In approximate real time, the un-edited aircheck of KLIF 1190 Dallas is rolling right now on the stream at
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KLIF JFK ASSASINATION AIRCHECK ROLLING ON www.1650oldiesradio.com
- Thread starter Steve Eberhart
- Start date
For some, November 22, 1963 is a vivid memory.
For many, it's simply history.
John F. Kennedy would have been 92 this year.
For many, it's simply history.
John F. Kennedy would have been 92 this year.
M
MikeShannon914
Guest
Wow, haven't seen the name Wyatt Cox in a long time! KXVI-1600AM in Plano, news director 1982-84, correct?
And add KXOL-1360 to your JFK coverage list...a much harder job to cover breaking news when you don't have a network "crutch" to turn to. KXOL was totally independent (save for the wire service) and had to go wall-to-wall on their own. No "let's go now to NBC News for further developments," etc. It was Russ Bloxom, Roy Eaton and the boys staying awake 24 hours+ to keep the coverage going continuously and around the clock. Granted, like most stations in the area those four days, there were brief interludes of slow, instrumental music here and there while reporters and news anchors regrouped, but, for the most part, coverage was wall-to-wall.
And add KXOL-1360 to your JFK coverage list...a much harder job to cover breaking news when you don't have a network "crutch" to turn to. KXOL was totally independent (save for the wire service) and had to go wall-to-wall on their own. No "let's go now to NBC News for further developments," etc. It was Russ Bloxom, Roy Eaton and the boys staying awake 24 hours+ to keep the coverage going continuously and around the clock. Granted, like most stations in the area those four days, there were brief interludes of slow, instrumental music here and there while reporters and news anchors regrouped, but, for the most part, coverage was wall-to-wall.
MikeShannon914 said:
You are correct, sir....
Left managing a Las Vegas Casino showroom box office to return to full time radio September 2008, managing a station doing news and talk in a market with one competing FM and a weekly newspaper. Small markets rock!
In the past I've honored the anniversary with excerpts of the wonderful UPI recreation, but this year received clips from the WFAA, WBAP, KLIF, and KRLD coverage along with out of market WLW, WCAU, and WTIC (News broke while WTIC was doing a live, local telephone talk show) and used some clips on American Sunrise.
The quality of coverage, considering there were no cell phones, no ENG, and for a station like KXOL, just themselves....
I've heard only small snippets of KXOL JFK coverage. They broadcast JFK's speech to the fort Worth Chamber of Commerce live, but sent it back to the studio as soon as the speech concluded. They didn't even carry the gift presentations and light hearted banter that followed. There is also a piece of WFAA videotape that shows JFK's hearse leaving Parkland Hospital and the KXOL Mobile Unit driving right behind. Is the KXOL coverage still in private hands, or does the Sixth Floor Museum have it? Will it ever be heard again?
I've heard those real-time airchecks before. The fidelity of some of those recordings is amazing. If you were listening on AM you'd be thinking you were listening to it happening live today. Great stuff.
M
MikeShannon914
Guest
I've cycled the KXOL coverage about 4 times on "The Hi-Fi Club" since 2006. What I have begins around 5PM the day of the assassination, and continues off and on for several hours, concluding with Oswald's shooting on Sunday. (There's also some KTVT audio alternated in there.) I also have audio coverage of Air Force One landing the night before at Carswell, and I believe I have the speech that morning at the Hotel Texas...neither of which I've played on the air before. As for the event itself, the story goes that a North Fort Worth guy found a generic acetate in a FW garage sale about 3 years ago, and when he took it home to play it, it was the actual KXOL coverage of the event. Now keep in mind, as I've heard from many others, JFK's visit was pretty routine, and stations weren't apt to cover something this "routine" live (would they now? No.) Sure, once it became an "event," everyone hopped on the bandwagon and went live. For example, you had the late Sam Pate sitting beyond the Triple Underpass, waiting for the motorcade to round the corner and get onto NB Stemmons...where he'd planned to either follow it to the Trade Mart, or just head back to the station to file the visit as a news story when he got over to KBOX. Even some of the LP releases of the KBOX and KLIF coverage were authenticated to "paint a picture" and set the stage for the REAL drama, which would lead one to believe that radio coverage was already well underway when the shooting happened.davalvideo said:
I think later generations sort of mentally assume that everyone knew the president would be murdered that day, and we should have had wall-to-wall cameras and reporters and such, all ready and in place. I know that sounds stupid, but I've been given some pretty silly interpretations over the years. Other politicians have visited Dallas hundreds of times before and since, and it gets nary a writeup in the newspaper, let alone radio and TV coverage.
Just to set the stage with the KXOL coverage, newsman Russ Bloxom was on duty in Dallas to cover JFK's landing at Love Field, and perhaps stayed around for a few minutes of the limo procession. He headed back to FW to file his story, and moments after getting there, the alarm on the wire machine goes off with the first report of a shooting in Dallas. Bloxom alerts his news director, Roy Eaton, then they break into programming with the report. Russ delivers the first report, then Roy gives the sad news once it's confirmed. (This is apparently where the FW guy's acetate starts.) Brent Clanton was permitted to play this snippet on his morning show in Houston about three years ago, so I've got what he had. As for Bloxom, he manned the newsdesk at KXOL for the next 12 hours or so without a break, while Eaton headed to Dallas with Bruce Neal and others to begin the wall-to-wall coverage. As I mentioned before, KXOL had no network affiliation, so this was as live-and-local as it could possibly get.
D
dfaulkner
Guest
Great info in this thread. Reference to what Mike wrote-no one knew that the President was going to be shot. Other than Oswald & he didn't alert the media. I've heard & please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, that 1190 was playing music when the shooting started. News people (Radio/TV & Print) sprang into action & did an amazing job.
