It's a 101 Reload with Bob Thomas, 1st posted in 2010...

 

...Some people tell me that my 20 years at WIVK was a long time. Compared to Ed I was a flash in the pan. I don't think there is a person that has put in more hours contributing to the success of WIVK than Ed Brantley. Remember Coats for the Cold? That was his idea. Ed would arrive at the station for the 8am sales meeting, then hit the streets calling on his list of small businesses (he didn't have the big gravy clients). He would have clients that may only spend $1,000 a month but he would have a hundred of them! And he was an expert at the cold call and getting people on the air that had never advertised. Then after a well-planned day of sales calls, he would do his shift from 3-7 and finally leave the station around 7:30pm. Then do it all over again the next day. Weekends? He would do two remotes and host the number one listened to show on Knoxville radio, Sound Off, on Sunday morning. Who can do that type of grueling schedule week in and week out for YEARS??? Only Ed Brantley, easily the hardest working man I have ever met in radio. I am lucky to call Ed my friend. Not only is WIVK lucky to have had him there, Knoxville radio is fortunate to have had such an outstanding person as one of its leaders. So Ed...I hear there's a radio station for sale in Hawaii! (Bob Thomas)

It's February 1960 and this promo ran in the Knoxville newspapers...

 

Back in 2010 I was in Ktown for a family wedding and I visited Ed and Bob at WNOX FM 100.3 NewsTalk. Like almost every guest to their morning show, I brought donuts, ha!

Bill Beason...

In the Spring of 1979, I found myself in an unusual situation. I had lost my job as Music Director and the 10pm-2am Disc Jockey at WNOX because a Program Director...had fired me. I was the Assistant Program Director before he was hired. 

 I was offered several jobs in markets like Columbus, Ga and Lexington, Ky but they were not what I was looking for. So, I stayed with my first cousin in Morristown, TN while looking for radio work. By April, I found myself thinking of moving to Myrtle Beach and take the summer off and become a beach bum, which I did. When I got to the beach, I checked the newspapers for a job. There was an ad for a Disc Jockey at The Afterdeck, an outdoor disco tech in North Myrtle Beach. I applied and got hired.

All this time I slept in my car and showered and shaved at campgrounds until one day I ran into an old friend from 1975 when I had worked as a radio DJ at the beach. His name was Gary Moore, who had run a popular bar and was a former lifeguard. Gary had just taken a new apartment and needed a roommate. I took his offer. When I went to work at the Afterdeck, I was told they needed a bouncer. I recommended Gary for the job. That turned out to be a fantastic move because The Afterdeck had been a losing nightclub the previous summer. The largest crowd was 80 to 100 people. That summer, we hosted 1200 people a night with several well-known celebrities appearing. Names like Evil Knievel, Donna Summer and others appearing and partying.

I also met a recent high school graduate named Sandra Bullock. The group Alabama would come also.

In essence, The Afterdeck became one of Myrtle Beach's most popular nightclubs in the summer of 1979. Looking back, I realize I had made the best of a bad situation that year. I have since learned that was the best season ever for The Afterdeck. It is now a defunct building used for nothing!

Page 3...

I wanted to pass along the sad news of the passing of my very good friend of 50 years, Trevor F. Swoyer. A native of the Tri-Cities, Trevor had a long and storied career as a broadcast engineer. In his early career, he worked for Lewis King at Kintronics and at WETB. He was known for his stint with Johnny Pirkle at W149 and later built WOKI AM and FM for him. He spent time at WUOT and then at WETS in Johnson City. I knew him as a master designer, artisan, perfectionist, and craftsman. I will miss my 50-year friend. (Cliff Hudson)

who's on the radio...

50 years ago, WOKI-FM 100 made a big splash in the Knoxville radio market. Johnny Pirkle's Oak Ridge powerhouse debuted with top 40 music and an automated DJ system (the precursor to voice tracking).

Fast forward to the 21st century and Pirkle had the 100.3 FM dial sounding great with a news/talk format featuring two legends, Ed Brantley and Bob Thomas, hosting the morning show as Ed and Bob.

Fast forward again and the popular news/talk format sits at 98.7 FM as WOKI-FM aka NewsTalk 987.

Here's the line up...

6 Phil Williams

10 Bob Yarbrough

12 Dan Bongino

3 Hallerin Hilton Hill

7 Sean Hannity

9 Mark Levin

1 Red Eye Radio

...and Bob Thomas fills in for all day parts!

Hey George, this is the longest of long shots - but I'll ask anyway.

I bring this up because you mentioned Art Metzler in your Ktown post this morning.

In 1958, the Oak Ridge football team played probably the biggest game in the history of Tennessee high school football. The game was in Oak Ridge and WATE TV televised the game on replay Saturday. Art was the play-by-play guy. Art was also in the first group of announcers at the newly formed WATO radio in Oak Ridge in 1947 (I think).  

The Oak Ridge football team was put into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2022 - the first high school team in any sport in the history of Tennessee to get into the TNSHoF -- so quite an accomplishment.  

