Back in the day WIVK AM 850 signed off the air daily at sunset. Here's the nightly promo by Claude the cat~

Today 101 looks back at 1981~

Over at Q94 the "Jeff Winters Wake Up America Show" was on daily from 6-10a.

JJ Scott was about to exit WRJZ as the year began, he was headed to WFYR Chicago.

Randy Miller was beginning his ascent up the radio ladder as he became the morning DJ at WXKX Pittsburgh.

"Big Music" Ken Russell returned to the air waves at WIVK to host a weekend show.

Over at WOKI FM 100 future TV reporter Diane Baich was a news anchor.

Mike Beach was mornings at Rock 104, Carson Cooper handled middays, and Kim Mayo was afternoon drive DJ.

In March it was announced that Adele was TV bound to do the weather on WTVK Channel 26.

April saw Mike Clark exiting WATO to do news at the new U-102.

In 1981 Phil Williams was handling morning at WNOX 990.

Tim Edwards became PD at WRJZ in June as Fred Story left for WBCY Charlotte. Around that time Bob Savage was named a consultant for WIVK.

In the summer of '81 there was a shake up in morning drive at WNOX as Phil Williams left and John E. Douglas took over.

The April/May Birch Report 12+ released in July had WIVK-FM on top with a 18.4, WEZK 15.8, WIMZ 12.7, WOKI 12.4, WNOX 9.8, WIVK-AM 6.7, and WRJZ 6.2.

WATE TV 6 named Scott Sams Sports Director in July.

In August U-102 featured Dr. Dave Dunaway in the AM with Phil Williams afternoon drive!

In late August Jeff Winters popped up at WNOX and had reinvented himself as Jeff Shannon.

In the fall mornings at WRJZ were no longer CP and Walker, as CP was flying solo in the morning. Also at WRJZ were Eddie Beacon 10a-3p, Tim Edwards 3-7p, Bob Ziegler 7p-12, and Martin Baker all night.

Phil Williams returned to WNOX mornings in November, the PD was now Jay Michaels.

WIVK maintained a steady line up with Claude Tomlinson, Bob Thomas, Ed Brantley, Mickey Dearstone, and Terry Womack as the regulars.

As the year wound down the WRJZ news team was winding up and featured David Henley, Ernie Baker, and Brad Schultz.

In early December it was announced that CP and Walker would reunite and become the morning team at WIVK AM starting on January 4 1982.

And so there you have it, a stroll down memory lane. Where were you in 1981?

It's almost the weekend and it's 5 o'clock somewhere! 101 received this photo from Martha Rose Woodward. Her link is to the right...

MRW~Attaching a photo of a current radio team heard on Sundays from 1-4 on Radio 850 A.M. the Salute America Show. Wild Bill Lindley and Martha Rose Woodward, local writer/reporter. The show has been on the air for 4 years. We "stand up for America, and make truth the issue."

Was WKGN thinking "green" way back in 1973? Listen to this promo by Program Director Bob Baron. On the backside you'll hear Dick Winstead, before his Disco Dick fame~

Happy Hump Day! 101 is staying with our "Wayne" theme today and features a story sent in from ace contributor Lynn Curtis about Wayne Perkey, or is it Perky? Enjoy~

Hi 101...

While searching for my lost shaker of salt (or was it my car keys?), I came across something you might enjoy. Apologies for the quality of this scan. The paper, not unlike my skin, has yellowed with age.

WALA-TV in Mobile was WP's next stop after leaving WNOX in 1967. Humble as always, his message on this page from the 10/11/67 issue of TV Guide is "Just happened to have a couple of hundred lying around". Silly me, I shook the envelope in a vain attempt to get the money to fall out.

His universal touchiness at the misspelling of his last name was evident in the other note on the page: "Even secretaries get it wrong !!!*!*". What's the big deal? Webster's Unabridged never spelled "perky" with a superfluous "e".

And did anyone besides me think it sounded bogus to have a "Pirkle" and a "Perkey" working at WNOX at the same time ? Sounds like an interior decorating firm.

Hellos all around from across the mountains,
Lynn C.

