Reconnecting - The Rock of the Delta, Wesso, Lee Hall, WYN96

[lfuss]

I've caught the Italian Stallion doing the weather in the Big Apple. Is he a meteorologist or just a weather person?

He was calling himself a meteorologist on WTOK-TV in Meridian long before he ever got the degree.

LF

 

[Dr. Bob]

Had to make sure that weather wire had paper in it first thing each morning! And who could forget getting the clock in sync with the NBC network for news at the top of the hour. Bark. Nothing like letting bleary-eyed college kids flipping switches of radiated power first thing in the morning and having responsiblity of playing music for the dairy farmers before sunup. Small town radio,what a blast. BTW, Dr. Bob,I'm Tim,the one that did some mornings and sales at SSO. Terry was the one over at the big KOR years later.

And I remember a few mornings that we *really* needed that weather wire. Playing to the dairy farmers was the reason I always heard that WSSO signed on at 5 AM. And although we played country for an hour (with a gospel cut) we beat WKOR (AM) on the air by an hour as they could not come on the air until 6 AM.

BTW, sorry about that Tim. I've got my Barber's mixed up .

Dave, you could never get that 'JDX sound cause that Collins transmitter had "issues" although not serious but serious enough to not allow the maximum modulation allowed by law. I knew it at the time but I did not know how to fix it. Joe was a "tube technology" guy. He really didn't understand transistors. After Joe's death, Norvell bought new AM & FM transmitters and a new FM antenna. The AM was a solid state Harris MW-1 which was state of the art. Even with the same processing, WSSO got a few extra miles of coverage and was more competitive with WKOR. The new FM antenna on that short AM tower got out better than anyone expected. WSMU finally split programming from the AM with automated country and people listened. Norvell could be "difficult" but he did have some understanding of business. Around that time, WKOR also got it's FM with automated soft-rock and Starkville radio got even more competitive.

Dave, Ed is doing fine as a EE in Colorodo. As for Rodney, he was a KA and played music at night that was more in-tune with a large part of the student body. I'll never forget the prank the KA's played on the last day of exams (Saturday) in the spring of 79. I had just gotten out of a "killer" organic chemistry exam, very depressed, when I went by frat row and saw the Shoney's Big Boy holding up his hamburger on the second floor balcony of the KA house! I had to pull over to keep from having an accident. Rodney told me later that they got it in the back of a Pinto station wagon and that Shoney's was PI**ED.

Tim, I did not meet Jack Talley Barnes until he moved to Houston in 1991 but we became fast friends sharing Joe Phillips stories while working many remotes at KKBQ. We must have just missed each other at WSSO. Jack still does a dead-on Joe impersonation and Jack is still at KKBQ here in Houston.

Dr. Bob

 

[davesand]

Tim, I remember when you left "your radio station" for the King of Rock. WSSO was never the same - no wit, no charm. You took it all to the cross-town rival as if Dennis and Glen needed any help.

Sorry,counselor! That's not true!(I have trouble smarting off to lawyers,Dave. Comes from some FCC Comparative Hearings experiences. Trying to get over it,really!) I actually went to SSO after a brief interlude at KOR. John Weeks brought me over to do the Lum and Abner show,I mean,Mornings,at the mighty Wesso. We had Barry Brooks, Jack the Whack Talley,little Pete Turpel,to name a few. I left for JDX in late '77. Wanted to get the facts straight,or at least the way I remembered them.....

I'd like to withdraw my original statement, your honor. Mr. Barber is indeed correct. It was Chuck who took his wit and charm to WKOR. You left for the big time at JDX shortly after I started. I have a JDX "hit list" with a picture of you on the front. Your mouth is covered with tape (or at least that's what it looks like) and the caption reads something like "Tim Barber, the way he was intended to be."

 

[davesand]

I've caught the Italian Stallion doing the weather in the Big Apple. Is he a meteorologist or just a weather person?

He was calling himself a meteorologist on WTOK-TV in Meridian long before he ever got the degree.

LF

Do you know when he got the degree?

