Do you remember...

...those weekend radio Vols sports programs-

• The 50 Yard Line 
• Pigskin Predictions 
• Hold That Line
• Grandstand Quarterback 
• The Locker Room
• Sunday Sports Soundoff
• Football Finals
• Voluntary Reaction
• Leonard's Losers

In 1948 Lindsey Nelson provided Vols play by play on WKGN 1340, the next year alongside Ed Huster the Vol Network was born. 

In 1951 Alan Stout was behind the mic. George Mooney took the PBP helm from 1952-1967, John Ward 1968-1998, Bob Kesling 1999-2024, and Mike Keith 2025- present.

There's something pure and wonderful about listening to sports on the radio!

 It's Football Time In Tennessee!!!

It's football time in Tennessee!

 

How many 18-year-olds got hired by Bobby Denton to be a WIVK disc jockey...I did and am proud of it!

I saw this post and wanted to share it, from Jeff Jarnigan- (he was asked what was Bobby's stogie of choice)

"According to the cigar shop he and I shared, he smoked Oliva's. Bobby wanted to finish his PA in Neyland at 50 years. He made it 48. When I became PA after him I made an agreement with UT to use Bobby in pregame for at least 2 more years to get to his 50 in the stadium. I also laid one of his brand cigars across the PA mic for games in those years. Seemed like the right thing to do to honor him. He was the best and a true character."

Head West!

Back in 1959 Jim Dick decided to head west, leaving the original WIVK 860 kc studios located across the street from the Regas Restaurant on Gay Street for Bearden Hill, officially 6711 Kingston Pike. 

The property was purchased from Dr Wilson for around $52k. The building had to be remodeled and turned into a powerhouse radio station...and that it was. 

WIVK featured Phil Rainey signing on the daytime only at 5a followed by Claude Tomlinson from 7-9a, then from 9a-1p Cas Walker and The Mulls were heard. Claude came back on the air from 1-3p and was followed by Ken Russell on the air until 6p. Phil Rainey then returned until sign off.  Both Don Patrick and Bob Clark were additional weekend voices.

The move to Bearden Hill happened around Thanksgiving.

It's October 1966, and WIVK is hosting Shindig #9 headlined by Johnny Cash. The ticket included June Carter, The Statler Brothers, Billy Crash Craddock...and 20-year-old Dolly Parton!

The WIVK DJs included PD Mike Hanes, Claude Tomlinson, Kenny Dearstone, Bobby Denton, Bill Jeffers, Ron Cassady, Ken Russell and more!

Dolly had first matched up with WIVK 860 in 1956 performing on the Cas Walker show.

Page 3...

Thanks to Larry Solomon for reminding 101 that Kerry Lambert also was PD at WKGN when it was Disco 13!

 

Kerry Lambert got his radio start in the mid 1970s at WKGN 1340. Working under PD Dr Al Adams, Kerry was Chris Lee on the air.

In 1976 WKGN had a format change from Top 40 to Album Rock and Kerry became Keith Lambert, manning the overnight show.

A few years later he became part of the new AOR format at WBIR-FM later rebranded as WIMZ. 

In the 80s Kerry's career grew enormously from PD to station manager at WIMZ.

Plucked away by WIVK owned Dick Broadcasting, Kerry headed to Birmingham, he's still there, and he was a key executive in that market with DBC, which was later purchased by Citadel.

National Radio Day (some groovy Ktown DJ fotos)...

 

 

Dan Bell hosted The Sunday Survey on WIVK for many years. Dan is still on the air weekday afternoons on Praise 96.3.

Dan is seen here with writer/singer Worley Max (McKinney) who took several songs to the top of the WIVK weekly survey.

"Coach McKinney" was a teacher and coach at Bearden Junior High and with his never-ending music passion he wrote, and recorded hit songs such as Don't Break Me Easy and How Long Will You Love Me This Time. In the late 80s the music city was calling so Worley packed up and planted his musical flag in Nashville. He's still writing and performing these days.

HBD to Mike Beach

Did you know...Mike was the teenage News Director at WIVK, and he was the one who hired Mike Hammond!

Check out his current radio world at Global Radio Daytona.

It's 1941 in Ktown...

 

WROL Knoxville

In 1930 Knoxville radio station WNBJ became WROL at 1310 on the AM dial.

Fast forward to early 1941 and the station moved down the left dial to 620.

The station became WATE 620 in the mid 1950s, and WROL calls vanished.

However, in 1960 Sam Thrower created a new station, WROL 1490.

Most are aware that WROL added the W-149 moniker and changed to an incredible album type format in 1971 led by Johnny Pirkle.

In 1976...15Q hit the airwaves for a one-year splash, and the calls were WKVQ.

WROL 950 Boston was hatched in 1978 as that group was unable to acquire their former WORL calls. 

Page 3...

Shout out to Monroe in the Morning, the Florida panhandle's #1 superjock! (aka Curtis Knight)

This was before CP and Walker who debuted on The New 62 WRJZ in late 1976!

Per our previous post CP noted that he spent some time in Birmingham at WAPI AM-FM.

Dick Broadcasting had a presence in B'ham in 1990s up until the family sold most of their stations to Citadel in April 2000. WZRR, WJOX, and WAPI were DBC owned and operated. 

Mooney was in B'ham too, in the early 70s with WERC AM-FM.

And I was there too, from 1987-1990 managing the Grady's Goodtimes at the Riverchase Galleria. I can attest; it's a great city. 

Did you work in Birmingham? Shoutout to Kerry Lambert who resides there to this day!