In April 1974 Johnny Pirkle's new creation, WOKI, signed on the air. In those early days the station was automated, ie- no live DJ's!

The first line up featured~

530 King in the Morning
10 Dave Lambert
12 Jack Bean
3 Johnny Pirkle
7 Mike Beverly
12 JL Myers

Here is Johnny's first show...

It's a classic weekend at 101 and...Go Vols!

Today the 101 Audio Vault returns to 1977, here are Claude Tomlinson and Jimmy Vineyard on WIVK~

Hello George! I love reading Jean Ash's notes. I can hear her mellifuous voice reading each word and it's a pleasure. Jean was a joy to work with at WIVK, great personality with a sincere love of news and a terrific on-air presence. Also, thank you for giving us The Joe Show's voice again and sharing his picture (he was younger than I remember). May he rest in peace. I have a couple of Claude The Cat stories to share a little later down the line. Unfortunately, I don't have any airchecks of his show (you know how nearly impossible it was to aircheck at WIVK back then). I hope someone will share more sound of The Cat with us. I think John Long just wants to start a bunch of hall of fames so he can see how many will elect him. : ) But if a Tennessee hall of fame is formed, he certainly belongs there. Loved listening to him back in his WNOX days. I was an occasional guest with Boo Baron on Eddie Beacon's talk show a few years ago on 1180AM. John called in one day to share WNOX stories with Swang. Somewhere I have an aircheck of that segment and it was a riot. I'll dig it up one day and send it to you. Several years ago, I found John's Oidar (radio spelled backward) website and read his online book - must reading for anyone in radio! It takes a few hours to read, but it's thoroughly absorbing and entertaining. Keep up the great work! Best Wishes, Bill Miller (I am still Suitcase Simpson)

Aw, that cut of Joe Anderson brought back so many memories!

Polly Loy hired me at WKGN in the summer of 1974 as “sales secretary,” but one of the first things I did (after trying to figure out how to use the IBM Selectric typewriter, which I’d never used before!) was to chat up Joe. My goal was to become a reporter and I hung around the newsroom as much as my little “secretary” office, waiting for a vacancy back there. Sure enough, pretty soon newshound Chris Moser split for Atlanta and Joe hired me.

I remember sitting in the news office taking Joe’s “quiz” to see if I had any kind of news savvy, and he cursed, “Rats!” That was his favorite exclamation of dismay. He got up and closed the sliding patio-type doors that separated the office from the closet where the AP machine rat-a-tatted all day and night long. “I hate that racket!” I remember being amused that a news director felt so strongly negatively about the method of delivery of one of our major sources of news.

Then Joe tutored me how to back time my newscast to hit ABC Network news at the top of the hour. For a long time we taped my ‘cast and started the tape however much before the top was required. One day we ran out of time to tape it and play back—I had to sink or swim. I remember the joy and satisfaction on his face when I emerged from the news booth, having nailed it exactly. Maybe a little surprise there, too! Beginner’s luck.

Joe passed away a couple of years ago and I went to the services at a little church on South Peters Road. His ex-wife Pat was coordinating the Celebration of Life, and I was sad that I was the only non-family member there. His son and brother, among others, told stories of Joe’s younger days and I deeply wanted to get up and share the two anecdotes I just told you, but I was too upset at the time and couldn’t even speak. So maybe this will serve as a little celebration of his life and a thank-you for setting me on my path to a wonderful career.

Jean Ash
(jeanash@comcast.net)

Joe Anderson was a news ace in Ktown for decades and is most remembered for his time at WKGN.

Joe opened his mic at the '86 DJ reunion~

Happy Monday...

Today we feature letters to the editor of 101 (I'm also the janitor here at 101)~

We should start a Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame. (John Long)

From 101~ Check out John's links to the right of this page..."OIDAR" and "Georgia Radio Hall of Fame". John's email is listed on those sites if you would like to tee up a potential Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame! John worked at WNOX in the 60's, his on air name was Kincaid. John wonderfully relives his career on his OIDAR site in the section called "Puttin' on the Hits"!

I noticed that you live in Orlando, where former Knoxville WOKI-FM DJ Shotgun Stevens also lives, and where he now does mornings as Doc Holliday on country radio station K-92 down there. Of course as you already knew before that he did mornings at XL-106.7 for nearly 17 years which was the longest he had ever held a job in radio.

I've known Jeff Duncan (Doc) since he worked at WOKI here in the Knoxville area back from 1984 to 1986. I have followed his career for many years. I lost touch with him back in 1989, however I managed to track him down again and got back in touch with him back in 2005. He will always be one of my favorite DJ's to ever grace the Knoxville airwaves.

