• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Two WFMX 'blasts from the past'

W

wcirvin

I dug up a couple of old WFMX things that I thought were fun.

Picture of station. http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g264/willflyer/WSIC.jpg
Jeff Watts gave me this picture eons ago. He said it was taken shortly after the station signed on in 1948.

Old logo. http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g264/willflyer/OldWFMXLogo.jpg
MJB hated this logo. He couldn't wait to change it. In 1990 we (the staff) gave him a birthday cake decorated with this logo. We told him he could eat it and never have to look at it again! I think Tut Barnes masterminded the idea.
 
Great stuff, Dub! Thanks for posting the pix. I fondly remember the logo on the coffee cup...and I can hear the liners that Mike Walker, Rita Kelly used: "Carolina's Only Real Country".
When Adventure took over, a liner which played off the WFMX calls was used: "Carolina's Favorite Mix" which later became "The Carolina's Superstation"--which it indeed was.
Would be nice if someone else here with more knowledge would post a "Hall of Fame" of WFMX personalities in this thread or pix like yours.

Eric
 
I think the only way Jeff ever gets rid of anything is to give it away. I don't think he ever throws anything out. ;D Jeff probabley knows more about radio in this area than any 2 people. Uncle Ken as is probabley rolling over in his grave about now.
 
Well,

I do remember a few of the talents...as I did work there for a while....

Current Talent:
Keith Todd - Mornings
Dave Michaels - Former Afternoon / Now Mornings
Edd Robinson - Afternoon Drive
Mark Rose - 10-2 Guy / Former Evening Guy
Tim Sherrill - Evening Board-Op / Swing Guy
Greg Ryan - Current Nighttime Drive Personality
Blair Garner / Larry Morgan - After MidNite Syndicated
The Bluegrass Guy that was on every Sunday night....I loved his show....

Other than that..that is the best I can do....any other people on here who know please do post them...

I have no photos saddeningly.....but I have listened to this station since I was born... 1988

Wayne

PS. WFMX, was the greatest station ever in Statesville...
 
Ben,

Glad to see you on here....i am glad you posted these....these are priceless artifacts....

I thank you very much for posting these.
Wayne Owens
 
Thanks Ben. That is so cool to see. Glad to see the station is in good hands again. I have some tapes of me and Bill from about 25 years or so ago that I bet you would love to hear. Best of luck to you all.
 
Bennie, good to hear from you. I'd love a chance to get a copy of those tapes. You still around the area? Drop me a line when you get a chance, [email protected].
 
Well this thread is almost old enough to vote. I confess to finding it by Googling "Mike Walker + WFMX" to see what was out there. I am Mike Walker, the guy who did mornings at WFMX from Dec of '88 till fall of '89. I briefly did afternoons, and was Production Mgr. Great times, but I was there when the station was in a period of transition...from High Country Communications to Adventure. And Bob Grayson decided he didn't like me the first time he laid eyes on me. The feeling was mutual. He was my boss, and he wanted me out...so I got fired the first and only time in what has now been 37 years in radio.

Today I operate a production studio (The Production Room), and host a syndicated oldies show (Saving the 70s) http://www.savingthe70s.com

But I'll always look at WFMX, as the fishermen say, as the "one that got away". So much potential. I truly adored the station, it's history, and the reverence people who worked there had for the place. But I met some wonderful people...Pat Shannon, Rita Kelly (Taggert!), Jeff Watts (wonderful guy!), Jim McJunkin, Matt Cockerham, and Warren Penny...nice guy, but what I'll aways remember about Warren was how he tried to screw the air-staff out of money they were owed for remotes. I did a TON of remotes, and expected to be paid what i was owed. ALL OF IT! LOL! It's funny how that stuff stays with you!

Oh...and Steve Handy, the "Handy Man". And let's not forget Iris Sowers from the sales-staff, who had been with the station forever. A sweet, wonderful lady. And Dave Arnold, who was the morning dude on WSIC when I was at WFMX.

I'll always remember being the first person on the air on WFMX after Hugo took down the AM tower, which put both stations off the air. That evening I broadcast for hours alone, in the dark, from the back of a big panel-truck with that cowboy hat logo on the side, parked outside the FM transmitter location, in the middle of freaking nowhere. Then an amateur radio operator showed up, and with the help of hams all over the area, I finally had something to report.
 