D
dfaulkner
Guest
Two thoughts on reply 10 by Liberty (& forgive me if I'm derailing the thread briefly.)
1.Oh for the days when The News Station was also, The Music Station. I believe that's one of the ways KLIF regularly drew 30+ percent of the available audience.
2.There's a tape somewhere that won multiple awards. I heard Ron Chapman play it during one of his celebrations of Marconi's birthday on KVIL. It's Les Vaughn driving the KLIF Mobile News Unit, steering with one hand, holding the mic with the other, reporting live as he drives toward the April 1957 Dallas tornado.
1.Oh for the days when The News Station was also, The Music Station. I believe that's one of the ways KLIF regularly drew 30+ percent of the available audience.
2.There's a tape somewhere that won multiple awards. I heard Ron Chapman play it during one of his celebrations of Marconi's birthday on KVIL. It's Les Vaughn driving the KLIF Mobile News Unit, steering with one hand, holding the mic with the other, reporting live as he drives toward the April 1957 Dallas tornado.
Mike Shannon, could you confirm that KXOL broadcast the President's Fort Worth speech live on the morning of November 22nd? I have a very small clip (about 90 seconds long) which has the last lines of the President's speech, and then an announcer who begins talking just as soon as JFK concludes his remarks...describes Kennedy's schedule for the rest of the day, and then quickly send it back to the studio before the appluase dies down and gift presentations begin. Been a while since i heard it, but I recall the announcer's first names as Gene and Robert. I could be mistaken, of course.
Somewhere I've got a copy of the Les Vaughn KLIF mobile unit report of the 1957 Tornado in Dallas...
In fact... that "Marconi Radio Day" Ron had in the Spring of 1979 is where I got it!
(I'm assuming the statute of limitations is long gone..)
In those days, he NEVER locked his office which was directly across the hall from the control room.
It wasn't uncommon to use a side desk in his office for a show prep area.
It also wasn't uncommon for a "Late Nite Jock" to occasionally "persue" his desk.
On the nite before the "Marconi Radio Day" morning on his show, he was up at the station very late carting up all these old airchecks and such.
He covered all the carts with a towel and note that read "Don't even THINK about it!".
I'm told a certain jock waited a few hours and indeed took the carts to the production room and dubbed them to a cassette, although I wouldn't know a thing about it.
In fact... that "Marconi Radio Day" Ron had in the Spring of 1979 is where I got it!
(I'm assuming the statute of limitations is long gone..)
In those days, he NEVER locked his office which was directly across the hall from the control room.
It wasn't uncommon to use a side desk in his office for a show prep area.
It also wasn't uncommon for a "Late Nite Jock" to occasionally "persue" his desk.
On the nite before the "Marconi Radio Day" morning on his show, he was up at the station very late carting up all these old airchecks and such.
He covered all the carts with a towel and note that read "Don't even THINK about it!".
I'm told a certain jock waited a few hours and indeed took the carts to the production room and dubbed them to a cassette, although I wouldn't know a thing about it.
This is all fascinating to read. Mike, as usual, great job. And thanks everyone else for your input.
Somewhere I've got a copy of the Les Vaughn KLIF mobile unit report of the 1957 Tornado in Dallas...
In fact... that "Marconi Radio Day" Ron had in the Spring of 1979 is where I got it!
(I'm assuming the statute of limitations is long gone..)
In those days, he NEVER locked his office which was directly across the hall from the control room.
It wasn't uncommon to use a side desk in his office for a show prep area.
It also wasn't uncommon for a "Late Nite Jock" to occasionally "persue" his desk.
On the nite before the "Marconi Radio Day" morning on his show, he was up at the station very late carting up all these old airchecks and such.
He covered all the carts with a towel and note that read "Don't even THINK about it!".
I'm told a certain jock waited a few hours and indeed took the carts to the production room and dubbed them to a cassette, although I wouldn't know a thing about it.
Steve....It would have been funny if one of the carts had crapped out while you were dubbing! I mean, whomever was doing the dastardly deed. Of course, it wasn't you.
Jason
In fact... that "Marconi Radio Day" Ron had in the Spring of 1979 is where I got it!
(I'm assuming the statute of limitations is long gone..)
In those days, he NEVER locked his office which was directly across the hall from the control room.
It wasn't uncommon to use a side desk in his office for a show prep area.
It also wasn't uncommon for a "Late Nite Jock" to occasionally "persue" his desk.
On the nite before the "Marconi Radio Day" morning on his show, he was up at the station very late carting up all these old airchecks and such.
He covered all the carts with a towel and note that read "Don't even THINK about it!".
I'm told a certain jock waited a few hours and indeed took the carts to the production room and dubbed them to a cassette, although I wouldn't know a thing about it.
Steve....It would have been funny if one of the carts had crapped out while you were dubbing! I mean, whomever was doing the dastardly deed. Of course, it wasn't you.
Jason
M
MikeShannon914
Guest
I will have to look for it. Problem for me is that, knowing that newsman Russ Bloxom taped it, it could have simply been him in his "reporter" role, taping it himself to chop up into soundbites later for his newscasts...so me guessing here at the outset is not going to help. I'll have to dig for it. The last 5 years of my acquired airchecks haven't even been cataloged yet!davalvideo said:
Thanks as usual for your good words! Always appreciated.idiggraves said:
MikeShannon914 said:
What you wrote in that second paragraph is interesting and somewhat humorous. What I find most interesting when watching/listening to coverage from that day is studying how it was handled on the fly in a time where there wasn't nearly the technology that exists today (and even little stuff like CBS going back to programming, which never would happen today; watching the anchors smoke in the studio, etc.). Really pretty admirable.
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