I just wrote a Wikipedia article regarding KENR.
My proverbial hat is off to Chuck Tiller, amongst others, for his information.
Unfortunately, Wikipedia says this article is a "candidate for speedy deletion." Hope that was just a misprint.
*****
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KENR
During the 1970s, 1070 AM KENR Houston (Texas) was a popular country music radio station.
The station first signed on in mid-January 1968 as a 5,000-watt daytimer, owned by one Bill Edwards of Saginaw, Mich. In 1972 or 1973, the station began broadcasting 24 hours a day and increased its power to 10,000 watts daytime and 5,000 watts at night.
DJs on "Kayner" or "Keener" Country in the early days included Eddie Kilroy, who went on to become a prominent country music record producer in Nashville, and Jacky Ward, who subsequently scored country hits of his own with songs such as "Fools Fall In Love" and "Big Blue Diamond."
When KENR started broadcasting 24 hours, Leroy J. Gloger, then-owner of KIKK-AM 650, was concerned about the fate of his station so he sold it to Sonderling Broadcasting. In the meantime, KNUZ's owner, Dave Morris, felt his station was losing a top 40 turf war with "The Big 610" KILT-AM and was also being hurt by AM 790 KULF, so he flipped the station's format to "Country Fresh Kay-News" in 1973. However, according to Houston radio vet Chuck Tiller, KNUZ at its best was a "punch," meaning that if you didn't like what KENR or KIKK were playing, you might "punch" your button for KNUZ as a second choice.
By 1973, KENR was a big success, becoming the first major-market country station to be ranked #1 in all demographic groups 12-years-old and older. DJ and music director "Dr. Bruce" Nelson (now known as "Dr. Bruce" Nelson Stratton) had a hand in this and, accordingly, was named Gavin Music Director of the Year in 1974.
It's said that Nelson helped boost the careers of Mickey Gilley, Freddy Fender,Johnny Lee and Gene Watson. The Mickey Gilley story is relatively well known: Despite one #68 U.S. country chart hit ("Now I Can Live Again)" in, coincidentally, 1968, Gilley was essentially a local Houston-area artist when, in 1974, he cut a single, "She Called Me Baby," to be distributed in jukeboxes around the adjacent city of Pasadena, Texas. Bruce Nelson found the record, flipped it over and played the B-side on the air. The song, "Room Full Of Roses," became a hit, Playboy Records picked it up and it became the first of 16 #1 country chart hits for Gilley.
Bruce Nelson also started, on KENR, the first live broadcast from Gilley's nightclub, the "Saturday Night Special," which evolved into the syndicated "Live at Gilley's" show that was popular during the "Urban Cowboy" craze.
The liner notes of country singer Gene Watson's 1975 album "Love In the Hot Afternoon" includes the statement, "We at Capitol Records owe a debt of gratitude to radio stations KENR, KIKK and KNUS (sic; this should read KNUZ) in Houston for their part in exposing the talents of Gene Watson ..." The album included three country hits, including "You Could Know As Much About A Stranger."
Around 1976-77, KENR's DJ lineup included morning man "Buffalo Bill" Bailey (whose schtick included appearances by Ezra Brooks and other denizens of the Let It Pour Lounge); late-morning DJ Hal McClain (whose schtick included call-in sessions by "Granny"); early-afternoon DJ Mike Cannon; and Bruce Nelson in afternoon drive. (Bailey later became a Harris Co., Texas, constable.)
Other DJs during KENR's tenure included John Dew (1977), Howard Reynolds (1980), Frank Roberts (1981) and Jim Rose (1981). Additionally, helicopter traffic reporter "Chopper Bill" Waldrop worked there in 1981 as well.
In 1981, KILT-AM changed formats to country from top 40; longtime album-rock sister KILT-FM followed suit. Additionally, nationwide, music on AM was fading at that time. (One exception, albeit an off-topic one, was the success of KKBQ-AM Houston -- once known as KULF -- for a time starting in mid-1982.)
KENR responded by becoming "Keener Country Gold." But it was being seriously hurt by KIKK-FM and both versions of KILT.
In 1982 the new management of Lake Huron flipped KENR's format again to news/talk as "The Radio Magazine, KENR." Former KNUZ air personality Joe Ford became morning man, Chuck Scott from channel 39 KHTV (which was later to become known as KHWB) did news and former New Yorker Peggy Crone handled entertainment news. John Greer and Mark Seegers did sports. Mike Shiloh was also on the staff as well. The station also carried Houston Astros play-by-play. Aside from news, talk and sports, the station also programmed pre-rock standards music.
By November 1982, the station's music changed to light adult contemporary. In January 1983, sister station KRBE-FM started its own "Radio Magazine," and it was announced that the Houston Astros would also be broadcast on KRBE.
The station pulled the plug on the radio magazine in summer 1983.
AM 1070 subsequently went through periodic format changes, occasionally simulcasting sister KRBE (which, by the way, flipped back to top 40 in 1985) and, at other times, airing such formats as classic rock and hard rock.
In November 1986, Susquehanna Radio purchased KRBE as well as AM 1070, which by then was known as KKZR. Susquehanna changed KKZR's call letters back to KENR. It sold the AM station in 1994 or 1995.
After a period of brokered ethnic programming, the AM signal was acquired by Salem Broadcasting, which programmed it with a Christian format for a time. Currently, though, it programs a news/talk format as KNTH.
http://www.radiodailynews.com/rdncentralarchives-2004-1.htm
http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cach...ruce+Nelson"+++radio&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6
http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cach...ruce+Nelson"+++radio&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6
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[ http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cach...uce+Nelson"+++radio&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6]
[ http://www.susquehannaradio.com/aboutus/history.asp]
[6]
[7]
My proverbial hat is off to Chuck Tiller, amongst others, for his information.
