Trick or Treat...

In the summer of 1972 WROL was called W-149~

6-10 Gary Adkins

10-2 Clayton Gish

2-4 Johnny Pirkle

4-7 Charlie Bruce

7-12 Brother John

12-6 Jim Price

News- Gordon Van Mol and Tom Buckley

Over at WETE 620 at that time (as CP noted) were Hop Edwards, Howard Gunter, Jim Humphries, and Curtis Parham!

We hear from 3 greats in the 101 InBox~

"In 1972 I had just left WBIR to do afternoons at WETE; I came over with the PD Howard Gunter (what a set of pipes) when Hall Communications bought the station. After Hop Edwards left, Jim Clark did mornings and eventually I took over AM drive. That was really a fun station and became even better when it changed to WRJZ." (Curtis Parham)

"In '72 I think I was finishing up as "Tony the Tigar" at WRMA Montgomery and heading up to Tuscaloosa  to work PM drive and sales for Vic Rumore at WNPT. A couple of years later Vic brought me to Ktown and WKGN. Looking back on all of those great DJ's I met along the way is really something special. They are a breed of talent that does not exist anymore. It was live, on the fly, radio. No script, no do overs, just open the mic and let it happen. (The World Famous~Tony Igar)

"Speaking of the difference in WKGN’s 1000 watts and WNOX’s 10,000. Legendary radio salesman Bob Crenshaw was working at WKGN. He had a car dealer on the air that ran with him every month. One month Bob went to see his guy to change copy. They told him someone from WNOX had come to see him and he’s decided he was going to try WNOX for a month.  Bob happened to look at the guys desk and he saw the person’s business card from WNOX. On the card it said WNOX 10KW. Bob quickly whipped out his card and showed it to the client. Look he said…WNOX has 10KW but we have One Thousand Watts!!! Do you want 10KW or 1000 Watts!!! The guy stayed with Bob. Why would you ever want 10KW (or as we know 10,000 watts) when you can have 1000 Watts!!!" (Paul Lyle)

101 travels to July 1972...

WKGN added two DJs to their line up, Gary Drake and Jerry Steele.

6-9 Bob Baron

9-12 Gary Drake

12-3 Chris Hampton

3-7 Wayne Bernard

7-12 Frank Erwin

12-6 Jerry Steele

News- Jim Goodman, Walker Johnson, and Joe Anderson

Over at WETE 620 Hop Edwards was the morning DJ.

Some of the voices at WIVK included...Norman Majors, Kenny Dearstone, Ed Brantley, Bob Catron, Bobby Denton, Barry Smith, Jimmy Vineyard, Terry Womack, and Claude Tomlinson!

Where were you in '72?

rest in peace Dan Wheldon...vroom!

101 is still accepting votes for the "2012 Wall of Fame", our version of a Ktown Radio hall of fame. The first class is listed to the right, so don't vote for those 5, but all else are eligible...even Lester Longmire and Elwood P. Suggins. (Email your votes to KtownRadio@gmail.com)

Join the extra 101 action by joining our Facebook page...KtownRadio George Vavalides! Over there we are still discussing the WKGN vs WNOX radio wars!

Here's Mike Clark~

"On the face of it, it shouldn't have even been close. WNOX was a 10kw blowtorch, while WKGN operated at (I believe) one tenth of that. Yet it was a pitched battle. When I was in elementary school and early high school years, I listened mainly to WKGN. I remember Dr. Al doing "instant request and dedication", answering the phone on-air as Willard the Duck. Dr. Al, by the way, went on to host a TV dance show called Discoteen on the old WTVK, channel 26. Radio was king in those days. I remember kids in school would be talking about what was on the radio the night before. It was a big deal." (Mike Clark)

The 101 InBox is on fire...

