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Lowell Ruffcorn

C

ChuckMartin

Guest
We lost one of the great characters in Arkansas radio history last week. Lowell Ruffcorn was truly one of a kind. I'll always remember the days at KARN when Lowell would pop out of the ag studio after delivering one of the trade mark fast paced reports he was famous for; that cheshire cat grin of his,wearing the perfectly pressed dress jeans and snow white tennis shoes - and always offering some bit of wisdom (and today's joke) in passing..and that laugh!

He put on the gruff exterior but never put on airs..even when reminding you for the hundredth time that he had made and lost several fortunes while a commodities trader in Chicago. He made radio fun.

RIP
 
> We lost one of the great characters in Arkansas radio
> history last week. Lowell Ruffcorn was truly one of a kind.

Ain't that the truth. I was at KOTN in '89-90, and they used to air all of Lowell's reports. I always thought he sounded like McGruff the Dog on speed, and even today I can still hear his very quick "GOOD! MORNING!" intro for the opening commodity report.

I never met him, never knew much about him off-mic, but he was entertaining to hear. Sometimes he'd get really carried away, though.

No doubt Lowell will make (and keep) several fortunes in his new gig as ag reporter upstairs.
 
> > We lost one of the great characters in Arkansas radio
> > history last week. Lowell Ruffcorn was truly one of a
> kind.
>
> Ain't that the truth. I was at KOTN in '89-90, and they
> used to air all of Lowell's reports. I always thought he
> sounded like McGruff the Dog on speed, and even today I can
> still hear his very quick "GOOD! MORNING!" intro for the
> opening commodity report.
>
> I never met him, never knew much about him off-mic, but he
> was entertaining to hear. Sometimes he'd get really carried
> away, though.
>
> No doubt Lowell will make (and keep) several fortunes in his
> new gig as ag reporter upstairs.
>
i remember lowell from my days at kxsa back in the early 80's in southeast arkansas. we carried his ag reports off arn...i used to get such a kick out of him...sory to hear the news....we were just talking about him a couple of weeks ago.
 
> > > We lost one of the great characters in Arkansas radio
> > > history last week. Lowell Ruffcorn was truly one of a
> > kind.
> >
> > Ain't that the truth. I was at KOTN in '89-90, and they
> > used to air all of Lowell's reports. I always thought he
> > sounded like McGruff the Dog on speed, and even today I
> can
> > still hear his very quick "GOOD! MORNING!" intro for the
> > opening commodity report.
> >
> > I never met him, never knew much about him off-mic, but he
>
> > was entertaining to hear. Sometimes he'd get really
> carried
> > away, though.
> >
> > No doubt Lowell will make (and keep) several fortunes in
> his
> > new gig as ag reporter upstairs.
> >
> i remember lowell from my days at kxsa back in the early
> 80's in southeast arkansas. we carried his ag reports off
> arn...i used to get such a kick out of him...sory to hear
> the news....we were just talking about him a couple of weeks
> ago.
>


The old story I heard from people when I was working at ARN was that Lowell was a big wheel in these AG markets... and was set financially. They told me that he had been to Arkansas or had a friend around Hot Springs or something... One day he just got tired of it all, hailed a private jet and flew to Arkansas. Then somehow he got connected with ARN, and worked for them all those many years... That could be another radio legend though...

I remember listening to him on KARV 610 in Russellville. Every day like clock work at 12:15, you heard the old harmonica playing, and Eric Brown's voice introducing "The Midday Agri-Business Report" (which by the way is still playing) and here came Lowell... I was only a kid but I was thinking, "He doesn't sound like most people on the radio..."

RIP Lowell... you're one of the great ones. Never understood the numbers you were reporting, but by golly you did it well!! And rural Arkansas lived and died by those reports...
 
right about that...i know that southeast arkansas is an ag mecca...and if we missed a ruffcorn report...we really heard about it....

i'm kind of a nostalgic kinda guy...hate to see these gret old timers go...never be another lowell ruffcorn thats for sure
 
KXSA

> right about that...i know that southeast arkansas is an ag
> mecca...and if we missed a ruffcorn report...we really heard
> about it....
>
> i'm kind of a nostalgic kinda guy...hate to see these gret
> old timers go...never be another lowell ruffcorn thats for
> sure
>

When you worked at KXSA... was it on AM or FM? I know that it is 103.1 right now, but there was that big 10,000 watt AM on 1110 that had previously been KAKA there in Dermott. It seems like it went on to become KXSA eventually...
 
Re: KXSA

>i worked for kaka first in may of 1982...was only a 10,000 watt am at the time...eventually we added the 3,000 watt fm....becasue of the conotation of "kaka"( it really stood for kick abbott kinney's a**)...it was changed to kxsa after the partnership that owned it sold it to a family named huckaby out of the little rock area. steve jumper who you may know as ron sherman, former katv weatherman..."dusty artist" and now a pitchman for anything and everything...was the manager of the old kaka. there are some real stories that came out of that place
 
Re: KXSA

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Ron Sherman also start KFFB in Fairfield Bay?

> >i worked for kaka first in may of 1982...was only a 10,000
> watt am at the time...eventually we added the 3,000 watt
> fm....becasue of the conotation of "kaka"( it really stood
> for kick abbott kinney's a**)...it was changed to kxsa after
> the partnership that owned it sold it to a family named
> huckaby out of the little rock area. steve jumper who you
> may know as ron sherman, former katv weatherman..."dusty
> artist" and now a pitchman for anything and everything...was
> the manager of the old kaka. there are some real stories
> that came out of that place
>
 
Re: KXSA

> yeah...he had a hand in that one....a dewitt station and an england station. the dewitt station..as far as i know...has been dark for several years now.
 
Re: KXSA

> > yeah...he had a hand in that one....a dewitt station and
> an england station. the dewitt station..as far as i
> know...has been dark for several years now.
>

The Sherman chain at one time included these that I know of....

K??? 1530 AM -- England, AR
K??? 96.5 FM -- England, AR*
KFFB 106.1 FM -- Fairfield Bay
KCCL 1460 AM -- Paris, AR
KCCL 95.3 FM -- Caulksville/Paris, AR
KDEW 1470 AM -- Dewitt, AR
KDEW 97.3 FM -- Dewitt, AR*

* -- Denotes the fact that I don't know if the FM's belonged to him as well but they eventually came into the picture sooner or later

From what I am told, KFFB got hit with a number of FCC fines (for things like not having a working VU meter), and that is what did the Sherman chain in, along with some other unfortunate circumstances.

BigDaddy you may be able to confirm this... legend has it that the reason that KAKA stood for "Kick Albert Kinney's A--" was because there was a wealthy landowner that was not well liked in the Dermott community, and at some point Albert Kinney rejected his order for advertising on KVSA 1220. So as an act of revenge, the businessman partnered up with Ron Sherman and put a station of his own on the air. When they picked the call letters, that was why KAKA came up (Obviously no one on staff spoke Spanish)....

They say that KAKA 1110 was actually pretty profitable in the beginning... Apparently they hired a number of lady sales reps that were um... appealing to the eyes of the gentlemen in the area who owned businesses.

I knew how the station got started, but after Sherman got out, that is where my info dropped off. I thought at one time the AM became KXSA as well. How did such a flamethrower signal just go dark??

We should write a book on Arkansas radio stations... or at least put together a museum somewhere. That old KVSA building is a museum in itself...
 
Re: KXSA

> >never heard the old story about the guy who was upset and decided to start his own station...but....the thing about the good looking sales ladies...oh my god yes....i was 17 when i started there and you talk about loving to go to work each day!!!!!! i remember one in particular...first name only....janet. man was i in love...gorgeous...thin...dark hair...actually worked with her again at a greenville ms. station for a while.

the station did real well..until the huckaby family bought it. they used to own nursing homes. they dumped ungodly amounts of money into cool stuffand them could not pay for it...lost everyone's behind.

one thing about kaka/kxsa...larry dean...the p.d....held his head up high and gave 110% til the bitter end

last i heard..p.q. gardner...a local guy owned the stations...they are mostly on a bird but are doing well...did not know the am side went dark...could be a realcash cow in that part of the country
 
Re: KXSA

> > >never heard the old story about the guy who was upset and
> decided to start his own station...but....the thing about
> the good looking sales ladies...oh my god yes....i was 17
> when i started there and you talk about loving to go to work
> each day!!!!!! i remember one in particular...first name
> only....janet. man was i in love...gorgeous...thin...dark
> hair...actually worked with her again at a greenville ms.
> station for a while.
>
> the station did real well..until the huckaby family bought
> it. they used to own nursing homes. they dumped ungodly
> amounts of money into cool stuffand them could not pay for
> it...lost everyone's behind.
>
> one thing about kaka/kxsa...larry dean...the p.d....held
> his head up high and gave 110% til the bitter end
>
> last i heard..p.q. gardner...a local guy owned the
> stations...they are mostly on a bird but are doing
> well...did not know the am side went dark...could be a
> realcash cow in that part of the country
>


I believe P.Q. Gardner donated the AM side to the local school district, and they operated it for a short period of time, then it went dark. The electricity bill for the 10 kw transmitter was probably what did it in. Mr. Gardner has 99.9 KGPQ in Monticello, and I think he also bought KHBM. Perhaps someone can confirm this.

The call letters of the England AR stations was KELC I think... and KDEW-FM DeWitt was originally on 96.7. They were one of the mono FM stations that were all over the place. In fact, I think KWRF in Warren may still be mono. lol

KAKA used to have a sales office in the Commercial Bank building in Monticello, and I still remember the sign that used to hang on the street next to the bank. Their slogan was "10,000 watts strong in Drew County"... although Dermott was in Chicot County, the towers were actually just across the line in Drew County.
 
Re: KXSA

> I believe P.Q. Gardner donated the AM side to the local
> school district, and they operated it for a short period of
> time, then it went dark. The electricity bill for the 10 kw
> transmitter was probably what did it in. Mr. Gardner has
> 99.9 KGPQ in Monticello, and I think he also bought KHBM.
> Perhaps someone can confirm this.

