the good ol' days were not that great

[radio-outsider]

> Was it perfect? No. But there was much more good than there
> was bad about it.
>
I respectfully disagree. It WAS perfect.

 

[majicjim]

I remember "13 Wife" around the time the Vance Hartke bias scandal destroyed Star Station's credibility and how the conservative community of Indiana jumped on it in a heartbeat. "13 Wife" never recovered although they went to great lengths to get rapid-fire Jackson Armstrong("your LEEEE-DER") and Wolfman Jack but ultimately lost out in the ratings war to "windy 1260" then to FM("Kiss 99" WZPL,WENS,etc.)Since moving away from "kentuckyana" I always hear how call letters keep getting recycled over there(hence WIFE's calls moved to Connersville...WLHN,Anderson keeps moving,first to Elwood...er Deadwood,then Muncie and the old WHYT,Noblesbille taking on the WFBM calls in the 80s.)Only Indiana station I really liked was the old "990 WERK" in Muncie for its kick butt talent and jingles. Otherwise Indiana radio is as incoragable as Glenn West was in Portland before he retired and sold "PG" thirty some odd years ago.

> Eric Garnes has a great, and by 'great' I mean
> 'spine-tingling', story about how WIFE-AM 1310 switched from
> playing music to flipping to News/Talk.
>
> Go ahead and ask him about it sometime.
>

 

[bigtime]

I think the Vance Hartke thing happened in the mid 60s. WIFE wasn't really hurt by that. They dominated well into the 70s. The people who took ownership of the station in 1976 didn't seem to have the magic touch that original owner Don Burden had. Plus WNDE and FM radio came on strong about that time.


> I remember "13 Wife" around the time the Vance Hartke bias
> scandal destroyed Star Station's credibility and how the
> conservative community of Indiana jumped on it in a
> heartbeat. "13 Wife" never recovered although they went to
> great lengths to get rapid-fire Jackson Armstrong("your
> LEEEE-DER") and Wolfman Jack but ultimately lost out in the
> ratings war to "windy 1260" then to FM("Kiss 99"
> WZPL,WENS,etc.)Since moving away from "kentuckyana" I always
> hear how call letters keep getting recycled over there(hence
> WIFE's calls moved to Connersville...WLHN,Anderson keeps
> moving,first to Elwood...er Deadwood,then Muncie and the old
> WHYT,Noblesbille taking on the WFBM calls in the 80s.)Only
> Indiana station I really liked was the old "990 WERK" in
> Muncie for its kick butt talent and jingles. Otherwise
> Indiana radio is as incoragable as Glenn West was in
> Portland before he retired and sold "PG" thirty some odd
> years ago.
>
> > Eric Garnes has a great, and by 'great' I mean
> > 'spine-tingling', story about how WIFE-AM 1310 switched
> from
> > playing music to flipping to News/Talk.
> >
> > Go ahead and ask him about it sometime.
> >
>

 

[flashback]

I read the entire thread in one sitting. as one who never worked in radio but listened to it from the late 50`s . I remember listening to bouncing bill baker on wibc in their top dog rock and roll days, but don`t remember any details.

the better technology obviously is good but what is the point if it is either on-air talent fillibustering like bob and tom or not being able to say anything interesting because they are reigned in by managment?

it may be simplistic but how about the advantages of new technology and going back to non-fillibuster personality radio like the old days? pre- consultant days.

 

[ten_four]

Otherwise Indiana radio is as incoragable as Glenn West was in Portland before he retired and sold "PG" thirty some odd years ago.

>

Glenn was what Dr. Wible at Ball State termed "The chief cook and bottle washer in Portland." He told the story of driving up to PG-14 where a guy was cutting the grass. Seems the grass cutter was also on the air, playing an LP at the time. It was West.

I listened to 100.9 (Portland) on the way up to Fort Wayne this summer and heard a future full time broadcaster go thru their paces with the local weather forecast. It's nice to hear a local station being truly local for their town. Rob Weaver is still providing a training ground for broadcasters. Way to go, Rob!

 

[Juan Bodley]

Ah, what the h-e-double hockey sticks, I'll add my 2 cents here.
I came out of high school radio and learned how to abuse a turntable, got in on CDs in the studio as a drink coaster, you get it, to commercial radio. From non-com FM to AM, country format, and I learned quick it was TOTALLY DIFFERENT. But was it great radio?? Nope. We were tight to the clock and you didn't mess around. I didn't get into automation or computer control until I became a TV engineer, and that was just for the BetaCart commercial system. (and if you've worked on it you wonder who the )*$! came up with that program!! An ITC cart deck is a LOT easier to re-align compared to a Sony 1/2" Beta deck or anything for HD playback...)

Across the Midwest I'd say radio is too "plastic." Too much format, not enough originality. I heard some radio from Indy in the mid-80's but I really remember Chicago in the late 70's as being "BIG" radio. Now you hear the same canned formats all over. If the bigshots want radio to survive they'd stop treating radio as a "business" (read: we only care about the income; translation: it'll NEVER happen.) I'd love to see radio get original again. About the only place it can be is if you're a pirate station...