"I have to correct Walker Johnson on one point; I quote; "Sure others tried to be 'KGN. WNOX gave it several shots but never made it." I joined WNOX in April 1969 and for the next three years we blitzed WKGN in the ratings. 'KGN were so upset, they commissioned UT to do a survey for them. They never published the results because they came off even worse. I can’t speak for the following years, I’d moved on. I’m sure those surveys must be available somewhere to verify what I stated above. (Bernie Quayle aka Sir Bernard)

"George, I was working for George Mooney at WKGN doing a 196 hour marathon at the TV&I Fair riding a ferris wheel when Kerry Lambert brought the news that Mooney had sold the station. Vic Rumore came in to over see the transition to Creative. The new company took over on March 1st with the statement that nothing would change. (Yea right). 15 days later Jean Ash and I got the ax, and WIVK picked up 2 new staffers." (Dave Young) 

"My wife, Diane and I were blessed to know George as fellow ex pats in Anguilla, West Indies. Of course we met George first at Saint Gerard’s Catholic Church on the island where he had become The Voice of Saint Gerard’s. George’s total faith in the Lord and love of the Blessed Sacrament was always an inspiration to me. George and I became very close over the years and I discovered a gentle soul who was generous to a fault. George was always ready with that wonderful laugh and a word of encouragement to all. He remained loyal to the Vols who he cheered on every season and critiqued in off season as he would explain to me how his team would enter the next season. We enjoyed sitting over dinner and drinks discussing his past affiliations and the current affairs of Anguilla. George was loved by all of Anguilla. Even after he moved back to his beloved Tennessee, and we to Texas, I was blessed to visit with him each month by phone. While we both shared a desire to return to the islands we both knew that for now we needed to be stateside. I will miss our conversations and though I have an emptiness in my heart, I know that he is home with his Lord and Savior. God Bless and comfort his family."

Respectfully yours,

Dennis Sheehan

101 received several emails questioning when George Mooney sold WKGN...it looks as if Creative took over in February 1975...

Page 3...

Coming soon~ Sir Bernard talks about WNOX The Big 99, and a George Mooney friend from the Anguilla years looks back!

101 continues our tribute to George Mooney~

"In 1981, I heard that Mr. Mooney was going to once again be involved in Knoxville radio. So, and I guess it was a little presumptuous of me, I called his office. Talked to Polly, who was very nice, and actually put me through to Mr. Mooney. He didn’t have to talk to me; he didn’t know me from Adam. But he did, and was very helpful. He told me who I needed to talk to at the station about a job. I never did get to meet him in person, but that phone call, and his kind words, helped me start a 14 year stint at U-102. I’ll always remember that." (Mike Clark)

"I only had two (US) radio jobs in my career and lucked out both times: bosses George Mooney and James A. Dick. May they both rest in peace." (Jean Ash)

"I was introduced to Mooney Broadcasting in 1967 at WBSR in Pensacola. Later spent time with George in Knoxville and Nashville between '81 and '84. He was one of a kind. Also made two trips with him as part of the Vol Navy. He will be missed!" (Bill Burkett)

Page 3...

Happy Birthday wishes to the Real Randy Miller, Randy and I worked together at WIVK in the late 70's and Randy went on to have a booming career in the Kansas City market!

The tributes are arriving...send your memories of George Mooney to KtownRadio@gmail.com. Here's Walker Johnson~

"Pix is WKGN either '72 or '73 and it is the LAST staff to work for Mr. Mooney before he sold it. For years WKGN was the premier radio station in Knoxville, Tennessee. DJs from all over the South wanted to get on 'KGN for the simple reason they knew it was a spring board to a bigger market. Sure others tried to be 'KGN. WNOX gave it several shots but never made it. As for WIVK, personally I never knew anyone who listened to them unlike WKGN where I didn't know anyone who did NOT listen to it. George Mooney was the man behind the plan. He was an owner with a brain and a drive that was infectious to all those around him. I can truly say that Mr. Mooney towered over every owner that I ever worked for and no other radio station since has come close to being his Famous 1340. He will be missed" (Walker Johnson)

George Mooney passes away...

If you grew up in Ktown, you know the importance of George Mooney as a pioneer broadcaster. George was elected to our first "101 Wall of Fame" this year.

In Ktown George was known as the owner of WKGN 1340, the flagship station of the Mooney Broadcasting Corporation and as a "Voice of the Vols"...only a few have shared that title, John Ward, Lindsey Nelson, and now Bob Kesling.

May his memory be eternal!

"Just saw your rewind on WYSH. When WRJZ was just getting going, the PD Bob Kaghan mentioned that he would like to try a woman on the air and told us to let him know of any good female jocks. I was dialing around one day and landed on WYSH and heard a really good female doing a remote. I got Kaghan to give her a listen and he wound up hiring her. The female in question worked all nights initially and went on to middays before getting into TV. She went from Knoxville to Durham to Chicago to Denver where she still anchors for the NBC affiliate there. Her name? Adele Arakawa or just "Adele" as she was known on WRJZ. Not a bad career for a country girl from Lafollette." (Curtis Parham)

Page 3...

I'm on Facebook, search for KtownRadio and add me as a friend, we feature bonus info and photos there!

Happy Birthday wishes to Ernest "Buster" Sutton!

Today we feature another "101 Reload"~

In 1982 WYSH Clinton was an AM and FM combo broadcasting from 6a-midnight...

6-8a Jim Stair (General Manager)
8-9a Charlie Phillips (General Sales Manager and Sports Director)
9-1p Walter Stair (Music Director)
1-5p Debbie Carroll
5-8p Bob Wallace (Chief Engineer)
8-12a Ray Mason

PD was George Guertin and ND was Lavon Nehring!

The AM was located at 1380 on the dial and had 1000 watts of power, the FM at 104.9 with 3000 watts ERP.

The frequencies were simulcast and played modern country...and placed emphasis on local news and Clinton High School football and basketball. UT football and basketball as well as Cincinnati Reds baseball were also broadcast.

On Sunday mornings GM Jim Stair hosted a public affairs program called "What's Happening".

If you have photographs and memories of WYSH, send them to 101!!!

We continue our look back at WKGN The Famous 1340...and the year 1973~

The year began with the following line up...

6  Bob Baron

9  Gary Drake

12 Chris Hampton

3  Wayne Bernard

7 Frank Erwin

12 Jerry Steele

In late February Jack Diamond arrived as the 7p-12 DJ and Frank Erwin moved to 9a-noon slot replacing Gary Drake.

July arrived and Chris Hampton left to become Program Director at a station in Florida, Hampton's 12-3 spot was not immediately filled.

In late July PD Bob Baron takes Dick Winstead full time in the 9-noon time slot and Frank Erwin moves to noon-3p.

In August a new morning voice was heard...Smokey Burns. Smokey went on to become "Murphy in the Morning" in cities like Charlotte and Chicago!

September...Jack Diamond was offered a gig in Louisville KY and packed up and became Coyote Calhoun. Coyote first worked at WAKY in Louisville but has been PD at WAMZ there since 1980.

So the line up was...6 Smokey Burns, 9 Bob Baron, 12 Frank Erwin, 4 Wayne Bernard, 8 Dick Winstead, 12 Jerry Steele.

...and in December, a big surprise~ longtime WNOX star Your Dave Young joined The Famous 1340.

And that's the way it was, in 1973, at WKGN The Famous 1340!

It's time to vote!

101 is asking you to vote for your 5 all time favorite Knoxville radio stars...owners, DJs, janitors, etc. Send your 5 votes to KtownRadio@gmail.com!

In 2011 the first class was selected...Bobby Denton, Claude Tomlinson, George Mooney, Jim Dick, and Johnny Pirkle! Who will we add to the '12 Wall?

Foto is Eddie Beacon, the swingin' deacon!

101 is now on Facebook...search "KtownRadio George Vavalides" and send me a friend request!