Just wanted to mainly give you a shout to say hello and thank you for providing the Ktown Radio 101 site. It has been a goldmine of Ktown radio history. Thanks!(Chad Austin)

Got a Big Orange hangover? Today the 101 audio vault presents the "doctor"...Dr. Dave Dunaway! Dave did several stints in Ktown, at WNOX, WEZK, and he was the first morning drive DJ at U-102.

Here's Dave at the 1986 DJ reunion~

Go Vols!

In 1981 Q94 opened its wallet (almost) and recruited top Ktown talent to lead the charge against the frog. Jeff Winters was the morning man, the Joe Show (photo) worked afternoon drive, and Eddie Beacon was the news man. WETQ played country...

Here's an air check of the 3, including Joe signing on Q94 for the first time...

It's a classic Thursday at 101...

Since we are talking old...This is me getting the first news award I ever got in my life. It was a state AP Broadcasters award for in-depth covering a story in 1974 for WBIR. Before any questions are raised...NO...I do not still have the suit. Or the hair. (Dave Foulk)

And for the record...the leisure suit was powder blue. (DF)

Happy Hump Day! 101 wants to hear from you, send your photographs and memories!

Today 101 says hello to old pal Martin Baker...

"George...what a surprise. It’s been a long time! I’ve had numerous conversations with CP, Phil Williams and others as to who the heck was writing this blog. As you probably know, my last radio gig was in 1986 with WIVK where I had the incredible fortune to work with Claude The Cat for about 10 months. I was between CP, who went to U-102 and the late Jim Donovan. What an amazing morning show...Claude, Lester, Old Man Schultz, Jean Ash, Channing Smith and I think Alan Williams was doing sports. I was paid to laugh and push the buttons. In the future I’ll share a few stories about some of the funny things that happened during those 10 months...like the time Claude said sh__ on the air. One final note – Jim Dick was one of the finest men I have ever worked for! What a gentleman!"

Next up the 101 Audio Vault returns to the DJ Reunion '86 hosted by U-102. Here are "The Brothers" talking about their start...

The 101 Audio Vault time travels back to 1977 and Scott Sams on WOKI~



As many of you know Scott exited radio for Knoxville TV and then moved to the Dallas market in the mid 80's where he remains on TV today!

Like FOX, 101 wants to be fair and balanced. With that said, we proudly unveil this classic late 70's photo of Mike Hammond in the WIVK news room. Ed Brantley emailed and said he shared alot of laughs with Ktowners after he was featured on Friday...

"It's hard to imagine working at the same station for 40 years. This picture has brought a lot of laughs and calls. Thanks for the great site and the memories."

I have really enjoyed your posts over the past year, and it's nice to see a face and name to go with it. My time in Knoxville radio ended in 1977 when I went to WSB in Atlanta, and then resumed when I came home to east Tennessee in 1992. I have lots of stories from inside the walls of White Columns - irrelevant to Knoxville, though. If you'd like some of them, I would be happy to share some of my tales. All of your great posts have given me an idea of what was going on in Knoxville during the time I was away. Congratulations on a great project. Those airchecks are priceless memories. (Dave Foulk)

From 101...Dave, we would love to hear about your WSB adventures, 101 wants to be all about the personality, not just their time in Ktown!!!

If it ever comes up again...I was on the air the night someone shot out the back door of WKGN on Alcoa Hwy. It became a huge deal because we were in a bank building and that brought in the FBI. And George Mooney himself in his pajamas! (Bob Thomas)

Today the 101 Audio Vault travels back to 1977. WIVK simulcast AM and FM, the line up featured 6-10 Claude Tomlinson, 10-1 Jimmy Vineyard, 1-4 Ed Brantley, and Bobby Denton 4-7. Here's an air check from Ed Brantley~



101 heard from former Ktowner Keith Brunson...

I live in Austin where I did the weather til '89 then went and produced the very first scary movie; trailer is on www.tvandradiospots.com under television. In '92 I started a company that was a broadcast ad agency and that is where I am today.

