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More WCLU Memories!

N

n326jt

Guest
First...can somebody tell me how to stop this site from jumping up and down on my machine? Every few seconds it will jump up a line or two and then jump down.

Anyway, more WCLU thoughts, memories etc...

Irv was always struggling for money. There's been no other station I worked at which had bouncing paychecks. Every payday was an adventure! Not only that, he had a very wierd way of paying...on the 10th you were paid half of your monthly salary without taxes deducted. Then on the 25th you were paid the other half with all the taxes deducted!

I was somewhat impressed when I got there. He flew me in and we had lunch at Johnny Bench's restauarant/bar up by the Florence Mall. Irv told me he was from Canada and he was a big hockey fan which I am. Rhoda Schwartz, his wife, wqas not with him at that time. Anyway, the plan was I was to come aboard and eventually buy him out. Rhoda and I got along quite well at the start but over time she was quite the -itch! She used to make a big deal over how she had 19 operations in previous years etc, etc, etc. She hated seeing me on the phone! I remember being in my office with the door closed on the phone with a client taking down copy information when I heard her in the receptionist desk calling Irv and asking him if she had permission to "throw me off the phone". The last conversation I had with that woman was when I left I was not paid my final check. I called her at home and reminded her she was an officer of the company and she had responibilities in the matter. Her reply was "Go, f--- yourself!"
I've done alot of thinking about that situation over the years and I've come to the conclusion Rhoda did indeed have health problems and quite possibly that was why Irv was always short of money. He told me his father owned a chain of butcher shops in Canada and he inherited some money from that. Anyway, I don't have any ill feelings toward them. I think Irv still lives in Montgomery, Rhoda may have passed on. Irv had some good stories to tell about his days at KUDL in KC. He worked with some soon to be big names like Charlie Murdock and Ted Adkins.

Some other thoughts...

Tom Leslie-there was a guy who I thought had some great talent. I always enjoyed listening to him. I do believe he had a drinking problem.

John Kline-a guy who could make you laugh in a heartbeat! I still remember his impressions of Kash Amburgey and preacher R. W. Schambach. John was a much under rated guy with much undiscovered talent. He was a good guy and I miss his comedy! John left WCLU and went over to do engineering for WZIP the religious station at the time. From there, I heard John got sick and was in the hospital. That was a long time ago. Anybody know anything more?

Doc Watson-a guy who was brought in as PD. His real name was Gene Bowen, a tall, nice guy with grey hair. Very good pipes! All the ladies liked him!

Tom Golliher-Tom used "Gallagher" on the air. He did an air shift and production. Last I heard he was with WKRC as a board operator. Tom was also good at making all of us laugh!

Ted Branch-He is the guy who defected to Russia but not while working at WCLU. I read where he was manager of a small station in Deland, Florida when that happened. Back then, in the early eighties, defecting to Russia was a big deal.
I remember being in a northeastern market hearing the network news account of this. (Yes, it was that big!). I called some friends I knew at one of the Cinti TV stations and gave them some background on him. Ted seemed to be living on a shoestring. He had his station wagon packed with personal belongings. I think he was there a week or so before he quit. Eventually, I think Ted returned to the USA.

Roy Wakely-He was the STAR of the station even though he didn't work there when I did. We still received calls for him (from listeners) even though he had departed. I think even Irv liked him!

Anybody have anything to add???
 
Did WCLU's air studio have the strong smell of a mixture of cigarette butts & coffee grounds during your tenure? 35 years later, I still remember that "aroma"...
 
I worked with a John Kline in my current job (federal government), he was formerly in radio, he was 51 and passed away recently. Could be the same one who worked at WCLU
 
JT- I loved the Big Club snapshot! Irv tried to hire me once but rescinded the offer when I
questioned the financial viability of the station. And you're right..Roy Wakely was "THE MAN>"
 
I did a short stent at CLU 132 and I was the one that actually coined the phrase "CLU-132". I thought it was cool and just started using it without asking anyone for permission. I was there in the early 80's (can't remember the year). There was Irv and Rhoda, one other jock (who did almost everything, can't remember his name) and then me (as best as I can remember). I was only there about 2 months and experienced the bouncing paychecks. Unbelievable. When I left, I never looked back or even listened to the station.

