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[RoyBoy]

I was there in '81.
Did the second cart machine work when you were there?
I remember you had to insert a cart and let it "warm up" for about 30 seconds or it would drag.

You missed out on having Lou Nesta as a manager.
Lucky You.

I drove by the old building (it's still there) a couple of years ago and visited for a few mintues.
Al's son (John) is trying to sell the place. Believe it or not, they are buidling huge new homes all around the place where it used to be cotton fields. John has about 3 old clunkers out in the parking lot that he is trying to fix up. If you ever want to hear some great conspiracy theories, go by and visit. He spent about 2 hours trying to convince me that the FBI did 9/11, cars used to get 300 mpg, etc.

 

[radiosaur]

I'll pass on the theories, thanks.

Yeah, the cart machines only spun up the captstans when you inserted a cart, so unless you allowed about 8 seconds between putting the cart in and pushing the button you were treated to the spin up on the air. Fun.

The huge RCA monitor speaker was the best piece of equipment in the building.


Some guy named Gary was the manager when I was there.

On an engineering note...when I was there instead of adjusting the transmitter for proper antenna current, the instructions were to turn on the transmitter, let it warm up, then adjust the METER to read the licensed value : ....for some reason I still remember it. It was 2.47 Amps for 500 watts.

 

[RoyBoy]

I had the chance to really laugh at myself at that Collierville station.

One morning around 5:38 am, I got a call from a listener who was asking why I wasn't on the air yet. I replied that I had been on the air for several minutes (we signed on at 5:30 am). He said "you are not on, dude."

I ran to the transmitter room and realized my error.
Back then we had to throw the first switch, wait five minutes for the transmitter to "warm up" and then flip the second swtich to activate the signal. I turned on the first switch and then got so involved in show prep that I forgot to flip the second one. I was all reved up and just started going when the clock hit 5:30 am.

I knew that the WMSO signal was pretty weak, but that 8 minutes was heard by an audiance of one.

 

[firepoint525]

More Memories from the Collierville Radio Station...

One more, the owner once paid a teenager (to save money) to cut the grass at the station. I would guess it was 2 acres or so. There was a 300 foot tower on the property with guy wires everywhere. He warned the kid to be careful with the bush-hog and not run into any of the guy wires. You can probably guess what happened. It took about 45 minutes before he ran into one and the entire tower came down accordian style in a crumple. I'm just glad I wasn't there when it happened. It cost the owner over $10,000 to have it re-assembled.

I'm sure he had insurance to cover that. Or was that $10,000 the deductible? I can't believe there weren't fences or something around those wires!

 

[radiosaur]

More Memories from the Collierville Radio Station...

One more, the owner once paid a teenager (to save money) to cut the grass at the station. I would guess it was 2 acres or so. There was a 300 foot tower on the property with guy wires everywhere. He warned the kid to be careful with the bush-hog and not run into any of the guy wires. You can probably guess what happened. It took about 45 minutes before he ran into one and the entire tower came down accordian style in a crumple. I'm just glad I wasn't there when it happened. It cost the owner over $10,000 to have it re-assembled.

I'm sure he had insurance to cover that. Or was that $10,000 the deductible? I can't believe there weren't fences or something around those wires!

Insurance? Fences? You obviously never worked there

 

[PR680]

Radiosaur, or Roy Boy, or Anyone....

My interest in old radio places like the now "gutted" 112 Union Ave facility is sparked. Exactly where was this facility in (near?) Collierville.
Was this station ever licensed as WPIP? Could that have been Piperton? What woke that brain cell up I'll never know.....

Thanks.....

 

[radiosaur]

Radiosaur, or Roy Boy, or Anyone....

My interest in old radio places like the now "gutted" 112 Union Ave facility is sparked. Exactly where was this facility in (near?) Collierville.
Was this station ever licensed as WPIP? Could that have been Piperton? What woke that brain cell up I'll never know.....

Thanks.....

Ummmmm...MAYbe it was WPIP sometime before 1976. Those calls seem to ring a bell. It was WMSO in 1977 at 1590 KHz.

Studios / transmitter were at 4554 Fleming Road. It looked like every small rural station you've ever seen in the movies or for real. The only place to eat in Collierville at the time was a burger place called Charley's Porch.

How I can remember all this when I can't remember where I put my shoes yesterday is beyond me. I guess you never forget your first time.

 

[davidtheworm]

When i worked on Fleming Rd.....it was 1170 WWEE-AM and Pam Yates was the PD .
Two weeks after I was hired, I found out it was for sale...... job?what job?
It became WPLX and the format was big bands. It is now a K-LOVE AM

 

[Tynosaur]

You know, we're getting close to Halloween and this place on Fleming road is sounding spookier and spookier!

 

[RoyBoy]

PR680 - yes, I believe that the call letters were WPIP before WMSO. The reason I think that to be the case is because I would pick up the mail everyday. We would get letters addressed to WPIP 4554 Fleming Rd in Collierville almost every week. From what I was told Piper Brothers in Collierville owned the station at some point in the past. And yes that is the same family that helped to establish the Piperton community just across the Fayette county line.

When I started there in '81 it was 1590 AM with 500 watts and decades old equipment. A year or so later, Al called in some favors from the FCC and got the 630 AM spot. The Station was referred to as "Victory 63" at that point. Six months later it moved to clear channel 640 AM and increased power to 10,000 watts. Al finally spent some money on the place and built a new control room with modern equipment in the back of the building. They actually started showing up in the ratings book at this point and it got the attention of Bott Broadcasting which was building a network of Christian talk radio stations across the country. They basically made Al an offer he couldn't refuse. Either sell the station to them or they would come in with their big check book and run him out of business. He sold for several million dollars and signed a 10 year non-competition clause. The Botts bought the place, got rid of the music and the charasmatic preachers and upped the power to 50K. The call letters were changed to WCRV - Christian Radio Voice. They used the Collierville facilities for a couple of years and then moved to Memphis.

Before WMSO was sold, Al had started another small AM station in the front of the same building - WWEE. It was playing big band and then country. It used the same old equipment that WMSO was started on. It was sold within weeks of the WMSO sale and the call letters were changed to WPLX. Memphis Metroplex.

Ten years after the WMSO sale, Al started the station that would eventually become K-LOVE - 94.9 FM.

 

[Meepster]

Big Al from Camden, TN?
Who used to run the "EYE 40" truck stop?
I may know him through WRJB-Super 98 back in the day.

 

[littlebigradio]

Wasn't Rudy Pylant involved in putting WPLX on the air?

 

[RoyBoy]

Rudy bought the station from Al Crain when it was WWEE and changed the call letters to WPLX. I remember when WCRV was in the back of the building and WPLX was in the front, once Rudy locked himself out. I helped him very early one morning break through (using our shoudlers) a connecting door.