 

[tzbarber]

{quote from davesand}I'd like to withdraw my original statement, your honor. Mr. Barber is indeed correct. It was Chuck who took his wit and charm to WKOR. You left for the big time at JDX shortly after I started. I have a JDX "hit list" with a picture of you on the front. Your mouth is covered with tape (or at least that's what it looks like) and the caption reads something like "Tim Barber, the way he was intended to be."
[/quote] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The truly sad thing about the Hit List reference was that it was my freaking idea to put the bumper sticker over my mouth in the first place! That's me,making fun of myself before anybody else had a chance! Like that was going to be prevented,huh? Can you do me a favor and scan that hit list and email it to me? Address is "[email protected]" . Will put it in the collection along with the first Miss-103 t-shirt and belt buckle,the ZZQ "Mother Earth" t-shirt,and old airchecks of my little brother at Q-101.(Hah! Now will ya give me my 45's back,liitle Bro? Know you've got em!)

 

[SkinnyJohnny]

Hey Tim,
Could you email me a copy of that for my website?
If you have anything else that may be of interest could you send that along too?
Thanks,
John
P.S. Deddy, them boys are being Prima-Donnas again!

 

[tzbarber]

Hey Tim,
Could you email me a copy of that for my website?
If you have anything else that may be of interest could you send that along too?
Thanks,
John
P.S. Deddy, them boys are being Prima-Donnas again!

Nar Vall, that boy's got a right to know how much taxes are comin out hiz check(hands waving around the head with mouth stretched showing teeth). Now,go check the paper for the weatha wire. Does that boy work for me? Tell um to get a tie and git sellin'. Anybody around here know how much it costs to run this radio station?

Talley's Joe imitation was good,Bob, but trust me, there's a whole generation that can do Joe and Norvell in their sleep. Especially Joe's former son-in law,right Skinny?

 

[davesand]

{quote from davesand}I'd like to withdraw my original statement, your honor. Mr. Barber is indeed correct. It was Chuck who took his wit and charm to WKOR. You left for the big time at JDX shortly after I started. I have a JDX "hit list" with a picture of you on the front. Your mouth is covered with tape (or at least that's what it looks like) and the caption reads something like "Tim Barber, the way he was intended to be."

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The truly sad thing about the Hit List reference was that it was my freaking idea to put the bumper sticker over my mouth in the first place! That's me,making fun of myself before anybody else had a chance! Like that was going to be prevented,huh? Can you do me a favor and scan that hit list and email it to me? Address is "[email protected]" . Will put it in the collection along with the first Miss-103 t-shirt and belt buckle,the ZZQ "Mother Earth" t-shirt,and old airchecks of my little brother at Q-101.(Hah! Now will ya give me my 45's back,liitle Bro? Know you've got em!)
[/quote]
I'll be glad to send it to you. The scanner is on the fritz right now, so I'll have to fax it to you. Just send me a fax number. As soon as I get the scanner up and running, I'll email it to you. I've got tons of stuff like that, i.e., the top of WSSO's yellow ad copy paper. The call letters of both stations appear in the top corners and there's a small Bully in between. Most of my bumper stickers are stuck on the pages of the scrapbook. Remember the JDX weenie bumper sticker? Got one of those. And who could forget WYN 96/WYYN? I accumulated a good bit of stuff while I was there. It's like getting in the Wayback Machine with Sherman & Mr. Peabody.

 

[SkinnyJohnny]

Talley's Joe imitation was good,Bob, but trust me, there's a whole generation that can do Joe and Norvell in their sleep. Especially Joe's former son-in law,right Skinny?

That reminds me of a Christmas party we had out at the Golden Horn Rest. We had a few and Joe's wife Helen pretty much made Talley do his Joe impression for everyone, including Joe. I never saw Joe laugh so much in all of my life!
I'd have to give the best Joe impression award to Talley, but who knows how many other guys are out there with that talent.

 

[beachguy3b]

the big time at JDX

JDX was the big time????

David (JDX 74-75)

 

[davesand]

the big time at JDX

JDX was the big time????

David (JDX 74-75)

Compared to WSSO it was. I suppose "big time" is a relative term. The real big time in the '70s would have been WLS, KHJ, WRKO, etc. But us Mississippi young'uns saw JDX as a step to the real big time.

 

[robgrayson]

Shoot, I thought WRBC and WWUN were "big time"! WJDX was another dimension altogether, light years beyond attainablilty by mere mortals. The house that Tanner built... the state-of-the-art mood lit control room... all the guys drove flashy 280-Z's... Even following Bg3b's universe-altering-intervention on my behalf when I was allowed in the hallowed halls, I feared that someday my cover would be blown, my utter unworthiness brought to light, and I would be cast into the utter darkness as a fake and pretender. Oh wait, that DID happen!

