LIVE 95 VIDEO!

[sands]

I very rarely even read, let alone post, to these message boards; so, I'm sure this will open myself up to flames. But, what the hell!?!

After nearly ten years of hauling a dozen unlabeled VHS tapes from Biloxi to San Diego to Indianapolis, I finally went through about 30 hours of tapes and 2 bottles of scotch. It's been on my "To Do" list for years

In the end, I found about 22-minutes of video from LIVE 95 (WLNF-FM). Love us or hate us, you have to admit we made a pretty big impact on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the short 18+ months on the air and under control of the original TRALYN BROADCASTING.

So, if you're a radio geek or have nothing else to do this weekend, check out the video. I think you'll be impressed with the coverage we got for being radio idiots. Promo Depts should take note of the lessons to learn on logo placement in TV coverage. Competitors will note that I'm doing some of the same bits ten years later. Videos star Scott Sands, Darren Kies, Virginia McGrane, Bubba Boudreaux, and others.

called Darren with these earlier today. After nearly ten years, three states, and thousands of miles packed away in a box … I finally dug through nearly 35 hours of unlabeled VHS tapes and found almost every news story WLOX-TV did on LIVE95. They’re on my YouTube page as three different files. I can burn them all to DVD if you want a copy.

LIVE95 #1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GiyYyT4blI
Live95’s TV spot, a profile of the morning show, Battle of the Butts, Regis & Kathie Lee, Bubba working on Christmas, & Secretaries Day

LIVE95 #2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvsh8FWZuKM
Fox59 promotional spot, A Christmas Carol, Curtis Stelzer, rollerblading with the Seawolves, Britney Spears’ first-ever autograph signing, Good Neighbor Day (which I think we made up for a client), Silkini’s Underwater Ordeal, & Reverend Red hosting coverage of our float in the Mardi Gras parade

LIVE95 #3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFYoIXCOS6M
Farewell Seinfeld party & Soccer Match




Scott Sands
Director, Operations & Programming
Entercom Indianapolis
WZPL/WNTR/WXNT

 

[waynewatkins]

Enjoyed the blast from the past, Scott!

 

[Powerpig56]

Every time I think I'm over Radio and the Coast, I see something like this and it all rushes back! I need a job Wayne!

 

[mikl73]

good stuff looks like you guys had a great time

 

[fatman]

Good stuff, fun station and great promotions!

Reminds me of the take no prisoners attitude Rene Hale our promo guy had when I was at Q-93 New Orleans back in '88. B-97 had the premiere of the new Batman movie at a theatre on Canal St. so we had about 1000 t-shirts made up that said "I saw Batman first with Q-93". We rolled up to the theatre before the crowd was let in, kicked the boxes out on the curb and left. Every person at the B-97 premiere was wearing a Q-93 t-shirt.

Man I miss that kind of radio.

 

[qid937]

Live 95 certainly lived up to its moniker. In my mind, the best thing the station had going for it was its image. I remember around the time it came on air being able to drive past on 25th Ave. and look into the studio! What a cool blast that was! Every time I was in downtown G'port during Live's tenure it was always cool to look in and see what was going on. The station promotions where defiantly over the top vs. the rest of the Coast radio market. I fondly remember reading about the DJs in the water tank, Bubba B. marrying his car, the dare between the morning show and WLOX (LOX lost and had to sit in for the Darren, Scott and Virginia one day), Bubba taking on-air field trips around downtown at night and the WLOX vs. Live 95 soccer game (I saw that one in person).

Hell, I even remember the stating staff and their shift times:

Scott, Darren and Virginia 5:30a-9:00a
JJ 9:00a-2:00pm
The G Man 2:00pm-7:00pm
Bubba B. 7:00pm-12:00mid

Ancient history now, but very LIVEly while it lasted. Props to Scott for bringing us this cool history lesson.

 

[frequentmodulator]

But couldn't last vs. WCPR and the Monkey...

 

[qid937]

But couldn't last vs. WCPR and the Monkey...

Acutally, Live 95 started when the Monkey's predecessor was still on. They took credit for driving KISS 107 from the airwaves.

