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"WQUT's Best of '81 - Vol. 1"

S

Sammy Reed

Guest
A couple of years ago, I saw this rather unique album in a Salvation Army store. Let me present the liner note from the back of the album cover.

Sometime ago, QT-101, The Music FM, joined a network along with other leading radio stations all across the country in The Big Music America Contest ... The Search for the Superstars of the 80's ... the reason is simple, music, as everything else, is changing rapidly. So, the search is on for tomorrow's supergroups and superstars. This gives the opportunity for local talent to have a shot. QT-101 and Big Music America are giving these talented musicians that shot.You will be hearing the cuts on this album on QT-101 in the near future. Mark in the Morning, Dave Carter, Candy, Barry Roberts and the rest of the staff at QT-101 hopes you will enjoy this album and vote for your favorite song in The Big Music America Contest. Thanks and keep it on QT-101, The Music FM!

Bob Lindsey
WQUT Program Director​

So many questions enter my mind, and I wonder if anyone out there who happened to be around at that time knows the answers to any of them:
  • Did anyone from our area do OK in the contest, or - should I say - win the thing?
  • I suppose a lot of different stations in the country had their own "Best of '81" albums, didn't they?
  • Did they dare play "The Dry Spell" over the air?
and most importantly:
  • Was there a Vol. 2?
 
I was just thinking of that album the other day...I'm the one that wrote that back in 1981...I'd just arrived at QUT as a 23 year old PD and the outgoing PD, (The owners son) dropped the project in my lap and told me they had to be placed in retailers for sale and by the way, I had to come up with the retailers...got it done. I have no clue if anyone won, or who. 3 weeks after I arrived, the stations were sold to Bloomington and a few months later they brought in their own GM, SM and PD but not before I took the station back to #1 18-34 in the Fall/81 book! The station was in turmoil, evolving from freeform AC to a CHR. "The Dry Spell" was a horrible song, I kinda liked it because it was so very bad, never made it on the air though. You helped bring back a memory and my short time in the Tri-Cities. I started with Bristol back in Paducah, WFHG was a killer in the day and all their AM Top 40 stations were exactly the same. I hope Candy is doing well, she was a sweet lady.
 
I have had an online program for a while on my website called "Music from the World of the Strange and the Bizarre", where I play oddities from my collection. On today's episode (Feb. 2, 2008), I played a couple of songs from this album: "Get Down and Boogie" and, of course, the much-beloved "Dry Spell". Here's a link to my program:
sammyreed.com/strange
 
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