Hello from Suitcase Simpson!

I was 18 and doing afternoon drive at 50,000 watt WFLI Jet-Fli in Chattanooga. Getting a nice paycheck while playing the Beatles, Stones, Bob Dylan, CCR, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Aretha, etc. Plus, I had those Martin Van Buren sideburns and a bunch of crazy young women beating on my door. Fine times indeed! 

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Only one question remains- What was Suitcase aka Bill Miller aka...on air name at WFLI?

The 101 Time Machine travels to early 1997 and Dick Broadcasting in Ktown...

WIVK-FM

6-10 Wilhite and Wall

10-3 Colleen

3-7 John Garrett

7-12 Chris Huff

12-6 Terry Womack

News/Talk 99

6-9 Mike Hammond

9-12 Hallerin Hill

12-3 Rush Limbaugh

3-7 Mike Keith

101 "Platter Chatter" from our Facebook page...

Ed Hooper- I was great friends and working on a radio series with Bill Perkins who was the overnight guy on WEZK in the late 80's. He passed away on the air one night and was found by the morning drive guy. Bill was a piece of broadcasting history in his day.

Dave Jeffries- Yes, that morning guy was John Wilkerson!

Chris Hampton- I always thought those were the coolest call letters in town. WEZK! Easy to say and so many ways to connect them to your sound and to Knoxville...

Doug Hullander- For many books, in the 80's, WEZK pulled respectable numbers, in the older demos. But that in the end, added up to its demise. So in 1990, it abandoned the BM format and jettisoned the "over 54" listeners for a more upbeat and contemporary sound. The change got the attention of the younger audience and ever since its numbers have been decent and a challenge to perennial front runner, WIVK.

Chris Hampton- Remember when we were at the height of our careers and we looked at people like us (old) and said "who needs 'em?". Welcome to the world of American Idol!

The 101 Audio Vault~

There's just some thing special about air checks from the 60's! Here's Wayne Perkey on WNOX!

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Hop on over to the 101 Facebook page where Bob "Shotgun" Kelley of 15Q fame recently shared a photo!

At Uncle Sam's in about '76 with one of the best...Mike Swaggerty. I truly miss him.

(Mike Beach)

So, George. I can't recall whether I've ever told this one, but it's absolutely true.

The late Bob Crenshaw, when he was Mooney Broadcasting's VP and the GM at WKGN, dropped a line one day in the lobby that made me wonder why we didn't have him on the air. Crenny loved his hunting dogs and, on this particular fine fall day, he took the afternoon off to give them a run n the woods. He swung by the station on the way home to check the mail and I happened to be in the lobby. There was Crenshaw - usually duded up in suit and tie - wearing boots, jeans and a work shirt. Polly Loy was the secretary at the time. She looked outside and saw Bob's Olds Cutlass convertible parked in front of the station. He had the dogs in the trunk and had put an extra car key in the trunk lock and popped it open to give the dogs ventilation. Polly saw those keys and called out, "Crenshaw, somebody's going to steal your car with the key in it like that." Crenny just looked at her and shook his head as though gravely disappointed in her. "Polly," he said, "Them dogs can't drive." A moment later, he was out the door with a wink and a grin at me.

Possum Riley

The 101 InBox~

Hmmmm. Interesting. I had no idea that W&W were syndicated. Not only are they syndicated but they are here in Panama City, FL on Wild Willie 100.1. I did a search for them and the website for Wild Willie 100 popped up. I had no idea that was even a station here! (I don't listen to country music). I'll give the guys a listen. Interesting.

Mike Bridges

Panama City, FL

There was a period of time when WOKI-FM 100 was known as I-100! The 101 Audio Vault travels back to the 80's...can you name this jock?

Wilhite and Wall are now syndicated and are actually back in East Tennessee radio on my Spring City-Dayton station WRHA and translator (River Country 101.1). Can't be heard in Knoxville but they are making their way back. (Mike Beverly)

...from 101~ you can catch River Country 101.1 on the TuneIn Radio app!

Hey George, thanks for the shoutout. Our little syndicated show is starting to grow. We are up to 7 stations now, including River Country 101.1 WRHA in Dayton, TN. (Darren Wilhite).

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Happy Birthday to Bill Miller aka Suitcase Simpson!

Wilhite and Wall followed Claude Tomlinson as hosts of "Great Day" on WIVK...they are still a duo over 25 years later! Via the 101 Audio Vault here they are recently on 96.7 The Coyote ~

Oh 'Possum...

George -

Saw the query about when WNOX first began failing financially on the Ktown 101 blog. I think I can shed a bit of light on that.

Mack Sanders bought 'NOX; a class-A Nashville FM "Light Rock 100" as well as the old WENO AM; and a big FM stick and a 50k AMer that was daytime only in Birmingham (WERC). He flipped WNOX to country, put a giant painting of himself in the lobby and built a McMansion for himself in Thompson's Station, south of Nashville. Cash flow became an issue and he sold the broadcast properties to Elf, based in New York City. They quickly ran out of money and - faced with having to take back the stations - Mack scrambled to find another buyer. He found a group of good broadcasters who had stations in coastal Maine and Utica, NY. They were doing well and wanted to expand into the South. The best-known of them was Bob Dearborn, who was a top-notch personality in Chicago and other markets. The president was Rick James - former WCFL and WABC news anchor. Steve Hunter, who had been in news at WGN in Chicago also was in the group. I had known Rick since elementary school and I left WSM to sign on as the Nashville general manager. The Sanders stations' finances had been stressed before he sold them, became critical under Elf and landed on the rebranded REBS. I felt very sorry for the new company because I'm convinced previous financial shenanigans did it in. These were good people who deserved much better. In my last months with REBS, I was shuttling between Ashland City (near Nashville) and Knoxville to try to hold WNOX and WTNZ-FM together. In fact, I made the 1987 phone call to a friend at Dick Broadcasting that got WNOX sold to that solid group and preserved it. 

Paul Randall (Possum Riley) Dickerson

#Bob4Mayor

I snapped this photo of Bob Thomas back in the late 70's...this is the WIVK AM 850 control room!

Bob, like many of us, got his DJ start at WBLC 1360 in Lenoir City. He spent some time at WBIR 1240 before finding a home at WKGN 1340. 'KGN was on fire at that time with a line up that included Wayne Bernard aka Charlie Chase.

Fast forward to 1977 (after a quickie at 15Q) and Bob could be heard on WIVK on the weekends. It didn't take long for Bob to anchor down the midday show, which became the #1 midday radio show in America. 

After a decade and a half in that time slot Bob exited stage left and for the left coast...Hollywood! Years later East Tennessee called Bob home...and he teamed up with another of the legends, Ed Brantley, to form the Ed and Bob Show on WNOX FM 100.3. For years they entertained East Tennessee in the morning (Thank you Johnny Pirkle).

Today is Bob's birthday...and today we salute Bob, hopefully Knox County's next mayor. #Bob4Mayor

The 101 InBox~

Hi George,

I was just wondering if anyone would happen to know when WNOX AM 990 first started having financial problems back in the 80s? I always wondered if was when the station was owned by Mack Sanders, Elf Communications, or REBS Inc.

Can't help but wonder if Mack Sanders made a mistake by returning WNOX to a Country Music format back in 1982. It seems the station was never the same after it was sold...

Brian Alden