Live's main target was Magic's primary demo, working females. Yet with a more alternative sound, espically at night, Live 95 seemed to be straying slightly more towards CPR in sound... Not exactly what working soccer moms wanted to hear.

 

[IamDumbRadioGuy]

Those guys were wacky.

 

[Gregg Rivers]

Very cool video Scott! Thanks for sharing that with everyone. I miss the coast a lot and I REALLY miss what WAS the coast. I was there last week and stood on my now vacant lot which was just a couple of miles west from the Live 95 studios. Sad all that's gone now. It's great you have video of a once vibrant and happy place. Great radio by the way. Your promotions were very cool.

 

[qid937]

Other tidbits I remember:

- Shortly before Hurrican Geroges hit in 98 I recall Scott talking about cleaning out his fridge and eating cookie dough ( I seem to be under the impression he rode Geroges out at Live 95)

- Live being off air for a short time following Geroges

- In the last six to tewlve months, Live seemed to re-image itself, greatly tonning down on all the outregous and whacky gimmicks. All the origonal airstaff was replaced by a total of 3 new guys. There where new jingles and the format clock changed and no night jock. This was also the time frame when they briefly had a girl on from Fox 25 doing morning news.

- During the era of new jocks, Woodstock 99 occured and I remember 2 of the jocks calling in on a cellphone pretending to be there, while the thrid jock ran a marathon shift at the station.

- The morning guy who replaced SD&V had this thing on Friday nights where two people having an issue would take it on air while having a few cold ones (This gimmick was a marketing stunt by a beer company)

-After the Seawolves won the Kelly cup in double (or was it triple) OT, there was a jock on talking about it in those very early hours...First time I ever heard a jock after 2:00am and before dawn on Live.

-This same jock seemed to be obsessed with telling everyone to enjoy his show as it was one of his last, before heading to Baton Rouge for a new gig.

- Then it was over and we heard this station called Power 95...

 

[frequentmodulator]

Damn...do you remember some of the other great market promotions besides this, especially on CPR? You musta worked there at this RIP radio station on 95.3 with more to come...

 

[sands]

Other tidbits I remember:

- Shortly before Hurrican Geroges hit in 98 I recall Scott talking about cleaning out his fridge and eating cookie dough ( I seem to be under the impression he rode Geroges out at Live 95)

- Live being off air for a short time following Geroges

- In the last six to tewlve months, Live seemed to re-image itself, greatly tonning down on all the outregous and whacky gimmicks. All the origonal airstaff was replaced by a total of 3 new guys. There where new jingles and the format clock changed and no night jock. This was also the time frame when they briefly had a girl on from Fox 25 doing morning news.

- During the era of new jocks, Woodstock 99 occured and I remember 2 of the jocks calling in on a cellphone pretending to be there, while the thrid jock ran a marathon shift at the station.

- The morning guy who replaced SD&V had this thing on Friday nights where two people having an issue would take it on air while having a few cold ones (This gimmick was a marketing stunt by a beer company)

-After the Seawolves won the Kelly cup in double (or was it triple) OT, there was a jock on talking about it in those very early hours...First time I ever heard a jock after 2:00am and before dawn on Live.

-This same jock seemed to be obsessed with telling everyone to enjoy his show as it was one of his last, before heading to Baton Rouge for a new gig.

- Then it was over and we heard this station called Power 95...

Wow. I'm scared about how much this guy knows about LIVE95; but, I don't think he worked for the station by what he said about the last few months and demise of the station. Anyone working for LIVE95 knows the real story. Let's just suffice to say that when Darren & I left the station in February 1999, along with most of the original airstaff, that's when the new "ownership regime" started the downward spiral towards POWER95. If you think the last days of LIVE95 under Bill Brock were bad, did you hear the trainwreck called POWER95? It was doomed from the start. But, I hate to speak ill of the dead.

I can't tell you how many times I thought about my experience during Hurricane Georges while I watched the coverage and recovery of Hurricane Katrina. I had been through a few hurricanes and was cocky. New Guy & I stocked up on PB&J and scotch, were boarded into the building, and sat it out. We got knocked off the air before the storm made landfall and were off the air for more than a week from transmitter site damage. I don't know the storm surge at the studio location during Katrina, but I can't imagine how bad it would have been for us to ride her out. Darren sent his family north and rode out Georges from home in Pass Christian. We had phone service the whole time, just now power. I think Darren told me Katrina completely flooded his neighborhood. Yes, I slept at the station for a few days, finally got home to find out my apartment right on the beach at Edgewater Mall never lost power or cable service! Katrina demolished those apartments, though.

