > > > fly the bird and that was always special when I was
> > > > > younger-- they landed over at the NORTH PARK INN on
> > > > Central
> > > > > and Park Lane-- and having Suzie Humphries flying
> (and
> >
> > > > later
> > > > > in the KVIL-0-Van)--
> > > > >
> > > > > Some great inovations that Ron brought with him to
> > KVIL
> > > > from
> > > > > KLIF-- and what Gordon McLendon instilled in Ron--
> you
> >
> > > can
> > > >
> > > > > tell he kept all the way to the very end-- including
>
> > the
> > >
> > > > > choice of song and the gracefulness he walked away--
>
> > > > >
> > > > > Good luck to you Ron and I hope you and Nance have a
>
> > > great
> > > >
> > > > > trip-- and we will see ya down the road!
> > > > >
> > > > > Just a thought!
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Enough already.
> > >
> > >
> > > Sheesh he's just paying tribute
> >
> >
> > More like a wake.
> >
> > And he's done it more than once.
> >
> > But what do I know. I never listened to him.
> >
>
> Obviously.


I did not mean that literally. Just that I rarely listened.

What I was trying to say is that I did not grow up in Dallas, and I do not have the memories some do of him.

I have heard him through the years, and the Ron Chapman of the '80s on KVIL obviously was not the same Ron Chapman that left the air last week. Compare the airchecks, his energy level had dropped noticeably.

All of us get older. No one can dispute that his ratings were down, and probably would never improve.

Many people I have talked to who moved to Dallas and did not grow up here were mystified by his appeal.

However, he is much like Wally Phillips and Larry Lujack were to Chicago, the Gamblings in New York and Robert W. Morgan in LA.

But to us outsiders, he was another disc jockey.

Some have even hinted that he was not even that nice a person. In my few dealings with him, he was personable and cordial. But I did not work for him.

Curious? Did you listen to him every morning?
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom