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Montagu Hotel - Radio history

H

hrhwebmaster

The Montagu Hotel, Fannin @ Rusk downtown, is being refurbished. The original name - Hotel Cotton (1913) will be restored.

During its lifetime, the hotel has been home to at least two radio stations, KRCT/KIKK, AM 650 Pasadena, in the early 60s, and KTLW, AM 920 Texas City, in the late 60s. In addition, there is a claim that another station was located there in the late 20s-early 30s. I'm investigating the possibility this was KPRC's sister station, KTLC.

The owner has also documented that Patsy Cline stayed there in 1961 during her only appearance in Houston. Possibly she was being presented by KRCT/KIKK or at least was going to be interviewed on air. It's likely other country artists stayed there when in town since both KRCT/KIKK and KTLW were country stations.

Does anybody have any more information about any of these stations and their operations at the Montagu? How many studios, how much programming originated there, what other staff - sales, management - what dates, etc?

The owner has started a website documenting as much as possible of the history of the hotel and since there's a radio tie-in I'm trying to help. Here's a link to the website; scroll down for the mentions of the radio stations:

http://www.hotelcotton.com/hotelcottonhistory.htm.
<P ID="signature">______________
'But have you ever heard music on a crystal set? That's the sweetest music ever broadcast.' Alfred P. Daniel, Houston radio pioneer, in an interview in 1948.</P>
 
> The Montagu Hotel, Fannin @ Rusk downtown, is being
> refurbished. The original name - Hotel Cotton (1913) will
> be restored.
>
> During its lifetime, the hotel has been home to at least two
> radio stations, KRCT/KIKK, AM 650 Pasadena, in the early
> 60s, and KTLW, AM 920 Texas City, in the late 60s. In
> addition, there is a claim that another station was located
> there in the late 20s-early 30s. I'm investigating the
> possibility this was KPRC's sister station, KTLC.
>
> The owner has also documented that Patsy Cline stayed there
> in 1961 during her only appearance in Houston. Possibly she
> was being presented by KRCT/KIKK or at least was going to be
> interviewed on air. It's likely other country artists
> stayed there when in town since both KRCT/KIKK and KTLW were
> country stations.
>
> Does anybody have any more information about any of these
> stations and their operations at the Montagu? How many
> studios, how much programming originated there, what other
> staff - sales, management - what dates, etc?
>
> The owner has started a website documenting as much as
> possible of the history of the hotel and since there's a
> radio tie-in I'm trying to help. Here's a link to the
> website; scroll down for the mentions of the radio stations:
>
>
> http://www.hotelcotton.com/hotelcottonhistory.htm.
>

Interesting. They kind of had to...um...renovate...after the fire in one of the rooms a few years back. If you look at the picture of the outside of the hotel on the front page of the website, you can still see where the fire darkened/charred the brick work.

(side note: I lived there - literally - for about 8 weeks in the late summer of 1997, not long after I moved to Houston. It was, for all intents and purposes, a "residential hotel" and in a lot of ways quiet seedy. Low rents, tho.)
 
> > The Montagu Hotel, Fannin @ Rusk downtown, is being
> > refurbished. The original name - Hotel Cotton (1913) will
>
> > be restored.
> >
> > During its lifetime, the hotel has been home to at least
> two
> > radio stations, KRCT/KIKK, AM 650 Pasadena, in the early
> > 60s, and KTLW, AM 920 Texas City, in the late 60s. In
> > addition, there is a claim that another station was
> located
> > there in the late 20s-early 30s. I'm investigating the
> > possibility this was KPRC's sister station, KTLC.
> >
> > The owner has also documented that Patsy Cline stayed
> there
> > in 1961 during her only appearance in Houston. Possibly
> she
> > was being presented by KRCT/KIKK or at least was going to
> be
> > interviewed on air. It's likely other country artists
> > stayed there when in town since both KRCT/KIKK and KTLW
> were
> > country stations.
> >
> > Does anybody have any more information about any of these
> > stations and their operations at the Montagu? How many
> > studios, how much programming originated there, what other
>
> > staff - sales, management - what dates, etc?
> >
> > The owner has started a website documenting as much as
> > possible of the history of the hotel and since there's a
> > radio tie-in I'm trying to help. Here's a link to the
> > website; scroll down for the mentions of the radio
> stations:
> >
> >
> > http://www.hotelcotton.com/hotelcottonhistory.htm.
> >
>
> Interesting. They kind of had to...um...renovate...after
> the fire in one of the rooms a few years back. If you look
> at the picture of the outside of the hotel on the front page
> of the website, you can still see where the fire
> darkened/charred the brick work.
>
> (side note: I lived there - literally - for about 8 weeks
> in the late summer of 1997, not long after I moved to
> Houston. It was, for all intents and purposes, a
> "residential hotel" and in a lot of ways quiet seedy. Low
> rents, tho.)
>
Don't know if this is urban legend or not but my first PD in Houston used to tell of the time the rats invaded the control room and you'd get shocked at the mic when the rodents chewed through most of the wiring. These days, stay away from that area at night !
 
> > >
> >
> > Interesting. They kind of had to...um...renovate...after
> > the fire in one of the rooms a few years back. If you
> look
> > at the picture of the outside of the hotel on the front
> page
> > of the website, you can still see where the fire
> > darkened/charred the brick work.
> >
> > (side note: I lived there - literally - for about 8 weeks
>
> > in the late summer of 1997, not long after I moved to
> > Houston. It was, for all intents and purposes, a
> > "residential hotel" and in a lot of ways quiet seedy. Low
>
> > rents, tho.)
> >
> Don't know if this is urban legend or not but my first PD in
> Houston used to tell of the time the rats invaded the
> control room and you'd get shocked at the mic when the
> rodents chewed through most of the wiring. These days, stay
> away from that area at night !
>
Was that KIKK or KTLW? Who was the PD you mentioned? The place got pretty run down; it's a shame, just a block off Main.
<P ID="signature">______________
'But have you ever heard music on a crystal set? That's the sweetest music ever broadcast.' Alfred P. Daniel, Houston radio pioneer, in an interview in 1948.</P>
 
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