I had a question forwarded to me about a program that used to be on WREC radio here in Memphis back in the '60s and early '70s called "The Zero Hour". A fellow out in Provo, Utah, wanted to know about it. He had lived in Memphis in that time and remembered the show. I wrote him just now and thought I'd post most of the letter here as history and tribute to the two finest broadcasters I have ever known.
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"Leonard Blakely forwarded your note to Mike Fleming on to me and I'll try to give you some info. Leonard and I both came to WREC in 1969. He worked evenings and I worked morning drive and days for the period that included the last years of the "Zero Hour." We both retired last month.
The Zero Hour started in 1964. Fred Cook was the Program Director of WREC-AM and the news reader of the 10pm News on WREC-TV, Channel 3. Fred came to WREC in 1950, I believe. He is from Waterbury, Connecticut. John Powell came to WREC in 1956 from his home town of Paducah, KY, and was Production Director. He later became the news reader on WREC-TV and eventually the News Director there for several years.
WREC-AM was located in the basement of the Peabody Hotel in 1964. A fire started one day and most of the power was lost for several hours. I believe John was on the air at the time doing his regular midday show. The power loss did not cause WREC to go off the air. Fred came into the control room and the two of them sat in the dark and talked on the air while firemen came and went around them searching for the fire and putting it out. The entertaining conversation they held under those circumstances must have been amazing. Listeners enjoyed it immensely for the two had caught lightning in a bottle while talking over the little bright wire there in the dark basement of the Peabody.
In the weeks that followed, Fred and John discussed the event often and gradually the idea for a program evolved. I believe the first broadcast date for "The Zero Hour" was September 1, 1964. (At least that's the date of their 3rd Anniversary Show three years later.) The format was simply the two of them talking for an hour about anything that came into their heads. The commercials were live and unrehearsed. Almost the only thing pre-produced was the theme music. The show opened with a Gong sound effect followed by a song titled, "Clinkerated Chimes" from the "Musically Mad" album by Bernie Green and the Stereo Mad-Men (RCA/1958). Yes, it had a picture of Alfred E. Newman on the cover. There were other musical themes for the various bits they did, but no structured music or produced commercials like you would hear the other 23 hours of the day on WREC.
"The Zero Hour" became a popular addition to the WREC lineup and they did the show until about 1975 or 1976, I think. Ownership of WREC changed and Fred was fired and John went with WREC(G)-TV full time. Don't ask!
There were occasional substitutes on the show when one or the other was away. One horrible week I substituted for John with Fred. Two other announcers on WREC, Roger Cooper and Dean Pollard would substitute for both guys with "The Sub-Zero Hour". It was pretty good, but not even close to the original. I do remember Dean talking about eating a miniature Snickers bar in the shower once...he just stood with his face in the shower and the Snickers bar in his mouth till the hot water melted the bar. He recommended the procedure highly. Perhaps you had to be there. Uhh, perhaps not.
Fred and John's bits included "Fremont Filligree the Poet and Ziggy, the Organ Player", "Gunfolks", a fabulous rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas", "Frantic Fred, the Rock DJ" and many more. John wrote the material and usually played the straight man and they were hilarious. They had guests occasionally, but most of the time it was just the two of them. If you ever heard them, there's no need for any analysis. If not, well, I'm sorry for you. They were much better than Godfrey, in my book, better than anybody else I ever heard on the air with the possible exception of Bob and Ray.
So far as history, there was a book put out in 1972 titled, "WREC at 50". It had a brief mention of the show as a caption to a photograph of the boys on the air (and me operating the control board up above them). Two anniversary shows remain...their 3rd Anniversary show and the WREC 45th Anniversary show in which they interview Hoyt Wooten, the founder of WREC. I have these on my hard drive and several other folks have these and more, but they aren't available to the public.
Fred and John came back to WREC in the late '80's doing a combo show---music and produced commercials and some chatter. It was good, but it wasn't "The Zero Hour". Fred retired in the '90's and still lives in Memphis, doing well. I speak to him every year or so and need to chat with him now that I've retired. John retired and moved to Missouri. He took a job with a radio station in Hardy, AR. He did some production and a big band music show for a while. He does a little bit still, I believe, but is slowing down in that respect. He and I email each other often.