Happy Monday from 101! Hope you are having a great summer and taking fun trips too. Ever been to Key West? Click on Eddie Beacon's link, he has web cams from Key West on his site.

Today 101 stays with the WKGN theme and hears from Wayne Bernard as he kicked off his last day at WKGN. Wayne migrated from his home town of Rogersville in the early 70's and was a big part of WKGN in its golden years. Wayne left WKGN to work at sister station WMAK Nashville, where he became the famous Charlie Chase of radio and TV fame.

101 hopes you are enjoying our summer of audio vaults, all materials used so far were personally recorded by 101 via transistor radio and old tape recorder with hand held mic.

Remember the WKGN Great River Raft Race? Here's Frank Erwin with a promo, followed by Bob Baron on the Famous 1340.

101 wants to hear from you...comments, questions? Send your photographs and memories!

In 1977 Your Dave took over afternoons on WIVK, a few years later he said goodbye~

101 received a note from LawVol...and also added his widget counting down until "It's football time in Tennessee." Check out his blog at Gate 21!

I was checking out your Ktown Radio 101 blog (which is really cool by the way) and I realized that you might have some idea about where I could find a recording of Bobby Denton I have been looking for for a while. I run a Tennessee sports blog called Gate 21 and have been searching in vain for a recording of Bobby Denton's pre-game monologue from the PA booth at Neyland Stadium. While I would love to find a complete recording, more than anything, I'd like to find a recording of the segment where he refers to the "Will Call booth located at Gate 21" (My blog is named after the main entry gate into Neyland Stadium -- Gate 21). Anyway, might you have any idea where I could find something like that? Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated. Great blog you have, and feel free to give mine a look if you ever have a few minutes to waste poking about on the net.
Best Regards,
- Matt aka "lawvol"

101 starts the new week with a classic moment from Claude Tomlinson, Jean Ash, and Wayne Bell~

Welcome to a "way back" weekend on 101. WKGN was truly the Famous 1340 in the early 70's, featuring DJ's like Wayne Bernard in the afternoon and his sidekick newsman Walker Johnson~

Here's a classic moment 101 caught via our old transistor radio and cassette recorder, Kent Newton bidding farewell to long time all night DJ Jerry Steel~

Happy Friday! 101 obtained this classic photo from the early 80's of Ed Rupp...He's an ageless wonder! Got photo? Send them our way!

101 received this note from Curtis Parham...Seeing the old 'NOX caricatures reminded me of one of the real GENTLEMEN I worked with in radio: Jim Clark. I worked with Jim at the old WETE in the early '70's. Jim was doing mornings and I was doing afternoons. After retiring from radio, Jim moved to the Carolina Outer Banks where he was subsequently diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. Even with this dire condition, Jim never lost his sense of humor. I asked him what the doctors were doing for him. He said they had prescribed medicinal marijuana and that the Sheriff brought him a confiscated supply every week. He remarked that if he had known that that is how they treated it, he would have gotten sick a lot sooner! A great guy and a great friend! I still miss Jim.

Coming soon 101 returns to the audio vault and features Claude and Jean singing on WIVK, Jerry Steel of WKGN, and much more!

Here are the WNOX dj's, circa 1966. Thanks to Eddie Beacon for sending 101 these classics~

W-149 is a big part of Ktown folklore...from the beginning in '71 when WROL 1490 took on the 149 moniker until the dial position morphed into 15Q. Here's vintage AD from 1976~

Here's more Smokey...saying goodbye to Ktown!

On Wednesday March 20, 1974 Smokey Burns, morning DJ at WKGN, said farewell. Smokey was joining another Mooney owned station, WMAK Nashville. Not only did Smokey have a great radio name and great pipes, he went on to become the famous Murphy in the Morning~

Happy 4th from 101~

Here are some of Ktown's greatest pipes...POA on WNOX~

In the early 70's WKGN Famous 1340 had a string of explosive night time DJ's...Johnny Walker, Jack Diamond, and this gentleman, Kent Newton~

Kent went on to become the famous Truckin' Tom Kent, here's his first break at 'KGN~