It's been a fun ride looking back at WATO 1290 Oak Ridge...

"Enjoyed Lindsey Brooks' comments and the pic of WATO with the turntables underneath the board. I've worked for a lot of radio stations (my goodness I've worked for a lot of radio stations!), and the only place I've used a similar arrangement was at WKY in Oklahoma City in my early 20s. Trust me it was a long time ago. WKY's control board was massive compared to WATO's -stations with only 3 call letters always have massive equipment. It was a great setup to run a fast board and I never understood why everyone didn't have a similar board-turntable arrangement." - Bill Miller (I Am Still Suitcase Simpson)

"Thanks for the WATO memories. That was my first official gig -- hired to empty out trash cans (which were always filling up with AP wire machine paper. Remember those rolls of paper?) Then it was on to board op for Atlanta Braves baseball on the FM (WUUU) and eventually reading newscasts in the morning before I went to school. (Great gig for a high school student!) This was in the mid-late 70s and among the stand-out people there for me was a guy named Roy McClendon who did mornings. I was shocked when he suddenly passed away in 1977 (or 78?) James Freeman was there, too -- and was the one who hired me to come over to WBIR-FM when he landed the PD gig there. I pretty much owe my career to James. Others I remember there were Hugh Newsom, Mike Earl, Mike Moore (not the filmmaker!) Randy Miller, Jeff Caylor, Larry Solomon -- and who can forget the engineer Dave Brown! (Anyone know whatever happened to Leslie Self? She was at WATO after working at W-149.) And does anyone have any more old PICS? I’ll try to dig up some! Thanks!" (Carson Cooper Radio Margaritaville SiriusXM and NPR (WUSF-FM) in Tampa)

Ann and Larry Walden purchased WATO from Doug Horne and are bringing it back to its old self. Oak Ridge Wildcat sports with David Clary is the flagstone, along with syndication from Fred Thompson and others. From 2 to 3 p.m. daily will be local talk shows, with Lipstick Lingo, on Monday with Martha Rose Woodward; Peggy Merritt will host on Thursdays to speak about health and herbal healing, with other shows in the works. Ann Walden, seated, and Martha Rose Woodward, standing; hosts for Lipstick Lingo. (Martha Rose Woodward)

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Follow 101 0n Twitter @ "OnionReport"

Life's a (Mike) Beach...

I would have to cast my "favorite morning announcer" vote for Claude "The Cat" Tomlinson. I had the pleasure of working with Claude in the early 70's as his newsman. Norman Majors had just left and I, (still wet behind the ears), found myself looking across the hall...through the glass at a legend. Watching him change live, between the Old Man and then Lester was magical. His physical demeanor actually changed when he was doing the characters. Truly magical for a young announcer to see. Claude was truly one of a kind, and had more PURE talent than most of the rest of us combined. An honorable mention goes to Hop Edwards, then of WATE, and Dr. Al Adams. From more recent years, how could you leave out CP and Walker. (Mike Beach)

Hi George, WATO holds some good memories for me. I worked there from '79-'81, leaving to go to U-102. One thing I remember is a fire one afternoon. Everybody was gone except for the PD and me. A kid came to the station and said "your building is on fire." We kinda laughed...and then went back and saw flames coming through the roof. It knocked us off the air for a day or two, if I remember. I also remember running the board for Oak Ridge High School football games.That was during the time the Wildcats were state champs, and everybody who wasn't at the game was listening to the station. Of course, at night, the only people who could hear it were in the city limits of Oak Ridge! Glad to see it's back on the air. (Mike Clark)

Hey there! Reading through your web site has brought back lots of memories from long ago! I actually got my start in radio by accident. I was assigned to a work-study at Tennessee Tech’s 10 watt FM, WTTU. Loved it! When I got back home in 1979, I went to the only local station in town, WLAF AM 1450 and was lucky enough to get a job. Boy you talk about a crazy shift! For awhile I was working 6am-noon and 6 pm – midnight! While there, I “moonlighted” for a few months on the weekends (mostly overnight Saturday night) at AM 62, WRJZ, during the “glory days” when CP & Walker, Adele, and Jeff Jarnigan were there. I credit Adele, who I knew in high school for the job and giving me the on-air name of “Lindsey Brooks”. Then I went on to WQLA-FM, also in La Follette, when it signed on the air in 1983….worked there for several years with folks like Jim Freeman and Tony Lawson - even as Station Manager for a period of 6 months – long enough to know I HATED that end of the business! The picture I’ve enclosed is from the only station I’ve ever seen with the turntables UNDERNEATH the control board! WATO/WETQ Oak Ridge. I worked there for about a year in the early 80s, mostly on the “Q94” side. Then I flip-flopped back and forth to doing sales and part-time work for WLAF again until the early to mid 90s. I’ve been out of radio for many years but loved doing it….I’ve got a lot of fond memories and will always have radio in my blood! (Emma Wilson McCarty a.k.a. “Lindsey Brooks”)

Remember your first transistor radio? It sure opened a new world to me...the world of radio! Flash forward to 2009 and modern techno has created gadgets like the iPhone which doubles as a transistor radio! I get my Big Orange fix via my "WunderRadio" application and listen to "Doc, Jeff, and Heather" mornings on Ktown's "Sports Animal"...

Happy Birthday to Heather Harrington!!!

Vols 101...

Not all Gators are pesky! Thanks to my Gator neighbor Nate for sending me these action photos from the Vols v Gators!

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WATO is back! Many of us worked behind the mic at 1290 and 101 wants to hear from you...send your photographs and memories to 101!

My favorite was Phil Williams who was my morning man when I took over the PD duties at WNOX after Bob Savage in the mid 70's - the guy had tremendous talent. I remember the hot TV Show was "Dallas" and Phil did this parody on it every morning and it showed me back then that he knew how to capitalize on a "hot topic!". (John E. Douglas)

From the 101 Audio Vault, here's Mike Hammond back in '87~



Vols 101...

The Orlando Sentinel newspaper is being quite complimentary of the Vols play versus Gators...

Next year's battle should be a different story, Kiffin will add more of his recruits and Tebow will be an NFL billionaire! Go Vols!

Who is your all time favorite Ktown morning drive DJ? Here's a sampling from Curtis Parham on U-102 back in 1987~



Happy Birthday to former Ktown DJ Don Lindsey!

Today we pause at 101 to remember Reverend Father George Pantelis, my parish priest growing up in Knoxville at St. George Greek Orthodox Church. Father George was murdered in his church study in Buffalo NY 30 years ago today...may his memory be eternal.

The photo is from the ground breaking of our new church location on Kingston Pike, circa- 1967.

Just stumbled across your blog and see that we have a similar interest....Radio...I worked part time at WLAR in Athens, TN while I was in McMinn County High School in 1949-51. I went into the US Air Force and worked at WGOV in Valdosta GA while stationed at Moody AFB in Valdosta in 1955. I have a long time love affair with all kinds of radio and radio equipment. The "prize" of my collection is this old (around 1910) Shure 3A microphone with the element suspended by springs. I hunted one of these for 35 years and this one is the only one I have found outside of collections or museums. (Paul Sliger)

Happy Birthday wishes to Ktown radio legend Mike Hammond!

Remembering 9-11-01...101 took this picture many years ago!

"The Jim Donovan promo air check for "Disco 13" reminded me of when WKGN became Disco 13. I was working at the station at the time, 1978, I think, and we knew something was coming that was very different -- you know how it is when the consultants show up -- but nobody would tell us what the new format was going to be until the first day. Kerry Lambert played the first record to kick off the new format. "What's it's gonna be?" I asked him. "Push in the damn bush," he grumped, and fired it off. Kerry was referring to the memorable and ever so tasteful "Push, Push, In The Bush" by Musique. Okay, it had a good beat, high production value and you could dance to it. You were required by law to dress up like a disco monkey and dance. But Lambert, an old rock 'n' roller at heart, really loved the Album Oriented Rock format the consultants had euthanized and wasn't all that crazy about Disco. But quit radio? What? And leave show business? Turned out the old 'KGN fans weren't too crazy about the change either. Someone set fire to the station van. The receptionist, a very nice and gentle soul, was in tears just about every day after suffering the nasty and hateful phone calls coming in like mortar rounds from the "disco sucks" contingent. The prevailing fantasy running through the programming staff was reliving the movie "FM," in which a rock station's format got hijacked by consultants so the DJs rebelled, took over the station and went free form. I remember the format change was only a moderate success for the sales staff, but they soldiered on until at last the format and the dance craze came to a merciful end." (Tom Jester)

"After being retired from WSM in '03 I traveled a bit and did some commercial work. Several years ago I moved back to the old hometown...Chattanooga. I now have satellite TV with all the sports packages. That's about it Art..Thanks for remembering.." (Allen Dennis)

Happy Hump Day...it's 09-09-09!

Today we feature a potpourri of info~

Happy Birthday to former WIVK news person and now KABC Los Angeles News Director Mark Austin Thomas!

Kim Carson's link has been updated!

101 heard from Art Miller-

"What ever happened to Allen Dennis after he left WSM-AM in Nashville. I always thought he was one of the most natural DJs ever to pass through our area."

PS...Allen's a reader, how 'bout an update AD?

Got logo? Big Bill Love sent this logo/patch to 101, it's from his time at WKGN in the 60's!

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101 has jumped into the Twitter pond...

Happy Sunday! Here's a promo from Disco 13 by Jim Donovan. The station PD was Bill Miller aka Suitcase Simpson. This is from 1979~



Vols 101...

I fell in love with sports in the late 60's via my transistor radio listening to John Ward describe Vols football...Curt Watson, Dewey Warren, Chip Kell, Jack Kiner, etc. Saturday I was on the road so I tuned in to the Volcast on XM radio. So often these days we watch games on the telly versus listening to the radio...what a treat it was for me to listen Bob Kesling and Tim Priest, I felt like I was in Neyland Stadium at the game with my 3 brothers...John Ward is a legend, Bob Kesling is on his way to that claim too...Tennessee 63, Western Kentucky 7, the "Lane Train" has arrived!

It's football time in Tennessee as the Lane Kiffin era begins today. Go Vols...101 says Vols 35, Western Kentucky 7! Jump on the "Lane Train"...

Since most of you are in Neyland Stadium today, ie- a slow day here at 101, I thought I would toss in one of my old air checks. This is from Q94 in 1981, my first show!

Greetings from an Old Ladies Home across the mountains in the gorgeous (yet gritty and reeking of pine tar) Sandhills region of NC. While searching for my dentures (silly me ~ they were in the refrigerator with my car keys), I found a couple more pieces of WNOX mid-1960s memorabilia. Would've sent the bumper sticker along sooner, but it was a beach to fit my car in the scanner. (Lynn Curtis)

101 was a weekend DJ at WIVK when Ed Rupp joined our staff in 1979. Ed and I became fast friends...and now here it is 30 years later and "The Rupper" is still a main stream media personality in Ktown!

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As UT football approaches check out Gate 21, a fun Big Orange read!