Now my question: Now it's been 66 years since that game, and nobody has ever found a copy of the game that was put on TV. It may not exist. Would I start by contacting WATE? I have sent some emails to them but have never gotten even a response. Would the station have a vault where they keep media from that long ago?

BTW, WATO requested the call letters WBOM (bomb) but was rejected. 

Earl Nall 

Scott Black in the WIVK-FM control room, back in the day when the station was located on Bearden Hill!

When Cliff asks, 101 answers...

101 Ace Contributor George Cliff Hudson asked when/where/how Lindsey Nelson fit into the Vols PBP history? 

Just an fyi...until very recently all these pages have solely been filled via my journals, memories and from our contributors. I recently subscribed to newspapers dot com, and there is a plethora of information lurking in the back logs of newspapers from yesteryear.  I would equate newspapers from days gone by as the equivalent and mixture of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter aka X. 

Lindsey Nelson preceded George Mooney as Vols play by play announcer, taking on those tasks in 1948 when WKGN 1340 was selected to be the flagship. Nelson was a sports announcer at the station. Some classic stations were carrying the games...WGAP, WATO, WCRK, WKPT, etc. 

Fast forward to this date (August 19) in 1952 and George Mooney from Memphis was announced as the new PBP announcer with Art Metzler as color commentary. WROL AM 620kc was the mother ship! Mooney was selected by Vols AD General Robert Neyland.

Go Vols... it's football time in Tennessee!

Did you know...

In April 1968 John Ward was named to replace George Mooney as the football voice of the Vols. 

Mooney had called the Vols games for 16 seasons. 

Ward, a Knoxville native, was a UT law school graduate and was a VP at Lavidge, Davis, and Newman. 

Ward had already been the radio voice behind the mic at UT basketball games for 5 seasons. 

At that time the Vols games were broadcast on WATE 620 AM radio.

...and back in the day (early 1950's)- John was the Sports Director at WKGN 1340, he provided PBP for high school football, pro football, and even Smokies baseball. In December 1954 he joined the Army!

Chief Engineer Milton Jones (WIVK 860 kc)

 

It's January 1985 in Ktown...

The new year kicks off (literally) with Lindsey Nelson and Pat Haden calling the Cotton Bowl on CBS.

WIMZ's line up consisted of Phil Williams 6-10, Keith Lambert (PD) 10-2, Scott Paulson 2-7, George Allen 7-12, and Dave Ball 12-6.

On the TV tube...WATE was known as Team 6...Sam Brown and Mike Thurman were nightly anchors, Scott Sams was on weather and Alan Williams sports. The noon 'casters were Bob Gray and Kim Simmons (Thomas). On the weekend the anchor was Diane May, weather with Carole Stannard, and Greg Peterson sports.

The Today Show was in its prime with Bryant Gumbel, Jane Pauley, John Palmer, and Willard Scott.

WIVK was riding high as the #1 rated country station in America and was led by Claude Tomlinson, Bob Thomas, Ed Brantley, Laura Paul, Terry Womack, Jean Ash, Channing Smith, Beecher Bailey, Joe Grant and Bob Love. Bobby Denton was in charge but was now behind the scenes.

January 21 was Ronald Reagan's 2nd inauguration, the lead network TV anchors were Peter Jennings ABC, Dan Rather CBS, and Tom Brokaw NBC.

...my Bearden High classmate Rusty Ensor was sports anchor at WTVK Channel 26.

mE, I had traded in my platters for platters, and was entrenched in my restaurant leadership career as manager at Grady's Goodtimes, right down the street from the WIVK studios.

Where were you in January 1985?

 It's March 1953 and WIVK is on the air. (foto via Knoxville Journal)

Bill Miller 1950-2024...RIP Suitcase Simpson!

 

Back in 1978 I was working weekends at WIVK as was Suitcase Simpson. Suitcase aka Bill Miller went on to DJ and Program Director at WKGN and WMYU.

During his on-air career Bill used some groovy DJ names...Bill Miller, Suitcase Simpson, Stan Cassidy, Lincoln Smith, Bad Willie Soul, and perhaps even more!

Here are some of Bill's stops along the way. BTW- I gathered this info from him back in '78! It all started at WCPH Etowah followed by WMTM in Morristown.

Bill did 4 years at the legendary WFLI in Chattanooga as PD and afternoons. During his Chatta time he also worked at WGOW. 

Skipping ahead Bill went to WIFE in Indianapolis for one year and had the #1 rated night show there. His on-air name was Lincoln Smith.

Bill next headed back to WFLI followed by WGIV Charlotte and then WKY Oklahoma City working nights for 2 years as Bill Miller.

Returning to East TN for school Suitcase worked at WOKI afternoons, nights at WIVK, a stint at 15Q (with everyone else) and then back to WIVK. (note- a few stops along the way are not listed).

What a trip up and down the radio dials, thank goodness he had his Suitcase!