Happy Birthday wishes to WIVK (Citadel's) Mike Hammond!!!
From the 101 InBox~
"George, thanks for the work on your blog. It is a daily read for me. In reference to Chris Stubblefield's question about WLIL, the person in question was Allan Breazeale. He was WLIL's Chief Engineer and also the host of the 7 to midnight show. It was called "Al's Blabber Party." I was a pre-teen when I discovered Al's show. He would occasionally put callers on the air, but most of the time it was just him. He had a large and loyal following. He signed WLIL off the air at midnight when his show was over, the old fashioned way with the National Anthem and the statement of WLIL's technical facilities. We became fast friends, and he mentored me through my introduction to ham radio, two-way radio, and broadcast radio. I guess you could say it stuck...I am now the Chief Engineer of Citadel Knoxville's stations (WIVK, WNML, WOKI, WNRX). Al passed away in the early 1980's. Before he passed away, I listed him as a reference for my very first radio job. When they called him to check on me, he said..."If the boy can't fix it, then he can bring it to me and I will do it for him." They did hire me...and I was hooked. The last conversation I had with Al was through one of the ham radio repeaters I had built, where he told me he was very proud of me. He was a great man, and I miss him a lot....since 1986 I have been associated with the Vol network, and have been it's Chief Engineer since 1998. I remember listening to the football and basketball games on WLIL when I was young...over a dry, non-equalized phone line. Now I put the broadcasts on the air using bonded ISDN codecs. I am very blessed to be doing a job that I love. Al had a lot to do with that." (Tim Berry)