Unfortunately, Wikipedia says this article is a "candidate for speedy deletion." Hope that was just a misprint.
*****
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KENR
During the 1970s, 1070 AM KENR Houston (Texas) was a popular country music radio station.
The station first signed on in mid-January 1968 as a 5,000-watt daytimer, owned by one Bill Edwards of Saginaw, Mich. In 1972 or 1973, the station began broadcasting 24 hours a day and increased its power to 10,000 watts daytime and 5,000 watts at night.
DJs on "Kayner" or "Keener" Country in the early days included Eddie Kilroy, who went on to become a prominent country music record producer in Nashville, and Jacky Ward, who subsequently scored country hits of his own with songs such as "Fools Fall In Love" and "Big Blue Diamond."
When KENR started broadcasting 24 hours, Leroy J. Gloger, then-owner of KIKK-AM 650, was concerned about the fate of his station so he sold it to Sonderling Broadcasting. In the meantime, KNUZ's owner, Dave Morris, felt his station was losing a top 40 turf war with "The Big 610" KILT-AM and was also being hurt by AM 790 KULF, so he flipped the station's format to "Country Fresh Kay-News" in 1973. However, according to Houston radio vet Chuck Tiller, KNUZ at its best was a "punch," meaning that if you didn't like what KENR or KIKK were playing, you might "punch" your button for KNUZ as a second choice.
By 1973, KENR was a big success, becoming the first major-market country station to be ranked #1 in all demographic groups 12-years-old and older. DJ and music director "Dr. Bruce" Nelson (now known as "Dr. Bruce" Nelson Stratton) had a hand in this and, accordingly, was named Gavin Music Director of the Year in 1974.
It's said that Nelson helped boost the careers of Mickey Gilley, Freddy Fender,Johnny Lee and Gene Watson. The Mickey Gilley story is relatively well known: Despite one #68 U.S. country chart hit ("Now I Can Live Again)" in, coincidentally, 1968, Gilley was essentially a local Houston-area artist when, in 1974, he cut a single, "She Called Me Baby," to be distributed in jukeboxes around the adjacent city of Pasadena, Texas. Bruce Nelson found the record, flipped it over and played the B-side on the air. The song, "Room Full Of Roses," became a hit, Playboy Records picked it up and it became the first of 16 #1 country chart hits for Gilley.
Bruce Nelson also started, on KENR, the first live broadcast from Gilley's nightclub, the "Saturday Night Special," which evolved into the syndicated "Live at Gilley's" show that was popular during the "Urban Cowboy" craze.
The liner notes of country singer Gene Watson's 1975 album "Love In the Hot Afternoon" includes the statement, "We at Capitol Records owe a debt of gratitude to radio stations KENR, KIKK and KNUS (sic; this should read KNUZ) in Houston for their part in exposing the talents of Gene Watson ..." The album included three country hits, including "You Could Know As Much About A Stranger."
Around 1976-77, KENR's DJ lineup included morning man "Buffalo Bill" Bailey (whose schtick included appearances by Ezra Brooks and other denizens of the Let It Pour Lounge); late-morning DJ Hal McClain (whose schtick included call-in sessions by "Granny"); early-afternoon DJ Mike Cannon; and Bruce Nelson in afternoon drive. (Bailey later became a Harris Co., Texas, constable.)
Other DJs during KENR's tenure included John Dew (1977), Howard Reynolds (1980), Frank Roberts (1981) and Jim Rose (1981). Additionally, helicopter traffic reporter "Chopper Bill" Waldrop worked there in 1981 as well.
In 1981, KILT-AM changed formats to country from top 40; longtime album-rock sister KILT-FM followed suit. Additionally, nationwide, music on AM was fading at that time. (One exception, albeit an off-topic one, was the success of KKBQ-AM Houston -- once known as KULF -- for a time starting in mid-1982.)
KENR responded by becoming "Keener Country Gold." But it was being seriously hurt by KIKK-FM and both versions of KILT.
In 1982 the new management of Lake Huron flipped KENR's format again to news/talk as "The Radio Magazine, KENR." Former KNUZ air personality Joe Ford became morning man, Chuck Scott from channel 39 KHTV (which was later to become known as KHWB) did news and former New Yorker Peggy Crone handled entertainment news. John Greer and Mark Seegers did sports. Mike Shiloh was also on the staff as well. The station also carried Houston Astros play-by-play. Aside from news, talk and sports, the station also programmed pre-rock standards music.
By November 1982, the station's music changed to light adult contemporary. In January 1983, sister station KRBE-FM started its own "Radio Magazine," and it was announced that the Houston Astros would also be broadcast on KRBE.
The station pulled the plug on the radio magazine in summer 1983.
AM 1070 subsequently went through periodic format changes, occasionally simulcasting sister KRBE (which, by the way, flipped back to top 40 in 1985) and, at other times, airing such formats as classic rock and hard rock.
In November 1986, Susquehanna Radio purchased KRBE as well as AM 1070, which by then was known as KKZR. Susquehanna changed KKZR's call letters back to KENR. It sold the AM station in 1994 or 1995.
After a period of brokered ethnic programming, the AM signal was acquired by Salem Broadcasting, which programmed it with a Christian format for a time. Currently, though, it programs a news/talk format as KNTH.
http://www.radiodailynews.com/rdncentralarchives-2004-1.htm
http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cach...ruce+Nelson"+++radio&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6
http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cach...ruce+Nelson"+++radio&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6
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[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[ http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cach...uce+Nelson"+++radio&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6]
[ http://www.susquehannaradio.com/aboutus/history.asp]
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