Never met Thomas Kennedy when I was there, though I know him now. Tell me some stories about him.

BTW, Irv is still alive but not well and Rhoda has been deceased for several years.
 
An absolutely irrelevant radio station in the history of Cincinnati broadcasting. Move on, folks, and get with the new millenium.
 
ouuc said:
An absolutely irrelevant radio station in the history of Cincinnati broadcasting. Move on, folks, and get with the new millenium.

Not sure how you can verify this, but the place had killer ratings prior to 1230 WUBE's country debut in 1968. For a few years, WCLU was far from irrelevant from my recollection.
 
ouuc said:
An absolutely irrelevant radio station in the history of Cincinnati broadcasting. Move on, folks, and get with the new millenium.
I may be new to this gig, but have noticed many other negative posts from you ouuc. What's wrong with a little trip down memory lane? Well heck, I have one. About '85 I had the pleasure of visiting CLU with a guy who went to NKU with me. He did the afternoon shift for a while, until, you guessed it, he couldn't handle the rubberized paychecks. What a dump the place was by then. And yes, it did smell like cigarettes and coffee in the studio.
 
When did Big CLU go CHR? For that matter when and why did it drop the calls? By the way, for those playing the home game the calls are in Glasgow, KY and Munfordville, KY with an FM suffix.

I remember the Elvis format and the last day happening on anniversary of his death.
 
I could be wrong but I think it was 1987 when WCLU switched to WCVG running a Swap Shop format/simulcasting with Joy107FM and then all Elvis and briefly carrying The Business Radio Network.
 
I replaced Janeen Coyle in AM drive. I went to work on October 1, got the first paycheck on November 10 and the check promptly bounced. I had a wife and 2 kids and was earning nothing. You work 6 weeks to see some money and then you get the bouncing check. The same happened in January so I contacted the state to see if we could force him to pay us in cash. One of my co-workers told the boss. I also did the sign-off shift on Sunday, at that time 2-6pm. I was in the middle of my shift when one of the part-timers came into the studio to ask me where everything was for AM drive. Confused, I called the boss at home and was told "we're making some changes and I'll be in shortly to tell you about them". He showed up 20 minutes before my shift ended. I insisted on getting the news. He said he was firing me. I asked him if he wanted to finish my shift and he said that I should finish it. I refused and sat there with dead air. He told me to sign it off. He told me I'd never make it in Radio. I told him my last check "better be good" and left. My last check was certified so no problem.

Less than 2 hours after he fired me Randy Michaels hired me at 55KRC and I'm still gainfully employed in radio so I'm glad his assessment of me was wrong. Oh boy, the dues we have to pay.
 
Big CLU went on the air in 1965 and right out of the box pulled good numbers with their country format. They used a CRC jingle package.. "Big CLU for country (gunshot) W-C-L-U. Then they bought the first Pams country package produced, "Pams country".
Seeing CLU's ratings, Zanesville Publishing quickly changed WZIP to country, with a superior signal plus the simulcast on 92.5 FM they quickly cleaned Irv's clock.
A lot of great folks went thru CLU. Nelson King form the old WCKY jamboree days did mornings when the station first went on the air. Jimmy Logsdon on CKY and later ZIP fame worked there several times. Allen Peck who still is on the air in Dallas was there before heading to ZIP. Super voiced Gene Bowen and Joe Lomas both did time in Latonia.
CLU was picking up scraps left by ZIP till WUBE switched formats in 1969. After that it was ZIP picking up the scraps and CLU lickin the jar.
Jerry Kiefer
KCKN
Roswell, NM
 
My first radio gig and bounced paycheck came from CLU I was there in Dec 81. The best part working for Irv was having a story of mishaps to tell the young ones fresh out of school. The funny part was when I left to work at WBLZ Irv offered me $25.00 remote promises if I stayed on. ;D Ernie Brown was there along with Jeff King
 
Things must have went downhill there...when I did morning drive at WCLU in 1972, I never had a check bounce. Let's see...$2/hr x 4 hours x 6 days...wow $48 before taxes. I must have been nuts...driving my 8mpg 64 Chevy from College Hill. I obvioulsy didn't do it for the $$.
 
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