Keith Brunson
Ad Ventures, Inc.
Founder, Creative Director


Here's Don Lindsey~Howdy! Thanks very much for posting the WSEV Parkway studio picture. Interesting how two parts of a life come together in one shot. I worked that little studio in the summers of ’68 and ’69, after other shops had been built on it as kind of a mini-mall. It was a bit grueling since the air conditioning was off and on, and if I was a little late leaving the main studio on Middlecreek Drive in Sevierville (carrying an armful of LPs, a log, and other stuff), traffic made getting to the remote site dicey. The equipment was fairly primitive even by those days’ standards. Still, it was great being to be out in the world and kind of independent of the folks back at the main studio. Even the teasing tourists passing by were fun sometimes. And after the shift I could eat at Gatlinburg restaurants at reduced rates, given I was then considered a local, and I had a lot of great evenings in the town. A little more than seven years after my last Gatlinburg sign-off, I went to work for the company whose logo adorns the studio in the picture – AAA. Been there ever since. Thanks again for this site!

Remembering 9-11-01...

(Photos by 101)

Happy Hump Day...

101 wants to hear from you, send your photographs and memories!

Today's featured photo is of the old WSEV studio in Gatlinburg. Thanks to ace correspondent WJ for sending to 101!

Here are some emails I received after unmasking...

Well I'm glad you finally went public. (Dave Young)

Didn't you deny being the scoundrel behind 101 when I emailed the question a year or so ago? (Suitcase Simpson)

Man. You sneak!!! I'm here (Orlando) and you didn’t tell me anything! (Jeff Winters)

I didn’t see that one coming! Right, as I said months ago, only you could pull something like this off, you said something about the unmasking the Lone Ranger or something like that! Great job! (Jamey Kerr)

George, I never would have guessed it was you! But I have to admit, you have done a hell of a job as 101! We did have some good times at WRJZ, didn't we? Keep up the good work, my friend! (Bill Beason)

WOW FOR MONTHS WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO HAS ALL THE AUDIO OF SO MANY YEARS... WHOOOOO IS IT????THANKS VERY MUCH FOR LETTING US KNOW, AND FOR THIS GREAT WEBSITE. I LOOK FORWARD TO READING IT DAILY! I MOVED TO KTOWN BECAUSE OF 'RJZ AND STAYED EVEN AFTER A DIVORCE: HAVE GREAT MEMORIES OF JOHN BOY, JJ SCOTT, CP and WALKER, PETE MICHAELS, DAVID HENLEY, ROGER HAWKINS, BOB KAGAN, JEFF JARNIGAN, RUSTY CURRY, ADELE, ALL WHO WORKED HARD AND HAD TALENT. THANKS FOR 'THE BIG REVEAL"... YOUR FAN...(SS)

101 returns to the audio vault and features another clip from the DJ reunion 1986. Here are CP and Walker conversing with Ernie Baker~

PS~ Thanks to all who have dropped me an email the past few days...and to dispel a rumor started by the insegrevious Eddie Beacon and WJ, the photo from 9/7 is of me and my WIFE, not me and my daughter. You two are still funny, wouldn't it be great to have you back on the air in Ktown!

101 kicks off a new week remembering WTNZ, here's contributor Chad Austin~

I realize that I am a bit late with this email. Yesterday (Saturday) I had realized that it was 20 years ago on September 6, 1988 that the short lived CHR/Rhythmic Radio Station, "95-3 WTNZ" went dark. It was a sad day for many, especially those who had put so much hard work in the station along with it's programming. I'm recalling this from memory, so I may be incorrect on some of the details. I'm sure some of the folks who worked there at the time can fill in the gaps. I believe it was on a Tuesday afternoon around 2:30 or 3:30pm that WTNZ-FM went dark that year. It was also during my Senior Year in High School. I had just gotten home and found the station off the air. I called my good friend the late Jeff Freeman who also the PD at the time to ask him what had happened. He told me that the sale of the station had fallen through, which left 95-3 WTNZ without a sound financial partner which forced the station off of the air unfortunately. A couple of months after the station had gone dark, there was some talk of possibly bringing it back on the air from 6am to 12am, with a skeleton crew, however it never came to pass unfortunately. Then 9 months later in May of 1989 it was sold to the Bible Broadcasting Network. I have also provided a picture of the old WNOX Building from over on Whittle Springs Road from back in early 1989 when 95-3 WTNZ's studios were still located inside of the building. They were off the air of course, however the studios were still there with the WTNZ calls located on the outside of the building.I will always remember 95-3 WTNZ with a tear in my eye. It was a fantastic radio station that went way before it's time. There are too many names to mention, and I cannot remember all of them, however I would like to thank all of those who were once a part of 95-3 WTNZ, who helped make the station great! Thanks for the memories everyone. I would also like to especially thank John Wilkerson and Kim Hansard for their friendship over the years. Last and not least, I would also like to remember my good friend, and mentor, the late "Screamin" Jeff Freeman who was the station's PD back in 1988. We miss you Jeff. I will always remember you with a smile on your face. As you would always say, "Thanks so much".