And, of course, to be on WZZQ was to be promoted directly to "hall-of-fame" level as a LEGEND, forever! That sacrosanct status was never within the pale of possiblity for moi, but I did segue a song there once when Perez got stopped by the train on the way back from Krystals (that's what he got for wanting Krystals with KETCHUP ONLY! UGH).

 

[SkinnyJohnny]

I was on "ZZQ listen duty" a few times a week for Perez. He would come in and say "Hey, can you put us in cue and make sure my album doesn't skip or get stuck, I'm going to Jack's. Do you want anything?".

 

[robgrayson]

By the way, Skinny J, tangentially related to this thread... Over the course of the years very few FM Top 40 or CHR stations ever appealed to me on the visceral level that the old AM's did... but WHKW was a distinct exception. Back in the day when I heard it, I was always impressed with's it's tight bright BIG TIME-ish attitude and sound that belied that fact it must have been located near the middle of nowhere. And I mean all that in the nicest way possible!

 

[SkinnyJohnny]

Hey Rob,
I remember the first time I drove up to that station. The directions were "When you get to the blinking yellow light, turn left and go all the way to the top of the hill. You'll see the WHKW sign and turn right on that gravel road. Follow the gravel road for about 2 miles and you'll run right into the station".
It WAS in the middle of nowhere and to top it off, it was in a small Jim Walter Home. I had heard the station long before ever seeing it and it was a shock. They did have good equipment though, which sat on makeshift cabinetry (2 x 4's, plywood with carpet on top). The sides were bare.
My first day at work I stopped at THE convienence store (just before the blinking yellow light) and the lady says "You ain't from around here are you? You must work up thar at that radio station on the hill".
It was 100,000 watts with a killer signal (from Birmingham to Winona)!

 

[tzbarber]

I was on "ZZQ listen duty" a few times a week for Perez. He would come in and say "Hey, can you put us in cue and make sure my album doesn't skip or get stuck, I'm going to Jack's. Do you want anything?".

Most times he'd be warming up leftovers in the oven,but he never shared with me! The hard part of cover duty was listening too much to the ZZQ side and not keeping up with the JDX side. Best case scenario was both playing something like the Who's "Won't get fooled again" at the same time. It also gave you the feeling of monopolizing the airwaves. Together at night,you're talking about a 60 share of the audience at the time,much to the chagrin of those Y-16 fellas. Hey,too bad there weren't LMA's back then.

 

[davesand]

By the way, Skinny J, tangentially related to this thread... Over the course of the years very few FM Top 40 or CHR stations ever appealed to me on the visceral level that the old AM's did... but WHKW was a distinct exception. Back in the day when I heard it, I was always impressed with's it's tight bright BIG TIME-ish attitude and sound that belied that fact it must have been located near the middle of nowhere. And I mean all that in the nicest way possible!

And you discovered that middle of nowhere one Sunday afternooon. I remember meeting you at Fulton while I was still at State working at WSSO and you were working in Memphis (WHBQ, pehaps?). You said let's go for a ride. And ride we did. Little did the rest of us in the car know that your were intent on finding WHKW. And somehow, without directions it seems, you eventually found the hill. And to our amazement, we discovered a Jim Walter home at the top of that hill (wasn't WWUN in a similar-type home?). What a surprise to find that incredible sound came from a small Jim Walter home. I have a friend who grew-up in Fayette. Incredibly, she doesn't remember the station!

 

[beachguy3b]

Compared to WSSO it was. I suppose "big time" is a relative term. The real big time in the '70s would have been WLS, KHJ, WRKO, etc. But us Mississippi young'uns saw JDX as a step to the real big time.

Good point. I was WSSO in 1973. I still remember Joe and his green El Camino. And if it hadn't been for JDX, I likely wouldn't have gone to St. Louis in 1975, and get stuck there for 30 years. Always will remember Bob Burton's reaction when he thought he was about to fire me ("not good enough for middays in Jackson!") and instead, I told him I was going to KSLQ to do middays...

 

[beachguy3b]

And to our amazement, we discovered a Jim Walter home at the top of that hill (wasn't WWUN in a similar-type home?).

Yep. Next to a cemetary. And a farm. I remember one afternoon having someone reading the news and a cow stuck her head in since the window was open on a nice day. I think Walt Grayson was reading the news, but I'm not sure.

 

[SkinnyJohnny]

David B., I remember stopping by for a visit when you were at WWUN one afternoon and you showed me how you guys did airchecks using the "RF" pot on the production board!
Does anybody remember a guy named Jesse James Jr. that was on WWUN back in the mid to late 60's?