P.Q. Gardner has all the Monticello stations.... KHBM A/F, KGPQ, KXSA. He is in his mid eighties and recently ran for State Representative... Met him at an ABA deal one time. Nice guy....

>
> The call letters of the England AR stations was KELC I
> think... and KDEW-FM DeWitt was originally on 96.7. They
> were one of the mono FM stations that were all over the
> place. In fact, I think KWRF in Warren may still be mono.
> lol

I could not remember the calls for England. It is now KVDW, but back in the day they were country before the FM came on. They also ran a metal rock show on Saturdays that had a huge following down at Cummins Prison according to the people who worked there.

I would guess the power increase and the move to 97.3 was a move Bobby Caldwell made when he bought the station. He already had the Stuttgart signals and added KDEW in. Now 97.3 is a freakin' flamethrower. I can listen to it all the way up to Clarksville....


> KAKA used to have a sales office in the Commercial Bank
> building in Monticello, and I still remember the sign that
> used to hang on the street next to the bank. Their slogan
> was "10,000 watts strong in Drew County"... although Dermott
> was in Chicot County, the towers were actually just across
> the line in Drew County.


I'd certainly rather try to get business out of Monticello rather than Dermott.
 
Re: KXSA

> >
> > The call letters of the England AR stations was KELC I
> > think... and KDEW-FM DeWitt was originally on 96.7. They
> > were one of the mono FM stations that were all over the
> > place. In fact, I think KWRF in Warren may still be mono.
>
> > lol
>

from the fcc database:

KVDW 06/05/2001
KHTE 10/27/2000
KLEC 10/03/2000
KROP 05/18/2000
KLEC 06/17/1999
KLRA 02/22/1988
KELC
<P ID="signature">______________
*curmudgeon in training*</P>
 
RIP Lowell... Arkansas radio won't be the same without you...



Chuck Martin.. now that name sounds familiar.. lol.. drop me a line sometime buddy.. [email protected].




> We lost one of the great characters in Arkansas radio
> history last week. Lowell Ruffcorn was truly one of a kind.
> I'll always remember the days at KARN when Lowell would pop
> out of the ag studio after delivering one of the trade mark
> fast paced reports he was famous for; that cheshire cat grin
> of his,wearing the perfectly pressed dress jeans and snow
> white tennis shoes - and always offering some bit of wisdom
> (and today's joke) in passing..and that laugh!
>
> He put on the gruff exterior but never put on airs..even
> when reminding you for the hundredth time that he had made
> and lost several fortunes while a commodities trader in
> Chicago. He made radio fun.
>
> RIP
>
 
> We lost one of the great characters in Arkansas radio
> history last week. Lowell Ruffcorn was truly one of a kind.
> I'll always remember the days at KARN when Lowell would pop
> out of the ag studio after delivering one of the trade mark
> fast paced reports he was famous for; that cheshire cat grin
> of his,wearing the perfectly pressed dress jeans and snow
> white tennis shoes - and always offering some bit of wisdom
> (and today's joke) in passing..and that laugh!
>
> He put on the gruff exterior but never put on airs..even
> when reminding you for the hundredth time that he had made
> and lost several fortunes while a commodities trader in
> Chicago. He made radio fun.
>
> RIP
>
 
I worked with Lowell from 1980 to 1982 at KARN/ARN in the newsroom. Our desks were next to each other. Lowell became a sort of mentor for me. We became good friends. His partner, Patsy, is a fine woman. She is moving from Little Rock, back to Missouri now. I'll remember Lowell forever. He encouraged me to get out of the radio business (I was never really suited for it.) I'll always thank him for that. I loved, respected and admired Lowell. I mourn his loss and will miss him. Arkansas radio has suffered as well.

Phil Knapp
 
I was doing an online search for Lowell Ruffcorn and came across this.
Anyway, I have a little website which includes some things related to radio.
Yesterday, I posted an ARN satellite feed that includes 2 Lowell Ruffcorn reports I recorded from a big-dish satellite system I had in 1995. Interesting stuff to listen to when I was able to. Was it really fair of me to compare it to Les Nessman's hog reports? Probably not, but thinking of "Les" made me think of this.You can listen to them here:
http://sammyreed.com/various.htm
 
Someday when things slow down (Lord knows when that will be) I'll try to find some recordings we made of Lowell at KVOM in Morrilton. Before net-catch technology (or at least before we had it) we would record the feeds and play them back at more convenient times (I'm sure there's a logic somewhere to 9:40 in the morning, but I haven't been able to figure it out). There were some pretty good live flub-ups that our morning man back then held onto.

I don't know if Lowell did his own production, but it always seemed like the Gary Wilhelmy report had lots of cart machine reverb in it when it hit the air during Lowell's broadcast. And when he started rattling off those corn and soybean prices in that lower-register, gutteral growl of his, it just sounded like "November beans up a quartuh, December cohn (corn) down a quartuh. Here a quartuh, there a quartuh, everywhere a quartuh, quartuh" to me.

A great one among Ag broadcasters. He'll be missed!
 
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