Go Vols beat the Dawgs!

It's the summer of '73 and WKGN is still "The Famous 1340"...and what a DJ line up~

6-9 Bob Baron (Program Director)

9-12 Dick Winstead

12-3 Frank Erwin

3-7 Wayne Bernard

7-12 Jack Diamond

12-6 Jerry Steele

Weekends- Jack Gregory and Ken Burger

News- Joe Anderson and Walker Johnson

Jefferson Kaye had exited for a station in Buffalo NY, it was being programmed by Bobby Rivers...and Don Smith was the Music Director at WSM Nashville (All 3 were former WKGN jocks)

Page 3-

Birthday wishes yesterday to Jeff Jarnigan!

Happy Buster Day...we feature the legendary Buster Sutton~

"I read the paragraph about me, flabbergasted that someone would remember after all those years. I'm still around, doing engineering like I've done since the 50s. I live in Sweetwater and Tellico Plains! I love reading your posts! ~Ernest O. (Buster) Sutton~"

Page 3~ Happy Birthday to Becky Lynn!!!

Happy Monday, time for another classic "101 Reload"...Dave Foulk is one of our favorites. PS~ I have a new 101 Facebook page, search for "KtownRadio George Vavalides" and add me! Here's Dave...

Nearly forty years and eighty pounds ago, I pulled off a toenail curling prank on a co-worker at the old WEZK studios on Sharps Ridge.

WEZK was fully automated with one of those giant IGM setups. It had eight Scully tape decks, three carousels, some other machinery, a card reader, timer, and clock all in one long line of bright blue and gray racks. The station had planned for expansion, and had an extra rack in the line. It only had a few wires running through it and a person could easily fit inside. You can probably see the opportunities appearing already.

The station was an easy listening format that played things like 'A Thousand And One Strings Play The Beatles", or "Enoch Light and The Light Brigade in Quadraphonic Sound". At night, the music became even softer with a lot of string ensembles, etc. loaded onto the eight decks. It was an ideal place for a college student like me. The station didn't mind if I studied or did school work on the 5PM until 1AM shift.

One night, for some reason, my co-worker Bruce Owen was in the building during my shift. Bruce had been a high school friend and fellow musician, and I had a reasonable belief that his heart was healthy.

While Bruce was upstairs on the television studio level getting a soda from the machine, I had the idea to scare the bejeebers out of Bruce. I went to the back of the automation system, opened the door to the big, empty rack, and squeezed in.

Bruce apparently didn't miss me. I waited. And waited. I let him get all settled in with his chips and pop and his school book. The soft violins were playing to the click, click, click of the automation clock.

Then, I took a big deep breath and let out the most blood curdling scream I could manage. Invisible bejeebers shot out from every orifice in Bruce's body. He was looking around to see what in the name of Montovani was going on...when I screamed again.

From that evening on, both of us would open the cabinet door and check every time we went into that room.

My turn came one night when I was doing production in the cement-walled studio. The Collins board, by the way was one of the strangest I have ever operated. It used some kind of new technology for the pots..technology that was abandoned, I believe. That board was not near as good as the old RCA BC6 at WBIR that I ran in later days. But I am digressing.

I was dubbing in my commercials and setting the encoding and change tones and all the other attendant mess that went with the automation. The studio had a big picture window that was nice during the day, but sometimes a little spooky at night because you were inside all lit up. Howard Oberholtzer was one of the technicians who worked upstairs at WTVK-TV. Howie, a Cedar Bluff neighbor of mine, walked in the dark all the way to the back of the station and stood still in my window until I glanced up. Not expecting to see a face, I nearly wet my linen.

And speaking of the old WTVK-TV- How many people remember Johnny Mountain and his role as Bozo The Clown?

Finally this quiz: Can anybody name the WEZK morning jock who also had a LIVE television show on Channel 26?

This blog is a wonderful read. I enjoy every story and sidebar about this town's great broadcast history.