Wednesday, September 23, 2009


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”)