Happy Sunday and thanks for reading Knoxville Radio History 101. Today 101 turns one year old! On September 7, 2007 this site was born. The intent was and is simple, share photographs and memories that I collected thru the years and to create a network of Ktown DJ's that wanted to do the same.

Many have emailed and asked...who are you? For those who haven't figure it out, I'm The Greek. My career as a DJ was short and sweet, my love for radio remains strong today, over 30 years since I started as a weekend DJ at WIVK (1976-1981) while attending UT. After working at WRJZ for Steve Bridgewater in 1982 my career path was at a fork and I got into the restaurant business.

In radio my mentor was Your Dave Young, Bobby Denton and Steve Bridgewater both gave me opportunities to fulfill my childhood dreams, and my closest friend in the biz was Jamey Kerr (now with Dick Broadcasting for 30 years...congrats to you Jamey)!

Like many of you I fell in love with radio as a youngster. In the late 60's I started listening to and imitating John Ward on the Vols network and Milo and Ernie, who called the Atlanta Braves games.

In 1976, my senior year in high school, I took and passed the then very difficult FCC 3rd class license test. That summer I worked at WBLC in Lenoir City. In the fall as I was about to start at UT, the phone rang at my home and it was Bobby Denton. Little did I realize what a great and memorable experience lay in front of me. For the next five years I worked with great people...Bob Thomas, Bobby Denton, Claude Tomlinson, Ed Brantley, Mike Hammond, Jimmy Vineyard, Suitcase Simpson, Jean Ash, Dan Bell, Ed Rupp, Bob Kesling, Randy Miller, Jeff Winters, Jamey Kerr, Joe Grant, Tony Eubanks, Terry Womack and of course Your Dave Young.

In 1982 with a UT diploma in my hand I had to make a career decision. I was having fun at WRJZ, we were playing country and had a great staff...Bill Beason, Steve Bridgewater (Dr Don West), Eddie Beacon, Jessica James, Martin Baker, David Henley, Ernie Baker, Brad Schulz, Bob Ziegler and GM Bill Hays. WRJZ ended up being my last hurrah as a DJ.

Fast forward to today. I live in Orlando, still have over 27,000 minutes of Ktown air checked and many journals with Ktown radio history...so I thought, what the heck. Let's share it all and see what happens. Today I'm still a radio fan, I listen to today's Ktown radio via the Internet, and love it.

In our first year 101 posted 170 times and had over 16,100 visitors. I'm just that kid of the 60's who fell in love with my transistor radio and all the sounds that came over the air waves!!!

As 101 starts year two, keep the photographs and memories coming our way~KtownRadio@gmail.com

Here is Kim Mayo from Rock 104 at the DJ reunion, talking about Jimmy Buffett~

Back in 1986 WMYU U-102 hosted a DJ Reunion at the Hyatt Regency Downtown. 101 will be rewinding several clips from the event. Today 101 features Eddie Beacon talking with hosts CP and Walker about 15Q~

Happy Hump Day!

Today 101 stays with the WKGN 1975 theme. 101 was air checking way back when and recorded Todd Martin announcing he was leaving 1340. Todd worked in Ktown in the mid '70's at WKGN and WNOX.

101 wants to hear from you, send your photographs and memories!

BTW~ Do you read Frank Murphy? Frank recently had a story about former WOKI DJ Jungle Jim!

Coming soon~ 101 relives the 1986 DJ reunion!

Before he became a two decades mainstay at WIVK Bob Thomas was part of the Famous 1340~



Check out Bob's Sports Fan Podcasts...

Happy Labor Day and Go Vols~

I was in Knoxville last week. Had a chance to spend some time with Your Dave Young. He and I were talking about all the great people who had passed thru the halls of Knoxville radio, and how much we both missed the days of real competition. With today's consolidation, it's like kissing your sister. The days of fighting over a half point are long gone. What a great time we all had...some heated contests to be sure! With that in mind Dave and I thought it might be great to get as many of the old gangs together as possible. We thought in order to give everyone the time to get used to the idea, we would start looking at the early Spring of '09. Location in K-Town to be determined later. What do you guys and gals think? Dave and I are willing to take the point and get things organized. Any input is appreciated. (Mike Beach)

You-all might want to know that Chris Stanley, a former news anchor at WNOX, is now anchoring for Fox Radio News. I spoke with him right in the middle of the coverage of the church shooting a few weeks ago. He probably had an image of what it was like when he was in Knoxville, and was surprised to know AM 990 no longer held the heritage call sign. (Dave Foulk)