Danoinark said:
Trey Stafford
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When radio was fun...
- Thread starter radiosaur
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Trey Stafford
Zeke_Terry said:
I remember him too. If I recall. 105 was put on the air by Bruce Higgins whose father was in the Jewelry business. I remember dropping by there one evening when it went on the air in the early 70's maybe 71. It was state of the art. I had a friend, George Boggs, who worked there and I think he eventually went to work for WPTY, your channel 24 at the time when I was in Memphis. Haven't heard from Boggs since. Of course 105 may not have been the same station. The one I am talking about was orginally on the highway between Jonesboro and Paragould. KDRS at the time was owned by Tim ? or his father.
S
save yourself
Guest
I recall the first days of radio as the Sunday board op. I relate with AT....I was the only body the preacher man could "preach" too through the glass window. And man did we have a line up. The live studio preachers started at 6AM and would go till 10, rolling in and out every 30 minutes. For some strange reason this radio station had a glass table for the preacher man to sit behind and that would hold their mic. I would often fold and lay a newspaper underneath the mic stand to help prevent loud dings when excitement prevailed causing the preacher to kick and wildly wave arms through the air, bumping and slamming the table. Although the newspaper was reasonably placed, it did very little to mitigate the dings generated by the glass table. It was as if the dings would vibrate right through the table, the stand and then through the air waves.
I always dreaded the Sunday morning glass table breakdown. After removing everything off, you could always clearly see the area where the newspaper helped shield all the bumps and dings from the listener....but the newspaper could not shiled the exposing glass from the mass amount of spit that perfusley flowed from each of the preacher's mouths with his sermon.
I always dreaded the Sunday morning glass table breakdown. After removing everything off, you could always clearly see the area where the newspaper helped shield all the bumps and dings from the listener....but the newspaper could not shiled the exposing glass from the mass amount of spit that perfusley flowed from each of the preacher's mouths with his sermon.
Thank goodness only one of mine was live. Church of Christ- did it from a little news studio on the other side of the big glass studio in front of the control room. The others were on various reel-to-reel tapes that I had to play in other rooms.(production, fm control room, etc) I ahd to use "patch cords" from those players into my board. Anyone else remember that kind of crap? I recall that there usually were no "remote" starts for the other room's reel players...so you had to turn the pot up and run to the room. The monitor was turned up real loud so you could hear the cue on the cart you started 20 seconds before in the control room. It was fun traininf newbees!
D
Dr. Bob
Guest
As long as we are talking Sunday Morning sign on in the Mid-South....
I worked it a few times at WSAO in Senatobia when I was in high school, circa 74-76. Most of the time, the present owner of the station, Jessie Ross, worked that shift but a few times Jessie was sick or on vacation. (My normal shift was weekday afternoons and Saturday sign on.)
I got the fire and brimstone treatment from the African American perspective. The station had an upright piano and the gospel singers came to the station to add their touch.
The receptionist/traffic lady typed the receipts on Friday and the money was collected ($1 per minute) before allowing anyone on the air. Money and receipts in a cigar box in the control room. I distinctly remember the walls vibrating, having to ride gain on the Gates Yard console, and that the parking lot looked more a used Cadillac or Lincoln dealer than a radio station.
Interestingly enough, when I went to work at WSSO in Starkville, circa 78-82, they had an almost identical Sunday sign on set up cigar box and all.
Dr. Bob
Recovering from Ike in Houston
I worked it a few times at WSAO in Senatobia when I was in high school, circa 74-76. Most of the time, the present owner of the station, Jessie Ross, worked that shift but a few times Jessie was sick or on vacation. (My normal shift was weekday afternoons and Saturday sign on.)
I got the fire and brimstone treatment from the African American perspective. The station had an upright piano and the gospel singers came to the station to add their touch.
The receptionist/traffic lady typed the receipts on Friday and the money was collected ($1 per minute) before allowing anyone on the air. Money and receipts in a cigar box in the control room. I distinctly remember the walls vibrating, having to ride gain on the Gates Yard console, and that the parking lot looked more a used Cadillac or Lincoln dealer than a radio station.
Interestingly enough, when I went to work at WSSO in Starkville, circa 78-82, they had an almost identical Sunday sign on set up cigar box and all.
Dr. Bob
Recovering from Ike in Houston
I remember at my last station, preachers would "give" their time to each other! I never actually saw it happen, but I was told that if one preacher was "on a roll" when his time was up, the next pastor would just let him continue! After all, they were all friends and acquaintances, and they were all working for the same cause!
As it was, they usually met each other out in the hallway between broadcasts, and exchanged pleasantries with each other.
As it was, they usually met each other out in the hallway between broadcasts, and exchanged pleasantries with each other.
Danoinark said:
Dano,
After I moved from Memphis in 1992 I went to Somerset, KY where a local daytimer WTLO AM 1480 had a morning talk show covering various topics. I was listening one morning several years ago when they had a computer expert on who was discussing computer viruses. Host Jim Brown took a call from a little old lady saying that she just didn't understand why anyone would want a computer in their home if it could give you a virus. I was rolling on the floor laughing as Jim tried to explain it all to her then just gave up.
Regarding Suinday morning sign-ons, my first one at WRBC in Jackson, MS, still stands out in my mind as the weirdest day I can remember. I wrote about it a year and a half ago, but I'll pirate my own words again:
No one had given me a key to the building and no one was there when I pulled up about 5:15 with a 6am sign-on staring me in the face. I tried all the windows in the building and found one open in the sales room. It had been raining overnight, so I trailed mud through the window and across a desk to the transmitter room. I found the log and got things going and was about to sign on when I noticed a group of men outside the front glass doors. (The two stations had side-by-side control rooms facing the reception area and front doors.) I went to the door and discovered the Spiritual Morning Hummingbirds were trying to get into the buildingt to do their 15 minute live music show! The doors were locked on the inside as well as out, so I sent them around to the sales office window. They came in through the window with their amplifiers, guitars, and dressed to the nines. Then they asked me where the mike was.
That's when I found out about Moose Currie's propensity for keeping station audio gear in his car trunk after a ballgame. I told the Spiritual Morning Hummingbirds to start vamping while I went to the control room and unscrewed my annoouce mike and found a cable and stand we could use. I plugged it in, found the correct pot on the board, signed on, and faded up on their playing. Then I grabbed the page out of the copy book and ran to the sales room/studio and read the open from the backside of the mike while they all gathered in close on the front side. It was sponsored by King the Tailor at this station as well, I discovered. They began their program and I noticed another group of fellows at the front door! Yep, the next live program needed directions on which window to crawl through while the first group did their quarter hour show.
Three groups crawled through that window before Scarlett Booth arrived about 6:40am to sign on WJMI-FM. She had a key to the front door! On top of that, while I was reading the intros a member of each group would hand me $15.70 in cash to pay for their airtime. I learned I was to put the money in an envelope, seal it, note the group's name on the front and slip the envelope under the business manager's door. I survived that first day on the air at WRBC and realized if I could do that, I could probably survive anything in this wacky business...except children of sponsors coming in to be produced in daddy's commercial. Deliver me!
No one had given me a key to the building and no one was there when I pulled up about 5:15 with a 6am sign-on staring me in the face. I tried all the windows in the building and found one open in the sales room. It had been raining overnight, so I trailed mud through the window and across a desk to the transmitter room. I found the log and got things going and was about to sign on when I noticed a group of men outside the front glass doors. (The two stations had side-by-side control rooms facing the reception area and front doors.) I went to the door and discovered the Spiritual Morning Hummingbirds were trying to get into the buildingt to do their 15 minute live music show! The doors were locked on the inside as well as out, so I sent them around to the sales office window. They came in through the window with their amplifiers, guitars, and dressed to the nines. Then they asked me where the mike was.
That's when I found out about Moose Currie's propensity for keeping station audio gear in his car trunk after a ballgame. I told the Spiritual Morning Hummingbirds to start vamping while I went to the control room and unscrewed my annoouce mike and found a cable and stand we could use. I plugged it in, found the correct pot on the board, signed on, and faded up on their playing. Then I grabbed the page out of the copy book and ran to the sales room/studio and read the open from the backside of the mike while they all gathered in close on the front side. It was sponsored by King the Tailor at this station as well, I discovered. They began their program and I noticed another group of fellows at the front door! Yep, the next live program needed directions on which window to crawl through while the first group did their quarter hour show.
Three groups crawled through that window before Scarlett Booth arrived about 6:40am to sign on WJMI-FM. She had a key to the front door! On top of that, while I was reading the intros a member of each group would hand me $15.70 in cash to pay for their airtime. I learned I was to put the money in an envelope, seal it, note the group's name on the front and slip the envelope under the business manager's door. I survived that first day on the air at WRBC and realized if I could do that, I could probably survive anything in this wacky business...except children of sponsors coming in to be produced in daddy's commercial. Deliver me!
Yep. You can tell JO JO's havin' fun.
I recall having fun too...and I was trying to run a really tight board shift with two turntables w/ 45's, (that were really old and had to be backed-up extra so correct rpm could be reached) three separate cart machines (liners AND jingles) w/ NO remote start, and an old syn. mic which you had to keep your face right in front of.
Anyone else recall that sort of fun? Like guys sneaking in and changing the gears on your turntables to 33.3 or 78, or pressing their freakin' naked buns up against the glass window in front of you while you're reading the local news, or erasing your personal carts and putting really weird things on them? Everyone's had the news set on fire while you were reading, I'm sure. Radio was fun.
I recall having fun too...and I was trying to run a really tight board shift with two turntables w/ 45's, (that were really old and had to be backed-up extra so correct rpm could be reached) three separate cart machines (liners AND jingles) w/ NO remote start, and an old syn. mic which you had to keep your face right in front of.
Anyone else recall that sort of fun? Like guys sneaking in and changing the gears on your turntables to 33.3 or 78, or pressing their freakin' naked buns up against the glass window in front of you while you're reading the local news, or erasing your personal carts and putting really weird things on them? Everyone's had the news set on fire while you were reading, I'm sure. Radio was fun.
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