George,

Loved the control rooms revisit. The old WKGN control room at 22nd and Cumberland was a pit, but it was all business and very functional.

That old station was in a former grocery store. There was still a track and a hook back in the storage room from the days when they would hook a hog carcass and bring it in for butchering.

The control room was very small and built up on a wooden platform, so there was somewhere to run the wires.

There was in 1969 a Gateway console with 10 pots, a 16 inch Gates turntable on each side of the talent and a shelf structure that held four old Spotmaster cart players. Racks behind the talent held a couple of open reel tape decks and other gear.

The news booth was to the right and the control room looked in to the production studio, which featured an ancient RCA Consolette board, but had a couple of Ampex 351 tape decks.

Bob Goodman "Goodie" kept it all humming for years after it should have been replaced. Great memories of a treasured part of my life. What a staff! Sonny Knight, Eddie Beacon, Don Smith, Jeff Kaye...wow!

thanks for hangin',

Possum Riley

The New 62

WRJZ hit the airwaves in late 1976...and the following year was a banner year as both John Boy and Adele ere added to the air force!

Adele initially joined as the all night DJ but later moved to middays.

Here are some of the DJ names in 1978...CP and Walker, Rick Kirk, JJ Scott, Bob Kaghan (PD), Carson King, Ernie Baker, David Henley, and Foster Arnett.

The 101 Audio Vault features Adele...

Hi George,

I was the original midday guy on Rock 104 in 1979, when we went on the air. Left the station in 1984 to pursue grad school and a research career in the DC area. Just recently moved to the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area in NC and am doing radio again, at WCOM-FM. Doing a free form album rock and jazz show on Sunday afternoons between 3-5p ET. People can listen online- WCOM

Larry Solomon

ain't nuttin' better than olde control rooms...

Didn't you love the magic of being in the control room, headphones on, vinyl records on the rack, carts for your commercials, big speakers hanging on the walls.

How many Knoxville area controls did you peak in to, either as a DJ there or just as a visitor?

My first gig was WBLC in Lenoir City up on Browder Hollow Hill with that concrete white one story building with WBLC painted on the wall in orange. Lots of Ktowners worked behind that mic...Mike Beach, Bob Thomas and Scott Sams to name a few.

I worked at WIVK for 5 years, those were the Bearden Hill years and during the time the addition was built. When I arrived there was a ladder that basically anyone could climb up to the 2nd floor and look in to the control room.

I visited 15Q once with Scott Sams, that would be in the summer of '76...Bob Thomas was on the air. The following year Bob joined WIVK and the rest is history. 

WKGN on Alcoa Highway was always a treat, I even sat in Wayne Bernard's office one day. I do faintly remember peering in to the WKGN studios on Cumberland Avenue.

At different times I applied at WNOX (Eddy Roy) and WOKI (Gary Adkins)...at WOKI, when Scott was a DJ there, I sat in as he created his voice over announcing work for the upcoming week.

I recall WIMZ being almost all glass and one could easily peer in to the DJ booth.

I was hired at WECO in Wartburg, short stay due to the drive, but OMG what a modern facility.

When Q94 debuted I was on the air staff, neither Q94 or WATO studios were well maintained at that time...I was morning DJ at WATO (briefly) and there was no access to using head phones and a turn table did not work. Oh well, at least I can say I was a morning DJ.

My last gig was WRJZ...this was '82 when the station was country. Great little control room...I even helped move furniture as the station was reduced from being on two floors to one floor. And one could not ever allow his/her keys to get out of sight as the bathroom was down the hall outside of the station doors, that were always locked.

got stories? Send to 101 via ktownradio@gmail.com!


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HBD to Bob Thomas on March 1.