That's about it and I'm sorry it's not more. "The Zero Hour" and WREC were the biggest reasons I tried broadcasting as a career. I admired the station and am glad to say I worked there for so many years. It has been an honor to have known and worked with Fred and John. We'll not see their like again in this business, I'm sad to say.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
"Leonard Blakely forwarded your note to Mike Fleming on to me and I'll try to give you some info. Leonard and I both came to WREC in 1969. He worked evenings and I worked morning drive and days for the period that included the last years of the "Zero Hour." We both retired last month.
The Zero Hour started in 1964. Fred Cook was the Program Director of WREC-AM and the news reader of the 10pm News on WREC-TV, Channel 3. Fred came to WREC in 1950, I believe. He is from Waterbury, Connecticut. John Powell came to WREC in 1956 from his home town of Paducah, KY, and was Production Director. He later became the news reader on WREC-TV and eventually the News Director there for several years.
WREC-AM was located in the basement of the Peabody Hotel in 1964. A fire started one day and most of the power was lost for several hours. I believe John was on the air at the time doing his regular midday show. The power loss did not cause WREC to go off the air. Fred came into the control room and the two of them sat in the dark and talked on the air while firemen came and went around them searching for the fire and putting it out. The entertaining conversation they held under those circumstances must have been amazing. Listeners enjoyed it immensely for the two had caught lightning in a bottle while talking over the little bright wire there in the dark basement of the Peabody.
In the weeks that followed, Fred and John discussed the event often and gradually the idea for a program evolved. I believe the first broadcast date for "The Zero Hour" was September 1, 1964. (At least that's the date of their 3rd Anniversary Show three years later.) The format was simply the two of them talking for an hour about anything that came into their heads. The commercials were live and unrehearsed. Almost the only thing pre-produced was the theme music. The show opened with a Gong sound effect followed by a song titled, "Clinkerated Chimes" from the "Musically Mad" album by Bernie Green and the Stereo Mad-Men (RCA/1958). Yes, it had a picture of Alfred E. Newman on the cover. There were other musical themes for the various bits they did, but no structured music or produced commercials like you would hear the other 23 hours of the day on WREC.
"The Zero Hour" became a popular addition to the WREC lineup and they did the show until about 1975 or 1976, I think. Ownership of WREC changed and Fred was fired and John went with WREC(G)-TV full time. Don't ask!
There were occasional substitutes on the show when one or the other was away. One horrible week I substituted for John with Fred. Two other announcers on WREC, Roger Cooper and Dean Pollard would substitute for both guys with "The Sub-Zero Hour". It was pretty good, but not even close to the original. I do remember Dean talking about eating a miniature Snickers bar in the shower once...he just stood with his face in the shower and the Snickers bar in his mouth till the hot water melted the bar. He recommended the procedure highly. Perhaps you had to be there. Uhh, perhaps not.
Fred and John's bits included "Fremont Filligree the Poet and Ziggy, the Organ Player", "Gunfolks", a fabulous rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas", "Frantic Fred, the Rock DJ" and many more. John wrote the material and usually played the straight man and they were hilarious. They had guests occasionally, but most of the time it was just the two of them. If you ever heard them, there's no need for any analysis. If not, well, I'm sorry for you. They were much better than Godfrey, in my book, better than anybody else I ever heard on the air with the possible exception of Bob and Ray.
So far as history, there was a book put out in 1972 titled, "WREC at 50". It had a brief mention of the show as a caption to a photograph of the boys on the air (and me operating the control board up above them). Two anniversary shows remain...their 3rd Anniversary show and the WREC 45th Anniversary show in which they interview Hoyt Wooten, the founder of WREC. I have these on my hard drive and several other folks have these and more, but they aren't available to the public.
Fred and John came back to WREC in the late '80's doing a combo show---music and produced commercials and some chatter. It was good, but it wasn't "The Zero Hour". Fred retired in the '90's and still lives in Memphis, doing well. I speak to him every year or so and need to chat with him now that I've retired. John retired and moved to Missouri. He took a job with a radio station in Hardy, AR. He did some production and a big band music show for a while. He does a little bit still, I believe, but is slowing down in that respect. He and I email each other often.
That's about it and I'm sorry it's not more. "The Zero Hour" and WREC were the biggest reasons I tried broadcasting as a career. I admired the station and am glad to say I worked there for so many years. It has been an honor to have known and worked with Fred and John. We'll not see their like again in this business, I'm sad to say.
