Indy AM's

[Flying-Dutchman]

WHYT, the old Noblesville AM was very directtional. It sent all it's power straight south. The signal was good in Columbus
and could be heard in Kentucky. I was surprised when it went dark.

 

[bhorner]

That station was my first job working in radio, going back to 1977. 6 towers in a farm field north of Noblesville, a block house and a couple of trailers for the building and studios. 5 towers working, a strong directional signal straight to the south. Owned by Dr. Wendell Hansen. the WHYT was Wendell's signature in correspondence by letter, signing them " Wendell Hansen Yours Truly ". His son, Dean Hansen, was the chief engineer.

It was bought out around 1980 by Jim Mathis and Emmitt Depuy, a couple of guys from the old WFBM TV station. Had Jim Morris as a silent partner. They changed the calls to WFBM and brought back Lou Sherman and Carolyn Churchman to do shows.

We were a daytimer, and when Wendell owned the station, the last 2 and a half hours before local sunset was a live remote sent over a bad sounding phone line from a gospel music station down on Indiana Avenue in downtown Indy. Arlene Manson was the DJ host, the record store she owned was Arlene's House of Gospel Music. Called herself Arlene, the Queen of Gospel music. It was truly two turntables and a microphone, live 5 days a week.

When the Blizzard of 1978 hit, I was snowed in at the station along with another DJ and a guy that was a part time sales guy/janitor. They sent out the National Guard on snowmobiles with provisions for us. I was there for 100 hours straight, splitting the on air time with the other dj. The DJs I worked with back then were Kevin Dugan and Brett Busby.

bobh

WHYT, the old Noblesville AM was very directtional. It sent all it's power straight south. The signal was good in Columbus
and could be heard in Kentucky. I was surprised when it went dark.

 

[IndyDan]

Wow, the QUEEN of good gospel music herself. I used to babysit her when she did her show on Sunday afternoons at WGRT (since she didn't have a 3rd phone to read the transmitter). I sat in the production studio and carted music and stuff for the week ahead. She would run her own board, but had a real nasty habit of leaving the mic open all the time, so sometimes things got on the air that shouldn't have. She would bring out her sister to screen the phones, and they would always stop by the KFC and bring in a bucket of chicken for everyone. The show was a real hit with the locals based on the phone calls we would get...NOT! She also owned a liquor store not too far from the record shop and would discount beer to me in exchange for my doing some liners for her show...but I ALWAYS went there during the daylight hours as it could get a little rough down there after dark. Dugan also worked at 'GRT on weekends, but didn't last too long as he and the GM did not see eye to eye on the music format. We also had the incredible Poppin' Perry Pierce doing his show overnights until he quit paying for his airtime. I think he did stuff at 'HYT prior to the Danville gig..that guy was a royal PITA.

 

[bhorner]

Poppin Perry Pierce.....

He used to buy the afternoon drive time there at HYT up until Arlene's segment.

Right after the noon news block and ag features report, WHYT went all Urban thanks to Perry. Yes, he was truly a handful to try and work with.

He used to pull up the one lane dirt road that led back to the studio building back on the farm driving this ugly blue Cadilac Seville. He did the show for 3 or 4 months, basically until he ran out of money to buy the airtime.

One of the funniest things I remember about working there....a girl I worked with at the time, still in college and her first radio gig, opened the front door to the building. It had a 3 step up concrete porch at the entrance. We had just signed off at sunset, and were leaving for the day. She opens the door, and lets out this scream....I come over to see what was wrong. There was a goat standing on the stoop, it had strayed from the nearby farmhouse of Woody Shields, the farmer that owned the land on which the station and towers were located. Her scream literally scared something out of the Goat that matched the quality of some of the programming at the station. If you have ever seen goat crap, it is small round pellets. There was a big burst of those things all over the front entrance when we walked out of the studio.

Last time I saw or heard anything about Kevin Dugan, he invited me up to see him at the studio where he was working at WBMP in Elwood, back in the days when Stan Barton owned the station. Had to be around 1980 or so.

 

[imafan]

no one listens to AM radio. music sux on AM.

 

[bhorner]

no one listens to AM radio. music sux on AM.

So quit whining about it and go buy an 8 track player....

 

[imafan]

no one listens to AM radio. music sux on AM.

So quit whining about it and go buy an 8 track player....

very original. this is an opinion board. my opinion is that music on AM sux. why are people asking for another oldies station on AM, when there is a great one on FM at 101.9?

 

[BobOnTheJob]

no one listens to AM radio. music sux on AM.

So quit whining about it and go buy an 8 track player....

very original. this is an opinion board. my opinion is that music on AM sux. why are people asking for another oldies station on AM, when there is a great one on FM at 101.9?

Only reason I might see is a station that cuts the era off in the very early 70's. A lot of true oldies fans are turned off by mid & late 70's tunes...I know I am. At 55, my oldies station would be heavily focused from 1964-1971 with minimal offerings outside of that range. I realize no one is going to microcast to the class of 1971, but a slightly "older" oldies station than WKLU would have a loyal audience on AM...it may be small, but it would be fiercely loyal. Especially if the audio sounded like CKLW did back in the day...and like Oldies 1160/Cincy does today.

 

[radiowannab]

very original. this is an opinion board. my opinion is that music on AM sux. why are people asking for another oldies station on AM, when there is a great one on FM at 101.9?

Based on your screen name do you work at the station? If you wanted to hear great oldies then you should have tuned into 104.5 a few years ago. They were a true Oldies Station. The Gold Good Guys were so fun to listen to. And they played actual Oldies. WKLU is just playing the same stuff they played two years ago only they are calling it Oldies. If you have the ear of management you should suggest they play real Oldies like Buddy Holly, Elvis, Ricky Nelson, and the Platters.

 

[imafan]

Funny how everyone thinks he's a better program director than those that are actually doing it. You have to give Oasis credit for bucking the trend, having the guts to be a maverick, adapt to the market, and still come out with a great sounding station.

Jealousy is an ugly thing.

 

[Wazzie]

I'm sure the high powered NCE stations would probably refuse to leave FM. OTOH, maybe if we shut down all the analog AM stations, and create a new structure of high powered digital AM stations with really good coverage areas, perhaps it could work. The digital AM should sound at least as good as FM.

Something I've been saying for years. Clean up the AM band by turning off the dogs. Most AM transmitters in the U.S. could go dark for a week and most Americans wouldn't even know it.

 

[radio lover]

Funny how everyone thinks he's a better program director than those that are actually doing it. You have to give Oasis credit for bucking the trend, having the guts to be a maverick, adapt to the market, and still come out with a great sounding station.

Jealousy is an ugly thing.

I think they sound great and I'm grateful for them pitting oldies on the fm dial. I hardly think when someone expresses their view on how they "like" to see it done is considered jealousy, just an opinion.