Someone mentioned KNON popping up in the ratings and said it was just as it was in 1975. I was working in a record store at Valley View, running a part 15 at home in Mesquite and really wanting to get my license and my first radio job. I did a midnight to 3am shift on KCHU starting in February 1976 and they didn't like me. I tried to jock it like other stations in town and I brought new releases I got from the record store to play. It was fun times though. It was the only station around that would let you just hang out.
One night while hanging out this guy comes up to me and asks if I want to do a show. I say I do but don't have my 3rd class. He said to forget the license and pick out some music because I was on in 10 minutes. I started freaking out but managed to figure out the board and segue some songs. My teeth actually chattered when I cracked the mike the first time. I was a bit calmer on my second break but people had come into the studio and sat across from me and they were watching me. What really got me was their faces were familiar but I knew I didn't know them. Unnerved by that I started back announcing and announced a Robert Palmer tune I just played (this was maybe January 1976 when nobody had ever heard of Robert Palmer). At this point a lady watching me asks how that Robert Palmer record is doing in Dallas. I wasn't ready for this, so I turned on everyone's microphone and said "Who are you guys?"
The lady explained she had lunch with Robert Palmer the week before and he was really hoping this record (Pressure Drop originally by Reggae group Toots and The Maytals) would become a hit. She and one of the others were members of Manhattan Transfer. I knew their faces from their albums at work. The other two were a news anchor from then independent KTVT Channel 11 at that time and an entertainment writer for the Dallas Morning News (I knew his face from his picture next to his column and Bob from watching the news). If I could have snuck out of there undetected, I would have.
About 10 minutes later the guy that told me I was on the air in ten minutes walks in and thanks me. Seems he had to run to the airport to get Manhattan Transfer. The additional media was invited. And that was my first time on the air. I left humiliated and still shaky.
Sitting in on another's overnight show of ambient and electronic sound in the overnight hours, we decided a run down the block to the convenience store was a good idea. The door automatically locked at the Maple Avenue studio so we thought we had a foolproof way to keep the door from fully shutting. Well, it was a windy night and our plan didn't work. By the time we walked the block to the convenience store the guy working there who knew we were at KCHU and was listing to the station, says, "Man, your record's skipping." The host ran back, finding the door locked, he found a brick and went to the never used back door, broke a pane out of a window and reached around to unlock the door. We never admitted what happened. Naturally the record had been skipping a good 15 minutes and all the phone lines were blinking. We didn't answer.
One night was windy, dark and stormy. We had been talking about the strange things that happened in that old house. Lots of noises and strange things had happened. I had heard and seen a couple. We all thought the place might be haunted. We were watching a severe thunderstorm move in from the big second story windows. To set the mood, one of the jocks went over to the organ that had been donated to the station and starts belting out Bach's Fugue (in D?) that was in all the scary movies. At the final note, lightning must have struck really close because there was a big flash of light and very loud thunder. At the same time, the lights go out. As KCHU goes off the air KAFM 92.5, then progressive country, fades in over the over the air speakers for 2 or 3 seconds as the radio powered down, just long enough to hear the lyrics to the song they were playing "Ghost Riders In The Sky". I got goose bumps. It was just too perfect to ever need any embellishment.
Finally, we had this incredibly nice lady that had a show just before me. Brandi was such a kind and sweet lady with a great sense of humor. She was quite a large lady. Her voice was incredible. It was like honey dripped from the microphone when she was on but she sounded very approachable. Still I have yet to hear a female on air voice that sounded as sexy yet girl next door and that female buddy combination she had. Almost every time she'd do a break, some guy would call trying to meet her for drinks. Her wit provided the perfect response: "Thank you so much for the offer but honey, I'm more woman than you can handle".
I was there about 6 months.
KCHU's policy was not to sound like you were supposed to be on the radio. They frowned on cueing records. They said if other stations on the dial play the song, don't play it on KCHU.
One night while hanging out this guy comes up to me and asks if I want to do a show. I say I do but don't have my 3rd class. He said to forget the license and pick out some music because I was on in 10 minutes. I started freaking out but managed to figure out the board and segue some songs. My teeth actually chattered when I cracked the mike the first time. I was a bit calmer on my second break but people had come into the studio and sat across from me and they were watching me. What really got me was their faces were familiar but I knew I didn't know them. Unnerved by that I started back announcing and announced a Robert Palmer tune I just played (this was maybe January 1976 when nobody had ever heard of Robert Palmer). At this point a lady watching me asks how that Robert Palmer record is doing in Dallas. I wasn't ready for this, so I turned on everyone's microphone and said "Who are you guys?"
The lady explained she had lunch with Robert Palmer the week before and he was really hoping this record (Pressure Drop originally by Reggae group Toots and The Maytals) would become a hit. She and one of the others were members of Manhattan Transfer. I knew their faces from their albums at work. The other two were a news anchor from then independent KTVT Channel 11 at that time and an entertainment writer for the Dallas Morning News (I knew his face from his picture next to his column and Bob from watching the news). If I could have snuck out of there undetected, I would have.
About 10 minutes later the guy that told me I was on the air in ten minutes walks in and thanks me. Seems he had to run to the airport to get Manhattan Transfer. The additional media was invited. And that was my first time on the air. I left humiliated and still shaky.
Sitting in on another's overnight show of ambient and electronic sound in the overnight hours, we decided a run down the block to the convenience store was a good idea. The door automatically locked at the Maple Avenue studio so we thought we had a foolproof way to keep the door from fully shutting. Well, it was a windy night and our plan didn't work. By the time we walked the block to the convenience store the guy working there who knew we were at KCHU and was listing to the station, says, "Man, your record's skipping." The host ran back, finding the door locked, he found a brick and went to the never used back door, broke a pane out of a window and reached around to unlock the door. We never admitted what happened. Naturally the record had been skipping a good 15 minutes and all the phone lines were blinking. We didn't answer.
One night was windy, dark and stormy. We had been talking about the strange things that happened in that old house. Lots of noises and strange things had happened. I had heard and seen a couple. We all thought the place might be haunted. We were watching a severe thunderstorm move in from the big second story windows. To set the mood, one of the jocks went over to the organ that had been donated to the station and starts belting out Bach's Fugue (in D?) that was in all the scary movies. At the final note, lightning must have struck really close because there was a big flash of light and very loud thunder. At the same time, the lights go out. As KCHU goes off the air KAFM 92.5, then progressive country, fades in over the over the air speakers for 2 or 3 seconds as the radio powered down, just long enough to hear the lyrics to the song they were playing "Ghost Riders In The Sky". I got goose bumps. It was just too perfect to ever need any embellishment.
Finally, we had this incredibly nice lady that had a show just before me. Brandi was such a kind and sweet lady with a great sense of humor. She was quite a large lady. Her voice was incredible. It was like honey dripped from the microphone when she was on but she sounded very approachable. Still I have yet to hear a female on air voice that sounded as sexy yet girl next door and that female buddy combination she had. Almost every time she'd do a break, some guy would call trying to meet her for drinks. Her wit provided the perfect response: "Thank you so much for the offer but honey, I'm more woman than you can handle".
I was there about 6 months.
KCHU's policy was not to sound like you were supposed to be on the radio. They frowned on cueing records. They said if other stations on the dial play the song, don't play it on KCHU.