What's the point of this post?? Sour Grapes?? FMX is gone.. Who cares?
 
The point of the post is that I was mentioned in the original post, and recollections of WFMX were sought. These are mine. Far from "sour grapes", my memories of 'FMX are mostly golden. It was a wonderful place...a special place. America's first FM country station. I met some lifelong friends there, and wouldn't change a thing...including the "sour" parts.

If your impressions of my post are mostly negative, I'd invite you to read again! My feelings about WFMX certainly aren't.

An example of what 'FMX was like, and why it felt like a family---our night man talked on the air about getting married. Soon "wedding gifts" started arriving in the mail. I'm certain he had no idea that would happen. People considered 'FMX air personalities members of the family. I left each day feeling as if I'd been a part of something unique and special. The only "sour grapes" on my part are that it ended. I should have seen that coming...my wife sure did. But given a chance, I'd do it again in a heartbeat...even the parts that hurt. Does someone who feels only "sour grapes" think that?

Working at WFMX was worth it for the Hugo memory alone! How priceless is the opportunity to be the first voice a community hears after a tragedy like that...and to help people find their way to food, water, shelter, and health services? "Sour grapes"? Some of us don't excel at reading comprehension!
 
Quadraphonic, I love your screen name. Brings back lots of memories. I remember playing SQ Quadraphonic records on WKBC-FM (North Wilkesboro) back in the 70s. Probably stupid, because they didn't fold very well to mono. But still!

Remember Dolby-FM? The stations broadcast a Dolby reference tone at least once a week so that listeners with Dolby decoders, all three of them(!), could calibrate their units! What a time! FM was new and exciting. It was actually nearly a half-century old! But by the 70s, FM had acquired something brand new. LISTENERS! :)
 
I may have been a little harse in m y comments, however..WFMX was NEVER a SuperStation! and was definately not the first Country FM in North Carolina. What year did they begin country..? BIGAPE
 
I used to know the year WFMX (which came on the air as WSIC FM) went country. I think it was about 1960, when virtually all FM stations had some form of elevator music.
 
@Mike Walker:
I only got to hear a few quadraphonic albums back in the day. The last time I saw a player, I was like 8 (41 now). One of my aunts had a sleek, modern 8track/quadraphonic FM radio built into a cabinet even! She got it at a furniture store! ;) I think it went away in a divorce. I hope Joe enjoyed it as much as I would've...

I remember Quad-sound was one of the big things about WQDR when they started up. I used to listen to them when I became old enough to hide a transistor under the pillow and stay up later at night than I should've. "Quadraphonic" just has a nice ring to it, and it reminds me of Steve Martin's Dodecaphonic joke from I think "Wild & Crazy Guy." :)
 
Mike Walker said:
I used to know the year WFMX (which came on the air as WSIC FM) went country. I think it was about 1960, when virtually all FM stations had some form of elevator music.
Click to expand...

Mike,

I remember you...and thought you were many of the greats on THE great WFMX. WFMX was a super station and it's sad the evils of corporate radio killed it off. I remember your broadcasting from the Cool Springs site when Hugo took down the WSIC tower at the station. And, I remember when Adventure swooped down I-77 from Bluefield to Statesville. I don't believe they "specifically" let you go, but indirectly by hiring Mr. Grayson, I guess they did. And I believe he is now the late Mr. Grayson as he past away several years ago after having moved back to his old stomping ground of Canton, GA. The best to you, Mike.

Eric
 
Thank you, Eric. Very kind words. If only the Adventure chapter of the station hadn't been written, I might still be there. I had no intentions of leaving the place!

As for Quadraphonic, it actually didn't "go away". Not many people who aren't audio geeks realize that the analog "Dolby Surround" system (prior to Dolby Digital) was a reworking of the CBS labs SQ matrix. Rather than left and right front, and left and right rear channels in SQ Matrix, the reworked system's four channels were left right and center front, with a mono back channel. I believe for years Dolby paid license fees to CBS Labs for the use of their patents in Dolby Surround.

So "quadraphonics" didn't really go away, it just moved down the road to the local multiplex!
 
WFMX was a great station. What a signal. It could be heard in Charleston sometimes before our 105.3 moved to 105.5. Amazing that when it was on, it could be heard well in two top 50 markets (Charlotte and the Triad).

Their NASCAR commitment was great too.
 
There must have been something wrong in the woodpile...They sold out, didn't they!
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom