WKXG Greenwood back on

[tomservo]

Guess they're just doing this to keep the license active. KXG was gospel until it went silent a while back, now it's relaying the Supertalk format off WTCD.

They're running neck and neck with WABG for the 'worst audio evah' awards, too.

 

[jboyd]

Too bad...in 1959 WABG was the radio champ in Greenwood...and the baby of Cy N. Bahakel...anybody know of whom I speak?

 

[Doctor_Technical]

How's that flame-throwing 2-watt night signal doing, eh? Does it make it out past the guy anchors? :

 

[robgrayson]

I picked up a couple of Bahakel paychecks back when I was in high school, working for the WABG satellite studio in Greenville. I ran cameras, developed slides, even drew the weather map markings and posted the forecast on a felt board with plastic letters. That was where I learned to correctly spell tomorrow... the hard way!

Many years later I ran into Cal Crowell up here in Memphis, and we compared notes on our common delta experiences. Cal was from Indianola, and at different times we had both worked for Paul Artman, and both worked for channel 6.

 

[jboyd]

I worked with Cal back in 60 at WABG-TV greenwood. No network...signed on at Noon and ran reels and slides till 11PM. Never more than 3 in the station, many times one. It was total chaos and panic. It convinced me that TV was not the right choice. Never regretted it...but would not take anything for the wake up call. I understand that now, most is automated, and you actuially have time to go to "The Room" or enjoy a cup of Java! JBI

 

[tomservo]

I worked with Cal back in 60 at WABG-TV greenwood. No network...signed on at Noon and ran reels and slides till 11PM. Never more than 3 in the station, many times one. It was total chaos and panic. It convinced me that TV was not the right choice. Never regretted it...but would not take anything for the wake up call. I understand that now, most is automated, and you actuially have time to go to "The Room" or enjoy a cup of Java! JBI

Judging by the picture they put out in this high-tech digital age, I'm guessing most of the back room equipment dates back to the 60's, back when a tint control was a necessary TV feature.

WABG was top 40, I take it? What do you folks know about the history of WKXG? There doesn't seem to be much history online for either station.

 

[jboyd]

Zach: When I worked for WABG they were "Blocked"....different formats based on dayparts and day of week...gravitated mainly to "MOR", IE adults standards of the day. It was one of the earliest Bahakel
stations, and was located near the main river bridge, near downtown. It was directional nights, the first such station I worked for. The first station in town was WGRM, followed by WABG, then WLEF (now WKXG) put on the air by a local businessman...that enjoyed lukewarm success...then WSWG, Now MAX 99, the first FM in town. (I may have the last two out of order...we are talking about a LONG time ago.) Then, lastly, WGRM FM.
By the way, to the best of my knowledge, WSWG was the first FM stereo station in Mississippi, and their original installation was top of the line RCA equipment and was VERY impressive!

 

[robgrayson]

I tried to impress Cal that we were able to put on a newscast with 3 people in the whole station, and he told me in his day they did it with two. Cal had some great stories about working at WNLA and at WESY, Leland when it was easy listening (I had no idea it ever was).

 

[tomservo]

Wow, this is some great info. Was 99.1 always a C-class station? I think it's a C0 now and definitely one of the Delta's better, coverage-wise.

One of my biggest "adjustments" to life in central Mississippi was no longer having a single radio station I could carry wherever I went. 99.1 comes closest, followed by WBLE Batesville and WFCA French Camp, but the last two aren't formats I really listen to.

I'm of course leaving out WCRV out of Memphis but that doesn't count.

Growing up in Birmingham, it wasn't that unusual to me to carry the city's big stations to Huntsville or Montgomery or Tuscasloosa or Gadsden, I actually had the misguided notion that most everyone had that same luxury. Jackson has some great FMs, though. It still puts a smile on my face to get good quiet stereo off WSTZ while passing through Greenwood.

 

[robgrayson]

Growing up in the delta in the 60's and 70's, radio was still AM-licious, and you could get a sampling of some tremendous stations. 540 KNOE, 560 WHBQ, 620 WJDX, 680 WMPS, and at night 890 WLS, 800 XEROK, 1090 KAAY. Even the local stations had their moments, as some folks who eventually made it big paid their dues. WJDX-FM, and later WZZQ were huge with my classmates. I was still focused on top 40 at the time, although I appreciated 102.9's unique position as cultural touchstone.

 

[jboyd]

Ron and Zach: I believe that Paul was involved in the early WESY days (ESY=Easy)...This was pre WBAQ-FM. Zach, WSWG was a class C from the beginning, but ran lower power until they erected their tall tower N/W of Greenwood. On another note, it is sad to see that there are very few family run operations...I think the smaller operations encourage more diversity in programming, for better or worse...Time moves on....

 

[Henry McClurg]

It's me again. I worked at WLEF in 1965. We were rock N roll. A man who owned a furniture store a few blocks away owned the station. And we had an AMPEX tape recorder, one of only a handfull of stations in Mississippi that had one at the time. I was recruited by Roy (last name??) when I worked at WDDT in Greenville. He had the balls to walk into the studies at WDDT and offer me a job while I was on the air one Sunday morning. I accepted, with the condition that I would be "program director."
We had a big studio (control room, production studio, and another room big enough for an orchestra).
I remember my time in Greenwood because that was where I met Jerry Lee Lewis at the Moose Lodge. I was drunk and threw up at his feet. Ahhh, Greenwood, Mississippi. I loved it.

 

[J Alex Bowab]

WLEF 1540 came on a little earlier in the 60's. Seem to remember owner's name was Bill Hardy? I used to go to Greenwood often as I had relatives there. Never could understand why a county that was over 50% black had four stations and not one of them had any black oriented programming. I think the advertisers were afraid of it. WLEF calls of course referred to LEFlore County.

WSWG 99.1 was a beautiful music stand alone FM Stereo independent long before anyone dared execute such a concept. Recall it was owned by Charles Saunders, a member of the Billups Family, one of the wealthiest families in the area (they owned a chain of independent gas stations - remember Fill Up With Billups?). They were wealthy enough that they could subsidize what must have been a money losing operation. The station existed more for image than bottom line.

 

[jboyd]

Alex has it pegged on the money...were your relatives the Antoons? JBI

 

[the golden boy]

WSWG 99.1 was a beautiful music stand alone FM Stereo independent long before anyone dared execute such a concept. Recall it was owned by Charles Saunders, a member of the Billups Family, one of the wealthiest families in the area (they owned a chain of independent gas stations - remember Fill Up With Billups?). They were wealthy enough that they could subsidize what must have been a money losing operation. The station existed more for image than bottom line.

Ah, so that's who the Billups were. My grandmother lives in Belzoni and they had a couple of stores there. One store was destroyed by a tornado and was never rebuilt. Do they run any more stores?

 

[J Alex Bowab]

Hi, JBOyd! Yes, my mother was an Antoon. IIRC, Charles Saunders married one of the Billups daughters. I met him once in the 70's, when he was trying to fight off a petition to deny and keep the license. Don't remember whether the petition was about, perhaps EEO violations.

What I remember about Billups was that with each gas purchase they gave you some kind of coupon (like S&H Green Stamps) that you collected and eventually would redeem for dishes, towels, and the like.