By the way, if you don't know the whole story, Darren & I have been best friends since we worked at WZKX together in the 80's. We met Virginia about two months before the station launched. Scott, Darren, & Virginia won the Miss Assoc of B'casters Best Personalities Award during the FIRST YEAR together.

Out of curiosity, I pulled out the only copy I have of the Biloxi Arbitron that was in the same box as the videotapes. Now, I'm going to brag. WLNF went from non-existence in 1997 and in two books show to #2 Women 18-34 and #3 Women 25-54.
Scott, Darren, & Virginia's morning show (in less than one year) was #1 Women 18-34 with a 21+ Share! and #2 Women 25-54 right behind K99.

Darren's has a law practice in Birmingham.
Virginia is morning co-host in West Palm Beach.
G-Man is programming a station in Florida.
Bubba went on to XM and is now on in San Francisco.
Ryan Lafontaine is a writer for the Sun-Herald, which Darren & I still laugh about

Okay, I should really get a sleeping pill prescription rather than rambling on here again. I have lots of great memories from LIVE95. We certainly didn't re-create the wheel, didn't make lots of money, and had our share of "first time ownership struggles;" but, as soon as we opened the studio door all we cared about was having fun. It was a blast! When was the last time you talked to a 'jock somewhere having fun on the air everyday?

G'night.
SS

 

[sands]

Damn...do you remember some of the other great market promotions besides this, especially on CPR? You musta worked there at this RIP radio station on 95.3 with more to come...

Well, you 'musta' <sic> worked at CPR to be so defensive about competitors that don't exist anymore! LOL

I remember three specific things about CPR while LIVE95 was on the air.
=> CPR did the old "Listen or the dog gets it!" billboard campaign. WLOX found a dead dog under one of their boards. Whoops. I'm not sure if they were helped or hurt by the publicity.
=> CPRfest either started that same year as LIVE95 or was only a couple years old. We had planned to send a photographer to the show with the objective of taking pictures of the freakiest of the rockers to use as visual comparison to our "Professional/Working Mom" listener with advertisers. We decided against it since we didn't have ratings to back up our big mouth yet (we did a couple months later in the Fall book).
=> Instead, we rented a plane to fly over the outdoors concert towing a banner that read "LIVE95 Welcomes You!" Again, not groundbreaking, but who does that stuff anymore?

Kenny Vest, Weerdo, & Scot Fox do good radio and good people.

 

[waynewatkins]

Thanks Scott, you and we here are a dying breed doing our best keeping the "fun" on the airwaves! Keep on kicking ass! Got to admit, those really were some seriously fun days...

 

[qid937]

Other tidbits I remember:

- Shortly before Hurrican Geroges hit in 98 I recall Scott talking about cleaning out his fridge and eating cookie dough ( I seem to be under the impression he rode Geroges out at Live 95)

- Live being off air for a short time following Geroges

- In the last six to tewlve months, Live seemed to re-image itself, greatly tonning down on all the outregous and whacky gimmicks. All the origonal airstaff was replaced by a total of 3 new guys. There where new jingles and the format clock changed and no night jock. This was also the time frame when they briefly had a girl on from Fox 25 doing morning news.

- During the era of new jocks, Woodstock 99 occured and I remember 2 of the jocks calling in on a cellphone pretending to be there, while the thrid jock ran a marathon shift at the station.

- The morning guy who replaced SD&V had this thing on Friday nights where two people having an issue would take it on air while having a few cold ones (This gimmick was a marketing stunt by a beer company)

-After the Seawolves won the Kelly cup in double (or was it triple) OT, there was a jock on talking about it in those very early hours...First time I ever heard a jock after 2:00am and before dawn on Live.

-This same jock seemed to be obsessed with telling everyone to enjoy his show as it was one of his last, before heading to Baton Rouge for a new gig.

- Then it was over and we heard this station called Power 95...

Wow. I'm scared about how much this guy knows about LIVE95; but, I don't think he worked for the station by what he said about the last few months and demise of the station. Anyone working for LIVE95 knows the real story. Let's just suffice to say that when Darren & I left the station in February 1999, along with most of the original airstaff, that's when the new "ownership regime" started the downward spiral towards POWER95. If you think the last days of LIVE95 under Bill Brock were bad, did you hear the trainwreck called POWER95? It was doomed from the start. But, I hate to speak ill of the dead.

I can't tell you how many times I thought about my experience during Hurricane Georges while I watched the coverage and recovery of Hurricane Katrina. I had been through a few hurricanes and was cocky. New Guy & I stocked up on PB&J and scotch, were boarded into the building, and sat it out. We got knocked off the air before the storm made landfall and were off the air for more than a week from transmitter site damage. I don't know the storm surge at the studio location during Katrina, but I can't imagine how bad it would have been for us to ride her out. Darren sent his family north and rode out Georges from home in Pass Christian. We had phone service the whole time, just now power. I think Darren told me Katrina completely flooded his neighborhood. Yes, I slept at the station for a few days, finally got home to find out my apartment right on the beach at Edgewater Mall never lost power or cable service! Katrina demolished those apartments, though.

By the way, if you don't know the whole story, Darren & I have been best friends since we worked at WZKX together in the 80's. We met Virginia about two months before the station launched. Scott, Darren, & Virginia won the Miss Assoc of B'casters Best Personalities Award during the FIRST YEAR together.

Out of curiosity, I pulled out the only copy I have of the Biloxi Arbitron that was in the same box as the videotapes. Now, I'm going to brag. WLNF went from non-existence in 1997 and in two books show to #2 Women 18-34 and #3 Women 25-54.
Scott, Darren, & Virginia's morning show (in less than one year) was #1 Women 18-34 with a 21+ Share! and #2 Women 25-54 right behind K99.

Darren's has a law practice in Birmingham.
Virginia is morning co-host in West Palm Beach.
G-Man is programming a station in Florida.
Bubba went on to XM and is now on in San Francisco.
Ryan Lafontaine is a writer for the Sun-Herald, which Darren & I still laugh about

Okay, I should really get a sleeping pill prescription rather than rambling on here again. I have lots of great memories from LIVE95. We certainly didn't re-create the wheel, didn't make lots of money, and had our share of "first time ownership struggles;" but, as soon as we opened the studio door all we cared about was having fun. It was a blast! When was the last time you talked to a 'jock somewhere having fun on the air everyday?

G'night.
SS

First to answer the question, no I did not work at Live 95, nor at any other Coast station, (though I tried severly times to get on at various stations when I lived there).

During the various 'eras', if you will, of Live 95, I was a high school student and more or less a radio junkie/historian.

Live 95, to me, stands out strong as it was always living up to it's name sake and staging outrageous promotions and publicity gimmicks, at least until Scott and Darren left.

As for Scott and Darren leaving Live 95, that is new news to me. Up until now, I had been under the impression that they were still with the station, in some capacity after resigning their morning show duties. Darren was the GM and Scott held a position of equal, or near equal, importance and my personal thought had been that they were placing more time on the management end of things. Scott, my apologies as I had thought you guys stayed at Live 95 til the bitter end.

As for Power 95, that was a train wreck for a couple of differnt reasons, IMHO. First, WLNF had been sold to the Dowdy Group, former operators of the legendary Power 108, I think it obvious from the get-go that there was desire to recapture some of the flare and flavor of P108 with P95 (the easiest being the use of the old Power 108 logo). On air you had two different battles regarding sound, one being to go the hot AC route (which would have captured the P108 sound), the other being CHR alternative focused. The inpending results of trying to merge seperate formats resulted in meltdown...say hello to Z95.3.

As for CPR and the, "Or the dog gets it," routine, it was a classic, ballsy radio stunt. And while I recall the press trying to make a controversy out of it, the stunt did its job and got CPR attention, though I don't no if it garnered any new listeneres or higher ratings.
All I can say is that they should be fortuante that PETA wasn't the poltical force they are today back then...